Mode : Stitching Slump

Goshhh ! I haven't been cross stitching for more than a week !

My 2 kids (Hanie & Shasha) and I were down with fever last week. Recovered but still coughing a bit. Luckily, my hubby and baby Alya are in good health. I hate when it's time to take up medicine. Nooooo, it's not me who hates medicine, our 2 darling princesses will quickly think of something to distract us from giving them medicine. Cheeky gals...!

By mid of last week, 3 of us have recovered from fever despite the 'syrupy thug-of-wars'. Thank goodness, I managed to finish one of the exchanges (no XS, just finishing) coz later that week, I was distracted from stitching by watching the Commonwealth Games on TV. Hardly pick a needle except for finishing a MailArt which is barely finished yesterday. No mood for XS but itching to sewing. I've started the baby quillow project - I'm doing some applique' blocks at the moment. I'm thinking to resume stitching my WIPs only after I've finished the quillow *wink*



Oooopsy ! I forgot to show you my latest craze - softie.... I made one for the kids (merely one as Hanie doesn't really play with softies & dolls). Shasha seems to love Kittie very much inspite of the odd-looking ears. Here is a pix of Kittie behind the wheel

It's Time for Tea (work-in-progress update I)

I've started this project last week (on Wednesday evening) concurently with the MYS Work-In-Progress Nite. It is one of my WIPs, currently I have 4 WIPs including 2 exchanges to be mailed out on 1st April. The chart is designed by Alma Lynne. Fabric - 28ct graziano riviera linen, flosses - DMC. It's still a lot to stitch, about 70% more

My Morning Cup

I saw this morning cup challenge in San's and Lillie's few days ago but haven't got the chance to snap some photos. My favourite morning cup WAS the mug that I bought in Genting Highlands (Theme Park) several years ago. I bought it b'coz of Tabby (the cat that holding the alphabet T). Tabby The Cat is one of the theme park's mascots. I simply love teddie bears and tabby cats. Unfortunately, I recently broke the handle Anyway I have the Famous Amos Cookies cup to replace with. I love this cup for two reasons : one - b'coz it is just perfect for one sachet of my favourite cereal drink and second - bear bear bear

There is another mug that my hubby and I really treasure. We bought this mug few years before we came to Sarawak. It is an oversize mug, I use it if I would like to take 2 sachets of cereal drink in the morning.

Stitching Blogger's Question of the Week

Do you stitch “over one?” If so, describe your experiences. If not, have you considered it?

I've done"over one" in 28ct linen. Initially, it was tricky to count the thread. Once I got the hang of it, it was quite fun actually and was eager to see it finished. I also have made few "over one" projects on 22ct hardanger cloth. If I had to compare, I prefer to stitch "over one" on linen as I think that it is much more neater.

What I did in February - part II

I managed to stitch several small pieces in February. All of them are the charts from magazines. The bikini was actually a January WIP. Tigger and flower bouquet are mag freebies. The sunflower and pincushion patterns are adapted from bigger charts and already finished as needlecases as you can see in my PictureTrail album. The pincushion is from Joan Elliot's.

And I'm tempted to stitch 'Stitcher's Alphabet' by Brooks Publishing . As the newsletter is bimonthly, I definitely have to wait until end of the year to complete stitching the alphabet. Here is what I've stitched so far :

What I did in February - part I

Early February was the mailout date for 3 exchanges I participated in.

MYS Surprise Exchange 2006 is a whole-year commitment exchange. We are required to stitch 6 items (bookmark, needlecase, bookmark, biscornu, stitching pouch & tuckpillow) and each item will be mailed out every 2 months. The surprise/suspense part is everyone of us will not stitch the same item and mail it out to the same recipient for the particular mailout date. And at the end of the year, every one of us will still receive the 6 stitched items. It is something like a 'wait and see' game

For the 1st mailout, i stitched a biscornu for Wendy .

It was not really easy for me to adapt a chart for stitching a biscornu. After so much browsing and hesitation, I settled for a freebie border from a Bulgarian site (if I'm not mistaken) with some adjustment. Decided to stitch a dual tone - one on grey linen and the other on colonial blue lugana (I don't have a matching linen)

And it was a pleasant surprise to receive a biscornu from Roz for this particular mailout date. It is very lovely, you should visit her blog. BTW, I only received one of those shown in the pix: the other one is for Roz's another exchange partner

MYS Valentine Stitched Card Exchange 2006 - I happened to stitch several pieces before I settled with this :
Simply stitching 'love' using several alphabet charts. Padded the back of the stitched piece heavily with batting and embellished with ribbons and 'heart' bead mimicking a floating big heart-shaped balloon. Sent out to Bee Ee together with some beads & buttons and floss. She really like it and in return she mailed me the Women Weekly. I'm very excited as it had been a long time I didn't read/buy such magazine. I think I read/bought too many craft mags lately

And I received such an interesting card from Lillie - with dangling heart , 'open sesame' birdhouse and etc. And a lovely needlecase and beeswax candle. Visit her blog and you will know what I mean.

Needlecrafter Valentine Stitched Card 2006 - this is the 1st time I used perforated paper for stitching card (I've done a bookmark before). A simple patchwork heart pattern (I forgot the designer, will check it out later). With layers of organza, lace and craft paper, it turned out the way I wanted it to be. Sent out to Hani together with some stitching goodies.
In return, received a card from Rozie together with bead bracelets and pin. Thank you Rozie. sorry, I haven't upload the photos yet. will do it later.

Stitching Blogger's (s') Question(s) of the Week(s)

What cross-stitch magazines or other publications (as opposed to blogs) do you read on a regular basis? What do you like about them? What do you not like? What would your perfect publication include?

I read/purchase several craft magazines monthly and The World of Cross Stitching (WOCS) is the XS magazine that I buy on regular basis. I wouldn't say it is perfect but WOCS is just what I look in a XS magazine - contains small, medium & large charts, tips and nice freebies. My intrepretation of perfect publication might not be a perfect one for others as my personal preference would include charts that I'd like to stitch for my kids (e.g. Pooh, Barney, Elmo & Mickey), charts for my hubby - golf and stuff, specialty stitches charts, insects & garden charts especially the buzzing bees and nice freebies e.g. coaster, fridgie, mini frame, buttons & etc

I recently started to purchase Papercraft Inspirations magazine. I can say this the perfect papercraft magazine for me. I like everything that comes with it - projects, tips, ideas, gallery and freebies

Do you have an organizational system for your patterns? If so, how do you organize them? If not, have you considered organizing them?

Yes, I do have an organizational system eventhough it is not as organized as it should be Basically, I have 5 differents folders namely - regular XS, specialty stitches, freebies, magazines (charts) and the last one is for my WIP. I don't separate them by 'designers' as I don't really have a very large collection.

Blog Anniversary

Hi everyone! I'm back!

Today is my blog's 1st anniversary and I'm back to the blogging world. I wanted to blog earlier but I was down with stomach upset in the beginning of the month. I feel very healthy now and have actively stitching for the exchanges that to be mailed out on 1st April.

I've thought of stitching a memento for my blog anniversary but I'm too tied up with my kids and stitching for exchanges. Nevertheless, I've managed to upload 'step by step' photos in my PictureTrail album (initiated by an enquiry from Lee Ann in Hong Kong Thanks Ann) I had emailed to few of you regarding these photos and here I would to share them with everyone.

Please click HERE to view the photos. Enjoy and Happy Stitching to all of you. I will be back with photos of finishes and etc