WIP Bags

Seeing that my WIPs are coming along preeetty slow :( I figured draw-string bags would make suitable storage. The xs patches were done a year or two ago. So they've come in handy now :)

Design by Lizzie Kate (freebies)
Stitched on 14ct aida with DMC threads

Comment Notes: Thank you for your comments, appreciate it and glad to be of help. Any questions? Just fire away :)

Basket/Tray Tutorial

I was inspired to make a basket/tray after browsing Harmien's blog. I walked the step in my head and came up with this simple tutorial. This piece can be washed if you remove the cardboard base.

You'll need:

Stitched piece
Front fabric (optional)
Backing fabric
Cardboard the size of the base
Ribbons (8 lengths)
Hard interface (optional)

Step 1


Machine stitch the front fabric to your stitched piece, if you've given a generous allowance of linen, this step is not necessary.

Step 2


This is the backing fabric stitched with a slit on one of the sides where we will slide a piece of cardboard to ensure the base is sturdy, also this allows the whole piece to be washed if so required.

Step 3


With right sides together and aligned, slip the ribbons between front and back piece. Pin both the pieces together.

Step 4


Again this is an optional step where if you prefer the sides to be more sturdy and upright, you'd want to iron on a piece of hard interface on all four sides of the stitched piece. Sew the piece on all four sides. Do not leave an opening for turning as we already have a slit on the backing fabric. Trim any excess fabric and the corners.

Step 5


Turn it over and neaten the edges.

Step 6


Slip the cardboard into the slit and into the pocket you've created with some excess fabric much like inserting a pillow into a pillowcase.

Tie ribbons together, trim if you wish.

And that's it, you have a completely washable basket/tray! :D BTW I've tea-dyed the stitched piece, it was just too white for me :)


Please feel free to leave me a comment should you have any queries, I'll answer them in my next post.

Happy weekend all!

August 2007 Goals

Not too bad a month according to goals. I'll be more focused on the 18th Century Mystery Sampler in August as there are no outstanding exchanges for me. However I do have to put some thought to stitching and finishing a pinkeep before the end of September for NNC Quarterly SAL. No denying I might get distracted with some smalls along the way ;)

The month that was:

• Work on Long Dog 18th Century Mystery Sampler SAL (into 3rd month) - Band 6 now, looking swell
  
• Work on Sara Hathorne Sampler - not touched at all, well I took it out of the Scroll Frame and serged the edges :p
  
• Work on ABC Birds by Aurelle - just a little here and there
  
• Complete tatting for the 25 motif Challenge - Done 15/07/2007
• Complete stitching for the CCE - Done 18/07/2007
• Completed 1 bookmark
  
• Completed 1 mini flanged pillow
• Completed stitching part of 1 freebie Amitie

The month that will be:

• Work on Long Dog 18th Century Mystery Sampler SAL (into 4th month) - I want to try to finish this sampler in August
  
• Work on Sara Hathorne Sampler - I hope to put in some stitches here and there
  
• Work on ABC Birds by Aurelle - Gosh I think I better finish this
• Finish the Amitie freebie into a basket tray

The Sanguine Store is having a month long sale! Please click here for details!

Seeing double

Over the weekend, my sis and me started on a small French design. It's an ex-freebie from Echevette. She's stitching it as a gift for a friend that will be going to the UK for her Masters and I'm stitching mine for ME :) We've almost finished with the stitching. It's a lovely piece and it's my first time stitching on 36ct Edinborough :) Rather challenging, now I need the browse the net for magnifiers!

Stitched on 14ct Rustico with Anchor 1206

Stitched on Edinborough with DMC 304

A gift for Lillie

I finished this little flanged pillow with the help of Katrina's tutorial on Focus on Finishing. Without which l doubt I would have the confidence AND the know-how to do so. A simple yet classy method of finishing.

I tatted a heart as the last motif of my 25-Motif Challenge. YES I did it!! It was to be sure an excercise in perserverance. You can view all my motifs since I started the challenge in August 2006 here.

When I saw the heart design, I immediately thought of Lillie who has been rather down lately. Since she has been so kind to be giving me so many little little gifts when we meet for tea and me of course being a big doh-doh came empty handed :p I figured that a tatted heart would be nice appliqued to a little flanged cushion. I am glad you liked it Lillie!

Design my LaRae Mikulecky
Tatted with Anchor Size 60

Now on to Long Dog's 18th Century Mystery Sampler SAL at NNC. I've completed Band 4 & 5 and started a wee bit on Band 6. I absolutely love the colours and this would most likely be the most colourful sampler I'll ever stitch! It's such a joy!


Also a mini SAL with Jess on the freebie Sajou Be Glad. We're going to stitch one panel every month. And what a wonderful piece it is and quite stress free too :) While Jess will be framing hers (she's stitching all 5 parts), mine will stop at Part 4 and finished into a stitcher's wallet.


Comment Notes: Thank you for your kind, encouraging comments and thank you for your time. I so do appreciate them all.

A gift for Janet C

I finished the design quickly enough but the nun stitch all around the bookmark was a different story. It was so slow was really not going anywhere :) So it took me longer than I would have liked it.

Janet is a quilter and since joining NNC many months ago she's dabbling with cross stitch and crochet again. She's even taken up tatting at SNN! She's a Harry Porter fan and when Emily mentioned that Janet is a book lover what would be more apt as a gift than a bookmark?

Design by Valerie Lejeune
Stitched with DMC 111

Fair & Square Exchange Completed

It's been a very interesting adventure. These are the squares I received from Wendy just now.

And these were the squares I sent to Wendy.


For those who are interested to join in Round 2 of the exchange please take a look here and here for details. Last day for the sign-up is 25/07/2007.

My sincere thanks goes to Vonna and Annemarie for organizing this global event! It has been a wonderful experience!

Welcome Ilhan Joshua

This piece got me beaming from ear to ear. I cannot take all the credit though :(

This was a team effort namely, my sis for stitching the birth sampler for her godson's little brother, and my BIL for picking that fabulous fabric that suited the piece to a tee. And me for finishing it superbly (there I go tooting my own horn again :p)

Without further ado...

Designed by Joan Elliot from her book 'Sentiments and Sayings'
Stitched on 14ct aida with DMC threads

Comment Notes: Thank you to all you good people that have dropped by, and some that have left comments. You cannot begin to know how much I appreciate them as I know we all live very busy lives. Time is a gift that you've given me, and for that I thank thee all.

The week that was...

Not much stitching going on in this part of the world I am afraid, but I do have some progress pics of my sis's stitching and a start.

This will be finished into an wall ornament. Will be going to the the LNS for some suitable fabric later this morning.

Designed by Joan Elliot

Another design by Joan Elliot

I bought a couple of Etuis from Dania some weeks back one for my sis and one for me and since there was some delay from the PO, Dania made it up by sending another box to my sis as a real surprise! Bless her heart.

And finally a start on Long Dog Sampler's The Token.

Long Dog Mystery Sampler - Week 9

The SAL suffered quite a bit last month and really progress on her has been sooo dismal. Half a band in the spade of a month...ridiculous! But I have a reason...trust me...I've been busy ;)

I've selected my design for my partner for the CCE and am looking forward to stiching and finishing it into a cushion cover. The exchange is organised by Lene and she's doing a great job!

July Goals & A Beautiful Exchange

I got my Wish List Exchange from Usha. Usha's recovering very well. She crocheted 2 doilies for me when she needed to only crochet one. It's so lovely. Thank you Usha.


It's July tomorrow and it's time for some reviews of June's goals. Where did half a year go?? :s

Goals in June

• Work on Long Dog 18th Century Mystery Sampler SAL (into 2nd month) - slow
  
• Fair and Square Exchange - (09/06/2007)
• Thread Winder - (10/06/2007)
• Tat some motives for the 25 motif Challenge, I need 6 more! - Yes I tated 3 1/2 motives

To add:

• Scissor fob gift
  
• Bourse gift
• Waxing Moon's 'My Needle and My Floss'

A good month really but at the expense of the LDSAL, I'm afraid.

July's Goals

• Work on Long Dog 18th Century Mystery Sampler SAL (into 3rd month)
• Complete ABC Birds
  
• Cushion Cover Exchange motif not less than 50 x 50

July should be a fairly easy month. I'll give the LDSAL the attention it deserves.

New stocks of Carrie's Threads have arrived, please check here for quantity and colours available at my tiny store :)

The chart goes to...

Sorry for the delay my friends. My mom drew Tessa's name from my hat. So Tessa welcome to the Sisterhood. Please see the comments section for my email address. I'll mail it out to you tomorrow!

Thank you all for participating. This has been real fun!

The Stitcher Finished! & a Bourse

I finished Waxing Moon's My Needle and My Floss last night! She was a wonderful stitch and the words are so accurate and surely it applies to almost every stitcher.

The words are stitched with Carribou Hyde by Carrie's thread it has a subtle change of colours which you cannot really see on this pic.

My Needle and My Floss
Designed by Waxing Moon
Stitched on Cashel with a mix of Carrie's Thread, DMC and French Silk
19/06/2007 - 24/06/2007

As I have pledged to Harmien (the original owner of this chart), I will now be releasing this chart to the next stitcher who wants it. You can live anywhere on this big blue marble, I'll mail this chart to you. But there's a catch ;) You must stitch it immediately and as fast as you possibly can and pass the chart on to another stitcher that wants to stitch it. If you think you can fulfill this pledge please leave a comment and say that you'd want to be a part of the Sisterhood of the Travelling Pattern, and I'll put your name in a draw! Also, you need to have a blog, so that other stitchers can keep track of it's status and it's whereabouts! I'll close the draw on Wednesday 12 noon (Malaysian time) and the results will be blogged right after.

On another note, I got word from Faizon that she received the bourse I stitched for her. Faizon is an expert tatter and I figured perhaps a little bourse will come in handy to keep her tatting WIP. As tatters will know you just need a small pouch for tatting which houses a shuttle or two, and a ball of thread! Perhaps she can take it with her for the classes she's been teaching! ;)

bourse closed

bourse opened

Designed by The Sampler Cove a motif from Double Dutch Sampler
Stitched on 28ct Lugana with DMC threads

Comment Notes: I will be always truly grateful for your wonderful comments and the sacrifice of your time. I do so much adore the work that all of you undertake and that has helped inspire me even more. What can I say but a mere 'Thank you' :)

Fob for Jo

I know it's not the post you're expecting, this is news that's just in :)

Jo informed me that she received the fob I sent to cheer her up. She's not been feeling too well lately. I stitched the fob using a piece of aida band. It was a nice quick little design.

Scissors Fob

Design by LHN (freebie)
Stitched on 16ct aida band with Carrie's Thread

The Stitcher - Day 3

My progress so far. I did not stitch on her last night, I was really pooped and hit the sack early. The hard part is over I think, and now it's basically the words and leaves and such, so it should not take me too long ;) Any day now... :D

The major part of her dress was stitched with a French Silk thread that Lili was so kind to enclose. I've never stitched with silk before and what do you know, it was a wonderful silky experience. I can see what the raves about silk threads are all about now! :D And for the darker portions of her skirt I used Carrie's Thread Raspberry. As always the camera is not doing justice to the colours, but I hope the next post you read from me will be a finish and better pic!


Comment Notes: Thank you dear friends for your encouragement. Jeanne, thank you for swinging by, I couldn't find your blog to leave a comment, the Thread Winder tutorial can be found here. Have a great weekend everyone and stay safe.

My Needle and My Floss

I got the chart from Lili who got it from Harmien, this afternoon. I've already picked the floss and cut the fabric. I'll start some stitching tonight itself. This will be my priority stitch. I hope to finish it in about a week. After I've stitched this design, I'll be offering the chart up to the next lucky stitcher that want and is able to stitch it immediately. And then it is offered up again, so it goes around our global stitching community. So if you want to be a part of the Sisterhood of the Travelling Pattern, please stay tuned :)

Long Dog Mystery Sampler - Week 6

It's been 6 long weeks since I started the Long Dong 18th Century Mystery Sampler SAL with pals from NNC and I'm still chugging along. It's a real intense stitch, no doubt. I'll be happy if I finish band 4 by end of June!

I get distracted too easily with some small and freebies that pop up in blogland and not to mention the wonderful online mag TGOS. Following is a motif from Diane Jourdan's Double Dutch featured in TGOS.



Comment Notes: Thank you all for visiting, I am so thankful of your comments. It truly inspires me.

Green Fest at my backyard

Well, not exactly :) It's at FRIM (Forest Reserve Institute of Malaysia). I live really close and took a walk there this morning to enjoy the festivities. It's in conjuction with World Environment Day co-sponsored by STAR a local daily and FRIM.

Please pardon the pictures, their are not too good, their better adapted for craft stuff ;)

Walk towards the main area

Kids from International College of Music doing their thing!

The market area (imagine the magenta... red :p)

Hand made crafts by the aboriginal people.

It wasn't too hot, in fact it was cloudy and it just might rain later. It was interesting talking to people about river care, kompost gardening and a very enthusiastic student from the music college! And I even suggested to a FRIM staff to print postcards and sell them at their bookstore. What better way to promote the world class work that FRIM is undertaking.

WLE received & a little start

Usha's daughter Manisha informed me that her mom has received her Wish List Exchange. Usha's is quite sick and have been running a fever for some days. I hope she gets well real soon and it's nothing too serious.

Usha is a marvellous crochetor, a craft that has eluded me to date (I am still optimistic). She and Janet have been going on for some weeks on the crocheted ripple blanket, but somehow they've lost some steam along the line. Hope they pick it up again, it's really eye candy to see the colours change. Since Usha has mentioned before that she crochets while commuting to work, I thought a fair sized calico tote bag would be ideal for her to carry her WIPs. I stitched a Sunbonnet Sue redwork. It's my first attemp at embroidery or at least stem stitch and it was a joy. It was quick too! The ric-rac was an idea from Isabelle (hope she is okay). Red is such a stunning colour, don't you agree?!!



Another option on Usha's Wish List (we're only supposed to fulfill one) was pouches for her little darlings, 3 of em! :) So I figured, I'd stitched that up as well, pouches were fairly easy to sew up afterall. I fused a felt heart on each pouch and added a white button for embellishment and of course more red ric-racs! :)


Still with reds. There has been much talk on NNC pertaining to French designs and all that lovely reds, so I did the next best thing, I started on a freebie from Aurelle. This was partially inspired by Mylene's progress on the ABC Birds.


Comment Notes: Thanks a bunch for your wonderful comments. You nice people are the best! And Annemarie you gotta make the thread winder too I am afraid ;) You can find it at Fabienne's blog.

Thread Winder Finish

This is a PITA finish. I felt like I was back in kindergarden playing with glue. My fingers were all sticky. Do you know how difficult it is to paste rounded then straight then rounded again objects? But as always the frustration is worth it! ;)

Turn out great if I might say so, and I'll most likely wind my tatted lace with it. How grand! :)


So that effectively completes the Thread Winder Quarterly SAL at NNC. Next quarter will be pinkeeps.

Also I've finished stitching for the Fair & Square Exchange. I'll be mailing it out to Wendy on Monday. No pictures till Wendy receives the squares. Also I hope the back of my stitching is neat enough for her. I am definitely not one of the neatest stitchers when it comes to the reverse side of stitchings :p

Also mailing out tomorrow is my WLE(Wish List Exchange) to Usha. I am happy with my progress so far and my commitments have all been met, way ahead of time I might add :)


Comment Notes: Thank you all for stopping by and leaving a comment or two. Very kind and encouraging of everyone.

Bounty of Gifts

I got home today to find a parcel waiting to be ripped open. I am no lady when it comes to opening presents ;) Even if I knew this was coming...still...

Look at my bounty :D


This ALL comes from a very talented crafter, mother of a cutest boy, blogger, fellow NNC group member... Mel. She crocheted that delicious mango cup cake! She hand made that lovely card and the crescent moon's leg moves! :D She also gave me some bag magnet clasps, it'll sure come in handy...once I learn how it works ;) Love them all.

Thank you so very much Mel.

Here's a close up of the lovely pincushion, ain't it a pretty!

Needlebook for Rose

Rose is a character! :) She's a mix of wit and charm. She gets everything she asks for...well almost ;) She's been dropping LOUD hints on the group about the French book that Margaret gave me and how the designs were so nice and how I am so lucky...etc etc etc :D She requested a needlebook, so who's not to give in to the request of an animated lady!

Needlebook

Designed by Valerie Lejeune
Stitched on Belfast Country Vintage Cream with Carrie's Thread

Comment Notes: Thank you all for your visits. I appreciate it very much that you've been so kind with your words and time.

Needlebook for a stitcher Doc!

The first time I 'met' Radha, I was quite impressed. She's a doctor, a medical doctor and she stitches! Here's the little I know about Radha :) She is pretty observant about the goings on in the group. She is witty and ever ready with a quick retort. But all is in jest and fun. On NNC we're always hinting, teasing, mock scolding and most of all enabling ;)

I caved in to all those subtle hints :o and please be aware everyone, this doc is a smooth operator! LOL! Glad you like it Radha!

Hedgehog Quaker Design from Workbasket (freebie)
Stitched on Belfast Country Vintage Cream with Carrie's Thread Buffalo Fur
I tatted two tassles for the fastening.

June Goals

Review time!

Perhaps I was too ambitious with my first time out making goals. So June's goals gonna be more practical ;)

• Complete Birdhouse - Prarie Schooler (freebie) **Completed on 03/05/2007**
• Complete Cherub - Casa Mia (freebie) **Completed on 05/05/2007**
• Complete Needleworker - LHN (freebie) **Worked just a little still very unfinished**
  
• Work on Long Dog 18th Century Mystery Sampler SAL **2 bands completed**
  
• Work on Sara Hathorne Sampler **Untouched**
  
• Work on Lilian Kok's design (freebie) **Untouched**
  
• Complete Wish List Exchange for Usha **Completed on 11/05/2007**

June's Goals

• Work on Long Dog 18th Century Mystery Sampler SAL (into 2nd month)
• Complete Fair and Square Exchange
• Thread Winder finish for NNC Quarterly SAL
• Tat some motives for the 25 motif Challenge, I need 6 more!