Knock knock

Where was I? My question too - where was I?

Right. Beavering away at work. Beavering away at home too (for my son, this thing and then that thing and then this was wrong, can this be redone and so SO on)

End of May i started my first quilt project - a very small project so to speak. I did paper piecing of the blocks. and steered myself towards a self-binding back for the quilt. All learnt from something or the other in the internet!

Looking back, I loved the paper piecing in fact. Oh, the umpteen times i looked at my handiwork with pride! I was nervous about the self-binding back. Now i wanted this for two reasons, one my quilt would become bigger by about 2 inches on all sides, and two, at this stage i did not want to go for the sewing machine. (I do not own one yet sheesh) So needed a very simple method to finish my project.

  This project is for my grand-mother. She is now in her hundredth year:) And i decided she can have a quilted pillow top for herself, something one of her grand-children has done, something that will be right next to her. As for this particular grand-child, it was/is her way of saying i love you, giving thanks, salutations and many other things.

As i said i started this end of May and took till mid November to finish the quilting. There were of course days and weeks when i did not touch the project.

With this, my Leisure Arts project, was hibernating. Poor thing. I did not even once glance at it.

For the last couple of days, i have given it as much love i can give and resumed where i had left off. Did a good amount of back stitching. And rolled the fabric some more. Now i am working on the third line from the bottom. Remember i found the fabric very daunting and fragile to work with. I am hoping now i have crossed that bridge! Now that i picked it up after eons, the fabric seems okay to deal with. Ha ha. Or probably, it is because i have rolled enough fabric, that it has become sturdy. Whatever the reason, i am a happy gal!

Here is a pic of Serenity Prayer. (I have now finished that third line, tonight i hope to back stitch)

I am liking coming back here. Hope i get some 20 minutes every night to stitch. {praying}
I have read good many blogs, I am again reading the posts on 123mb, I am going through my stash spreadsheet and doing some more slicing and dicing of what i have. Thank God, i still remember what each kit is [about] so yes ladies, here's to beavering away on my lovely cross stitch projects.

{hush lilies, we will get there}

And here's a photo of my son taken in September. He will be seven in March:)

Thanks for coming here! Here's wishing you a great stitchy weekend, and happy time with friends and family.

Lurker, almost

It's been ages!! Apparently both my stitching and blogging mojo have been AWOL.

I have done some stitching though. Hummel the Postman was finished last year, the Pillow Cover embroidery too.

I had started the Serenity Prayer sometime in December. I used fabric which i had purchased from US - but i don't know what fabric it is (what a shame). The fabric is slightly a challenge to stitch on than Aida as it is smoother. Most of the threads i am able to get here. 2 colors had to be substituted (quite poor substitutes, but never mind). After all, i am doing the Serenity Prayer!!

I think i have finished close to 20%. Since the fabric was smooth, i put it on the stitching frame to make it taut, but it is possible this is delaying the whole process. Frame makes it less portable somehow!

Psst, psst: In November last year, i did some 90-odd stitches on Page 16 of Monet's Water Lilies, and not touched it since... God pls help me find the time and frame of mind to take this up again.

My hero

This is a pic of my son, taken in December. He is now all of 6 years. Having his summer vacation now. He is learning skating these days. He and his friends are busy visiting each other - the boys will be in each house for not more than 10 minutes. They will play some games, they will argue, take sides, argue some more. Before long, they will all get this notion at the same time to visit another house. The favorite sport for the boys is, of course, cricket. These boys are being 'inducted' by the slightly bigger boys, and understanding cricket in more detail it appears! All in all, having a good time, he i mean! Me, not having a bad time. Tightrope at times, but that is fine largely because he is happy and engaged. 3 more weeks before school starts.

Book-wise

I am reading my 6th book of this year, and it is the second best book i have read this year(first being Eve Green). The Stranger's Child is the first book i have read by Alan Hollinghurst, and I am loving it. I mean second 'best book'. I do not mean 'Second best' book. The Novel (James Michener) and The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver) were not adaptable books for me. Hannah's Daughters (Marianne Frederiksson) was also good to read, and so was The Reading Group (Elizabeth Noble). TRG however was tough to latch on, halfway through was okay and i started liking it. I have some 15 books in my to-be-read pile. Hope to finish a good many of these before I buy some more.

I have visited blogland of late and added few more blogs to follow. Those blogs must have got my blogging mojo back at least.

Here's to more stitching and blogging, friends!, and reading:)