And Then There Were Twelve

What is she talking about? Is it 12 days of Christmas ?

Nope my dear friends, I'm talking about the twelfth flower of Ellen Maurer-Stroh Flower of the month project I completed stitching yesterday.

This post is a joint check-in for Gifted Gorgeousness SAL hosted by Jo & IHSW hosted by Joysze.

I didn't forget to post for GG SAL on 15th , I was deliberately holding the post so as to show you some substantial stitching. Hermitting over the weekend helped me achieve this.

So without any further delay here is the last flower :December "Poinsettia" in its glory.

I had to move the q snap so I can work on borders of other flowers and I clicked a picture of the whole project so far. I need to add borders to 5 flowers, fill in some white and add backstitch to the butterfly, bees and daffodils.I think it will take a week to finish this.

This piece is a gift for my aunt's 25th wedding anniversary and the aida was a gift from a fellow stitcher.

Yesterday while I was stitching the borders, I realised that I may run out of floss. Intrigued that I have already used 2.5 skeins of floss for borders so far, I calculated  how long is the border. The 2 stitches wide border around all the flowers has a straight length of 10.7 metre. 120 metre of floss has been used and I'm guessing I need 100 metre more...

What is the maximum number of skeins of a single color you have used for a project?

In June I won a giveaway on Instagram...my first.It took a total of 61 days to get the parcel in my hand from Hungary . Out of these 61 days , Kuwait postal service took 51 days to deliver it to my PO box. It beats me why would a basic public service like postal system be so slow in a small city country like Kuwait. Anyways, I'm happy that I got the package as I had lost hope of getting it after I visited the post office sixth time.Rant over..Let's move onto gifts received.

The package contains 28 ct evenweave ,lace ,lots of ribbons, chocolates,postcard ,cross stitch pattern book and a needle case.Thank you Dóra for the goodies , I love these.


Hopefully in my next post, I will be able to show you the FOTM piece finished.

Happy World Cross Stitch Day

Hey Stitchy Friends,

Wishing you all a very Happy World Cross Stitch Day. May you have smoky needles and be blessed with charts,fabrics and floss to last a life time...lol

I remember seeing a post about World Cross Stitch Day a year or two back. Didn't remember the exact date though. Yesterday someone posted on Instagram that its tomorrow. So I figured that its celebrated every year on 2nd Friday of August . I know its not as famous as other craft events like International Crochet Day or WWKIP but its upon cross stitch crazy people like us to make it more popular.

On to some stitchy news...First a thing which made me squeal...Those who have been following my blog regularly know how I keep complaining about lack of availability of stitchy supplies here in Kuwait especially cross stitch magazines.In last 2.5 years I have checked with all book stores for magazines with no positive results.
Yesterday we went to a home decor store to buy a hand bag and there was a small section of books there. I was casually looking at the magazine stand and couldn't believe my eyes when I saw this:

I almost started jumping and hubby was astonished too. The guy at the counter wasn't able to understand why I was beaming with joy :). I started flipping thru to look for designs and hubby said you have to buy it no matter what as you have been searching for magazines so long.

The lady at the counter started asking me about where do I buy my fabric in Kuwait. She used to do cross stitch earlier but wasn't able to find fabric here. I offered her to bring some fabric when I visit the store next time and also invited her to my craft group.
I will do anything to encourage people to take up this hobby ...ha ha

Second..I finished stitching November flower "Chrysanthemum" on Wednesday . While stitching this I realised I have this plant in my tiny home garden.We bought two pots of Chrysanthemum in Nov last year and the plants almost died after the winter season. However ,with some care we were able to revive one and its blooming now.

I'm trying to grow tomatoes and the tiny saplings have spread all over.

That's it from my corner of the world.
Hope you get some stitching time today to mark the occasion.

P.S. -Edited to answer Khristine's question about blog header picture
The header picture is of from our trip to Goreme,Turkey in July 2014. Goreme is famous for its wonderful rock formations and the most intriguing ones are called "Fairy Chimneys" .

July wrap up

Hello Friends,
Another month has come to an end and it's time for a monthly report.

I participated in Just one July SAL organised by Justine this month. As you know ,I have been stitching my EMS Flower of the Month project for this SAL.Here are some progress shots:

Left shows my progress before the start of  SAL.
Completed September flower on 7-Jul-16

Worked on some borders

Finished October flower on 23-Jul-16

Progress on November flower as on 30-Jul-16

I have now decided to stitch this piece until its completed.

Remember I told you I will show you some stash in my next post.My friend K is back from States and has bought me goodies.
First is my win from Mii Stitch's fourth blog anniversary giveaway.Thanks Mii, I love it!

Did I tell you that I have been tempted to buy Dimensions Kits since long? I love the designs they have to offer . However, I had read about how the aida in kits is rough and stiff and people run out of floss.To avoid these problems, I was looking to buy only a chart . Didn't get much success in that.So, I went ahead and bought a design which has been on my wish list

Isn't these beautiful? Do you know Peacock is National Bird of India? This is my first time buying cross stitch item from Ebay and I was a bit skeptical based on the feedback on various forums. Thank God , the seller sent me an original kit.

Here is my monthly stitching pie or should I say crafting pie

I have often mentioned that I'm part of a wonderful craft group here in Kuwait and we have regular meetups .We usually meet in coffee shops like Starbucks however it has been my intention to meet at new places so that we can explore Kuwait along with crafting.
Mid of July we met at a coffee shop called Lobelia Cafe. Its a small coffee shop with a vintage chic theme and the colors used are white and pink.The cafe has a sea view and we enjoyed our time there.

Yesterday we met at THE One, which is a cafe and Furniture store , isn't that a quirky combination

You can see a price tag hanging from one of the chairs here.

Thank you for your feedback on the blogger issues. Trust me I'm not as worried about the number of comments on my blog as about my posts showing up on the dashboard of  my followers.Turns out one of my followers wasn't able to see them .
Blogger issues still continue as I saw some weird feed on other blogger accounts. Hope the blogger team works on this soon.

It's time for our annual vacation and me and DH are busy planning . Any guesses what our destination country is this time?

Have a happy Sunday .

Gifts galore

Hello Friends,

Its time for Gifted Gorgeousness, a SAL hosted by Jo,where we show what gifts we have been working on or gifts received.

Let me treat you with some eye candy ...

Hubby flew to India to help his mother move to a new house and ever since the tickets were booked, he kept on asking me what gifts he should get me. Well, I helped him by letting him know what I didn't want...lol

Look what he bought me 

Some beautiful yarn for my knitting/crochet adventures, books of my favourite authors,a diary to write my journal, beautiful ribbons and rings to hold my floss a way bags.
Aren't our partners blessed to have us,females with hobbies? Giving gifts becomes so much easier when people have hobbies don't you think...

Next is a gift ,partially bought using my birthday money from my brother .

I have been inspired by my craft group and blog friends to crochet and knit since long and I thought its about time I got some supplies.

Talking of craft group, some gifts from ladies in my craft group.

A crochet jar topper and perforated paper. My friend E has been cross stitching since few months now and wanted to try perforated paper. So when she bought some online ,she gave me this sheet to try. Isn't that  kind and thoughtful?

I have been working on making some gifts too..
First of is the Candamar design project I'm making for my bestie. Here is a pic of how it looked when I took it off my rotation.

Second is my EMS Flower of the month piece which I'm making for my Aunt.I have started stitching the October flower- Calendula.

I clicked a picture of how the whole piece looks when I moved the q snaps.It may not seem much, but I have been working on the borders for the flowers I completed before.

I'm targeting to finish this piece in July as part of Just one July SAL. However, if I don't , I will continue to stitch this in August until I complete it.

I started a new gift yesterday, this time a knitting project. This is a scarf with the simplest of knitting stitches. It will be a gift for my husband's cousin who lives in cold climates of Scotland and I guess she will put it to good use.

That's all I have to show you for GG SAL.I have will some goodies to show you in my next post:some giveaway wins and some stash.

Blogging Woes:
I have observed that number of comments on my blog have gone down.I know, I don't have many followers but the number of comments is no where close to half of my followers. So I wanted to know how do you follow my blog and do you see my posts in your blog reader?As much as I appreciate your comments, I would love to hear more from you.
Another blog issue I'm facing is delay in seeing blog posts from one particular blogger I follow. The updates are more than 24 hours late and I miss participating in various activities on her blog. Any idea how can I solve this problem?

I'm off to see what beautiful gifts you have been working on ...

Just one July progress

Hello Friends,
Just a quick update to show you first week progress on Just one July SAL hosted by Justine.I have selected to stitch my flower of the month project for this SAL.This series is a freebie from Ellen Maurer-Stroh and each flower block is of size 63*63.
Its a long weekend here in Kuwait and yesterday I was able to stitch for almost 4 hours.Here is a picture of the September flower -Aster,before I started stitching it this month.

And here is a picture of what it looks like today

I have decided to stitch the border around the flowers as I go rather than doing it all in the end.I'm now working on June flower "Wild Rose" border.I forgot to print the pattern for next flower in the series ,so I would have to stick with border anyway 😄
Today we had guests for dinner and I ended up cooking too much food.With two more days to the weekend and food cooked for next 2 meals ,I should be able to make some significant stitching progress .

KTAA Exhibition/Tassel workshop/WWKIP day

Hello Friends,

Another month has come to end and it’s hard to believe that half of the year has passed.

Things are quite in my corner of the world and my plans to stitch more with reduced working hours this month went down the drain. You ask what happened…well nothing ..I have been just myself …lazy bum.

I have been wanting to write this post since a few days and then delaying it for so many reasons which my mind keeps coming up with.

So here it is…I would like to share with you pictures of a few craft events I participated and/or attended.

First is the Annual Kuwait Textile Art Association Exhibition I visited on 24th May. This was my first time attending the event and it was until my friend sent below picture of a cross stitched piece in the exhibition that I decided to attend.

 It was such an amazing experience to look at these beautiful pieces of craft in person. Though Quilting dominated the show, there were display of crochet, embroidery and cross stitch too. Once I found out that there is category for cross stitch, I inquired about the details for participation. 

Embroidery piece which stood 3rd in the exhibition

1st Prize-Cross stitch category

The quilt in the centre with the face won 1st prize in Quilting Category

Next is a workshop I attended called “Decorative Tassles” on 28th May. This was organized by Sadu House. A small description of Sadu House “Al Sadu Society is dedicated to preserving, documenting and promoting the rich and diverse textile heritage of the Kuwaiti Bedouin, from the nomadic weaving of the desert through to the urban weaving of the town.”

The idea of the workshop was to involve common people for development of Al Shaheed Park which is a community park project undertaken by government and various organizations. The workshop was conducted by Leslie Robertson, US Fulbright Specialist and a local crochet designer.

We were taught how to make tassels with normal yarn first and then with locally hand woven yarn. The ones made with hand woven yarn will be displayed in the park.  

Learning to make tassel stem

Two tassels I made which will be displayed in the park

  

As you know I was involved in organizing World Wide Knit in Public day here in Kuwait. The event was a success and we had a humble attendance of 8. A mix of crocheters, cross stitcher and knitters. Few pictures:

I made badges for the attendees and everyone liked it.  

My friend ZoZo gifted these goodie bags to all participants.

I don’t have any stitching progress to show you this time, however I’m very excited to be participating in Just one July SAL organized by Justine starting tomorrow. I will be stitching Flower of the Month piece for this SAL.

That's it for today...Hope you have a blessed July.

Gifted Gorgeousness SAL June update

Hello Friends,

Thank you for your kind comments on my last post.

It's that time of the month when we show what gifts we have been working on or gifts received.
Gifted Gorgeousness is Jo's baby and the idea is to show what we are stitching as gifts . Also to show our appreciation for the gifts (charts,fabric,floss etc.) we have received

I will start with my focus piece for this month which will be a gift for my bestie.

Candamar design called "Most beautiful thing"

Second is a gift for my aunt . The fabric was given to me by a generous lady Mrs. G whom I met in London thru facebook.

Progress on September Flower. 

Pattern Source EMS FOTM series

Lastly , as I have now decided to gift the HoM Mystery SAL piece to one of my college friends, I will show it once more.

I received this beautiful crochet bookmark from ZoZo ,one of the members of my craft group. She is such a talented crocheter and doesn't need patterns to make stuff. One glance at finished piece and she can stitch it.

I have been making other crafty things ,not cross stitch related, which I will show in my next post.

18th June is World Wide Knit in Public day and I'm looking forward to meeting my friends and new people for the event.

I know some of you knit too. Are you participating in the KIP in your area?If you need information about locations of the event,visit the website http://www.wwkipday.com/


That's the news from my corner of the world.I'm off to see what beauties you have been making.