Wedding Gift for Hardy & Zaza

A week before I gave birth to my baby Alya, managed to finish stitching a wedding gift for a friend of mine, Hardy. Sent the stitched piece to the framer and collected several days later.

Hardy & Zaza's akad nikah was on 26th November 2005 and the reception is scheduled in Dec (in Johor Bharu). Their akad nikah was held earlier than the original plan/date as Hardy had to leave for Maastricht on 27th Nov and he wanted to bring Zaza along...for honeymoon of course. They are back in Kuala Lumpur (KL) now and will be leaving for Maastricht for a 'new beginning' in late Dec.

** Akad Nikah ~ verbal contract between the bride’s father and the groom and presided by a Kadhi (I snagged this terminology from Adam's blog)

The reason, I didn't upload the pic of framed/stitched piece on my blog earlier was b'coz it didn't reach the recipients yet until my hubby personally handed it over to Hardy when he was in KL on Monday.

I got this sampler pattern from BHG website (sorry I forgot the link). Stitched on 28ct Lugana (colour Colonial Blue) using Six Strands Sweet, Dip&Twist and DMC flosses. I hardly stitch on coloured fabrics except for some earth-coloured/pastel fabrics. And I really like how this 'stitching on blue fabby' turned out. I may stitch more on coloured fabrics next time *wink*

And I have to admit that I've been bitten by a 'heart/love patterns' bug these few months hehehe. I have 3 WIPs of the theme and signed up for 2 of next year's Valentine Exchanges. You will be seeing several more pics of the heart/love theme stitched pieces on my blog in the next few months *wink*

To Hardy & Zaza , wishing you all the best for your new beginning in Maastricht.

## Update : Click HERE to go the BHG link. Thanks to Lee for sharing the link :-)

Stitching Blogger's Question of the Week

Have you done any charity stitching, been in one, or would like to organize one?

Yes, I have done once - 'Stitching For Love' project. I stitched a quilt square for a little girl.

Thank You

To our families, friends, fellow bloggers, visitors and well wishers

My hubby and I would like to thank you for your best wishes on the arrival of our new baby girl. Alya is 18-days old today and I'm feeling healthier.

Thank you all.

Our New Bundle of Joy

Introducing our new bundle of joy, Alya ,
born on 25th November 2005 9:24 am
birthweight 2.95 kg

Cheeky little gal, her gender remained unknown until the moment she was born despite of several 'snoopings attempts' by her parent and the doctor. The arrival of Alya has completed her golf addix dad and stitching mom's 'Charlie's Angels team'; And made her grandma smiling as her grandma already has 'The 3 Musketeers' (Alya's uncle' has 3 sons) and now 3 darling angels (Hanie, Shasha & Alya).

Alya - yesterday, at home after discharged from the hospital

I finally finished my bellpull yesterday !

After several months from the 1st day I started my bellpull project, I finally managed to finish it yesterday.

Days of the Week is designed by Lynda Orme & Wendy Peatross of Forever In My Heart Designs. The chart is featured in The Cross Stitcher magazine April2005 issue (US mag). I had started this bellpull project some time in 3rd week of July. I took about 3 week plus to finish stitching all '7 days' ( I was on a stitching rotation - stitching some small items) and then literally tossed away the stitched piece in my craft cabinet *LOL* . Click here to view the 1st picture of the bellpull project I took.

After been procastinating with the finishing touch, one month later (in September), i took out the piece and wanted to resume with the finishing touch. But somehow, i found that the piece is quite plain and decided to stitch a simple black border. Stitching a simple border in one colour could be a boring task. Yes, I did found it very boring and was always sidetracked by stitching smalls. Believe me, it took more than a skein of DMC 310 to stitch the border (initially I couldn't believe this *LOL*) . And at one time, I was run out of this black floss *grrrrr...!*

Last week, the 'struggling' was finally over. I put the stitch piece aside (again hehehehe). On Friday, I resumed with the finishing and yesterday was a great day for me! Finally my bellpull is ready to hang! The border looks perfect for the bellpull. I'm really happy with my decision to stitch the simple plain black border although it took me some time to stitch and nearly put me into a stitching slump.

Click here to view another closer view of the bellpull.

A picture of another stitching

As promised, there is another picture to share. A small giftie for another birthday girl. Harsha is one of the Birthday Exchange participants, her birthday was on the 5th November (a day after our anniversary). On that day, she opened the gifts she have received including the package from me.

I stitched her a simple potpourri sachet with her initial, sent it along with a bag of potpurri and stitching goodies.

I'm thinking of stitching more sachets after I downloaded this picture from the camera. This is the 2nd sachet I ever stitched (1st was the Halloween sachet). Personally I think , potpourri/scented sachet is a sweet giftie.

Talking about stitching, I am still 'battling' with the finishing touch of a bellpull which have been delayed for months and stitching the Popcorn Bear freebie. I don't actually feel like stitching eventhough lots of stitching/sewing ideas on my mind. Luckily, I've decided not to join any exchanges (since midyear till end of the year) except for 2 more BDEs to be sent out (no stitched item is required tho'). If I do feel like missing stitchings & stuff, I simply browsing stitchers blogs to view their recent finishes and etc. BTW, Bloglines is recommended for the convenience of reading other blogs :)

Our Anniversary

Today is our 4th anniversary. Instead of going out, my hubby and I spent the time at home with our kids and cooked his favourite meal.

For this year's memento, I stitched a mini banner. The pattern is simple yet attractive, which caught my eyes when I was browsing some French stitchers blogs (who blogs in French) last time. Eventhough there is only a French word or two that I barely know, I guess the language of needlecraft is universal (plus with the help of Google translator of course *wink*). Then I came across with BlueTurtle's freebie pattern '9 de coeur' (the 9 hearts). You can click here for the link. There some other nice freebie patterns as well.

'9 de coeur' - I stitched on 28ct linen using Dip&Twist overdyed flosses by Needle Odyssey and embellished with some red seed beads. I personalised it with our (my hubby and I) initials and wedding date.

Card for Zarina

Here is the picture of stitched card I made for Zarina. She received it together with the BDE stash on her birthday - 1st November.

BDE, Birthday Exchange, is a stash exchange I signed up early this year. Eventhough, it merely requires stash to be given as birthday gift but most of us are willingly make an extra gift - handmade item. I think the reason is b'coz of the pleasure of giving out to people and make them happy *wink*

The basket of apples is actually a part of Lizzie Kate Autumn chart. I stitched this apple pattern b'coz Zarina likes 'apple-related' stitching thingies. This pattern is stitched on 14ct white aida with colour changes using overdyed flosses - Dip&Twist by NeedleOdyssey, Weeks Dye Work & Needle Neccesities.

An Update

Just a quick update on my stitching progress. After the halloweeny poutporri sachet, I managed to stitch 3 more items. Two of them are on the way to the recipients. The last one is a mini banner I stitched for our 4th anniversary on 4th November. Will upload the photos later.

And today, my two friends are celebrating their birthdays.

Ez - my long time best friend. She is married to an Indian gentleman. I believe today, she is celebrating with her in-laws the Happy Diwali (Festival of Lights) and her birthday simultaneously.

Zarina - my stitching friend in Penang, a talented stitcher who shares the same interest in Victoria Sampler and Elizabeth's Designs charts/patterns with me.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Ez &Zarina !

A little bit late...

Yes, it is a little bit late to stitch a halloween theme for an exchange. But I couldn't resist stitching this cat pattern. It's cute!

Anyway, I didn't stitch this for any Autumn/Fall/Halloween Exchanges. I didn't sign up for exchanges till end of this year. Simply made this poutporri sachet for a friend. It is a R.A.K. (random act of kindness). I'm aware that she might be receiving it a bit later than 31st October but I hope she will like it anyway.

This 'Cat-O-Lantern' chart is by Bent Creek. Stitched on 16ct 3" width aida band using Dip&Twist overdyed flosses by NeedleOdyssey for the cat pumpkin & tail and DMC flosses for the rest.

Datin Seri Endon passed away...

Our Prime Minister's wife, Datin Seri Endon Mahmood passed away this morning at 7.55am at the PM's official residence in Putrajaya. She suffered from breast cancer. She returned to Malaysia to be with her family during the fasting month after receiving breast cancer treatment in United States. She was very active and put tremendous efforts in Breast Cancer campaigns despite her own long battle with cancer. Her departure is surely missed by all...


*** For more stories, please click here

I'm back...!

Hello everyone !

It had been more than week since we were back in Miri on 10th Oct evening. I didn't feel like blogging until 2 days ago but I was quite tight up with other chores.

I had a great time in Kuala Lumpur eventhough we didn't enough time to go to all places I wished. Apart from visiting families, the 1st place that I wanted to go was the LNS - Yee's Craft World, which is quite famous among Malaysian Stitchers Yahoo Group's members. My stitching firends, Azie & Inazz brought me there. Yessss ! I had a great time there, browsing and shopping for stash. Talked to the owner, wife and his SIL. They were very helpful and their staff were also nice to us and even have knowledge in whatever item we asked for. I had experience where the owner/employee of a LNS don't have clue what they are selling. Duhhhh...! I finally found the suitable print cottons for a baby quillow project. Also bought some country look cottons - chickens & sunflowers. And some aida bands and notions. In short, I spent more than usual *LOL*

After Yee's place, we had our lunch and went to other LNS. Bought some more buttons and crochet thingies. Crocheting - my SIL and I had kind of knowledge swap when I was in Kuala Lumpur. I taught her how to do simple patchwork and she taught me how to crochet. We even swapped books. This is great coz I've always trying to make her interested in patchwork since she has more multi-featured sewing machine than mine. Mine is a very basic portable sewing machine.

Talking of patchwork, last week I received a package from Isabelle. Last time she offered some charts including one applique' instruction to stitching bloggers. I claimed for the applique' instruction booklet. Isabelle as always a kind-hearted lady, sent me drawstring purse, embroidered lace bookmark and sachet along with the applique' booklet. I love them all! You can see the pics in her blog (I haven't manage to snap some photos yet).

Stitching wise - I didn't bring anything to stitch during our holiday in Kuala Lumpur. I started stitching Popcorn bear mini kit (magazine freebie) after were back in Miri but I'm in a really slow stitching pace. Furthermore, I can no longer sit still for a long period since my tummy is bigger and I need to do regular exercise for blood circulation after sit/lie down. Anyway, I don't set a list to stitch for this month except for some finishing touches.

p/s I made some changes to my blog yesterday - colur scheme & graphics. I feel that this is more refreshing. You may refresh the page if you couldn't see the changes made. Zohrah, I saw your comment coming in while typing this post *LOL* . It is good to know that you've made one for yourself (drawstring purse). I'm thinking of making one myself *wink*

Breast Cancer Awareness

October is International Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Breast Cancer Awareness campaigns and programmes have been launched by Governement and NGOs throughout the country.

In Malaysia, Breast Cancer is the top cancer in women, thus women's no.1 killer. The campaigns & programmes are to raise the awareness on breast cancer screening and early detection since the consequences of breast cancer can be significantly improved if the disease could be detected at an early stage when effective treatment can be conducted.

Our Prime Minister's wife, Datin Paduka Seri Endon, puts tremendous efforts in the campaigns of fighting the disease. She shares her own experience with other women and spends time for voluntary work in support of breast cancer patients despite her hectic schedule.

In conjuction with the campaign, I stitched a Pink Ribbon applique' . I got the free pattern from Angie's Bits n Pieces - quilting website ( it is actually a ribbon template for Leukemia Awareness campaign in September). I embellished the pink ribbon applique' with the golden yellow heart applique' and satin roses.

** There will be temporarily no postings from me coz I'll be in Kuala Lumpur early October visiting my families and hoping that will get the opportunities for some stash shoppings *wink* . Happy Stitching & Happy Blogging to everyone.

Stitching Blogger's Question of the Week

Have you ever just quit a project while in the midst of it? (We’re not referring to UFOs here, rather projects that you know that you’ll never work on again.) Why? What did you do with it - throw it out, give it away, put it away?

Yes, I had experienced twice . 1st piece is a free-style embroidery table cloth I started in my teenage years. The reason I stop was I've always deter satin stitches embroidery and the pattern requires satin stitches. Initially, I thought that I could overcome the problem but... hmmm. I still keep the piece in my stash cabinet though *wink*. As a reminder, perhaps. 2nd piece is my 1st XS kit. At time of purchase, I wasn't really into XS and I was sort of 'influenced' by my sis-in-law. There is no DMC flosses in the kit, instead the pattern calls for a different type of flosses (not 6 strands flosses or perle cotton). And being a non-experienced stitcher, I can tell you that it is my worst stitching ever *LOL* . Halfway thru' , I gave up but still keep the piece in my stash cabinet. Another reminder, perhaps *wink*

Gifts for cousins

I would like to share the pictures of gifts for my cousins.

I stitched a simple 'Happy Anniversary' pattern by Maria Diaz for my cousin who just celebrated their 1st anniversary this month. I'm going to hand it personally to her since I'm going back to Kuala Lumpur in early October.

As usual, I made some colour changes to the pattern - I used overdyed flosses for the leaves and pot. This is my 1st time stitching for such occassion i.e. anniversary, wedding, engagement etc


There is another gift for her sister. I missed her birthday last time - I'm actually closer to her sister.

'My cup of tea' - an applique'd piece of a teacup. The pattern is taken from Patchwork & Stitching magazine. It is actually a teacup & teapot pattern for a cushion cover. Since my hubby and I had decided to travel light this time, I only managed to make the teacup aplique' for her so that it won't take up much space in our luggage.

This framed piece is perfect for her hobby corner i.e. singing. She shall put the framed piece beside her karaoke set or maybe she shall hang it at her cubicle in the office *wink*

Birthday Gift for Lillie

Lillie is the other September birthday gal who participated in Birthday Exchange 2005. On her birthday - 27th Sept, she opened the all gifts that she had received. That includes a gift from me.

Yes, I also stitched a greetings card- cum - needlebook for her. This one is a bit different from what I stitched for Niza.


For Lillie's needlebook, I stitched on a piece of white aida band. I chose the calla lily pattern with a minor colour change. It is actually comes with an alphabet 'L' , since the aida band is only about 2" wide, I omit stitching the 'L'. To a person who rarely stitch on aida band (this is my 2nd time), initially I found it is a bit tricky to stitch on b'coz of the soft texture plus the smaller fabric count. Now, I wish to buy some aida bands for my stash collection *LOL*

I really enjoy stitching the needlebooks. Thanks to San's needlebook tutorial. It really inspired me to stitch for my friends.

The Busy Bee & Assisi

Here are some pictures of my other finishes. I've been stitching almost everyday for the last 2 weeks. But my stitching pace is getting slower these days. Managed to finish a few pieces only.

'The Busy Bee' is a pattern from Elizabeth's Designs (ED). ED is among my top 3 favourite designers for specialty stitches patterns. The other two are Victoria Sampler and The Drawn Thread.

Stitched on 28ct cashel linen with some colour changes. I've yet to attach the beehive & bees charms. Will do it before I send the piece for framing.

Planning to resume stitching more specialty stitches patterns next year. Been purchasing quite a number of patterns from these 3 designers, yet to get enough linens for stitching.

Last week, when a friend of mine asking about Assisi Work made me realised that I've never stitch an Assisi project eventhough I've always like this type of stitching.

Assisi is actually a variation on regular cross stitch : the background is stitched whereas the main shape is outlined with Holbein stitch/backstitch. Originated in Assisi, Italy.

I remembered of seeing Assisi projects in several blogs earlier. The freebie patterns are from CraftCo website. I decided to stitch Mt Cook Lily for my 1st Assisi project.

I stitched on 28ct cashel linen using Vicki Clayton silk floss. Made a change to the the border. I stitched a simple scroll border instead of butterfly blackwork border b'coz the fabby I used is too small to stitch a wider border.

Tiny dozen

I would like to share with you, a picture of the last 2 weeks' finish.

'Tiny dozen' which had finished earlier but I was terribly slow with the finishing off. Actually, I would like to finish it off differently, I was just too lazy to get my sewing machine repaired. Simplest solution is to frame the stitched piece.

This piece is actually a collection of teapot miniature patterns from various sources - magazines & DMC mini booklet. I selected my favourite dozen to stitch and added some laces to make it looks like the teapots are displayed in a cabinet. The stitchcount is not more than 20X20 and stitched on 14ct brown aida (to non-stitchers : the size of each teapot is approx. 1.5" X1.5" max). I made some colour changes and did extra backstitches.

I've always love teapots and teacups in a needlework version but I don't actually collect teapots.

A Bit of This and That

Yesterday, somehow my blog page didn't appear on the screen. Apparently, when I logged into Blogger, I saw that there was some major changes in my template which I didn't do it. I'm not sure what was wrong actually, I did emailed to Blogger support Team twice. They responded to my 1st email, and recomended some solutions. anyway, the solutions didn't seem to work. While waiting for their 2nd email, I remembered that I did save a back-up of my blog couple of weeks ago. I'm so lucky! Managed to edit my corrupted template and the blog is up again. Phewww !!!

Last week, the same thing happened to our friend's blog. We called up his wife (my friend) to check on his blog. We forgot to ask him what he did, but his blog is up again 2 days later. Lesson learnt,"always keep a back-up file for your blog", you may not know when it will be needed. Eventhough, I was not regularly back up my blog, luckily I seldom make changes changes to my template. My blog is up with a minor not-so-update info in the side bar links.

Here is the update on my hubby's golf tournament. He didn't make it to the final cut. Hard luck. After all, this was his 1st time qualified to participate in Miri Golf Club Amateur Open (to qualify, the handicap must be 12 and below). Last year, he was on the invitation - invitees played with the final-round qualifiers on the Final day of tournament. Anyway, won a golfbag for the lucky draw is not bad at all *wink*

While he was out...

Last week, when my hubby was away for business trips, I had some extra time for myself. Decided to stitch another golf pattern for him. This time is the the biggest so far. I've stitched bookmarks, card & golfbag tags for him before.

I was going to finish it as a mini wall-hanging when my hubby saw it and made a special request - he would like to have it finished as something else. I've yet to find the right materials to meet his request.

This pattern is designed by Brenda Davis and been featured in Simply Cross Stitch magazine 1998. I made some colour changes to the pattern and personalised it with my hubby's blog name and the url address.

Today, my hubby will be playing in 17th Miri Golf Club Amateur Open 2005 - one of the tournaments that he has been waiting for this year. The participants are club participants as well as golfers from other clubs in Malaysia and neighbouring countries (Vijay Singh was the club pro way back in the 80's before making a step to join the world tournaments circuit.) Best of luck to my dear hubby!

'Macam Burong Terbang' (in english : 'Fly Like a Bird')

Stitching Blogger's Question of the Week

What is the most challenging specialty stitch you have ever stitched?

I think I have not try out all the specialty stitches yet, but so far the trickiest is the rhodes butterfly. I always miscalculate and won't get a nice butterfly at my 1st attempts. However, I still love to do the rhodes stitches - heart & butterfly rhodes. These stitches are beautiful to my eyes.

I shall add here, as for free-style embroidery, I'm avoiding satin stitch coz I've never embroider a neat row of satin stitches : )

Birthday Gift For Niza

As promised, I'm going to share the pictures of my birthday gifts to September birthday gals (who participated in MYS BDE 2005). Niza had opened the package which has arrived on her birthday - 10th September. And the other gal is still waiting for the perfect time & day to open her package *wink*

Was inspired after reading the needlebook tutorial in San's blog (thank you San), I stitched a needlebook for Niza with some modifications/additions - a simple birthday card later functions as a needlebook (A is for Aniza)


It is as simple as it looks. All you need is to stitch a needlebook according to your preference (you may refer to San's needlebook tutorial - very clearly explained plus pics)


And a 4-fold card blank with the right size aperture - the size is approx. the size of stitched area on the needlebook. (and follow the simple instructions in the picture below)


Lastly, simply put the needlebook in the card blank, slip the ribbons through the slits and fold it as a greetings card. Now you have a simple greetings card-cum-needlebook for your stitching friend. Well, it is merely a different way of presenting the needlebook to your friend. I'm sure, there is lots of other ideas in your mind, please share with us :)

Back to Blogging & Stitching Blogger's Questions

Hi ! I'm back to blogging. The internet connection was not very good for the past weeks hence I didnt' really have the mood for blogging. Anyway, I managed to do some stitchings though the stitching pace was slower than usual. I've missed 2 SBQs and would to answer them today.

Q1: Which way do you stitch (/// and then \\\ or \\\ and then ///)? Can
you (or if you haven't done it before, do you think you could) change
the way that you stitch temporarily if it is asked of you?

A: I stitch /// and then \\\ and I don't have a problem if I were asked to change the way I stitch temporarily to \\\ and then /// (had done it once). Honestly, I felt a bit different during the first few stitches, after that everything went as usual (just like the way I usually stitch).

Q2: Do you stitch for events like weddings, engagements, or other things
that might not last? If you have been unlucky and the two people broke
up, what happened to your stitched gift?

A: I never stitch for such events before. If such an unlucky things happened i.e. broke up/divorce (that's life), I do hope one of them will still value the stitched piece and I won't mind if they ripped off some of the lettering. By the way, I'm currently stitching for my cousin who celebrated their 1st anniversary this month and will hand it over to her when I'm in Kuala Lumpur next month. This is my 1st time stitching for such events :)

Ladybug & Flowers Scissors Sheath

Sometimes I feel uneasy keeping a pair of scissors with sharp tip in my stitching bag - I may get pricked by the tip. It made me thinking to make either a scissors case or sheath for my stork scissors.

There is a website where I always visit for some inspirations. Rissa (the web owner) is a very talented needleworker and now has a blog - writing about her current projects. At the moment, she writes about Katrina Hurricane (she lives in Jackson, Mississippi).

I decided to make a scissors sheath using the materials that I used for my pincushion.

scissors sheath (insert pic: pincushion)

It is quite easy to do.The size of the sheath is depends on the size of your scissors. You may add any embellishments according to your choice. I took 2 afternoons to do it. Rissa's article on Custom Fitted Scissors Sheath is published in an online magazine. You may click this link to view it.

Golf Addix's new tag

Last night I took about 2 hours stitching and finishing it into DH's new golfbag tag. If I were yet to answer this week SBQ, I must've said that this is the smallest project I've ever stitched.

front

The flag and golfbag are freebie patterns from different designers. Stitched on 14ct aida, I did the colour conversion and made effort to do the extra backstitch. Yet, it is still a very simple and quick to stitch pattern and I personalised it with '@rm' in the front and 'Golf Addix' at the back of the tag.

back

I stitched his 1st golfbag tag in April this year. It is a bigger pattern and had to stitch it on 18ct aida in order to make small enough to fit the tag (note to non-stitchers ~ higher count of aida fabric makes the stitching smaller).

Stitching Small - Beehive

Feeling itch to stitch more small item after finished stitching gifts for Sept Birthday Gals, I decided to stitch a beehive - a small pattern from Garden Charmers charts collection designed by Diane Arthur of Imaginating.

Beehive

If you may noticed, I've used this small charts collection for my Fickled Minded Round Robin this year. But the small beehive was stitched by my friend, Nik. When I stitched the beehive, I put bee buttons as embellishment to replace the bee charms. I also did some colour changes.

Fickled Minded RR

Sneak Preview - gifts for Sept Birthday Gals

I have finished stitching gifts for Sept Birthday Gals and was going to mail them out yesterday. Then suddenly I remembered this Saturday (today) is the 1st Saturday of Sept. Post Offices nationwide, are closed to public on every 1st Saturday of the month. Mailing out on Monday morning wouldn't be much different as compare to Friday afterrnoon since I'm sending them across the South China Sea (to Penang & to Selangor).

The idea of having extra days with the gifts made me photos frenzy for a while *LOL*. Captured some photos from different angles and did some touch ups, I decided to put a sneak preview pic on my blog.

sneak preview

You may guess what it is (but sorry no pressie for the correct answer hehehe). Will upload the complete pics after the birthday gals have received the gifts safe and sound *wink*

Stitching Blogger's Question of the Week

What do you use to hold your fabric while you stitch? A hoop, a Q-Snap, a scroll frame, something else, or do you stitch in hand? Have you always used just the one thing or have you tried one or more of the others? Which do you like best? Why?


I use a hoop to hold the fabric when stitching(I have a set of three hoops). I would love to try Q-Snap or scroll frame but at the moment I haven't see any in Miri LNSs. Will look for it when I'm in Kuala Lumpur. Sometimes I do stitch in hand especially for small projects. But I prefer using the hoop coz it makes my stitching faster and neater.

Stitching Update as at Sept 1st

I've not been blogging for more than a week. Spent my time watching National Geographic re-runs which I've missed in the earlier weeks of August. I'm on a rotation stitching my WIPs and UFOs. Went to LNS a couple of times buying some cotton fabrics & other items for the finishing touches. I'm also stitching for September birthday gals - one of the items is ready for mailout. My stitching speed has become slower these days as sometimes I do feel uncomfortable sitting for a long time with this bulging tummy *wink*

Yesterday was our National Day, we didn't go anywhere except for dining out. DH spent his afternoon playing golf and me & the kids were watching TV (I was stitching as well). Happy Merdeka Day !

Stitching Blogger's Question of the Week

What’s the largest project you’ve ever done? What’s the smallest?

The largest project I've ever done - I shall say the 'Days of the Week' bellpull which I have not done with the finishing touch and don't have the updated pic as well. The finished bellpull size is approx. 8"W X 40"H.

The smallest project I've ever done - I did lots of small projects actually. Most of them are stitched cards, apart from them I shall say the smallest project I've ever stitched is the scissors fob.

scissors fob

Happy Day

Something in the mailbox yesterday simply made my day. Received 'Words of Love' chart from San-Man Originals.

I'm the lucky winner for the month of July (2005) in San-Man Originals contest. Thank you Sandy & Sanman Originals for this 'love'ly chart :)

Words of Love Sampler

A visit to a LNS is a must for me, I need some metallic threads for this chart (run out of gold metallic). Will stitch 'Words of Love' for DH *wink* (p/s... DH, I know you're reading this. Act surprise when you receive the framed piece from me, will you hehehehe)

Back to Stitching ...! (part II)

My stitching friend, Azie and I decided to go for another one-evening Lizzie Kate SAL after finishing the L*K Snug as a Bug.

L*K Snug as a Bug

Snug as a Bug ~ a total colour conversion stitched on rustico aida. I added the border since I'm planning to finish it off as a cushion cover. See the matching floral print cotton *wink*. Embellished with a ladybug button. I'm running out of stock now! Need to buy extra ladybug buttons next time since I love them as embellishments very much.

As for the other one-evening SAL, I particularly chose L*K Reach for the Stars (a.k.a Believe Imagine Dream) coz I'm a dreamer *wink*. Yes, I do have a dream and hoping that one day it will become a reality (I'm working on it).

L*K Reach for the Stars

Stitching on black aida in the evening was a challenge. Furthermore, I used the glo-in-the dark blending filament when stitching the stars, 'believe' & 'dream'. I was supposed to stitch 'imagine' with the blending as well but somehow I forgot about it. Being lazy to do the frogging , I just let it be.

Azie stitched both L*K Snug as a Bug and Reach for the Stars according to her preference. You may visit her webshots album to see her works. She took the pics before embellish the stitched pieces with buttons as she was using a scanner to capture the pics. Azie will upload more pics of the stitched pieces with embelishments later.

Back to Stitching ...! (part I)

Since last Friday, I had not been productive ~ stitching wise as well as blogging wise. Apart from making some pincushions which were quick to finish, I spent my time reading books and magazines.

Apparently my stitching friend, Azie was not in the stitching mood either. After a chat in YM, we decided to revive our stitching mood with Lizzie Kate SAL. We've been talking about this SAL for quite some time but never make out time for it.

L*K Love Bug

L*K Love Bug was quick to stitch and merely took an evening. Azie finished stitching earlier than me as I couldn't take my eyes off the TV screen *LOL*. The funny part was when we 'exchanged' our SAL pics, we realised that we went for the same colour theme except for I stitched on pink aida whereas Azie stitched on white aida. L*K gives freedom to stitchers to choose colour, type of flosses and fabric to stitch Love Bug.

Guess what, we are on 2-evenings L*K SAL ~ Snug as a Bug, which I've finished it just now. Azie has not text/SMS me yet about her stitching status. Will upload our pics of L*K Snug as a Bug later. I feel that both of us really back to stitching mood now *wink*

Stitching Blogger's Question of the Week

How often do you wash your fabric for each project? Do you wait until the very end until to wash it or do you wash it more than once?

Yes, I will wait until the very end to wash the fabric for each project. I'll hand wash the fabby gently before the finishing off. I never try machine wash coz I haven't stitch anything wearables except for baby booties. As for stitched pieces using the overdyed materials, I won't wash them unless I can see some spots which I'll give them 'in situ treatment'. I will usually be extremely careful when stitching using the overdyed materials *wink*

Cardmaking Revival

To some people, they've been involve in cardmaking for a long time, to others, cardmaking is a whole new thing. To me, cardmaking is a revival. I was into cardmaking during my school years. Sadly, I began to 'leave' my favourite pastime when I had too many things to do in campus.

LHC's cardmaking revival (i)

I entered the new beginning, last year. Started with XS cards. And then I tried some simple embroidery cards. The most recent is, 'playing with papers, scissors & glue' just like the good old times.

LHC's cardmaking revival (ii)

I really enjoy cardmaking especially nowadays we have lots of gadgets & supplies to choose & use as long as the time & budget permit :)

Stitching Blogger's Question of the Week

What do you do with the framed stitching that you keep? Do you hang it up and leave it in one place, never to move it? Or do you have a rotation, where you have one place for stitched pieces and switch them out according to mood or season? Maybe a mixture of both?

Well, I don't have many framed pieces actually. So far, what I have are those small in size and I simply put them on the dresser. I have wallhangings as well and hang them ocassionally. If I were going to hang the framed pieces, i would definitely leave them in one place and never to move them (we have issue with holes in the wall). Let's say, if I would like to remove the framed pieces from the wall, I will replace them with the wallhangings or family photos.

Haze-over-dose

Peninsular Malaysia has been blanketed by haze for a week now. And 2 places have been declared in a state of emergency ~ Port Klang and Kuala Selangor. Other areas e.g. Kuala Lumpur, Shah Alam, Putrajaya and Petaling Jaya show high API readings. The said cause for haze is from forest/peat fires in Sumatera and Kalimantan. Sumatera is the neighbouring island (in the west) which is as big as Peninsular Malaysia (ooopss it IS bigger). Reports said, the traffic in the Strait of Malacca is also affected by the haze.

For API reading, you may visit the DOE's website. For health concerning info, you may also visit the MMR website.

Everybody is praying for rains to wash away the haze (apparently dry season is forecasted to end in October). Cloud seeding is also considered by govt. I feel lucky that API in Miri is still below 100 at the moment.

Finally, a pincushion for me...

I have made pincushions & needleroll for exchanges and friend, but I never make a decent pincushion for myself hehehehe...

Last week, my stitching friend, Margaret, sent me the instructions on how to make a pumpkin pincushion. She has lots of pincushions in her collection. I came to know about it when I was her partner in Craft Exchange last year - I made a patchwork pincushion for her. Recently, she showed us (in MYS) a picture of her latest pincushion. It looks so lovely & yummy. I was so tempted to make one for myself.

pumpkin pincushion

Decided to make my favourite ladybug button as the central, I embroidered little flowers on the dark green colour cotton fabric. I can say, it's quite easier to make than it looks. The trickiest part is when to section the small round cushion into 8 segments. I took an extra time to embroider and do beaded edge whipping. It is actually up to our preference - to embroider or not.

Finally, a pincushion for me. Wait until DH knows about it, I'm sure he will be very happy *LOL* (no more needles lying around on the dressing table hehehe)

Stitching For Love

Stitching for Love project is a quilt-square stitching project organised in Malaysian_Stitchers YG (MYS). The quilt will be our pressie to a little girl, who suffers from leukemia

I've promised Aida (the organiser) that I will contribute some cotton fabric strips as I have quite a number of them in my collection (I was overwhelmed when visiting the LNS last time hehehehe). But I didn't give her my words on quilt square coz I was worried that I couldn't finished it before dateline. When I visited Katrina's blog couple of days ago, I saw a nice Stitchy Kitty pattern - Meow Spoken Here. The first thing that came to my mind was to stitch the pattern for 'Stitching For Love' project.

Meow Spoken Here

Yesterday, I spent the entire morning to stitch 'Meow Spoken Here'. I omit the border bcoz I think it is more appropriate without the border since I was stitching a quilt square. Anyway, I will stitch the border when I stitch for my daughters (maybe a framed piece or a cushion).

Stitching Blogger's Question of the Week

Have you hand-dyed your own fabric? Why or why not? Would you like to try to do so?

This question made me rummaging through my fabrics collection coz I remembered I did coffee-dyeing before. It was merely experimental when I coffee-dyed the fabric last time. Coffee-dyeing & tea-dyeing will give an antique & country look to the fabrics. I think samplers and country stitching (e.g. Jeremiah Junction designs) will look great on these coffee/tea-dyed fabrics. I have't try using the dye (colourant) yet. I've actually bought a purple colour Dylon. Planning to dye some fabrics with the Dylon colour after I finish my UFOs.