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!

11

My poor, poor neglected blog. I have been stitching yet have nothing to show. I've been having the attention span of a fruit fly so it seems like I've not gotten anything done :(

Anyway, I'm it, tagged by Tammy to answer her 11 questions :)

Favourite pattern ever stitched - show a picture if you can.

I guess WiPs don't count so it would have to be Voice of the Shepherd by Told in A Garden.

Favourite junk food to have while stitching.

I don't eat while stitching. However, I like to have a glass of Ribena (blackcurrent juice) at hand.

Your Favourite Blog to visit

This is a tough one. However, I'm sure these three are probably at the top of most stitchers' list to visit.

• Rensel Studio (Don't you just love Jill's talent?)
• Random Ramblings (No introduction necessary for Joyce, creator of IHSW)
• Stitching Dreams (I'm always amazed by Carol's stitching and finishing)

Do you leave comments on blogs?

I try to as much as possible.

Do you reply to your comments on your blog?

Usually only when a question is asked or I have something to say. Mostly I just leave a comment in return :)

Your favorite thread to work with ie. DMC, Anchor, sampler, weeks ect.

Vikki Clayton's Hand-Dyed Fibers (silk)

Do you know a male stitcher?

Yes, Paul, who is a member of my local Needles n Craft Yahoo Group.

What is the biggest stitched piece you have stitched?

Angel of Hope by Lavender & Lace

What is the farthest away you have traveled to go to a stitching store, what was it called?

Only to Haby & Wools in Kuala Lumpur. Not that far away. I mostly purchase online.

Favorite tool to use with stitching.

Tacky Bob for beading.

Do you like stitching for others or yourself and why?

Both. I give my stitched pieces to friends and family to show how much they mean to me. To me, a dose of love is put in with every single stitch I make. The rest I stitch for me to enjoy.

Now make up 11 questions and tag fellow stitchers.
The 11 friends I tag...

• Anne
• Carol
• Catherine
• Dani
• DJ
• June
• Kelly
• Nia
• Nurdan
• Tatyana
• Valerie

And their 11 questions (which I answered too in case you're curious). I figure I'll alternate between stitchy and non-stitchy questions to make this more fun.

What is your most favourite DMC colour/code? (Yes, you can only pick one)

DMC 336 - Navy Blue

If you could go to any country for free, where would you go and why?

Ireland. It's wild, it's beautiful. My first childhood penpal is Irish. She, along with Nora Roberts, have fuelled my love and curiosity for Ireland. On top of that, The Giant Causeway is in my places-I-must-visit-in-my-lifetime list.

Fabric, floss or chart? Pick one.

Fabric, preferably hand-dyed. A girl could never have too much fabric. God knows I already own too many charts I could ever stitch in my lifetime.

If you could ask God for a non superhero ability/talent, what would it be?

I'd like to have a green thumb. I managed to kill the cactus I bought. Apparently it could survive in the desert but not my room :/

If you could ask a designer a question, which designer and what would you ask?

I'll ask Nora Corbett why some of her designs are Out of Print :(

Besides stitching, what other hobby takes up the most of your time?

It's a toss up between reading and playing computer games for me. Difference is, I can read anywhere, anytime but computer games can only be played at home.

Hardwood floors, tiles or carpet for your craft studio?

Hardwood floors for sure.

Are you a morning or night person?

Definitely a night person.

If you could only shop in one needlework store be it ONS or LNS for the rest of your life, which one would it be?

Probably Needlecraft Corner. Drema is a real sweetheart and most of her items come with a 20% discount.

How long/short is your hair? Do you keep it that lengh because you or someone else likes it?

Mine's pretty long, past my shoulders down my back. I think I look better with long hair. It's a bonus that Mikey likes it long too. Longer if he had his way.

What is your all-time favourite design?

I have so many but right now, it's Mirabilia's new Dressmakers' Daughter. Can you tell I'm a sucker for four season designs? (And the bling, of course. Oh, the bling... It's gonna be spectacular. LOL!)

Hopefully I'll have stitchy pics to show next post.

Happy Stitching!

Frogs

When a WiP is screaming at you to work on it, it's generally wise to take heed and listen. Ignoring it and continuing stitching on Magic Garden Sampler has landed me paltry progress.

This is because the offended WiP will throw a massive tantrum and heap frogs your way, making it a one step forward, two steps back situation.
The culprit? None other than Stella of course.

I had wanted to take a short break after finishing all the stitching before starting the beading. After all, I gotta give some love to other WiPs. My time shouldn't solely be monopolized by her, right?

Apparently she disagreed and the Frog Prince concurred with her. Who could blame him? She's as pretty as a princess. So without further ado, let the beading commence.

About time too. See how a couple of the plastic containing the beads have turned yellow? Yeah, that's how long I've had Stargazer kitted up. Luckily, the beads appeared unaffected.

Happy Stitching!

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!

Hand-Dyed Obsession

What does one do when she has been deserted by her stitching mojo? In my case, stash acquisition and stash fondling always help.

Last time, I showed you my HDF silks in a chocolate box. As yummy as that was, alas, my collection has totally outgrown it. So here's my new storage system.

This is actually a plastic file folder that can be found in most bookstores.

Colours make me happy. Yet, that wasn't enough to lure my mojo back. So I moved on to my fabric collection.

Here are my Lakeside Linens.

That is what happens when you join a year's worth of Fabric of the Month Club.

These are neutral linens from various hand-dyed fabric companies.

Picture This Plus

Polstitches

A couple of Sugar Maple Fabrics and the rest Silkweaver.

Hi, my name is Veronica and I am a stashoholic...
Anyway, I need to clarify that all except two of Silkweaver fabrics were bought before the change of hands to Needleworker's Delights. This is because after they took over, many stitchers, including me have experienced a drop in the quality of their products and customer service.

I've only ordered from them once since the changeover during a free shipping promotion. Never again! (I won't go into how ridiculous their normal overseas shipping charges are.) This was what I got:

Bright solid turquoise with no colour variations. I can't imagine stitching anything on it. This was what I was expecting to get.

I wasn't the only one who encountered this problem either. See TJ's complaint here. With this same order, I had also included a piece of Scattered Leaves. The result?

You gotta be kidding me, right? Both were supposed to be fat quarters - 18" x 27". This piece of Scattered Leaves measures only 15 inches wide. Note how small it is compared to Aegan Aqua.

If you were wondering, no, I didn't report my grievances to Silkweaver. Many before me has done so without any result. What's the point? Well, I'm done with my gripe. Thanks for bearing with me.

*Edited to add: Please see update on Silkweaver here.*

Moving on, here's my May's WiPocalpyse report. I know, I'm so late! A single, lonely stitchy pic of Lilliput Village. Hopefully, I'll be forgiven after the number of stash photos I've shown above ^.^

This is the first time a project from my original WiPocalypse list has made an appearance. Poor Lilliput Village hasn't seen daylight for over a year. Wish me luck that I'll be able to complete a significant amount of it this year.

Last but not least, to all mothers out there, Happy Mother's Day!

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!

For the Birds

Caution: Another picture heavy post.

Last October, a challenge was issued by Margaret for 2012 Anniversary Gift Exchange. Similar to the Gingham Heart Challenge last year, in addition to a handmade item, every participant will have to include a Bird this time round.

Not an owl, a chicken or a duck mind you, but a bird. Note the discrepancies in this statement. I can assure you, objections were voiced but our protests were futile. The decision has already been made.

A week ago, I showed you a sneak peek of my silk ribbon embroidery. After yesterday's NNC Anniversary Meet, I can finally reveal to you... my Bird.

Yup, it's a zippered, fully lined pouch as you can see here.

I added a piece of satin ribbon to the zipper puller because I think it gives the illusion of certain birds with feathers behind its head ^.^
My bird wears a necklace of lace with a birdie pendant.

I embroidered its wings with some flowers and beads.

Here are the flowers I showed you in my previous post, located on each side of its body.

Both wings hid a secret... There's a pocket under each wing.

The tail acts as a handle to carry it.

And that is the bird I designed :)

As for my gift, I made a bag.

A bird cage bag to be precise. I don't know what's to be said about my sense of humour but it just amuses me to make a bag fashioned like a bird cage where the bird pouch can be put into it. LOL!

The black bars on the bag are actually sewed on satin ribbons. For my first dabble in appliqué, I pick Sweet Round Bird from Cinderberry Stitches Tail Feathers Block of the Month.

Don't you think he's the sweetest bird you've ever seen? Huge thanks to Jo for sparing me some of her HeatnBond so that I didn't have to buy an entire roll to make this.

I bought the wooden handles off Etsy. I love the flower detail on it.

I really hope Shanny likes them. I can now breathe easy again. I actually took Thursday and Friday off just to work on this. Am I the queen of procrastination?! Oh the stories I can tell you of my last minute induced panic, motivation and inspiration. ROFL!