A feather in my cap and a storm in my head !

Well , the latter part of the title has got nothing to do with my post ...ha ha...just that I could not think of any title and this sounded good so I added it :)

Here is the feather in my cap . My first cross stitch design , Summer cards , got published in the April-June 2017 issue of the ' Anchor Needle n Thread ' magazine , India :)

Life was busy last few weeks .  Anshita's summer vacation started from 21st April . We attended my cousin's wedding last month and met my family and relatives . Anshita wore a lehenga/half-sari . It is similar to a sari with top and long skirt but the wrap around is just two meters instead of  five meters . She was looking very cute !! :) 

Anshita with her cousin , Piyush (my brother's son)

I also made mehendi/henna for her . I am not good at it but I managed to make her happy :)

Also , visited a newly opened craft store and got some random stash . 

Burlap ribbons and hemp ropes

Some assorted things - mini easels , watering can chalkboard 

textured paper and felt sheets , mini chalkboard for my craft room

Few buttons and sewing supplies

Hobby books (purchased online)

I am enjoying Anshita's company at home with ACs and electricity bills running all time high :) We got self-ligating dental braces fitted for her and now, after two weeks, the discomfort has reduced and she can eat regular food instead of soft mashed ones .

Hope you are doing well and enjoying your time :) 

Happy crafting !!

Preeti

Busy, yet not busy...

I always feel I am busy . Whether I am working on something or not is altogether a different thing but the thought itself that lots of tasks are still pending makes me feel that my life is hectic . I get an urge each morning to jump from the bed and complete all the tasks at whirlwind speed but unfortunately, the jump only happens in my mind:D

Anyways , I made some progress on my Dimensions kitty litter project and I have decided that first week of each month I will stitch this project only . Only by doing so will I get this done . So here is my April progress .

After : progress on two kitties on the left

Before

The design

I completed one more small doily which has joined the queue of pending-for-blocking and I guess they will get a chance someday to appear on my blog .

I have been thinking about making a journal, not exactly the kind of bullet journal but a fancy one with doodles and few things, which doesn't require daily/weekly updates . I can't think about making check boxes , lists and indexes like other meticulously made journals I see on Pinterest . I make my lists on scraps of paper mostly saved from Anshita's wasted printouts for school projects and then I throw those away once the tasks are done . My family has a perpetual to-do list written on white board with tasks that should take a day or week to complete but surprisingly they remain there for an year or more...lol. How do you maintain your day-to-day list and big tasks list ? I will share my journal idea in next post . Just wanted to practice my drawing skills, not that I am good at it but I hope I can do better .

Have a great day!

Preeti :)

A small finish :)

Just a quick post to share this cute little bear finish ....

Design - 'Paws for thought' from the magazine Cross stitch collection Feb 2012 issue.

Probably my shortest post ever....life is busy and is zapped by rising temperatures now hitting 40 C. Spending most of the time in AC still there are tasks to be done in sweltering summer and we need to increase tolerance level to brace up for 46-47 C in May.

Have a crafty week ahead!
Preeti

Status update....

Thanks for your comments on my last post ! I have nothing new to share but that doesn't mean life was boring at my end .

On the International women's day, while the Air India created history by flying an all-women crew (including the ground support staff) flight across the globe from New Delhi to San Francisco and back , I got a big cut on my right thumb and enjoyed a humble day off from the house hold chores :D

My needlework came to a standstill but I continued most house work imagining myself as a leftie . Also, my eyes were paining a lot so I couldn't enjoy reading , surfing or watching TV either :(

Anyways the good injured time is over and I have been certified healthy by my own conscience and therefore I got to work on so many pending tasks which nobody at home felt were necessary.

Here are my WIPs, so less compared to those of my blogger friends . I want to work on these projects and maybe start a few small ones too . Which one is your favorite?

A floral border from the book "Embroideries and patterns from 19th Century Vienna"

This is how it will look when done . It requires some DMC to Anchor conversion work as the book refers to only DMC codes .

Kitty litter by Dimensions

Height chart by Durene Jones

Cross stitch blooms by Barbara Baatz Hillman, Leisure arts.

We went to a new restaurant recently where I ate a 'paan icecream' . A paan is usually a betel leaf filled with different things. I don't usually eat but this one was a sweet one filled with just 'Gulkand'. 'Gulkand' is a kind of marmalade made out of rose petals, it is considered good for health in hot weather . It came with all fanfare of dry ice which was fun to look at as well :) I also liked the metal and stone decor at the entrance door .

I sowed some summer flower seeds this Monday and most of those have germinated . I hope they will survive . For the first time , I have done some proper seed saving . These will be sown in the month of Sept. I have seen so many nice free printables for seed sachets but I am still a novice in seed extraction so I will wait before wasting printer ink .

We could not play Holi (festival of colors in India) as Anshita is having her final exams . I am looking forward to more stitching time :) I have been doing some stash shopping for past few months but couldn't get to take any pics , hope to share soon .

Thank you for reaching until here :)
Have a great weekend!
Preeti

Few little things and some stash !!:)

Thank you all for your wishes :) I so much wanted to personally reply to each one of you but it just didn't happen . I finished a cross stitch project but it is meant for an exchange so I cannot show it here .

Anshita made this wonderful card for me and also designed a cup and got it printed online :)

Isn't it cute ? She hasn't ever paid attention to how many spools are used in a sewing machine because she follows hobbies other than mine . She used perler beads to create the sewing machine and wrapped endless amount of crochet thread on the spools and near the needles :))

Raj cooked my favorite food in the evening , gave me some jewellery , a 12-slot earring box and loads of chocolates which I ate up :D I didn't take any pictures of those , even the above one I asked Anshita to take it for me as I was lazy to do my own job . He also ordered a cross stitch chart I asked for and some more are still pending to be ordered as I haven't shortlisted . Probably , they will merge with my own stash shopping :) We also played few games and enjoyed a great family time !

I went to a newly opened linen clothing store nearby and enjoyed seeing the colorful stacks . These aren't as such meant for cross stitching but for experimental basis I just bought two flax linens .

large spools of colorful threads at the billing counter

stacks of pure linen fabric

I am getting a consistent harvest from my single chilly plant .

I got some more plants from the nursery, will try to share next time .

Keep crafting !
Preeti :)

Happy Birthday to me !! :D

Thanks for the great response on my Lady Bird fairy in the last post ! :)

Today is my Birthday and here is some beauty to share .....:)

Pointed Harmony Doily

I made this doily with size 20 Anchor crochet thread and 1 mm hook and it measures around 18 inches at the farthest points . It was very difficult to block so many picots on the doily .
It is a vintage pattern from the book , 'Old-Fashioned Doilies to Crochet ' edited by Rita Weiss . It is also available for free here . Hope you like it .

Have a great day !

Preeti :)

The Gorgeous Lady Bird !! :))

Not yet the finished finish to share , but still there is no stopping from sharing the gorgeousness :))

'Lady Bird fairy' by Joan Elliot stitched on 14 count aida fabric from the magazine , Cross Stitch Collection, Feb 2012 and completed in Dec, 2016. Those are the only details I can give . I don't keep the exact dates/hours statistics for any project and I am happy I have one less task to do there :D

I have framed it but still could not find the best place to hang it and take images without reflection . Even these images were taken in a hurry before framing so they are only few . I did not stitch the swirls of beads showing the track of lady bugs as I felt it was cluttering and I was satisfied stitching until this

I got tinier seed beads online and those are smaller than Mill Hill beads, just see the spots on the lady bugs . Definitely, the best replacement I got for the french knots . Now I am not afraid of the designs with french knots :)

So much is still in the pipeline but looks like time is just slipping away . I have completed three crochet doilies but none blocked so far . And much more to share iff I can squeeze 48 hours in a day :D

Happy crafting!
Preeti