Lemonade, Anyone?

At least to me, it looks like a lemon tree which automatically brings to mind my favourite drink - lemonade. Mmm... just thinking of it makes my mouth water. The summer topiary is aptly named given its bright colours which represents the season perfectly. Looking at it, I can imagine long hot days with me under the shade in a deck chair beside the pool sipping a tall, cold glass of... lemonade. For some reason, I seem to be craving for lemonade tonight. I wonder why ^_~ Definitely getting myself a big cup of lemonade tomorrow when I go magazine hunting in the mall again.

Anyway, this took me four days to complete. Could've taken me less time but I was going slow and easy on it. Now all I've got left is the autumn topiary but I think I'll leave that for another month or so. Feel like stitching something else now though I've not yet decided on my next project. Am eager to work on the couple of round robins I'm expecting but since it's already the weekend, I'll have to wait until next week for the postman. I just might start a new project... Will keep you all posted. Off to ponder some more on what to stitch next...

Stitching Blogger's Question: It's A Mystery!

Have you ever participated in a needlework mystery (i.e., a design that you started before knowing how it will look in the end and by which you receive parts of the design via the internet, magazines, or leaflets at spaced intervals)? If so, why did you decide to do the mystery? What appealed to you about it? Did you enjoy it? If you have not done a mystery, would you ever do one?

I've never participate in a needlework mystery before and probably won't ever do it. I think the reason for is because I really need to like a design before getting the motivation to stitch it. Since I won't know what a mystery piece looks like beforehand, I'll be constantly worrying that I won't like the end result and that would be very stressful for me, an absolute no-no for stitching is supposed to be a pleasure not pressure. Thus, my logic is that with already so many patterns out there that I love and more on the way that I'll never be able to finish stitching in this lifetime, why risk a mystery?

Adeline's Birthday Present

Well then, after finishing this weeks ago, I only got it back from the framers today, just in time to present it to Adeline. You know me, I was delaying going to the framers, that's why it took so long. Had it done at the same place as the wedding samplers. Well, since tomorrow's her birthday, I'm technically a day early so no harm, right?

Met up with her for dinner and as I doubt I'll be seeing her again tomorrow, I gave it to her tonight. Just like I predicted, she loved it. Stayed out with a couple more friends for non-alcoholic drinks after. She was really tired and I think anything remotely resembling alcohol entering her system would have resulted in knocking her out. Besides really liking the pattern, this is what she said about it: According to her, she's the cat and I'm the sheep and Woei Yang, a close guy friend of ours is the flower. Hmm... Oookay... wonder how much sleep she needs to catch up on.

On another note, I've been busy catching up (or at least trying to catch up) with the EMS Cross Stitch Board Seasonal Topiaries SAL that I've been participating in. I think I'm behind. Or am I on time? Not too sure about that but I know I'm definitely not early. Anyway, pictures of my day to day progress can be found at my Webshots. Am too lazy to upload it here. This series is a downloadable freebie by Passione Ricamo. However, I don't know when it will be taken off the website so better download it while you still can. I've been so busy with RRs and exchanges that it feels good to be working on something that is completely mine for a change. However, don't get me wrong, that doesn't mean that I don't enjoy working on those as well. I do too, very much in fact.

3 French Hens

The third in Margaret Sherry's 12 Days of Christmas series, here is my 3 French Hens for Jackie's RR. It's stitched on 28 count cream gold fleck evenweave. Many stitchers might think that this fabric is more challenging to stitch on as the flecks disguises the holes but personally, I don't find that a problem. I still love the delicate sparkle of the fabric and this pattern is a pleasure to stitch.

Don't you think she's cute? (Though to me at least, it looks more like a he.) She looks like she's toasting us with her wine glass, inviting us for a meal. The french knots for her eyes are missing though because Jackie's going to replace them with beads when the RR returns home. It somehow gives the appearance that her eyes are covered by her feathers (sort of like a shaggy dog whose eyes are never visible under all that long fur).

I nearly forgot to stitch my name and country as per Jackie's instructions. Luckily, I refered to Jackie's letter once again before packing it up. After more than a week of dragging my feet (or should I say hands) on this one, now it's done and ready to be mailed out. Think I'll drop it off at the post office tomorrow even though the posting date is not for another two weeks. However, the timing should be perfect for it will need about two weeks of travelling time before reaching its next destination - Canada, into Alli's care.

Round Robins Update

Ok, finally I have something more to show. Here are some updates on a couple of round robins that I'm currently in. This Winter Postcard by Passione Ricamo is stitched for my "Seasonal Postcards" round robin with the Malaysian Stitchers group. It is due to be sent out on 22nd March so I'm glad I've got it done and ready to be mailed out. There are four of us in this round robin - Aida, Margaret, Rozita and me. Sadly, this postcard series is no longer available as a downloadable freebie but the good news is that it will be published in The World of Cross Stitching magazine sometime this year so keep your eyes peeled for it.

Next is this adorable cat in "Purr-suit" of a bird by Margaret Sherry. After much pondering, debating and proscrastinating, I managed to make up my mind and stitched this design for Wendy's "Funny Cats" round robin. There are minimal floss blending required for this pattern which is great for me to practice with as it is my first experience with that. Since it's a Heritage Stitchcrafts' design which is famous for its squashed stitches, having to poke in between the Aida blocks is somewhat difficult but I got used to it after a while.

There was six of us at first but unfortunately, Cindy had to pull out because she has Carpal Tunnel, causing her hand to go numb which in turns, affects her stitching. Thus, the remaining five are Charity, Lene, Sherryn, Wendy and of course, me. It's scheduled to be sent out on 15 April so I'm rather early with this round robin but considering that I've had it for a long, long time now (more than a month, aiks!) it's way past time I finish stitching it. Wendy, here's what your RR looks like at this stage. Hope you like it!

My First Cattitudes

This is my very first cattitudes design that I've stitched. It's for my very good friend, Adeline's birthday this year. She was my ex boyfriend's sister's online friend's girlfriend. Have I confused you enough? LOL! Anyway, we hit it off right from the moment we met and it's been more than 5 years since then. She has always been there for me through the thick and thin, the high and low and everything in between. Even when I was away in Australia for a year, we still keep in touch.Thus, thought I'll make something extra special for her birthday this year. I choose this pattern mainly because she's crazy about cats and Margaret Sherry's Cattitudes certainly top the list of cutest cats in cross stitch. And I doubt I need to explain why I choose this particular sign. Obviously, it's because she's an Aries.

Now, I have a question for all of you... Do you believe in the horoscope? Me, I do and I don't. I don't because so far, not that I read it often but whenever I do, the predictions of what's gonna happen to me each day/week/month has never been true. Yet, I do too because I have found the character and personality description of each sign to be mostly accurate. Also, how else do you explain that most of my close friends are all fire signs with a few air signs? It's said that these two signs are most compatible with each other compare to water and earth signs. Coincidence? Maybe, but there always the possibility of something more than that...

Framed!

The wedding samplers are back from the framers and I'm back from the wedding. It was an elaborate event and I had a lot of fun. Go to my homepage to see some wedding pictures, including a picture of me presenting them with their gift. The couple couldn't believe I made it for them. I'm happy that they like it. It feels great when someone appreciates your gift.

It's been a while since I had anything framed and I've forgotten how big a difference frames can give to a project. Don't they look nice? Simon, the framer, certainly did a great job with them. If anyone's wondering where I had them framed, the shop name's Rainbow Glass Studio in Taman Tun. I'll be presenting Puvan and Dede with their gift sometime this week. Can't wait to see their reactions as well.

Wedding Gift for Danny & Deborah

And here it is, the wedding sampler I said I was rushing for Danny and Deborah whose wedding is on Saturday. Once again, a freebie, this time from Australia's Better Homes and Gardens website. I changed the original border slightly because one, I didn't like it too much and second and more importantly, being in a hurry, I didn't have time to do the beading and the backstitches the original border required. At first, I was planning to decorate the heart with the red glass beads that Lene gave me but I think the simplicity of the gold threaded heart looks more elegant without the complication of beads so I left that out too. Somehow, this pattern which looks so much easier and simpler is harder to do as compare to Dede and Puvan's wedding sampler. Go figure!

Anyway, I took it for framing earlier, along with the other wedding sampler. Luckily, I'll be able to have it back by Friday so I can have enough time to wrap it up and present it to the couple on Saturday. I don't think it's my best piece so far because of the time limit but I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. Besides, it's the thought that counts...

Wedding Gift for Dede & Puvan

This is what I've been working on for the past couple weeks or so - a wedding gift for my friend Dede who got married to Puvan last year. I know, it's a long overdue gift but the wedding was so unexpected that it completely caught me by surprise. What with Christmas and other stitching commitments already on my list, I didn't get around to this until recently. Now I need to get it framed up before presenting it to her. She knows that I'm making something for her but have no idea what it is. As this is the first time I'm giving a finish piece to someone other than my family members or my fiance, I'm pretty nervous about it. Really hope she will like it.

The pattern is a freebie I downloaded from the Internet. Can't remember which website it was from though. If I'm not mistaken, it's from a Russian website. At least, I'm guessing that it's Russian. I thought that it would be suitable as a wedding sampler after adding in the words. I must admit that I have my moments of apprehension since there are no backstitches in the entire pattern and I didn't know how clearly the picture would turn out. Luckily, my worries were for naught. It was a pretty fast stitch, considering and I truly enjoyed it. Will post another picture again once I get it back from the framers. Now I gotta get back to stitching another wedding sampler for a couple whose wedding is on the 25th of this month. Yikes!

VSCE 2006

Look what I received for my Valentine Stitched Card Exchange (VCSE). A beautiful card from Lene in Sarawak. Thanx Lene! I love it. On top of that, she has also sent me some stitching goodies. As you can see in the picture, a lot of thought went into her gift. There's a mini tuck pillow that she has made, 2 packets of beads (one red and one white), 2 skeins of Six Strands Sweets, 3 types of different buttons and a cross stitch kit. I'm in heaven!

This exchange is organised by Nik from the Malaysian Stitchers group and is my very first exchange. There are 13 of us altogether and each of us has been assigned a secret partner which we have to send a Valentine Stitched Card with the option of additional gifts in the colour of love. My secret partner is Niesa and since she has received the card I sent her, I can show it to you now.
I had a lot of fun with this exchange and hope to join many more in the near future.

The Chart Title Quiz

I was browsing around reading fellow stitchers' blogs when I stumbled upon this quiz created by Anna. Basically, you have to answer all the questions given using names of cross stitch patterns. The only rule is that you should really like the design and not pick it just because it had a good title. It looked like a lot of fun so I decided to give it a try and here are the results.

*Warning: Don't try this if you do not want to add to your wish list!*

Are you male or female?

Lady in Red (Valerie Pfeiffer)

Describe yourself.

The Romantic Stitcher (Passione Ricamo)

How do some people feel about you?

Always Friends (Tatty Teddy)

How do you feel about yourself?

Ice 'n' Easy (Lilliput Lane)

Describe your love interest.

The Perfect Man (Sue Hillis)

Where would you rather be?

To the Beach We Go (All Our Yesterdays)

Describe what you want to be.

Purr-fick (Margaret Sherry)

Describe how you live.

Love, Peace and Harmony (Maria van Scharrenburg)

Describe how you love.

Always and Forever (Forever Friends Bear)

Share a few words of wisdom.

Laughter is the Best Medicine (Newton's Law)

12 Days of Christmas

I know, I know, Christmas is over and it's just the beginning of a New Year, especially for me, a Chinese, who's still in the middle of celebrating Chinese New Year. However, for the participants of the Margaret Sherry Round Robin, we're just getting started with her 12 Days of Christmas design. There are 11 of us altogether - Allison, Angie, Jackie, Kathy (our organiser), Kirsty, Lynn, Marilyn, Marion, Priscilla, Sarah and me. There was supposed to be 12 of us but because of personal reasons, she had to pulled out. Maybe someone might want to help me stitch the last pattern when the piece comes back to me in April next year?

Anyway, first off, there's "A Partridge in A Pear Tree". Now, this piece is very special to me because believe it or not, this is my first time stitching on evenweave. I can tell you, I was rather nervous trying something new and I lost count of the number of tips and guides I read before starting on it. It took a lot of getting use to but once I got the hang of it, it wasn't that different from stitching on aida. I'll confess that I felt rather apprehensive after signing up for the RR, wondering if I've bitten off more than I can chew but now I'm confident that I can handle it. I really like the more refined look evenweave shows off a pattern so I just might start stitching on evenweave more. This piece is also more challenging than what I've tried before because of the many fractional stitches. Still, it turned out fine and I'm very happy with it.

Next is "2 Turtle Doves" which I stitched for Kathy. This time, it's gold fleck evenweave which once again, is something totally new for me. That's the intersting part of this RR. I get to try out different types of fabric. Managed to finish this pattern in 4 days which is a lot quicker compared to the previous pattern. I really like the effect of the gold flecks on the fabric, reflecting both colour and light, turning the pattern to live. Too bad this type of fabric is not yet available in Malaysia or I just might be tempted to buy it for my next project, whatever that might be. Hmm... then again, there's always the option of shopping online... *wicked grin* 

By the way, in case you're wondering, contrary to much popular belief, the 12 Days of Christmas are not the 12 days before Christmas, but in most of the Western Church are the twelve days from Christmas until the beginning of Epiphany (January 6th; the 12 days count from December 25th until January 5th). According to legend, the 12 Days of Christmas song originated in England as a coded reference to important articles of the Christian faith in the 16th century, during the religious wars when Christianity was forbidden. The "true love" mentioned in the song doesn't refer to an earthly suitor but to God Himself. The "me" who receives the presents refers to every baptized person. Here are the 12 symbols along with the meanings: 

• A Partridge in A Pear Tree - Jesus Christ, the Son of God 
• 2 Turtle Doves - The Old and New Testament 
• 3 French Hens - The 3 Theological Virtues (Faith, Hope and Love) 
• 4 Calling Birds - The 4 Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) 
• 5 Gold Rings - The first 5 books of the Old Testament, the "Pentateuch"(Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) 
• 6 Geese A-Laying - The 6 Days of Creation 
• 7 Swans A-Swimming - The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit (Prophecy, Ministry, Teaching, Exhortation, Giving, Leading, and Compassion) 
• 8 Maids A-Milking - The 8 Beatitudes (Blessed are the poor in spirit, Those who mourn, The meek, Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, The merciful, The pure in heart, The peacemakers, Those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake) 
• 9 Ladies Dancing - The 9 Fruits of the Holy Spirit (Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness,Generosity, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-control) 
• 10 Lords A-Leaping - The 10 Commandments 
• 11 Pipers Piping - The 11 Faithful Apostles (Simon Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James bar Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, Judas bar James) 
• 12 Drummers Drumming - The 12 points of Doctrine in the Apostles' Creed 

Hope you found that as interesting as I did.

Forever Friends - Bathtime

Ta-da! Finally, it's done! Yay! Took me about 2 years to finish this piece. Yes, you've read that correctly and no, I'm not kidding about that. I bought this kit in November 2003 when I was in Melbourne, Australia and had started it immediately but even though I had been cross stitching for a number of years, my stitching experience was still pretty limitted. And here are the reasons it took me so long to finish my first Forever Friends Bear:

First off, the smallest count I've stitched on up until then was 14 count so the 16 count cream aida that came with the kit took quite a bit of getting used to. Secondly, the colour of the bear, the tub and the fabric was quite similar not to mention the colour shadings in between which provides an even bigger challenge. Lastly, and the main reason I've been putting off stitching on this piece is the backstitches. They run everywhere and I mean everywhere. As if that's not bad enough, the lines on the chart showing the backstitches are thick which makes it hard to determine the precise place to stitch. Try that on aida and you'd understand why I was so reluctant to pick it up again once I put it down. Just so you know, I've never been one to detest backstitch but this is too much!Yesterday, I managed to summon up the courage to start working on it once more. I've been dragging my feet on this one long enough and all that's left is just the backstitch anyway. I put a rush on it today and now it's over and done with. I've gotta say, despite all the grief the backstitch gave me, the result is tremendously satisfying. Someday... a very distant someday, I just might attempt it again but you won't see me stitching something like this in the near future. Still, Forever Friends Bears are so cute and they are my absolute favourite among all the bears like Tatty Teddy, Newton's Law, Popcorn Bear and the likes. Anyone gonna try and convince me to change my mind?

Lilliput Lane Village

So many patterns, so little time! That, I believe, is a phrase that every cross stitcher can identify with. And I have to admit that I've never felt it to be any more true than when I saw this Lilliput Lane Village pattern on the January 2006 issue 126 of the Cross Stitch magazine yesterday. (Cross stitch magazines from UK generally arrives late here in Malaysia.)

Look at it! Isn't it lovely? I haven't stopped admiring it since I bought the magazine home. The temptation to start stitching it immediately is so great I nearly gave in to it but resist I must. What with 3 WIP (Work in Progress), 1 UFO (Unfinished Object/s), 3 RR (Round Robin/s) and 1 SAL (Stitch Along) that I'm in, not to mention the countless items I already have on my to do list (thanx to my darling fiance who's been buying me loads of stash), my plate's already overflowing. I absolutely does not have time for another new project.

However, since it's always good to plan first, *innocent look* I'm still trying to make up my mind whether to stitch it on aida or on evenweave. The model in the magazine is stitched on 16 count cream aida and as far as I can tell, I don't see any fractional stitches so it can be easily stitched on aida but I do like the more refined look evenweave gives a finished piece. Then again, I can stitch a lot faster on aida which is a huge bonus. Then, there's the matter of whether to use DMC or Anchor threads. I prefer DMC but the key given is Anchor which means I'll have to convert it to DMC and I don't know how different the result would be. Help! Any suggestions is highly appreciated.

Hooked on Cross Stitch...

A New Year and a new stitching journal for me. This is a first for me... have never been one to blog but after reading about other stitcher's interesting stitching stories and adventures, I decided that I really should try it out too. Still feeling my way around this site, trying to get the hang of things. Hopefully, I'll be able to figure out how to do everything real soon.

I can't remember exactly when I picked up cross stitching but according to issue number 33 of Simply Cross Stitch magazine, which the chart of my very first cross stitch piece - The Gift of Friendship was printed in, it was sometime in 1997. I took the magazine, flipped through it, saw the chart, thought to myself, "this is nice, how hard could it be to do this?" and the rest, as they say, is history. Here is a picture of the finish piece.

I've been stitching on and off for give or take 8 years, that is, if you disregard the fact that I haven't been stitching much between 2000 to 2004. Then, I met a fantastic guy, now my fiance and I wanted to make something special for him for Valentine's Day last year. Immediately, I thought of cross stitch. This is the result of that, a freebie - Be My Valentine from EMS which I personalized by adding in words.

Since then, I've been stitching non-stop and am currently in a few international RRs (Round Robins) and a SAL (Stitch-Along). So now you know, the beginning of my cross stitch addiction...