Stitch Every 'Day' in 'May'

Hi dear Friends,
                          Happy May!
How are you ? We are still under lockdown and with the given circumstances , I won't be surprised if it extends till June.Well, I have never had any problem being at home, so the lockdown doesn't bother me much.
However to make most of being home , I thought I would do a personal challenge called "Stitch Every 'Day' in 'May' ". I was going thru my old posts and realised I do this challenge every two years. You can see my post for 2018 and 2016 here.
I know for many of you stitching every day is a way of life , however I tend to get distracted easily by social media and watching online series that's why I took this challenge.The idea is to stitch atleast for 15 mins everyday.
My focus piece will be my oldest WIP-Indian Peacock by Dimensions.
This piece was started on new year day in 2017 and has been neglected since due to priority of gift stitching. With the lockdown, I'm not making any gifts as there is no way to send them.So I thought I would put some stitches in this project. I stitched for 10 days in April on this project and added 1261 stitches.
Before and after pic:

I was finding it difficult to stitch this in the Q snap I had so I'm now stitching this in hand.
The last two times when I did this challenge some of you joined me, join me this year too if this is something you would like to do .
I'm not going to make it a SAL or any compulsion to post on blog. Just use #stitcheverydayinmay if you post pictures on Instagram.I will post an update on the challenge at the end of month.
Are you finding more time for stitching during the lockdown or rather the opposite?

Gifted Gorgeousness SAL April 2020 update

Hello Friends,
It's that time of the month when we show what gifts we have been working on or/and what crafty gifts we have received. If you don't know what I'm talking about , check Jo's blog for more info. This is an easy SAL where you have a choice to stitch any designer, color or pattern, just that it should be a gift for someone or gift from someone.

I have finished two projects that come under gift category.
First is a late birthday gift for my husband.

This is a design by Jan Eaton published by Tom Pudding Designs, a freebie which can be found here.
The empty space is where a cat charm will be added once the lockdown is over and I order it .
Second finish is a ornament I stitched to join the hashtag #bewellandstitch . As the design is a freebie from designer Autumn Lane Stitchery, I'm considering it as a gift.

I forgot to share in my last GG post that Immediate Media Co offered many of their magazines free last month.
I was able to download The World Of Cross Stitching Feb 2020, Cross Stitch Crazy Mar 2020 and Cross Stitch Gold Jan 2020 for free on my i-phone.
Do you keep any eye for such offers or don't care about magazines?

Also, I forgot to share that I was able to locate my missing Lizzie Kate pattern which I declared missing in my Feb post here. What a relief !

In life update, the virus is spreading like a fire here in India and we are doing everything to be safe. We have local laws where we can't get out of our building more than once a week.It is stressful but thank god for house chores, hobbies and Netflix , which help in keeping mind off.

I hope you are safe and healthy.

Let the People Choose-April Update

Hello Friends,
First Saturday of the month I join Jo for The People's Choice SAL . Jo takes a poll for people to choose a topic for the month and the participants then post about stitchy projects related to that topic.

This month's topic is Modern Samplers. Now this is a tricky one-I had never seen a Sampler before 2014 as I don't think they existed historically in Indian Subcontinent as they did in the USA or UK.
This partially explains my disinterest in traditional samplers, however I have stitched a few modern samplers or lets say my take on modern samplers:

Birth Sampler from Anchor Design Studio

The birth sampler I stitched for my nephew in 2014 has few elements of a traditional sampler-numbers,alphabets,border,name and date .
I made this birthday card and I think it looks like a portion of band sampler. It has specialty stitches in it.

Gorgeous Gingham by Joanne Sanderson

Another birth sampler which I stitched for my niece in 2015.

Pretty in Pink by Helen Phillips

I did get a chance to see two historic samplers at Skaill House, Orkney, Scotland. Here are pictures:

As I write this post, I'm reminded that I need to make two birth samplers for my friends' babies. I better start looking in my stash for patterns !

Be Well and Stitch

Hello Friends,
I hope you are safe and keeping busy in this worrisome time. It is indeed scary whats happening in the world. My country is under lock down till 14th April , husband and I are following the instructions given by the Govt. to keep safe unlike many stupid people in my country who just don't care.
Anyways , I wanted to cheer you (and myself) up by sharing my latest finish.

Bee Well By Autumn Lane Stitchery

I'm sure you are all aware of the freebies designers in cross stitch community have been offering under the hashtag #bewellandstitch. It is so generous of them to take time out to design something for helping the community in this tough time.

I have always wanted to join and stitch something for such wonderful causes like the stitches for Australia , unfortunately I wasn't able to do it either due to bad postal system(when living in Kuwait), laziness and/or finding out about the the cause a little too late.
However, I'm happy this time I could join. I have saved all the designs being offered under the hashtag on Instagram.
Sharing links for few I like in the caption:

Picture credit :Silver Creek Samplers

Picture Credit: JBW designs 

Picture credit : SewMuch2Luv

Bee Well by The Blackberry Rabbit

You can follow the hashtag  #bewellandstitch on Instagram and Facebook to find more designs.

I hope these links help you a bit to take your mind off .

Take care friends.

Gifted Gorgeousness SAL March 2020 update

Hello Friends,
It's that time of the month when we show what gifts we have been working on or/and what crafty gifts we have received. If you don't know what I'm talking about , check Jo's blog for more info. This is an easy SAL where you have a choice to stitch any designer, color or pattern, just that it should be a gift for someone or gift from someone.

I finished stitching the Lizzie Kate piece I showed you in my last GG update.My version:

This is how the original finished piece was supposed to look like

I decided not to stitch the beads but I may add them one day.The pattern was a giveaway win and the fabric was received in a swap.

14th of March was my husband's birthday and it has become a tradition to stitch something small for him every year, mostly a suprise. For last three years I have stitched a owl for him, as we both love owls. He once mentioned that enough of owls now..so I decided to stitch something which he loves more than owl?-Cats

Its always fun to look for patterns in stash or online to meet liking of the recipients.I picked up a free pattern by Tom Pudding and started stitching.Unfortunately I wasn't able to finish it on time as I only get an hour of stitching when he is not around. I showed the incomplete piece to him on his birthday and he was still appreciative .

Another piece I can show in gifted category is this bookmark which I made for a bookmark swap in 2017, only to find my partner is allergic to felt. The same group was organising a  bookmark swap this month and I asked my partner about her allergies. She said she has none. Out came this bookmark from my stack of finished pieces.

The buttons were received in a swap with Preeti and the felt was given to me by my cat's earlier owners/parents.

Giveaway Update:

No one showed interest in the pattern I offered in my last GG post, so now the pattern is up for selling.

As we are talking about selling, I have first time put up some of my stash for selling on facebook. Most of the patterns were the ones I have already stitched and were beginner level so none of you blog friends would have liked it. 

I think with each passing year I'm becoming more and more particular about not hoarding things (OCD?). The moment I stop using a thing- be it a piece of cloth, footwear,bag,utensil or cross stitch pattern, I want it to give it away ASAP.

Its not a space problem or I need money, its just that my mind feels calm when I don't have extra things in my house.

Other life updates:

I hope you all are keeping safe with the pandemic hitting almost all countries of the world. My city is under lock down, I'm working from home and observing social distancing.

It was my birthday last month and I was spoil rotten by my husband. He got me a customised cake on theme of a Indian postcard as snail mailing is my new hobby.

 I also got a new phone and these beautiful flowers. We went for brunch and watched a movie . It was a lovely day.

This has become a long post. Ending with prayers for everyone to be safe and calm.

Let The People Choose-March Update

Hello Friends,
First Saturday of the month I join Jo for The People's Choice SAL . Jo takes a poll for people to choose a topic for the month and the participants then post about stitchy projects related to that topic.

This month's topic is Coffee. I'm not a fan of hot drinks,be it tea or coffee. However I drink tea twice a day for psychological reasons.
When I started my career, people in my office used to take tea or coffee breaks. At first I didn't join them, then I realised these tea breaks were a way to relax one's eyes as we used to work on a computer for 9 hours, also time to chit chat a bit.
After working in the industry for 15 years , my mind asks for tea or coffee at defined hours of the day otherwise I feel tired.
I prefer coffee over tea , however coffee served in India contains milk and sugar unlike the bitter one I tasted on my first trip to USA.
During my time in Kuwait, I met people from all over the world and came to know that coffee is a big part of western culture. Our craft meetings were held in Coffee shops  and never in 4 years did I drink hot coffee.My go to drink was Frapuuchino.
Having said that I love cold coffee specially one served with one scoop with vanilla ice cream. Have you had one?
For obvious reasons I don't have any coffee patterns in my stash , however I stitched one for my friend in Kuwait.

This is a free pattern from kincavel krosses. 
I have saved this free pattern to be stitched for my coffee loving friends

Tea or coffee by Palko Lap 

Palko lap has many cute coffee patterns , go check the link out.

That's all I have to show related to Coffee.Have a nice day.

Gifted Gorgeousness SAL February 2020 update

Hello Friends,
It's that time of the month when we show what gifts we have been working on or/and what crafty gifts we have received. If you don't know what I'm talking about , check Jo's blog for more info. This is an easy SAL where you have a choice to stitch any designer, color or pattern, just that it should be a gift for someone or gift from someone.

Happy to report that I have something to show this month:

I started a Lizzie Kate pattern on 19th of last month . Here is the progress till now:

The chart was giveaway prize I won on Tiffany's blog and the fabric was received in an exchange with Diya.

I have changed the fabric and colors from the ones suggested in the pattern. I'n using Anchor variegated floss for stitching the design.

I wanted to complete this before posting for GG , however as you can see that's not what happened.
I would like to pass this chart to one of my active blog followers , so if you are interested, leave a comment and spread the word. If you plan to follow me for participating in the giveaway, I accept that you interact thru comments in future.

I will draw a name on my birthday-27th feb and declare the winner in next GG post.I plan to finish stitching the pattern before that :)

An update I would like to share is that I have started working again after a planned break . I now work as a consultant so lesser working hours give me flexibility to manage the house and work properly.

The funny thing is while I was on a break and had so much time on my hands, I couldn't find inspiration to stitch. Now , I try to stitch everyday before going to work-duration varies from 5 mins to 1 hour.

My husband gifted me this cross stitch theme cup for my new office .

Another little handmade gift I got was this coin purse made using a sewing machine by husband's 85 year old aunt . She really inspires me with her zeal to create things at her age.

Not a proper gift but I made this quick card, using a lace heart I won thru a cross stitch giveaway on Instagram, for a secret Valentine's day exchange on Ravelry.

That's it for the GG update.
Its getting hotter here day by day and feels like summer ..not the good kind of summer which people in UK enjoy. 😂
Hope you have a good month with lots of stitching time.