Snow Friends

Short and sweet update on 6 Fat Man which hasn't seen the light of day since May 2012.
This was supposed to be a SAL... Oops!

Progress, finally. Snow Friends is now complete.

Design: Snow Friends

Designer: Lizzie Kate

Fabric: 32 count Picture This Plus Tarnish Belfast linen

Fibers: Hand Dyed Fibers silk

Next up, Snow Fun ^.^

The All-in-1 Post

Not a few posts ago, I said I gotta stop doing this. Now I'm doing it again. Since I'm late for everything, this is the mother of all all-in-1 posts.

First up, I spent IHSW two weekends ago and most of last week working on the borders for my first Mirabilia Round Robin. I'm no strangers to round robins but it has been years since I've joined one and certainly not a Mirabilia one before. Took me a while to settle on the Seasonal Queens.

Seeing as how borders are the bane of my existance, it shouldn't come as a surprise that my stitchy update ended up being so long overdued. Now for the fun part. I'll be stitching Spring Queen for my square.

At least I made progress on Monday's 6 Fat Man SAL...

...and ended with a mini happy dance.

Design: Snow House

Designer: Lizzie Kate

Fabric: 32 count Picture This Plus Tarnish Belfast linen

Fibers: Hand Dyed Fibers silk

For WiPocalypse, I also finished two more motifs in my Magic Garden Sampler.

Lynn, however, has nearly completed hers. Sigh! Anyone else wanna SAL this design with me? LOL!

Since I've been on a Mirabilia craze lately, here's my TUSAL orts jar with Seaside Kingdom behind it.

Yes, I managed to get my hands on this hard-to-find, out-of-print chart! All because of Carin.

I found a shop in Netherlands who still has it in stock but the owner refused to send it overseas. Carin agreed to order and ship it to me. I reimbursed her the cost of course but really, if not for her, I'd still be searching high and low for it.

So thank you, once again, Carin, from the deepest bottom of my heart.

I'm convinced that my fellow stitchers are the kindest and most giving souls out there. Here are two more examples why... I've been pretty lucky lately and won a couple of giveaways. Here are some lovely vintage patterns I received from Melissa.

And a lovely piece of Silkweaver fabric from Melanie.

Isn't the colour yummy? It's in my favourite count too!

Thank you, Melissa and Melanie.

I see I've just hit 300 Followers! I'm a little overwhelmed. 300! Never in my wildest dreams. I'm really not that interesting, you know.
In light of all the kindness I've received lately, it's my turn to have a giveaway so stay tuned. I'll set it up as soon as possible. Gotta take care of an exchange and finish my Spring Queen block first.

May you find joy in your stitches!

Q-Snap Love

I'm pretty happy with my 6 Fat Man progress this week. Finished building my snow house and growing a wonky tree.

A few weeks ago, I won Tricia's Q-Snap Huggies Giveaway made by Christine. Earlier this week, they arrived along with a pretty card. Don't you just love the beads on it?

I love the fabrics used to make the Q-Snap huggies. I'm both a coffee and tea drinker so they suit me nicely.

As you can see, I've put the 8"x8" one to immediate use for my Magic Garden Sampler WiP which has not seen daylight for some time now. My 8"x8" Q-Snap is the one I use most frequently, even for larger projects like Mirabilias. Now I can tuck the access fabric into the Q-Snap huggies.

Thank you so much, Tricia. I love them.

After seeing Lynn's WiP and her influencing inviting me to join her, I'm off to put some stitches into Magic Garden Sampler now. Gillie, you joining us? ^.^^

Happy Stitching!

SALs Galore

I need to stop doing this, lumping all SALs into a single post. So how successful was your IHSW? Mine went pretty well.

As mentioned, Stella had all my attention. Here she is now with nearly all the stitching done.

Only one blue is left then it's beading time :)

As for my 6 Fat Man SAL, I didn't get too much done.

I actually stitched on Tuesday instead of Monday and was kinda too busy watching House MD's final episode for much progress. So sad that there will be no more House MD after this week :( I think it's one of the best television series ever! I love his wit, sarcasm and  humour.

I was reminded from my blog hopping that it's TUSAL time again. My ort jar this month is placed on my first and fairly new (bought in January 2012) laptop with the login screen of Diablo III in the background ^.^

What? I can't help it! Yes, I know, I'm such a geek :P

Happy Stitching!

Happy Week

I haven't stitched much this past week. It wasn't until Friday that I picked up 6 Fat Man for my weekly SAL. Granted, I'm a few days late but at least I could say I put some stitches in.

Snowed In is done. I figured each block deserves an individual happy dance.

Design: Snowed In

Designer: Lizzie Kate

Fabric: 32 count Picture This Plus Tarnish Belfast linen

Fibers: Hand Dyed Fibers silk

So what have I been up to besides stitching? This is what happens when I'm bored.

Mirabilia's Lady of the Mist. Can you spot the difference?

Yes, despite loving her to bits the moment I laid eyes on her, I've never cared for the uncomfortable-looking bunch of roses at her neckline. So I've taken the liberty of recharting it. She now wears only a single rose brooch. I also gave her a necklace. What do you think?

With a fair amount of apprehension, I posted it on Facebook's Mirabilia Group. apologizing to Nora for making the changes. What did ya know, I received positive responses and even Nora Corbett herself replied and I quote "No sorry! I love it! We are all individuals it makes the world more beautiful".

I was ecstatic. Nora Corbett is practically an A-List celebrity in my book and you gotta love a designer who encourages creative changes to her patterns.

Lady of the Mist has now jumped to the top of my to-stitch list. In fact, I'll be starting her the moment Stella is done, if I can wait that long ^.^ I've already ordered the beads. The hunt is now on for the perfect fabric which unfortunately is not in my stash. Oh well, retail therapy is always good, right? :P

I received a package from Anne on Thursday. Inside was this lovely fabric and card.

She had sent me a quarter yard cut of it all because I admired it when she showed it on her blog and had expressed my desire to buy some. Thank you so much, Anne. Words can't express how much I treasure our friendship too.

On other non-stitchy related matter but is too cool not to share, a pair of birds have built their nest right outside our living room window.

The nest is actually built at eye level on rather thin branches. It bobs up and down pretty violently when it's windy. I wonder if birds get motion sickness. LOL!

Mama bird is in her nest right now. Can you spot her? Take a closer look.

Don't worry, I didn't get too close. Both photos have been cropped.

I have no idea what species they are. Sure look like humming birds but they could be the Olive-Backed Sunbird too. I'm not an expert in identifying birds like Beth is.

It's IHSW again. What do you have planned? I'll be concentrating on Stella if I manage to tear myself away from Diablo III.

Happy Stitching!

First Fat Man

I've only one photo to show today and it pretty much says it all.

I've been stitching but it sure doesn't feel like any progress has been made. Ever had those days?

Hopefully I'll be back with more next time.

Happy Stitching!

Jigsaw & Borders

For the first time in ages, zero stitching was done this past weekend. I was completely engrossed with this:

Thomas Kinkade's Emerald Valley. Did I mention I have a thing for Ireland? Totally Nora Roberts' influence there.

It's my first 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle and I finished it in less than three days. Pretty proud of that fact if I do say so myself ^.^ Now I have to find a way to frame it without glue. Any ideas?

Monday's 6 Fat Man SAL needs no more introduction. The boring borders are done! That by itself warrants a mini celebration.

The fun stuff starts next Monday :D

Happy Stitching!

Bunch of SALs

Last weekend was IHSW again. Like Joyce, I had the dilemma of being torn between stitching and Diablo III. Thanks to Blizzard, it's Diablo III Open Beta Weekend. Yes, of all the weekends they picked, it had to coincide with IHSW. What's a girl to do?
Fret not, I did manage to get some stitches in. Say hi to Stella again :)

I'm still having so much fun with her it's unbelivable.
Yesterday was once again our weekly 6 Fat Man SAL. I had more fun stitching letters this time. Don't you just love the "o" in snowmen?

Finished off two more boring borders. That's four down, two to go. Hopefully, after next Monday, it will be on to the fun part.
On a sadder note, I found out today that my favourite painter, Thomas Kinkade, has passed away on 6 April 2012. He was 54. Known as the "Painter of Light", I fell in love with his paintings the first time I laid eyes on them. My favourite is his Sweetheart Cottage II. All those hidden hearts throughout the painting. How could one not love that?
So as a tribute to him, I took this month's TUSAL pic with two of Kinkade's jigsaw puzzles that I own as backdrop.

On top of this, I also found out the previous day that Roger, the gentleman who created and manufactured the Stitchmate floor stand had passed away last Wednesday via Valerie's blog. More details here. I've always thought that someday, one day, I would own a StitchMate. His passing is a great loss to the stitching community.
Talk about a bummer way to start the week. May these two gentlemen who has brought great joy to many in their lifetime rest in peace.

Boring Borders

Here's my rather pitiful progress for Monday's 6 Fat Man SAL.

I just plain dislike stitching dull and repetitive borders. Okay, maybe not so much repetitive in this case but gosh is it boring. That's probably why progress was so slow? I'll try to do better next Monday.

After weeks of not stitching on Stargazer, it's now Stella time. Oh, have I missed her.

Happy Stitching!

Get Set, Ready, SAL!

9 April marks the start of our 6 Fat Man SAL. Unfortunately, it was that time of the month and I had a roaring migraine the whole of that day. So, I started mine a day late. Thankfully, I'm feeling much better now.

I finished the bird house that was included with the border instructions in the middle of the design. Aren't the birds adorable?

I'm loving my HDF conversion so far and PTP's Tarnish Belfast is a joy to stitch on. I can't wait till next Monday. I'm having a ball with this design.

I'll be dropping by to see everyone's progress.

Happy Stitching!

March WiPocalypse

It's full moon again. Time for another WiPocalypse update. I could have sworn we just had one.

I've been stitching Stella. Made some progress on her which I'm rather happy with.

Then I had to put her down because my Magic Garden Sampler SAL partner, June (no blog), emailed me with a photo of her finish.

Whoops! I've not touched my Magic Garden Sampler since my last update so I scrambled to put some stitches into it. I guess I'll be stitching this piece alone now.

Here's my rather pitiful progress.

Hopefully I'll have more to share in my next WiPocalypse post.
Happy Stitching!

An Exchange & A Gift

Last week, I received my Friendship Bag from Margaret (no blog). It arrived neatly wrapped in layers of paper and plastic. I'm not kidding when I said layers :P After opening the envelope, this pretty package presented itself.

After impatiently tearing through that and more, I managed to hold the bag in my hot, little hands.

These are the stash it contained, once more nicely wrapped.

I swear, either Margaret must be torturing me or testing my patience, which I failed miserably. LOL! Finally, finally, here's the exchange in its entirety.

There were pins, buttons, needles, threads, bobbin and lace, quilting fabric and tools. I was in stash heaven. Not to mention this beautiful bag. I really love the red floral fabric and linen combination. And you wonder why I couldn't wait to open the package ^.^

Margaret told me this is the third bag she had made before she deemed it acceptable for the exchange. Can you imagine the effort that went into it? I'm so touched.

She has attached a note on the bag indicating which fabrics were used in case I would like to buy some. How thoughtful.

Thank you so much, Margaret. I'll always treasure this bag.

On another note, I've been remiss in showing off the package I received from Kaye some time ago. I had won the giveaway she offered on her blog back in December. It contained a lovely MarBek kit, a beautiful hummingbirds and flowers card and a keychain from Hawaii. How cool is that?

Thank you again, Kaye. I look forward to stitching this design.

By the way, regarding the 6 Fat Man SAL I mentioned that was supposed to start in March, Kati and I have decided to postpone it to April. This will give everyone more time to gather their materials.

The official start date of the SAL is 9 April 2012. We'll be stitching it only on Mondays. For more information and to sign up, Kati has created a special page on her blog here.

I've already receive my fabric from Picture This Plus. I'll be stitching it on Tarnish Belfast. Here's my very messy floss toss:

Do join us. Hazel, Cathey, Shanda, DJ and Tammy, you ladies still interested? Any more of you want to join? You're certainly welcome. The more the merrier.
Happy Stitching!

Unofficial IHSW Update

Chinese New Year falls on 23 January this year. I had returned to my hometown the previous Friday with my family to celebrate Chinese New Year with my relatives. Hence, I had thought I wouldn't be able to join in this month's IHSW so I didn't sign up for it.
Surprisingly however, I found myself stitching quite a bit this past weekend so here's my unofficial IHSW result:

This is such an enjoyable design to stitch. Makes me wonder why I hadn't started it ages ago. All that's left now is the construction of the house.
I had mixed up the TUSAL dates last post. WiPocalypse is on the FULL moon and TUSAL is on the NEW moon. Whoops! Thanks to Mouse and Dani for pointing that out to me.
Here's my TUSAL update again with more orts from Home of A Needleworker (Too)!

To all my friends who are celebrating Chinese New Year, Gong Xi Fa Chai and to everyone else, Happy Stitching!

A Christmas Finish

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. I was actually pretty sick two days before Christmas but on Christmas day, I was feeling well enough to stitch. I'm happy to announce that I have a Christmas finish which unfortunately has nothing to do with Christmas.

Design: Little House Neighborhood

Designer: Little House Needleworks

Fabric: 28 count Picture This Plus Legacy Cashel linen

Fibers: Hand Dyed Fibers silk

Embellishments: JABC Buttons

This was a SAL with the Little House Neighborhood SAL which started in 2008. Boy, have I been behind.

As per my usual habit, I've made quite a number of changes to this design. Can you spot the differences?

Let's take a closer look.

As you can see, I've substituted a few motifs for JABC buttons. Don't you just love the kitty cat?

I opted for a dog and a watering can in place of the squirrel and rooster.

The white star on the house has been replaced with a button too.

My favourite part which coincidentally is right smack in the middle of the entire design.

The wool on the sheeps is stitched with silk chenille. Love how real it makes it look.

Last but not least, I think these hearts are perfect companions for the words.

Stitching the border nearly killed me. I'm no fan of repetitive, boring borders. I was beyond relief when the last stitches were finally put in.

I'm hoping to have one more finish before the year is up. Wish me luck!

Happy Stitching!

Come Join Us!

My computer at home decided to stop cooperating. Thus, I guess there won't be much photos to show until I get it fixed. Anyone have any idea what causes a computer to keep freezing shortly after booting up and the screen to flicker ocassionally? I just had it formatted not too long ago when it was giving me the same problems so I know for a fact that it's not a software problem. Sigh!

On to the point of this post. A while ago, I saw Katica's Shopping List. Among the items she had listed were Lizzie*Kate's 6 Fat Man. I've been drooling over this design ever since I saw it. I ended up leaving Kati a comment asking if she would be interested to have an SAL if and when she decides to start it.

Well, one thing led to another and before I knew it, we'd set the tentative start date for 6 Fat Man in March 2012. We haven't worked out any other details other than that but I think it would most likely be a free and easy, work-at-your-own-pace, no demands SAL. What do you think, Kati?

Anyway, my question to all my dear readers is this:

Would you like to join us for Lizzie Kate's 6 Fat Man SAL?

I mean seriously look at it. It's so cute! How could you resist?

I have already ordered my charts. I haven't decided on the fabric yet but I'll be stitching it with (what else?!) Vikki's silk. I'm asking Vikki to help me with the conversion :)

Please do let me know if you're interested. I believe there are already quite a few takers over at Kati's SAL post.

Happy Stitching!