Checking in

Hello everyone, it's been many, many months, like almost two years since my last blog.  Seriously, I haven't been crafting much after that last blog entry except for a  Halloween Exchange with my local stitching group that year and a meetup was held in October for the exchange..  And that too I procrastinated alot with my choice,  being fickle minded with my handmade criteria . There was four category to fulfilled; handmade, store bought, stash and food

Finally I decide to stitch Mr Baron Von Bat for the exchange. That bat was like calling to me

        My exchange package ; sew a Vampire teabag with a packed of tea and some bloody finger cookie to fulfiled the food category. My halloween store bought item was a frog ( a tissue case)  to denote a witch's familiar and  fabric and zipper for the stash.  

And with the exchange done with, the year just ended and begins a new one so quickly I just don't know where the time went. 😄

MIL had a fall  twice in the beginning of the year whereby the second fall gave her some serious issues and she had to go into nero surgery in February, a time when I first heard news of the pandemic Covid 19 had landed on our shore,  the  day MIL went into surgery in the same hospital.  I was still in a blurry state with no knowledge of how deadly the virus could be then.  

Thereafter the surgery,  several  medical visits followed which during the early stages was kinda hectic and took a toll on my me life. Six months later,  things have settled down a bit but C19 has already spread like a wildfire  and we went through several stages of Movement Control Order (MCO) , an effort  to curb the spread until some three weeks back, we  had another major spike. I shall not go into it further .

My priorities now is  finishing the UFOs including crochet knitting and some patchworks,  some dating back to upteen years ago. 

Two biggie achievements this year which are stitching related are two SALs I took part in and manage to complete. Something which is a rare, LOL  - Universal  Monster  SAL which I found myself not able to resist by The Witchy Stitcher fb group. This was  fun to stitch as Meg offered so many options and choices so every stitcher can personalized it and there were so many ideas and lots of creativity from everyone in the group doing the SAL

A freebie Garden SAL so generously offered by Durene Jones during the pandemic .  I made my choice of colors to compliment my blue evenweave.

I stitched up a small from the Be Well freebies. This is by Cottage Garden Samplings. 

Actually I had a few other choices I would love to stitch but ...later

I finally jumped into the bandwagon to sew some fabrics face mask too after some months of pondering

 For now,  C19 don't seem to be that easily eradicated and eliminated from this earth for the time being  and face mask are significant in our lives now 

Sew a matching face mask to go with a tote bag for DD. The tote bag was a long overdue project from last year which I only completed in August this year in time for her birthday. 

That's it for now. Back to some knitting and crocheting in the evenings. Work is still full time for me during this time . Currently, my state is in the second phase of  Control Movement Order till November 9 , which I foresee that this will be further extended looking at our current cases.

Wishing everyone good health , Stay Safe,  Be Safe and Be Well

 

The Birthday Exchange

Where Stitchers Gather (WSG) meet again, we are definitely a bunch of procrastinators , LOL . We are only a handful of ladies who shared, enjoy and supportive of each others creative endeavors and are much comfortable with each others antics.

So it has been decided that we are meeting in March for the 2017 birthday exchange. We are assigned to one "secret" partner by drawing a single name, unlike stitching for everyone like the years before. The highlight of the event is of course the pressie, it has been a well kept secret for over a year and I am pretty sure everyone is  excited that it is finally the reveal day

The exchange packages (top )with the bonus gifts below look  just like Christmas minus the tree

The Exchange Gift - Procrastinate I did, it was hard to decide what to stitch for my partner who is  a crème de la crème needlewoman, actually it was never easy to stitch for any lady in the group, its very stressing, cause whatever I had in mind, it had to be something special and it has to be perfect. Thus, visiting L'uccello on my trip to  Melbourne last July  was like hitting a jackpot. That was where my exchange items materialize and I am glad I could stitch something within my comfort zone for Margaret W

The Gift : ONE Handmade item

Vintage French Seed packet Needle Keep by L'uccello.

It's a decorative two-way folding needle keep, I called it the magic fold,simply because it opens both ways.  I have never done such finishing before, yes, I have seen it as a purse, Diane has one which she enjoyed playing tricks with her younger cousins.

Construction with the written instructions was excellent, but my mind kept playing tricks on me and I kept having this thoughts and doubts. The hardest was positioning the tapes, I resolved to whip stich to hold the pieces together after I fail to hold it in position with just  glue as per the instruction, yet it didn't quite aligned the perfect way.

Another doubt I had was what and how to finish  the  seed pocket design cover. There is no specific given instructions how it should be done, basically no right or wrong and one can embroider as much or as little as you desire and any way you like it on it's pre-printed fabric.  Froggy visited me three times, before I finally came to terms with my embroidery. I did better with the last Zinia flower, not the first two as I was trying to imitate the colors on the pre-printed fabric, before OCD sets in. Actually I almost gave up on this thinking twice maybe thrice over.

One Stash - Antique Mannequin 

We are to include one stash item . This is another one from L'uccello. Unfortunately I didn't realized that this was not a kit and thus, I made this into a kit by adding the required item;  fabric and lace

An extra item -  An embroidery pinkeep from L'uccello, simply because I was sure that the second item can be  a stitched item or store bought ,  not just stash. I was wrong.  So since I have already bought the item meant for the gift, I might as well gifted it.

Exploding Box -  I made the Birthday girl an exploding box in lieu of a card containing a page of the birthday  month which dated back to 2017 where I am leaving it as it is and will not replace that  with current year since this is an exchange meant for that year .

Would you agree ?

We have agreed that we will take a break from an exchange this 2018 year so we may concentrate on what need to be done with or finishing whatever on our priority list. For me that will be my  Hexagons SAL and the Birthday Exchange quilt blocks from previous years. Let's see if  I'll manage to kick myself out of this stitching slump and get some progress done this year. We needed the break just to distressed too, just thinking about the exchange can be very tiring.

From my partner JUNE this is what I received.

FABULOUS little sewing kit, so intricately and elaborately stitched one over one with tiny little needle rest and thimble complete with a scissor's pocket. Looking at all the tinniest stitching left me breathless

The cutest turtle tape measurement and scissor is to go into the pocket on top of the sewing box and a FIRST DAY COVER in conjunction with the Dog Year

She also included in her package a fabulous rolling pin from Goody Woody with a pineapple print design. Think I am keeping it for display with my collection of wooden cookie molds.

The BONUS Gifts

A secret project from Margaret with little pieces of fabrics from each of us she requested

where it's incorporated into the spool and finished off as a pinpillow. 

How cleaver of her and gifted back to us.

Jess gave us each a pineapple scent soap 

From me to everyone
a little teapot ceramic teabag coaster for all
While June gifted everyone a crocheted tape measurement which I forgot to take a photo
but if you scrutinize  a few photos here you might have spotted some turtles crawling

A peek at what  the rest of the ladies received from the  exchange on that day and the photos said it all. We did not set any particular theme for the exchange and thus all of us went with our partnered favorite things or subjects.

June received from Barbara

Blue her fav color

Barbara received from Jess

Doll Quilt

 Margaret's from me 
Needlework accessory

Jess from Margaret

Mini Quilt with a PS cross stitch piece

Where we meet, food is always and never far from our thoughts.

Poppy seeds loaf

A little festive mood  still with  a platter of Yee Sang 

Blooming Tea

A very messy table only a crafter will appreciate, LOL

A little show and tell there
Conclusion, I am pretty sure everyone went home happily, I am indeed happy
It was a lovely day and a we laugh at our silliness, put up with each other's antics,  shared some crafty and craziest ideas and that the day ends amazingly
We even got to stash a little from the LNS where we meet

March 8 - Celebrating Women Day with the State Assemblyperson for Kuala Kubu Baru Madam KH Lee, (in White). She hosted a mini dinner for us and later gifted the ladies with aprons  while the men who took a piece home may give  it to  the women in their life .

Sorry the photos here look blurry, it's due to the lightings I supposed. 

Thank you to all who visited me in my last post and left comments. Glad you enjoyed my short break to Bangkok .

A little bouquet in March from Diane shall ends my post for now . 

It's the holiday seasons

As the days moved closer to another year ends, it's hard to believed that another year has come and is almost gone. People around the work force are busy with travel plans as most took the opportunity to clear their remaining leaves from work. There is no official long break here except the weekend of Christmas and New Year. We do not have snow but rain; the sun will continue to shine as it always have.  Since my firm work on projects, we simply moved forward and the transition of a new year is  just flipping to a new calendar month like the years before,  if it weren't for the constance wishes of  "Happy New Year" from every staff and business associates that walks through the door, I can assured you that the day is just like any other day.

The next few weeks will be hectic and will become more and more chaotic at work as the Chinese New Year festivity in February draws closer .

Let's see how I wrap up the last few weeks of the year this December
Week ONE  - I volunteered at a Charity Event with the Penan Women Project at their KL Xmas Sales at Verdant Hill Hotel. ( I blog about the Penans here a while back )

 It was a great experience to be involved in the behind scene of the sales and great to work with the ladies whom I met for the first time. I do foresee myself doing the same again if time permits with their next charity sales

My choice for lunch was this Sarawak's (Borneo) Kolo Mee (Noodles)

from the hotel, the best Kolo Mee I have ever tasted,  served with a dessert, Sweet Bao (Dumpling)

Diane started her two months internship with Pantai Specialist Hospital's  Pathology Lab this December. That means ferrying her to work in the morning and fetching her home in the evening. We are not allowing her to drive until her ACL injury is totally healed. It's been just over two months after her surgery.

Week TWO - I went on a day trip to Ipoh with 5 other girls from college visiting some famous landmarks in the City, actually it was more of a food expedition and a get together. Ipoh is a city in our Silver State. It was known historically for tin-mining (hence the name Silver State) activities until the price of the metal dropped severely affecting the state's economy. The city of Ipoh, like Penang and Malacca are known for its British colonial landmarks. Below is the baroque style railway station of Ipoh

(Image : tripadvisor)

Perak Tong (Perak Cave) is a temple and one of the oldest limestone hill

Famous for it's mural paintings. The walls of the cave  are decorated with colourful murals depicting characters and events from Chinese mythology and Buddhist scriptures

The memory of a 120 years old Lane known as Concubine Lane. How did the name derived ?Pretty sure you can guess, well it was believe to have  established in 1908 . A residential of the rich Chinese magnate and British officers were believe to have kept their concubines and mistresses in the colonial structures townhouse here . During it's hay days, the area is considered "redlight", and thus the area is associated with gamblings, opium den and prostitutions backed then. The lane was given a make over not too long ago after most of the shops and it's street was left deserted. The shop lots are now preserved and restored and today's it's the most vibrant tourist street in Ipoh City 

Our Wefie here 

A zippered pouch - I needed a money bag for our trip treasurer, something I thought at the eleventh hour before our departure . I had to rummage my stash and sew a simple zippered pouch with a bright and cheerful fabric to match the only white zipper  I had in my stash that fit the pouch size, which means I need to stock up on some color zippers soon.

Week THREE -  Working hard on my Birthday exchange gift for my partner from the WSG group.

I have picked a handful of colors to work on, the design I am working on is giving me a feeling of uncertainty in every way.  Undeniably, I don't have much time left if the exchange meet is to be in January.

I have sit on it for like a year, well actually some six months since I have only then decided what my finished item would be. The gift exchange will be reveal in January when the group meet at a date still pending for a discussion. 

Winter Solstice, it's the time of the year again to celebrate Dong Zhi festival, eating tang yuan which are glutinous rice balls in a sweet syrup. Chinese fesitval dishes usually have auspicious and meaningful names and the tang yuan is no different. Tang Yuan sounds like "tuan yuan" which in Mandarin means reunion of the family. This festival denotes that the year is coming to an end and is the last festivity in the Chinese Calendar for the year .

Week FOUR - Christmas week - No Christmas stitching this year. Two cards is the only craft that I managed at the very last minute and hoping that it get delivered in time before Chirstmas to both recipients 

Two very simple cards

Tree is my theme for this year

Here's wishing everyone

MERRY CHRISTMAS

wherever you are and hope it's a fantastic one

for you and your family

Big THANK YOU to all of you who came by without fail and for your kind words
Your words are my inspiration to keep on blogging
I hope you enjoyed my ramblings of  life and times
from a continent in Asia
Here's wishing everyone
HAPPY NEW YEAR
2018
May yours be a fantastic start into a NEW year !