Made To Treasure

Yiotas-xstitch Kit Review

2012-01-24T17:23:00.001+04:00

Few days back Yiota, from Yiotas-xstitch contacted me asking if i would be interested to try one of their cross stitch kits and write a review about it.

Being a passionate cross stitcher i was curious to browse thru the site to look out for a cross stitch kit. I must say that it’s a unique place with unique cross stitch patterns. All their patterns are only with the full cross stitches.

I decided to choose the Birdhouse pattern

When i got the kit yesterday, it was over my expectation.

I was amazed to see the way they have packed it up in a board backed envelop and the kit was inside a plastic sleeve to avoid the damage while in transit ….

Another unique thing i found about the cross stitch kit from this site is,

they kit up the pattern with pre-wound Madeira thread.

I’m sure every stitcher loves to use Madeira thread.

To sort out the bundle floss and organizing it on the chart with punch holes is always the boring part to start up the kit…

So a kit with pre-wound Madeira thread is something really “WOW”….

…as soon as i opened the kit i arranged the bobbins onto the ring….

i always do it like this when i start a new cross stitch project..

Another unique thing about this kit is their chart and key.

When i recently started a cross stitch kit, i had to take a zoomed copy of the chart…

….the chart from Yiotas is already zoomed and comfortable for your eyes….

A beautiful piece of 14 ct white aida fabric, pre-wound Madeira thread and a zoomed up clear cross stitch chart of a beautiful pattern…

…..what else a passionate cross stitcher looks for…

I immediately started working on the pattern….

because the thread is pre-wound on the bobbin, we can easily wind the leftover thread on it when we work…

I’m totally happy with the cross stitch kit …..

and i’m sure any cross stitcher who read this will love to try out their cross stitch kit with pre-wound thread …..

Check Yiotas-xstitch.com for your favourite cross stitch kits….

My Nativity Wall Hanging is up for voting in Quilting gallery

2012-01-20T11:16:00.001+04:00

Please visit Quilting Gallery and vote for my Nativity wall hanging….I appreciate your support.

Voting will close on Sunday 22nd Jan @ 11:59 pm..

I have talked about it in playing with silhouettes blog post…and you can see few close up images of the work.

This is the most appreciated piece of work of mine for last Christmas season.

Thank you so much for encouraging me…nima

Stingy embellisher started crazy quilting

2012-01-12T20:09:00.001+04:00

I consider myself as a stingy embellisher. I think some of you might have noticed when you go thru my blog.

I love to see beautifully embellished finishes, but when it comes to embellishing…i’m a bit stingy and always afraid that i might overdo…

I was always fascinated by the beautiful crazy quilts that I see in the blog land…So I decided to join the Crazy Quilt Journal project 2012 and try myself to improve my weakest skill of embellishing.

This is my block for the month of January…

You might be thinking why it is stitched Anne, Canada. Yes that cross stitch patch is stitched by Anne who blog at Stitchnkey , as a part of Season’s RR that was organised by EMS cross stitch board during 2005….The pattern was a freebie from Passionericamo during that time.

As soon as I got the RR home, I finished it into a framed piece using an IKEA frame..

During our relocation in 2008, the glass frame broke…and this beautiful piece of work was in hibernation for last 4 years.

When I decided to work on crazy quilting the same theme of Season’s came into my mind…and I decided to use each squares for each CQ block and finish it into a Season theme CQ wall hanging…

…last peek of RR as a single piece….Anne, Linda, Selina , I hope you will like the RR finished into a CQ wall hanging…

I’m still in touch with Anne…and we often email each other and I’m proud that i’m still in her christmas card mailing list…She is a regular visitor to my blog and always encourage me with her lovely comments. I’m sure this post is going to be a surprise for her.

One more close up image of the CQ block....

It’s a 12”x12” block. CQ piecing was a challenge for me…but i’m happy with piecing.

I think i was too stingy in embellishing…I used couching and lazy daisy stitches with ribbon and beads..that’s it..

I didn’t want the embellishments to overpower the cross stitch piece. I hope that i can improve my skill in the art of embellishing by the end of this year….

Did i talk too much…at times i get into rambling mood wile blogging…..

Thank you so much for stopping by with your lovely comments.

Until next time….

Have a nice day…nima

Good start for 2012

2012-01-10T09:41:00.001+04:00

Glad to be back in the blog land with a good start. I was a bit busy since Christmas. It was that beautiful time of the year with lots of food and fun and awesome weather.

we enjoyed every bit of the time that we spent with our family and friends.

It’s already the 10th day of the new year…i have packed all my Christmas decor for next season, but a bit of reds are still hanging around…i thought let it be there till valentine’s….

I don’t have any new finishes to show you now. There was no serious stitching happened in last few weeks, but i did few stitches on my WIP…this is the afghan i was suppose to finish for last Christmas…i started to attach the squares…few more squares to go…i should have finished it last year itself….but got really bored of playing with it…

This is a hardanger piece that i started last year..i found it while blog hopping and i desperately wanted to start it. I started during my busy Christmas stitching…and i was mentally prepared to carry it to this year to finish it…..

i really need some serious stitching to finish it…

Like i planned i started to learn Tunisian crochet on the new years day itself…and i liked it…

I liked it more than knitting….miles to go before i master this……

Last year i didn’t get much time for cross stitching…this year it’s not going to be like that..i have started a new kit on the new years day….Thank you Susan for such a lovely kit…

you know what, this time i had to take zoomed photocopies of my cross stitch chart…i have never done that before…

….am i getting old…that’s too scary.

I’m working on few other things as well…i hope i can show a better picture of it in few days…so i’m not posting it half done…

That’s it for now…..

Until next time….

Have a nice day….nima

Looking Forward for a beautiful 2012

2011-12-31T00:24:00.001+04:00

Hope everyone of you had a blessed Christmas and you are enjoying the season.

Before we say good bye to 2011, I would like to show you some of the finishes from this year.

It’s not the collage of all the things that i have done…just a few, which I'm really proud of myself….

Few quilting finishes….

some of my sewing finishes….

some of my crochet finishes…..

I’m glad that i have used my time and energy in the rightful way….

God' has been always great..and I’m always thankful for His Grace….

When I look back, 2011 was a beautiful year with lots of ups and downs…

A handful of sadness make us low…but I'm trying to be grateful to the truck load of goodness in our life…

I would love to continue my learning process and i have made up my mind to learn few new things…

I want to learn, Tunisian crochet..my fried Maya have already gifted me the needles for the Tunisian crochet …..i want to master the skill of embellishing….i want to master my FMQ skill…

Man’s wants will never stop…right. I believe Wants and Hopes carry Man’s life forward…

Thank you so much to all my readers for encouraging me with your lovely comments…

Until we meet next year…

Wishing you all a very happy New Year 2012…..nima

Wishing you all a Blessed Christmas

2011-12-23T11:20:00.001+04:00

This is one of the quilted banner i send to my family back home…

……..this one was send out first, because it has to travel very far crossing few continents…so i took a quick snap of it before it went into the mail.

i used Sew Happy.Me Christmas bunting patterns to make this banner. The star appliqué banner is my own attempt…Finishing these banners gave me opportunity to practice FMQ.

I have few more random stuff i finished for this Christmas….

I took 1 year to cross stitch this little ornament…but I'm glad that i could finish it for this season..

…this piece is from the same kit…which i completed stitching last year and finished into ornament for my very dear friend.

..this is another version of Christmas snowflakes i made for gifting…

….just on time for Christmas i got the most precious handmade gift from my dear friend Mini of Mini’s treasure trove…

Do visit her blog to see the most amazing Christmas sewing. She is the one of the amazing seamstress i have ever seen…”brilliant creativity and awesome finishing”…and her gift is the wow factor in my Christmas decor….

along with this beautiful poinsettia cushion, she also gifted me a stockings made from the most beautiful fabric i have seen in this part of the world..

That’s all for this Christmas…waiting for another 6 to 8 months for next Christmas crafting. This is the only season i make so much handmade stuff for gifting and myself…and i enjoyed working with the holiday colours….

Wishing each and everyone of my readers a blessed Christmas. Enjoy the holidays with your family and friends…

Until next time…

Have a nice day…nima

Crochet for Christmas….

2011-12-19T23:09:00.001+04:00

I was busy with few quilting projects for Christmas and could not find time for crochet.. i managed to whip up few snowflakes in between….but I have something big to display for my Christmas decor this time..

This is super big doily i have ever made…and i decided to use it on my futon this time….last time it was displayed on our dining table.

This is the Christmas cushion for this year..i attached snowflakes with crystal centre to the red cushion to give it a festive look …

..few other snowflakes are transformed into snowflakes ornaments…

….few other ornaments have gone to other lovely homes and i hope it will bright up their Christmas decorations…

that’s it for this time….i have 2 WIP which I'm not happy about..hope to finish it soon

Thank you so much for stopping by….

Until next time..

Have a nice day…nima

Playing with silhouettes….to make a nativity scene

2011-12-17T14:44:00.002+04:00

Displaying nativity scene and lighting up the star were the only decorations for Christmas during my childhood days…Christmas was always connected to the story of nativity until it became a fad.

..I think this time it seems like pink and blue Christmas. Shopping malls have all stocked up with pink and blue decorations. I’m not talking anti…about it…just thinking loudly how things have changed over time….

Since i started to quilt..i wanted to make something special to display during the time of Christmas. Last year, it didn’t work….This year also i was not clear what to make.

I was not keen on just making up traditional blocks with Christmas prints …i love that too…but i really wanted to make something close to the story of nativity…

……while i was browsing the internet for the ideas connected to nativity….i saw many silhouette images of nativity scene…and that inspired me to make a quilted wall hanging with the appliqué silhouette image of the nativity scene…

…I'm very happy with what i made…and it is proudly displayed on the living room wall.

few more close up images

actually the white fabric is a glittery one…but not really visible in the picture..

That was a big relief after i finished making what i really wanted…

Fusible web was a life saver for this appliqué work and i love the meandering on it..

Thank you so much for stopping by….

Until next time …

Have a nice day…nima

Linked to :

Jingle all the way….

2011-12-13T21:10:00.001+04:00

It’s getting closer to Christmas, even the nature has that smell of Christmas.

I’m trying to deco up my home for Christmas…

This is my another quilting attempt…

…i have lightly quilted it using golden thread…

I think, working with a panel is an easy way to start quilting for beginners….it’s not challenging, but i love the beautiful panel finish…

i just managed to hang it on a plastic rod..but not really happy with the hanger.

…i also managed to hang the quilted wreath wall hanging using a small hanger…hope i will find a proper hanger for my quilted wall hangings..

This is the jingle bell hanging i made for my door..

I got this jingle bells from a pet shop…and tried to make a door hanging with it..i love the the jingles when we open and close the door….

…this is the first time I'm sourcing supplies from an unusual place…lol…

Thank you so much to everyone who have voted for my quilted wreath wall hanging…and for all the encouraging comments….

i really enjoyed reading each comments…sorry that i couldn’t post a reply for no-reply bloggers…Thank you so much to everyone of you..

Until next time…

Have a nice day…nima

Christmas Wreath quilted wall hanging

2011-11-30T19:01:00.001+04:00

I thought i’ll enter my Christmas wreath quilted wall hanging for SewCalGal’s 2011 Christmas Quilt show, where all the experienced quilters from around the world participate…..

when i browsed thru the link list i found all the famous quilters from the blog land there….and i’m the eeny meeny beginner quilter who is very happy and excited about her quilted table topper/wall hanging finish.

I completed this cross stitched wreath last year, after Christmas…and always wanted to finish it into a quilted piece. After 1 year of practicing FMQ and acquiring confidence in meandering, i decided to finish it into a table topper/wall hanging. I have put the sleeve for a wall hanging, but i don’t have the right size hanger..

i have tried mitred corners and think i’m getting the hang of it…

I’m really happy with this finish…and can’t stop showing off ..

Thank you so much for stopping by with your lovely comments…it means a lot to me..

will come back soon with another christmas finish..

Until next time..

Have a nice day…nima

Beaded blanket stitch finish

2011-11-21T23:42:00.003+04:00

Pinterest is addictive for me these days. Recently i found an idea of doing beaded blanket stitch and i wanted to try it…you know that I'm crazy about beaded edgings..

I used this finishing idea to make few Christmas ornaments

It’s a self made simple cross stitch pattern and finished with felt template from the cross stitcher magazine

…just that you need to add each bead into each blanket stitch…

..It’s very easy …

…just that you should enjoy working with beads…

Thank you so much for all the lovely comments for my quilted Christmas ornament post. I hope you don’t have difficulty in posting comments now. if you find it difficult please feel free to mail me…thank you..

your comments means so much to me..

Until next time..

Have a nice day…nima

Linking to :

Quilted Christmas ornament

2011-11-16T23:12:00.003+04:00

This time i have few quilted ornaments to my Christmas ornaments collection..

I will show it one by one…

..these square patches are from the Christmas panel i bought 2 years ago..

..I was scared even to cut that squares out from the panel…thinking i might spoil the whole piece…

…after 2 years of maneuvering with my sewing machine and practicing the free motion quilting…i decided to work on that Christmas panel this year..

It’s a pretty big panel with a beautiful Santa in the center and 6 patches around it…

…The big Santa is turned into a wall hanging and it’s in the finishing stage..

I enjoyed working with these square patches…

I didn’t take the risk of elaborate quilting…but I'm very happy with these beautiful finishes.

I made tassels with the golden thread …and I’m really happy with that too..

Thank you so much for stopping by with your lovely comment..

I was getting mails from few of my regular visitors saying difficulty in commenting.

I have changed my blog template now and hope that it will work now.

Please let me know if you have any difficulty in posting comments….thank you

Until next time…

Have a nice day…nima

Linking to:

Make your own christmas gift

Little House Ornaments.

2011-11-10T23:44:00.001+04:00

This little house ornaments are again from the UK crossstitcher Magazine.

It was a quick cross stitch finish and I love this cuties..I’m glad that I'm getting time to do cross stitch these days…This was a freebie along with the magazine…and the finishing fabrics were also along with the magazine…and it was just enough to finish up this lovely little ornament….That’s it for now…

Until next time…

Have a nice day…nima

Tree of Joy for instant happiness

2011-11-02T12:46:00.001+04:00

When i started to learn new needle craft techniques, my passion for cross stitch was sidelined. For my instant satisfaction i cross stitched one of the projects from the UK cross stitcher magazine…

It was a quick finish with anchor white thread and Madeira metallic. Metallic thread is always tricky for me…so even if i have a collection of it…i refrain from using it…such a shame on me. But this time i worked with it to give a glow to the project…

Metallic thread is not really visible in the picture, but i really loved the finish…

I have finished 2 special cross stitched Christmas ornaments for this year…i have to wait for some more time to talk about it….

Thank you so much for stopping by with your lovely comments…

Until next time…

Have a nice day…nima

Free motion Quilting trials

2011-10-31T13:26:00.001+04:00

It has been sometime since i blogged about my needlecraft expeditions..it was on slow mode for last few weeks.

I don’t want to continue that slow down anymore , because i have a long to do list that i need to finish before Christmas and i don’t want to carry the load of WIP to 2012…

After the unusual silence, I'm back with few of my free motion quilting trials….yeah…it’s still the trial..I tried to do free motion quilting using gold metallic thread and I'm quite happy with the outcome.

The project is still in the WIP mode, so I'll share few shots of my free motion quilting attempts on it….

the day light is very dull because of the weather condition…so i could get only few good snaps…

Now i don’t have the complaint of lack of control while doing free motion quilting…but i need to practice more and more to get the perfection on elaborate quilting…

My neck, shoulder and upper back are the troublesome areas of my body…and it hurts when i quilt more…so i need frequent breaks…and my breaks are usually a week long…

Sorry for not visiting your blogs, my grandfather desktop is taking too much time to open picture full pages and my neck, shoulder problem is not letting me use my laptop…

Thank you so much for all your lovely comments…that motivates me to come back with new finishes..

Until next time…

Have a nice day…nima

Star center Ruffle Doily

2011-10-17T12:02:00.002+04:00

I tried to crochet the Red and white doily again to write a pattern. With lots of help for my dear friend Ninu, i managed to write a pattern for it. Thank you Ninu for your help and suggestions..

Now everyone of you can try this pattern…please feel free to download it from

Star center Ruffle Doily

Enjoy crocheting

Until next time..

Have a nice day…nima

P.S: You need 400 seed beads to finish this doily with beaded ruffle. I have updated the file with this number now. Sorry for the inconvenience caused to everyone who downloaded the file in the first hour of this blog post.

How to sew an easy reversible table runner

2011-10-08T18:51:00.001+04:00

When i posted my new table runner for my new living room, i got many request for a tutorial to make it. I tried to explain to many of you thru mails….i know a picture tutorial will be more helpful than that. So when i made a new table runner with Christmas theme fabric, i tried to take few pictures, which i hope will help you try out this simple runner.

This is my new table runner..just displayed for a photo shoot..

…you can expect a different picture of it during my Christmas blogging.

Here comes the picture tutorial. All the images are clickable for a better view.

It’s a beginner project , so anyone who is using the sewing machine for the first time, this is a project for you too…..

Finished size of the table runner is L64”xW14”…

You can choose the fabric size according to the finished size that you need. It’s a simple mathematics add 1/2” extra to the length and the width.

I took 2 pieces of fabric of 64.5” x 14.5” size to get a finished size of 64”x14”

Take 2 different pieces of fabric, so that your runner will be reversible and you can use both the sides…

This is my 2 different pieces of fabric folded lengthwise and pressed well..

Place the ruler at 45degree angle on the folded side, cut it to get a triangle edge…

open the fabric…and you will get a perfect triangle edge…

…do the same for both the sides of 2 pieces of the fabric…

If you are using a heavy fabric like upholstery fabric, you can avoid the next step.

If you are using a soft fabric i would advice you to use light weight iron on interfacing to give the fabric some body…

…iron it on the wrong side of both the fabrics and trim away the excess interfacing…

Keep the right sides together and pin it down to make it ready to sew…

….mark a 5” on the length side to leave it without stitching, so that we can bring the right side out after sewing…

Use your 1/4” foot for sewing…if you are not familiar with a quarter inch foot….Google search image and check if you have something similar along with your machine. For some sewing machines we need to get it as an extra attachment…if you have a 1/4” foot sewing is easy for this runner….or else you can mark a 1/4” inch on the fabric and you can sew on that line…just see how easy if you have a 1'/4” foot..

…you can sew it around with perfect 1/4” seam allowance….

make sure you double stitch at the opening we have marked not to stitch…

when you reach the corners…sew it like this…to get perfect corners…

and cut the corner tip before you bring the right side out..

Sew around and bring the right side out thru the opening and finger press the edges and make sure all the corners have come out and tuck the opening inside and then iron it thoroughly to get a perfect finish..

Pin down the opening…and sew a top stitch around the runner…and sew the opening as you top stitch..

Use the 1/4” foot again and sew inside…like this

…1/4” inside from the top stitch…1/4” foot makes it easy to sew it.

Finish of the sewing and attach a matching tassel at the 2 corners…

….that’s it your table runner is ready …and you can proudly display it on your table..

Please feel free to ask me if you have any doubt in this tutorial.

Hope to see many more table runners in the blog land in the coming days.

If you have done it, please let me know…i can see your work and i can feature it in my blog…if you are not a blogger please feel free to mail me the finished runner image, I'll post it in my blog and will show your work to the world.

Thank you so much for stopping by with your lovely comments.

Until next time..

Have a nice day…nima

I got some beautiful ‘Me’ time

2011-10-01T20:53:00.001+04:00

I was happy when i got some ‘me’ time without any break. I was not getting such long ‘me’ time for a while…

I immediately finished 2 released blocks of Sew happy sew along….

It’s going to be a beautiful Christmas bunting when it is finished…

Did you all check the new pages in my blog…Do it along page has all the links to sew along, crochet along, Quilt along that i participate…hope you might find some interesting links there.

I found an interesting stuff while browsing thru Diaso…

It’s a self threading needle…and see how simple it is to thread the needle….

I used this needle for the above stitchery…it’s just the same like any other needle….but it is easy to thread..

Muscat Quilters have a new blog now and thanks to lovely Alia for her effort…check it out to see all the beautiful quilts displayed during show and tell in our last meeting…

Muscat Quilt Guild

Thank you so much for all your lovely comments for my Red and White doily. Many of you asked me for the pattern, and i have tried to write the pattern too. Have you seen any similar doily before…if you have a link to it, please let me know…thank you.

I have few more half done finishes…and looking forward to finish it and talk about it soon.

Thank you so much for stopping by with your lovely comments…it means a lot to me…

Until next time…

Have a nice day..nima

Red and white looks very pretty

2011-09-17T16:25:00.001+04:00

In my new home and after holidays in India, i have started to work for the Christmas season. Few of the stuff are still in the finishing stage, I hope to talk about it soon.

This is one of the crochet doilies i made recently…

Before i talk about this doily and pattern…i want to talk about my new friend Mercy. She is an expert in needlecraft and she does beautiful crochet too.. I was amazed to see all the beautiful crochet she had made. She loves Red and White combination and most of her finishes are in red and white. I just loved one of her doilies and wanted to do something similar. This pattern is by the person who taught her to do crochet years ago. she was happy to give me that doily and i figured out the pattern myself..thank you so much Mercy… and this is the first doily i’m crocheting without a pattern…and i loved the finish with the seed beads. This is the first time i’m using seed beads in crochet.

It is always difficult to thread seed beads to crochet thread…i desperately wanted to crochet with seed beads and i played with the needle threader, thinking of doing with it….it was not practical to thread 420 seed beads using the needle threader. I googled to learn more about seed beads and tips to thread beads. I came across this site and learned how to find the size of a bead. “Size of the bead is the number of beads in one inch”..and according to that i used size 16 beads to thread on no.10 crochet thread. And it was impossible to thread it with beading needle. Now see how i managed to thread it…I have few pictures to show you how i made…the technique is the same as needle threader…

Take a piece of thin polyester thread that can be used with a beading needle…around 15” or 20” will be more than enough. Fold the thread and thread it on a beading needle. you will get a loop at one end. see the image…hope you got the idea…

Take the no. 10 crochet thread…and insert the end thru the loop of the thread on the needle…see the image…

now start threading the beads using the needle …..and bring it down to the loop and pass it thru the crochet thread..see the image

To get the above doily finish with seed beads use sc. if the beads are big…i love to use picot …..

Hope you got the idea …thread as many beads you want, remove the thread with needle and start to crochet. you can use this tip for any size of bead and thread….Please let me know if you have any better idea….

Thank you so much for stopping by with your lovely comments…

Until next time…

Have a nice day…nima

Love Your Leisure: Nima Titus | From WomensWeb

2011-09-07T16:53:00.001+04:00

I hope you will enjoy reading my interview in womens web.

Love Your Leisure: Nima Titus From WomensWeb

Is it too early to talk about Christmas projects

2011-09-05T19:30:00.001+04:00

We are still in the summer zone…and wishing to have winter soon…

you might be wondering why i have displayed these 2 glasses…Don’t tell my dh that i used the grenadine syrup from his cocktail shelf to colour the plain water. I didn’t have any food colour to try this….

can you see some flowery things on it..or is it visible more with the plain water..

i was playing with the glass etching kit from fevicryl..i got this from India few years back…but never got to try it…

I tried it on 2 of the regular glasses we use daily….and loved it. I immediately wanted to try something bigger and i got the Christmas wreath stencil from my stash and tried it on an IKEA frame..

I’m thinking of giving it some glittery look to make it more Christmassy…let me see.

I’m working on 2 of my Christmas projects now…

Christmas afghan is half way now..hope to finish it soon before Christmas…

This is my progress on one of the cross stitch Christmas ornaments…I’m enjoying working with Christmas colours.

I was thinking of giving my blog a new look and never got some time to sit and work on it. I have added few tabs..and some of the pages are still under construction….hope everything is visible and accessible…please let me know if you find anything in the wrong place..Thank you..

I’m unable to post comments on some of the blogs with an embedded comment window…i think it’s some blogger issue….

I’m trying to explore the new blogger interface…it’s something totally different from the old one and i need to play with it to get comfortable.

Thank you so much for stopping by with your lovely comment.

Until next time…

Have a nice day…nima

All is Well after the summer holidays

2011-08-29T11:27:00.001+04:00

I never thought that it was going to be a long blogging break…Welcome all new followers and thank you so much for all the well wisher mails.

I was excited to see 100+ likes in my blog facebook page .

I was travelling and it was a few lovely days with our family back home in India.

I really missed my sewing room, hooks, needles and thread. It was lovely to meet my blogger friend Mini and it was lovely to talk to Ninu, Rose, Anitha and Saritha, my crafty friends that i met online..

I missed visiting all lovely blogs and posting comments….I'm soon going to browse thru your blogs to see all your beautiful works.

In between my holidays, my Rose Topiary quilted wall hanging was featured in Another by Anitha customer project page.

Thank you so much Anita for featuring my work in your website.

Thank you so much for stopping by with your lovely comments and mails during my absence and i love all your encouraging words.

Hope to come back soon with a crafty post ..

Until next time..

Have a nice day…nima

Settling down in our new nest

2011-07-17T10:17:00.001+04:00

It was lovely to arrange our new home with all our belongings that was “accumulated” in last 14 years..there was a whole lot of stuff…and by the grace of God…it’s a decently spacious apartment…and we both warned each other no more new stuff to this house …lol..hope we can keep up our promise…

Here is a new table runner i made before we moved into this place….

It was a patchy printed linen…and i just had to sew it up into a runner…

I have used some of my old piece of works to other corners of my new home…

This is my favourite hardanger table runner i made few years back…

and this is a hardanger doily…. my first hardanger project…

I have started to work on one of my WIP crochet project and hope to come back soon with a post about it…

Thank you so much to everyone for stopping by with your lovely comments …

Until next time…

Have a nice day…nima

Missing in action….

2011-07-04T10:55:00.001+04:00

I was in the midst of moving to our new apartment. Shifting is over and now we are in the process of unpacking stuff. Our kitchen and master bedroom is functional….I need some more time to fix the other 3 rooms….

This was our 4th relocation and to the shortest distance of 1 km..but this was the most hectic one, because the movers here were not really good….But we managed to shift our stuff without major losses…

Let me share with you few forgotten cross stitch finishes which came out from the vaccum bag, from the bottom of the cupboard during the shifting process….it’s slightly wrinkled…my iron box is still in the carton and so i couldn’t give it a press…

This reminds me how an avid cross-stitcher i was few years ago…I haven't done any serious cross stitching since last one year…

I was shocked to see, i have 8 big cartons of stash in hand….it was a good decision to take a resolution to go on a stash diet …and I'm glad that I'm keeping it up even after 6 months…

My sewing machine and all the craft supplies are still in the carton and it might take really sometime to get organised and start my crafty craziness…

Until next time…

Have a nice day…nima

Makeover for my living space

2011-06-18T11:58:00.001+04:00

I always love to give a new look to my living space with new cushion covers ..This is the new set of cushion covers i made for my living space…

I always love to challenge myself by trying something new. This time the challenge was to work with satin fabric and I never expected it to be so challenging.

I salute the seamstresses' who make amazing dresses and gowns with the satin fabric…

But i really loved the beautiful finished cushion with satin fabric and beaded ornamental patch….

The next set of cushions are the quilted one…

For this the binding part was tricky with the satin fabric…the body fabric is not very slippery, because it has some machine embroidery on it and quilting gave it some body to hold on….

Here I'm displaying it all together…

I don’t know if i will ever try to work with satin …It’s not compatible with my patience level…lol. But I'm glad that i could give some glow to my living space with this satin cushions…

Thank you so much to everyone who finds time to stop by with your lovely comments. It means a lot to me….

Until next time…

Have a nice day…nima

Surprise gift from Loredana

2011-06-18T10:45:00.001+04:00

I was suppose to post this almost 2 months ago when i got this beautiful gifts from Loredana from Malta. She is such a talented crocheter and you can see her beautiful works in her blog . I’m sure you will enjoy browsing thru it…her latest update is amazing..

I was amazed to see such a cute doll in crochet dress …it’s supposed to be a toilet roll cover…that’s what she said…but it is on my study desk now…and who ever comes in asks me if i made it…lol…then i tell them about my friend from Malta…and everyone in my family is surprised to see i have friends from around the world who send me hand made stuff…that’s so nice…

Thank you so much Loredana for such a lovely gift and sorry for the delay in posting.

Will come back soon with one of my latest finishes….nima

Another set of doilies

2011-06-08T19:03:00.001+04:00

Doilies are always my quick gifting stuff. so i always work on doilies to keep myself stock up with few in case i need to gift it to some one. This in my next set of doilies which most probably will go to some good homes….

This doily is from the pattern called Tribute to Trish . It is slightly a tricky pattern, but went on fine after i got the hang of it.

This lavender doily is from Pinwheel doily pattern. It’s a simple pattern any beginners can try.

Thank you so much for all your lovely comments on the tissue box cover.

Until next time…

Have a nice day….nima

Sewing a Tissue box cover

2011-06-05T20:29:00.001+04:00

After a short trip to my parents home ..i’m back in my sewing room with lots of positive energy.

In the morning i was looking out for a different pattern for a tissue box cover and i came across a pattern in bulbinblue. It looked very different from the other tissue box covers i have made before. It felt like slightly tricky when i started…but it went on smooth when i progressed working with the pattern.

Giving all the respect to the pattern to bulb in blue i’m trying to explain how i worked with the pattern.

i used a 21.5” x 16.5” piece of 2 rectangle pieces to start the pattern, to make a cover for standard size (9.5”lx5”bx3”h) of tissue box.

Fold the outer fabric and lining fabric length wise and fold it breadth wise to get this fold on the fabric..

Draw a 5.5” square at the raw edge corner not the folded edge corner like this…..

on both the fabric and cut out that square to get 2 pieces of fabric like this…

Embellish the outer fabric and attach a ribbon to tie on the 2 longer sides of outer fabric like this…

Keeping right sides of the fabrics together sew around using a 1/4” foot leaving a 3” space on the shorter side of the piece to turn out the right side…

Turn the fabric right side out and iron it around to get crispy edges and top stitch around to get a beautiful finising…..

Take the corners like this

hold it together on wrong side and sew 3”- the height of the tissue box…

Turn out the right side and try to insert the tissue box…

Fold the short side inside and then fold the longer side and tie the ribbon…

I really enjoyed working with this pattern..looking forward to make few more tissue box covers…

You can check the bulb in blue for the original pattern

Thank you so much for stopping by with your encouraging comments. It means a lot to me.

Thank you so much for following me even though i was silent for more than one month.

Looking forward to visit your blogs, which i really missed while i was travelling.

Until next time…

Have a nice day…nima

Featured in Kanyaka

2011-06-05T18:47:00.001+04:00

It was an excitement to see myself in a print media again…..

It was featured in May 1st issue of Kanyaka magazine- a women’s bimonthly in Malayalam, our local language back home. I was featured along with few other talented ladies who have taken up their passion along with their busy regular life.

Thank you so much Sapna for writing about us…nima

If you believe, you will see the Glory of God…

2011-05-17T19:15:00.000+04:00

I always love to put words in positive tone…if i cannot do that i stay away from writing it…that is what happened since last one month…I was disturbed due to some health issues and i was worried that if I'll be able to travel for my new born nephews baptism..Now I'm glad that ….I’m all set to travel….

I’m saving this post to be published on the May 17th..and because you read this post now, that means i have already took off in my flight…otherwise i would have deleted this post.

It was a few unpleasant days … i even questioned God..and His answer was “If you believe, you will see the Glory of God”.

Thank you so much for all your mails of support and encouragement. I have few lovely things to talk about when i come back after 2 weeks. A lovely surprise from Loredana and another feature about me in a magazine…

Sorry for not visiting your blog and not posting any comments…I’ll come back soon to the blog land after my short trip…

Until next time …..you take care..

Have a nice day…nima

Showing off my new doilies

2011-04-13T10:20:00.001+04:00

After sewing a bit i went back to hibernation with my crochet hook and thread…

It’s summer splendor doily in pale pink anchor knitting cotton. I love to do picot with beads…and this time i used red glass beads…it is not really visible in the picture. It is going to be a beautiful center piece with almost 15 inches diameter.

Next one is Tea time doily …

This time i used green glass beads for the picot…It’s more of a coaster doily with just 8 inches diameter or even good to use it as bowl lid…

I love working on doilies and i always love to gift it to people close to my heart.

Thank you so much for stopping by with your lovely comments.

Until next time …

Have a nice day…nima

More the merrier….confession of a ‘bag-a-holic’

2011-04-05T16:16:00.001+04:00

People close to me know, how crazy I'm on bags…and some of you know, how lazy I'm to switch between bags. I hate to shift the stuff from one bag to other ….no bag organiser have solved my problem, because i have more stuff than any organiser can hold..

This is my attempt to make a quilted bag….and i made a matching zipper pouch to go with it. I got this matching fever from Mini’s treasure trove. If you have not visited Mini’s blog, i‘m sure you will have all the oooohhhhs and aaaahhhhs after your visit. She is such a talented seamstress who loves to play with the sewing machine. And the credit of the interior of my bag goes to Mini…

It’ is otherwise a simple tote bag with a boxed bottom.

I love to make more and more of this little zipper purse. It is such an easy pattern and i finished my 3rd attempt in just an hour…

I embellished it with a crochet flower brooch.

Because of quilting , it is sturdier than any of the bags i have made before.

One last show off…..

Thank you so much to everyone for stopping by with your lovely comments…

Until next time…

Have a nice day…nima

Crochet Along – Hobo bag

2011-04-01T20:54:00.001+04:00

I made this bag as a part of the CAL/KAL by SAARC in Ravelry.. After turning the posey purse into a wristlet, i decided to work on the hobo bag pattern, but the handle for this bag was a challenge for me.

I was looking out for the bag handles since long time, but i couldn’t find anything locally…and i was hesitant to order online because of the huge shipping cost.

so i tried myself to make one with the beads that i have with me.

This handle was not big enough for the pattern size, so i decided to crochet the bag with a smaller hook to get the perfect gauge, suitable for the handle…

I made the lining with the matching fabric and attached a magnetic clasp for the closure.

It’s a quick pattern even the beginners can try…

It was fun to participate in this CAL…

Thank you so much for stopping by with your lovely comments.

Until next time…

Have a nice day…nima

Crochet along…

2011-03-28T11:19:00.001+04:00

It was a fun transformation of a crochet along.

I joined a Bag CAL in Ravelry and decided to make crochet posey purse

While i was going thru the pattern, my naughty mind told me why don’t I use a smaller hook and make it into a small pouch. During my last vacation i took these wooden bangles to use it as handle for a wristlet…

So instead of using 6mm hook, i used 3.5mm hook and reduced the number of repeat and made it into a wristlet which i can use to carry my cell phone…

…why i made 2, i don’t now…i think it’s the season of twos for me now…

I lined up the pouch …and embellished it ….

I have decided another pattern for the Bag CAL…

I will blog about it once i finish working..

Thank you so much for stopping by with your lovely comments…

Until next time..

Have a nice day…nima

Learning to knit

2011-03-26T00:42:00.001+04:00

At times i like to challenge myself by learning something new …this time it was knitting.

After learning cast on, knit stitch, purl stitch and cast off …i have something to show you…

a mug cozy …

I know this is not near to perfection, but i thought I'll talk about this milestone, so that it will be fun for me to see and read about it after i master knitting..

This is a patch i tried to alter knit stitch and purl stitch…i don’t know why it is looking funny…

To spice up the learning process i made few stitch markers…

doesn’t it look pretty….

It’s always fun to learn something new…needle and thread is always my passion.

Thank you so much for encouraging me with your lovely comments…

Until next time…

Have a nice day…nima

Quilted zipper pouch

2011-03-22T12:57:00.001+04:00

It was quick finish that i did few weeks back from Quiltsalot.

I was fascinated by this little purses that was running around the sewing blogs and tried myself to make…

I’m always lazy to do the same project twice, so this time i started by piecing for 2 purses and did all the steps simultaneously.

It’s a very easy pattern and i love the finish…I hope i might try this pattern again.

Thank you so much for stopping by with your lovely comments..It means a lot to me.

Until next time…

Have a nice day…nima

I’m featured on craftziner

2011-03-15T10:45:00.001+04:00

Please do click on the image to read about me. Madhavi had asked me different questions from other features…so you might have something new to read about…

Thank you so much Madhavi for featuring me….nima

Spring Giveaway – Winners

2011-03-15T10:16:00.001+04:00

Winners are

Kothiyavunu.com wins the set of carnations earring

and

Rena wins the carnations pendant

Thank you so much to everyone who participated in the Spring giveaway..

Until next time…

Have a nice day…nima

Sewing a Reversible Bucket Bag

2011-03-11T12:15:00.001+04:00

I was fascinated by the beautiful finishes of the sew along organized by My Botang. They were working together on Reversible bucket bag pattern.

It was an easy pattern to follow…but i felt like a dumb at some point of time…

I used upholstery fabric and so i didn’t use interfacing or fusible fleece…

This is the other side of it..

I sew 2 different buttons as the closure. The pattern suggests a removable floral closure…i think this is more practical for me.

Edited : Please visit the Flicker Album to see more bag finishes

Thank you so much My Botang for motivating me to work on this pattern…

Thank you so much to everyone for stopping by with your lovely comments…

Spring giveaway ends on March 14th…

Please click the image to participate in the giveaway…thank you

Until next time…

Have a nice day…nima

Rescued from a sewing disaster

2011-03-08T11:39:00.001+04:00

I didn’t try making a Dresden plate, after attempting it when i took the quilting lesson last year…Few months back i took a Dresden plate ruler on my visit to classic quilts and never tried to use it. Last week i decided to try my hand on making a Dresden plate . After finishing one Dresden plate block…it was too easy and i made another 2…and decided to finish it into a wall hanging.

I made sashing and borders with the scrap of fabrics i used for making Dresden plate…but i was not at all happy with it and thought I'll make it into a cushion…after finishing it into a cushion also i was not happy with the finish…..it was not looking too great with the scrappy borders…I was so desperate that i should save the blocks, because i was so happy with the Dresden plate blocks…

I finished the blocks into 3 round finishes with a matching binding..All 3 can be used as either a door hanging or a table topper of a round tray mat…

Now one block is a table topper in my living room…

I replaced the cathedral window with this Dresden plate wall hanging on my sewing room door….

and the 3rd one is a tray mat for my round tray…

I quilted 3 blocks in 3 different way, and it is nice to see how quilting makes the same blocks different…

Spring giveaway ends on March 14th…Please click on the image to participate in the giveaway…

Thank you so much for stopping by with your lovely comments…

Until next time…

Have a nice day…nima

It’s time for a spring giveaway

2011-03-06T16:50:00.001+04:00

(Giveaway is closed. Feel free to download the crochet pattern)

With spring in the air since last 2 weeks i feel it’s fun to enjoy it with a small giveaway. I want everyone who visit my blog to get a chance to win this giveaway. So I'm giving away the crochet pattern for the carnations earring i made a few weeks back.

And 2 lucky visitors to my blog will win something special .

Please feel free to download the

crochet pattern for Carnations Earring.

I know there are a many non blogger/ non crafty people that visit my blog and encourage me with their lovely comments on my crafty passions. So this time I'm organizing this giveaway keeping them also in mind. So those who are not bloggers can participate in this giveaway thru my blog facebook page .

One of the lucky person will win a carnation earring set at the end of the giveaway.

and a second lucky person will win a carnation pendant

Hope this is going to be a fun event for all the visitors to my blog and to my blog facebook page.

There are no hard and fast rule to participate in this giveaway.

I want to make clear that i will not entertain anonymous comments and I don’t encourage you to post your email address in your comments.

I should be able to contact you either thru your blog profile or facebook profile.

You can now enter the giveaway by posting comment either on this blog post here or on the same post on blog facebook page

Giveaway ends on March 14th, 2011

and I'll pick 2 winners on the next day

Thank you so much to Pearlin and Ninu for helping me to test this crochet pattern.

Thank you so much to everyone for stopping by with your lovely comments….

Do participate in this fun giveaway

Have a nice day…nima

Quick Crochet finishes

2011-02-27T12:30:00.001+04:00

I was going on very slowly with my crafty expedition…no particular reason…just a slow down in my busy journey.

I thought it has been sometime since i talked to the world …so i decided to blog about 2 quick crochet finishes i made for gifting…

…it’s a quick crochet basket…no particular pattern to link with.

It was a quick finish …and i loved it…

This is a gift bag doily which i was looking forward to work since long time…I always love to work the pineapple patterns in doily…

Nothing much this time. Hope to come back with some interesting post soon….Thank you so much for stopping by with your lovely comments.

Until next time…

Have a nice day…nima

Graduating Cathedral window

2011-02-14T15:56:00.001+04:00

This time i was trying to graduate on making cathedral window. From my first pincushion attempt…this time i tried to make a 12 windows, 9 square block of cathedral window….

I tried to make an ok mitered corners and tried my free motion quilting skill on the border…

Here is a close up…

Now it’s hanging on my sewing room door….

Do you actually know what it is…

…it’s a cushion cover with an envelop backing….

…all other attempts were for the photo shoot..I love the finishing and I'm looking forward to make many more projects using this technique.

Are you bored with looking at this cobalt blue…now I'm sick of this colour…

Here is an eye candy….

…it’s the first harvest from our balcony garden… Those who know the size of my balcony might be wondering how we managed to make this….lol…There are many more tomatoes on the plant….I hope next batch will be ready by the next weekend…

Thank you so much for your lovely comments on my crochet baby bootie and mitten…

Until next time…

Have a nice day…nima

This is what i made for the little one

2011-02-12T17:09:00.001+04:00

I had mentioned in my last post, that i made something special for the new born brother of the 2 little angels of my friend..…

Here is a flannel blanket with crochet edging and hand appliqué bunny on it.

and here is a set of bootie and mitten…

the bootie pattern is from crochetville

I was looking out for a boyish bootie pattern and i came across this lovely bootie pattern…best ever booties by Brenda . I couldn’t find any picture of the finished piece along with the pattern, so i was in 2 minds whether to try or not…and you know, while i was reading thru the forum and found that the designer of this pattern is a blind artist…i was so shocked to read it and i decided I'm going to make it…it came out so cute and pretty and i love it…I’m glad that my friend too loved it.I’m going to make many more of this bootie for few other little ones who are on their way….

The mitten is out from not a particular pattern…i was not happy with any pattern i saw and played with hdc stitch…and made this…I love this cutie too…

Thank you so much for your lovely comments for my crochet earring…It’s so nice to see so many people stopping by with their lovely comments.

Until next time..

Have a nice day…nima

Crochet Earring attempt

2011-02-10T13:43:00.001+04:00

Ravelry is the most inspiring station for all the crocheters and knitters…I was fascinated by few of the snowflakes earring patterns in ravelry…Along with my passion to work on with the doilies i tried to make dangling earrings for one of my friends’ 2 little angels….I thought I'll not spoil her surprise and so I stayed away from blogging about it until it reaches her. She is a frequent visitor to my blog….

I know few of my ravelry friends have already seen this beauty and already commented about it.

Here is the one of it…

…I named it Carnation Earrings…

..the next one …

…it’s a Rainbow Earring….

I love these 2 cuties and I'm glad that the 2 little angels are also happy with their new dangling. I have made something for their little brother too…I’ll talk about it next time..

I used spray starch to make it stiff…My first experience to use the spray starch on my crochet finish. I don’t usually starch my doilies because i like it to be soft.

Thank you so much for stopping by with your lovely comments.

Until next time…

Have a nice day…nima

PS. Linking it to

Reached the destination….

2011-02-07T14:56:00.001+04:00

It was a pleasant journey with Jane…and today is the last day of TIAS and the pattern is completed as an airplane…

..i finished my thread on one of the shuttles and it was slightly confusing to attach new thread because it was my first attempt….

It was fun to guess when we completed each bit of the pattern…My guess started as a caterpillar after finishing day 2…

….and i changed my guess to a seahorse on day 3 …

On completing day 5, i confirmed it as a sea turtle ….it reminded me the sea turtles on the Ras Al Hadd beach in Oman….

It was looking like a huge lizard when the pattern progressed…

..after completing the day 9…i got the feeling that it’s going to be an airplane….

…and it is an airplane…

It was so much of fun to tat with Jane’s pattern. Thank you so much Jane for organizing the TIAS. Looking forward to see you in next TIAS..

Until next time…

Have a nice day…nima

Few of my doilies

2011-01-30T18:42:00.001+04:00

It was a pleasant morning…despite of waking up in the middle of the night hearing the screaming of kids..

There was a fire outbreak in our next door apartment in the middle of the night…caused by the carelessness in a fraction of a second …

But the Holy presence of the God Almighty was visible in the roaring darkness when the electricity got cut. With the miracle hands of God the fire was set off in half an hour…I believe it was a miracle….

The house with 2 little children one of 16 months and the other of five years looks like a war zone in the morning with the dark smoke all around the walls and glad that nobody was hurt. The cleaning work is in progress and i hope they can move into their apartment soon. They lost few things in the fire …few other things got damaged with dark smoke..

Praise the Lord that the storm went off without causing any other serious damage.

I have to show off few of the doilies i made recently…

It’s the snowdoily with the glass beads…

..this can be used as a center piece and as a bowl cover…

Another one is a vintage pineapple doily…

and the last one is the cutie pie doily….

I love doing picot with beads these days… good way to embellish a doily.

That’s all for now..Thank you so much for your lovely comments on my stained glass appliqué project..Looking forward to do more exciting projects again.

Until next time….

Have a nice day…nima

I was working on this during my silence

2011-01-23T00:05:00.001+04:00

I always used to admire the beauty of stained glass painting especially on the church windows…and since painting is not my cup of tea …i didn’t try my hand in making one by myself.

While browsing for quilting inspirations around the blog land, the stained glass appliqué caught my attention. But i could not find any perfect tutorial to start working on it immediately. Learning to do stained glass appliqué was there in my wish list for the New year. And the Quilt style website helped me to speed up the learning process ..they have a free pattern template there .

Then i got some more ideas from here and also from here. Putting all the information together, i decided to slowly start my attempt in stained glass appliqué…and I'm really happy with the outcome..

..it’s not 100% up to the mark….but I'm proud of my learning piece. I quilted it on the ditch and finished it of as a wall hanging with a sleeve ….

Here is the close up of the flower…the batik print from Robert Kaufman

How i did it:

I thought I'll share how i go about it…with few pictures..

I mentioned that i got this pattern from quilt style…i made freezer paper templates out of the pattern and ironed it on the right side of the fabric to make fabric templates

and arranged it on a muslin fabric with the help of glue stick…

i suggest, you use fusible web on the wrong side of the fabric , so it will make the assembling easy…

…..and this…

learned from the mistake: don’t do this …you will get all the pin pricking…you can use safety pins instead or if you are using the fusible web on the wrong side of the fabric, things are more easier …

I made bias strip with the bias tape maker

…and used the fusible tape to fix it…..it was a life saver…

I ironed the bias strips according to the number onto the fabric and hand appliquéd it one by one…good that the pattern includes that numbering.

i didn’t know that i forgot to take the step by step process of appliquéing the bias tape…i was too excited to finish it off…

It was nice to see the piece getting into shape…

Glad that i achieved another milestone in the quilting journey..

Thank you so much for stopping by with your lovely comments.

Until next time…

Have a nice day…nima

Learning something new….

2011-01-12T14:35:00.001+04:00

I always love to learn something new with my needle and thread, hook and yarn and at times with my shuttle and thread….

Yes my DH noticed when i started to play with my shuttle and thread again..I’m trying to do Jane’s TIAS….I finished my practice piece and all geared up to start tatting…

Last year i was looking forward to learn basic quilting and I'm happy that i could do it…and i finished 3 small quilts and also some tiny bits of quilting here and there…

During last month’s Muscat Quilt guild meeting, Sylvie demonstrated how to do a star block….it was something new for me, i have not seen anything like that online…she demonstrated hand piecing and machine piecing that block and i tried both ways just to see how it works…

…this is my hand piecing attempt…

..i attached a machine pieced star block to it, the one on the left….yeah…i liked my hand pieced one more…

It’s great idea for coasters…i know many more ideas are flashing thru your minds now….

I didn’t make any more blocks….i was very happy when i learned something new…and you know what i finished it into….

…a needle case for my hand piecing and hand quilting needles. My other needle case that Annie gifted is now exclusively for my cross stitch tapestry needles.

In the morning while i was taking pictures of my new needle case in my work space…..

…i noticed my pincushion that i have never talked about…

It was my attempt to learn cathedral window…it’s awesome technique and i loved Lynne Edwards’ teachings…

..this year I'm looking forward to finish a cathedral window quilted wall hanging…i have not started to work on it…hopefully to piece it soon….

Another technique i wish to learn is free motion quilting…I tried free motion quilting few weeks ago with 2 needle breakage and lots of sweating in the midnight…when the temp outside was freezing with just 18 degrees …lol….

….and I made a kitchen tissue roll cover out of that learning piece….

..i used the swirl design on the fabric as the guide to free motion. I’m very happy about the finishing…..but i need to work hard to master the free motion quilting…

That’s all my rambling for now. Thank you so much for stopping by with your lovely comments. I don’t know if this post interests anyone…but i thought of posting it as a reference…so that i’ll enjoy reading it later…yeah…after i master these techniques…lol..

A small prayer for the people in Australia who are going thru such a heavy natural calamity….

Until next time…

Have a nice day….nima

Good start with a cross stitch finish

2011-01-05T15:57:00.001+04:00

Hope everyone of you had a good start for the new year.

I finished stitching cross stitch borders on the Charles craft towel. Mayya gifted me this towel almost an year ago…and i got time to work on it only now.

Thank you so much Mayya for the lovely towels…

It was a quick finish in between few of my slightly big projects…

This cross stitch pattern is from New Zealand creative stitch and craft, I made a bigger pattern into small for this borders….

Thank you so much for stopping by with your lovely comments…

Until next time..

Have a nice day…nima

Time to welcome 2011

2010-12-30T18:02:00.001+04:00

It’s almost time to say goodbye to 2010. The first decade of this century is coming to an end…

I was trying very hard to finish one of the pending project for this year. I kitted up this cross stitch pattern almost this time last year hoping to finish it for this Christmas. After putting few stitches on it, i didn’t get much time to work on it. I started to work again on this, 3 weeks ago hoping to finish it by the Christmas, but i couldn’t make it for this Christmas ….I put the last few stitches on it yesterday evening….

…and here it is..

I’m not sure now, how I'm going to finish it …I'm sure that I'll not frame it…i need some more time to decide how to finish it…It’s a pretty big project and i hope I'll use my sewing/quilting skills to finish it for next Christmas.

When i look back, I feel so good that, by the grace of God, this year happened to be a good year .

I'm glad that i could use the creative cells of my brain productively…lol…

Thank you so much to all the people who visit my blog and spend some time here to post your lovely comments. It means a lot to me.

Thank you so much to all the crafty bloggers around the world for inspiring me with your great ideas and helpful tips and tutorials…

I hope and wish year 2011 is going to be more beautiful year for everyone ….

Until I see you next year…

Have a beautiful New years eve ……nima

Muscat Quilt Guild – my show and tell experience

2010-12-26T23:19:00.001+04:00

I hope everyone of you had a blessed Christmas and you enjoyed spending time with your loved ones.

It was our quilt guild meet up on Dec 18th. I was excited to attend the meeting, because i missed last few meetings during my holidays and i have 3 of my finishes to show and tell….

It was my first experience at the show and tell…I forgot to hand over my camera to someone to capture my pictures. This image credit goes to Basima, who is in charge of taking pictures for the guild newsletters. She was kind enough to share my pictures …

…..this is me presenting my 3 quilted finishes of this year..

This was my first machine quilted wall hanging….which i have blogged about here…

This is my hand quilting learning piece, a quilted table runner…you can read about it here, if you are new to my blog….

This was another attempt of machine quilting. I finished four cross stitch patches into a quilted wall hanging…and i have blogged about my experience here …

I have few pictures of gorgeous works of others which i caught in my camera…I was sitting few rows behind….so my pictures are not really good….

This one is an amazing piece of work…

…it’s something like a sunflower garden….she had embellished it beautifully…sorry i don’t have a close up of it…

This one is a 2 sided table cloth…..

..this is the other side

…few other beautiful piece of works…

This was the last months activity….stuffed Christmas trees….

not a really good picture…but in real it looks gorgeous…this is in my to do list for next Christmas…yeah…i have already started to list up my activity for next Christmas….lol.

Thank you so much for spending some time here in my blog. Thank you so much to everyone for your lovely comments …it is always an encouragement for me.

Until next time…

Have a nice day…nima

Merry Christmas

2010-12-23T15:46:00.001+04:00

It’s that time of the year, when the sky opens up the heaven’s door and all angels sing “Glory to the Lord”

Wishing everyone of you a Blessed Christmas..

Enjoy your holidays…nima

Doilies for the season

2010-12-21T14:56:00.002+04:00

I love to crochet doilies, to deck up a dull corner table, to display it as centerpieces and for gifting .

This time I made few doilies for Christmas gifting…

..this has already reached a safe crafty hand.

I enjoyed working with this pattern…. I loved adding white beads for the picot …

This is a coaster doily, again with a beaded picot edge…

…displayed are the pewter Christmas ornaments from Preeta….

…this pattern is from a Japanese site and i believe i got the link from Ravelry…but sorry that i cannot find it now….

…i enjoyed taking shots of this beauties…

These are the crochet edged coasters ….

…made of the fabric, perfect for the season….

This doily is from the vintage doily pattern from coats & clarks…

…again finished this doily with the beaded picots….

Next year also, it is going to be doily gifting year, because i have not finished making doilies for my loved ones….I enjoy working on doily patterns, it is always fun to see doily getting into shape…

I hope everyone is busy getting ready to celebrate Christmas…

Enjoy the holiday season…take care of yourself and your family…

Until next time..

Have a nice day…nima

Last set of cross stitched ornaments for the year

2010-12-18T16:04:00.002+04:00

These are the few more cross stitched Christmas ornaments i made for this year…

since i was doing other crafts, i could make only 10 cross stitched Christmas ornaments as the part of

Christmas ornament challenge

for this year.

….this is the very last piece for the year…

I hope i can make many more cross stitched Christmas ornaments for next year…

Thank you so much for taking time to stop by with your lovely comments..

Until next time…

Have a nice day…nima

Christmas wreath ornaments

2010-12-13T11:51:00.001+04:00

When it comes to Christmas ornaments, Christmas wreaths are my favourite. I made few crochet Christmas wreath ornaments to add up to my Christmas ornament collection….

2 of the angels in the picture are from my earlier collection….

I love this green wreath …

…this is a different pattern with a jingle bell..

and a red variation with a bell…

Since i’m travelling during next few days, I'm saving this post to publish …hope it works fine.

Thank you so much for stopping by with your lovely comments…

Until next time…

Have a nice day… nima

Stockings for the season

2010-12-11T11:45:00.000+04:00

It’s not fare without crafting any stockings for the season. I made up few felt stockings ornaments this time….

…this one i finished up with crafting fur..

…this one with a lace finishing..

..and this one is finished with the pom pom edging..

I would love to share the crochet stockings ornament i made 2 years ago…

and another felt stockings i made for my little nephew 2 years back…

..this is the cross stitch stockings ornament i made last year

Thank you so much for taking time to visit my blog…and thank you so much for posting your lovely comment…

Until next time…

Have a nice day…nima

Exciting blogger friends meet up

2010-12-10T13:46:00.001+04:00

It was a great pleasure to meet my blogger friend, a very talented seamstress and a cross stitcher, Mini who blogs at the

Mini’s Treasure trove

It was a planned visit …but it didn’t reduce our excitement at all, because we were meeting for the first time….

I was slightly worried if our DHs will get bored because it was their maiden encounter too. They had a nice chat over a coffee and didn’t interfere in our girlish talk…

I would love to share the lovely Christmas gifts that she gave me…

A Christmas towel and a matching stocking…

I love the detailing that she did on this very pretty towel and the star appliqué on the stockings…

Mini, Thank you so much for your thoughtful gifts, I'm going to treasure it. I'm sure it will refresh the sweet memory of our first meet up, during the Christmas seasons for years to come.

Please do visit Mini’s blog to see more eye candies…I’m sure you are going to enjoy browsing thru the beautiful finishes and cross-stitched masterpieces that she have blogged about.

Until next time…

Have a nice day…nima

Greeting cards for the family

2010-12-08T11:11:00.002+04:00

I made few cards to send it home for the Christmas…

It’s an ornament card, so that they can hang it as a decor…

It’s a crochet snowflake finished into a card…

it was slightly tricky to take a picture of this glossy card….

i used white and silver, gold and cream and variegated thread and a glossy thread together to give it a festive glow…

In the effort to take a non reflecting picture of the glossy card, the glitter on the snowflakes are not really visible. I really liked this variation of the car.

These are the few cross stitched cards i made in 2008…

I have few more Christmas finishes to show off….hope to come back with other finishes…

Until next time..

Have a nice day…nima

Hardanger Christmas Ornament

2010-12-05T13:01:00.002+04:00

This is my hardanger designing attempt using Jane’s cross stitch gold…

In the hardanger graph, each square represents 2 threads of the fabric and i have stitched holly motifs 1 over 1. So I had to put the holly motifs outside the heart graph, for the reference.You can stitch the holly motifs 1 over 1 on the dotted place .

If you work it on 22ct fabric you will get a 4.5 inches Ornament.

Please feel free to use this hardanger pattern for your Christmas crafting.

My tree is up and it was so nice to put all my handmade stuff to decorate the tree. I’ll try and post the pictures of few of my ornaments that i made earlier years..

It’s so nice to see all inspiring Christmas ideas around the blog land…

Until next time…

Have a nice day…nima

Freebie: Crochet strawberry pattern.

2010-12-05T10:36:00.003+04:00

This is the crochet strawberry pattern i made few months back. Even after closing the giveaway, i was getting more and more emails requesting the pattern. Sorry that i couldn’t send the pattern to some of you while i was on holiday. Now i have decided to give the pattern away as a freebie, so that you all can enjoy crocheting it. Click on the link below to download the pattern.

Strawberry Crochet Pattern (pdf)

Please respect the copyright rule, and use this pattern only for your personal crocheting pleasure and you can use the finished little strawberries as gifts.

If you talk about the pattern in your blog, please do take time to put a link to this post.

If you have any difficulty to download this file, please let me know….Thank you.

Until next time…

Have a nice day…nima

Few more Christmas ornaments

2010-12-03T21:10:00.001+04:00

I was playing with a piece of Christmas fabric thinking what to make with it….

i got a creative spark and made few ornaments out of it …..

I cut the fabric patches and sew it together…

This is my favorite of the lot…

…and i love this star ornament too…..

…this is a tree ornament..

I sew the patches together, stuffed it with polyfill and finished it with a button hole stitch.

Thank you so much for your encouraging comments and mails…It means a lot to me.

Until next time…

Have a nice day…nima

I’m featured …….

2010-12-01T16:04:00.001+04:00

It was pleasure to see myself in a printed media again. This time it was on the Oman Tribune’s last Weekend edition of Oman Mirror….Thank you so much Sapna for taking interest to write about me.

Thank you so much to everyone for encouraging me…

Until next time,

Have a nice day…nima

Hand Quilted Starry Mug Rug

2010-11-29T16:10:00.001+04:00

I have done hand quilting only once when i took the hand quilting lesson to finish a hand quilted table runner..I tried my hand quilting skills again for a Christmas project…it was just a small portion of hand quilting…

…i really enjoyed hand quilting this small piece of appliquéd star.

My DH complained that it’s too big for a coaster…so I named it..Stary Mug Rug..

….set of twos are going to travel as Christmas presents. Hope it will have a pleasant journey during this Christmas rush…and reach home safely..

Thank you so much for stopping by with your lovely comments…

Until next time..

Have a nice day…nima

Is sewing a rocket science…..

2010-11-26T21:49:00.001+04:00

…yes i felt like that yesterday while i was trying to finish a sling bag without a pattern.

This was the kind of bag that was in my mind since very long time … a sling bag, with a zipper, and lining to cover all the raw edges, which we can put diagonally on the shoulder.

In between the Christmas crafting, i was trying to make this bag as a gift. I started with a straight cut outer and lining fabric, but to finish the bag, i had to cut the lining into 3 pieces…I’m glad that i succeed in using braided string for the sling and this was my first attempt to use the eyelet.

I worked really hard to save the destiny of this bag, to giveaway as a gift..but i couldn’t . It is not professionally finished ..so I'm going to keep it for myself and try and make a new bag …hope it works well next time…

Looking forward to read your lovely comments.

Until next time…

Have a nice day…nima

P.S Linking it to

Mayya’s Sew Crafty Saturday

Saturday is crafty day

Snowflakes ornaments for Christmas

2010-11-24T15:04:00.002+04:00

This is my latest attempt to make few cross stitch ornaments for Christmas…

….I played with my favorite toy Jane Greenoff’s cross stitch gold to make this pattern…

Hope you like it. Please feel free to use this pattern for your Christmas crafting and don’t forget to link to my blog.

Thank you so much for stopping by and posting your lovely comments.

Until next time..

Have a nice day…nima

P. S Linking it to

Getting ready for Christmas…

2010-11-23T12:24:00.001+04:00

…..it’s all going to be red for some time…I love this time of the year and i love to make stuff for decorating my house and giveaway as gifts…Good to see all inspiring Christmas crafty ideas around the blog land.

It was an awesome experience at the giftfest yesterday..I made some money for my next stash shopping…..lol.

…this is the doily i gifted Ross who was hosting the fest this time …

This is one of my favorite doily patterns from the free crochet. That’s a swaroski crystal Christmas ornament my dear friend Preeta gifted me…

…and I'm looking forward to put it at a perfect place for this Christmas.

Thank you so much for taking time to visit my blog. your comments mean a lot to me…

Until next time..

Have a nice day…nima

Packing up for giftfest…

2010-11-21T10:41:00.001+04:00

I made few hat pincushions for tomorrow’s giftfest …

…this is my pincushion collection from last giftfest….

Can’t wait to share the Christmas stuff I'm working on…I don’t want my blog look Christmassy way before the Christmas..lol…

Before i leave for now let me share some night pictures from our last trip to Dubai

…Burj Khalifa at night…

…musical fountain…

…not great pictures……i think i could have taken better pictures with tripod…i left my tripod in the car…

Ok friends…will come back soon…thank you so much for stopping by with your lovely comments..

Have a nice day…nima

Long waited…..

2010-11-14T14:24:00.001+04:00

Quilted placemat…

…i got this fabric almost an year ago…i was planning to make something quilted out of it since that day…at last it worked

…can you see the quilting…..

…not really right…i quilted it around each motif, like the bottle, tomato, the recipe card…it looks nice from the top…but slightly messy on the back side…

Quilted coaster set…..

..this coffee fabric is also from my same time fabric hunt….

…did you see the quilting lines marked…please don’t look at it…I'm still a beginner in quilting…i have to wait for the first wash to remove those lines…

I think I'm a person who perform well at pressure…few of my close friends will not agree to this, but this time, my quilting was under pressure…I'm travelling tonight and instead of getting ready for it, i was quilting in the morning and I had to talk about it here, before i leave my sewing room for a week…..I was waiting whole one year, for this busy day to make this stuff….that was too funny…

I’ll soon come back with my Christmas finishes….Until then..

Have a nice day…nima

P.S : Linked to Amy’s Sew & Tell

Linked to Mayya’s Sew Crafty Saturday

Craft Shopping from India

2010-11-08T18:34:00.001+04:00

Needle '’n’ Thread Magazine from Coats India….. I have blogged about it a year back ….I subscribed this magazine when i went to India last year. This time it was the time for renewal…It really worth the money and i decided to renew the subscription….

… i got 2 magazines along with the receipt, before i left India……and a free gift for the renewal…It’s a tasseled handkerchief kit and i have not tried tassel edging before …so this is going to be something new for me.

Few months back there was a discussion going on in Ravelry, SAARC group about cotton hunting . Few of the ravelers made a trip to Tirupur, the knitwear exporting city in India. Since then I was planning a trip to Tirupur to find some crochet cotton. These are the few stuff i got from there….

…this one has a furry look , i just took one to try out …

…. i took some cotton metallic mix….looks like perfect for crocheting

…some metallic thread….

… for embroidery…

…these are some metallic chords for finishing….

..these are some specialty thread, i took just one piece of each to see how it works…the pink variegated cone, the shop owner gave it to me free of cost…he said it is wool …and asked me to try it out…

..this is some cotton thread…something very similar to Anchor knitting cotton..

…i love this variegated cotton thread. i was looking for something like this since very long time..they just had only this 3 colours.…so i took the whole stock of these 3 colours..lol…

then i went to the bead, button street…OMG…that was something amazing…i couldn’t decide what all things i need ..but only problem with this place is they sell only in bulk quantities..so i had to pick up more than what i really need…..

…this is just the tip of the iceberg…i was like a kid in the candy store…

…I took some lace for my finishing works…they have a huge selection of laces too..by that time i knew my baggage to Muscat is going to be overweight and i had to control myself at the lace shop…

Hope to explore more during my next trip….lol….like some of you know my brother is based in Tirupur and from next time on my DH is going to put restrictions on me to visit him…lol…just because of my crazy craft shopping…

Hope you enjoyed watching these eye candies….

I’ll soon come back with some of the crafty finishes…

Have a nice day…nima

Bloggers Quilt Festival – Fall 2010

2010-11-02T11:09:00.001+04:00

Join me at Amy’s creative side for the Bloggers Quilt festival …

Click on the logo to reach Amy’s blog. You can see a truck load of amazing quilts in her blog.

I saw a blog post in one of the blogs while i was blog hopping, but since i was busy after 2 months travel…i didn’t get much time to go to Amy’s blog and read about it. Yesterday i got a mail from one of my regular visitor Thendral reminding me about this quilt festival…so nice of her to think about me…

I’m presenting my first quilt for this quilt festival..

This was one of my learning piece, where i learned to do machine appliqué and machine quilting. I have blogged about the journey of making this quilted wall hanging earlier.

I would love to show you the close up images of appliqué …..

..it was my first attempt of machine appliqué and it was amazing…

This is the close up of quilting…..

……it was my first attempt of machine quilting….

It is fun to join all the quilters from blog land for this fabulous quilt festival hosted by Amy…Please do visit her blog to see other amazing works…Thank you Amy for organizing this quilt festival.

Thank you so much for your warm welcome…Looking forward to blog about the crafty shopping i did during my trip..

Have a nice day…..nima

Getting back in style after a short trip to our parents…..

2010-10-30T11:47:00.001+04:00

Yes, a 2 months trip to our parents home is never a long trip and we enjoyed every second of the stay with our parents…I really missed my sewing room and blog hopping while i was in India…. many things to catch up …before i get back into my sewing passion.

I thought I'll talk about few of the surprises that was waiting for me when i reached home yesterday.

Teresa had a fun quiz in her blog in august and i won the game and she mailed me a lovely pinkeep that she cross stitched and finished. She has a lovely blog and I'm always inspired by the beautiful works that she do everyday. The lovely pinkeep reached home when i was off for vacation and it was a great surprise to see the lovely wrapped gift when i came home yesterday. …

…this is the beautiful pinkeep and the lovely note that she had send me…

…thank you so much Teresa for your lovely gift and adding me as your special friend.

Another surprise was a giveaway win from Michelle – The Desert quilter …..

I was away on vacation when she announced the winner and she mailed me saying i won the draw….this lovely book was waiting for me in my mail box when i reached home yesterday…so much ideas to try…Thank you Michelle for the lovely gift.

I missed visiting your blogs when i was away….can’t wait to see all your lovely works. Thank you so much for your lovely comments and emails when i was away from the blog land…it was a great feeling to know that you still remember me when I'm away.

Hope to come back soon ….

Have a nice day….nima

Desperately needed another purse

2010-09-02T00:34:00.001+04:00

Yesterday while blog hopping i saw a beautiful purse at Kristine’s blog and she sent me the pattern for it as soon as i mailed her. I was slightly busy, getting ready for the trip and i thought I'll work on it after i come back…

I was busy packing up my stuff …and i felt that I need another purse/pouch to carry my random medicines. I thought Kristine’s zipper bag would be best and i opened the computer and took the fabric and made a purse from her pattern.

Kristine, sorry i couldn’t decorate it. I packed the medicines and didn’t forget to take a picture of it before i slip it into my check in luggage bag…I’m surely going to make few more after i come back.

Here is a close up to see the quilting …

..and I'm very happy with the finishing..

I really loved working with prairie points..this is my first trial with it..and I'm glad that it came out ok. Thank you so much Kristine for sharing your pattern.

That’s all for now…I'm going to miss my sewing room and sewing for next 2 months …will try to catch up with your blog updates while i travel…

Hope to come back with more inspiring ideas ….

Until next time…

Have a nice day…nima

Penny’s Hexie Caddy and Hexie Pouch

2010-08-31T18:59:00.001+04:00

If you haven't visited Penny’s Hands …don’t be late…she has so many lovely tutorials that inspires you to try. Today i’m going to talk about her Hexie Caddy and Hexie Pouch . As soon as i saw the tutorials i want to try it immediately. Her tutorials are well explained with pictures and writings, even beginners can follow it very easily.

I was attracted to her Hexie pouch and made it as soon as i saw that tutorial 2 weeks back. Yesterday i saw her Hexie caddy tutorial and i thought I'll make that too and blog about both the finishes together.

Here is the Hexie caddy…

It is really a fun project … and it’s going to be a perfect catcher in my sewing room…

The Hexie pouch is perfect when I want to carry few many things on a move…

I made 2 pouches in different sizes…

…it was a quick finish….and i love these take along pouches.

Thank you so much Penny for sharing your tutorials.

Ninu made little strawberries and have blogged about it..Please visit her blog to see her cutie strawberries. Thank you Ninu for helping me by testing the pattern.

Strawberry crochet pattern giveaway ends today. If anyone is interested please do mail me soon…

I’ll be on move during next 2 months and i don’t know how often i can update my blog…

Thank you so much for your lovely comments on my grape vine cross stitch pattern….

Thank you so much for your encouragement and support.

Until next time…

Have a nice day…nima

Cross stitch Grapevine

2010-08-29T17:56:00.002+04:00

I was finishing some of the gifts that i need to take home when i go for my holidays next month. This is again a set of place mats finished with crochet edging, with cross stitched grape vine motif.

I cut the fabric in bias to stitch the motif on the corner. It was slightly challenging to hem the sides with the bias edge. But i liked the way, the motif on the corner.

This grape vine motif is the result of playing with the Jane Greenoff’s Cross stitch Designer Gold software. In last one year, since i got this software, i tried to make few simple cross stitch patterns…and this is the one i like the most.

So I'm giving away this pattern as freebie. Please feel free to copy it and use it for personal finishing.

If you use this pattern please do blog about it and let me know, i can come and see your beautiful work.

Aluajala finished working with my strawberry crochet pattern. Please visit her blog to see how she has finished it.

Thank you so much for your lovely comments and mails after reading my story…it was so nice to read all your lovely comments…Thank you so much for your support and encouragement.

Until next time…

Have a nice day….nima

My story is Featured in Nordic Needle Newsletter

2010-08-24T00:15:00.001+04:00

I’m so thrilled to see Nordic Needle featured my story in their newsletter today. Thank you so much for all your lovely emails and messages. This was a new experience for me to get mails from around the world after reading my story.

If you are not the newsletter subscriber or if you missed their newsletter…please visit Nordic Needle to read about me.

This is one of my oldest works that is featured in the story …

Thank you Nordic Needle, for featuring my story in

your news letter.

Until next time…

Have a nice day…nima

Crochet purses

2010-08-22T17:31:00.001+04:00

Crochet purses and bags are always my weaknesses. Whenever i see a pattern, i wanted to make it…but when i finish it i don’t know what to do with it. Later on I'll find someone who love it and i giveaway to them. My other crochet purses went off like that and I'm happy that it all went to the right people who appreciate my crafty craziness.

Recently i saw this lovely little purse from Lion brand taking seat in some of the crochet blogs..so i couldn’t stay away without trying it. It was a simple pattern and i could finish it in a day…but it was in my WIP basket waiting to get it lined…today was the day to finish it….

…I played with 2 colours to give it a different look.

Do you want to see how i lined it…

i made a zipper pouch, inserted it and attached it with blind stitch. I thought it will be perfect for me to carry my small quantity of floss for a small cross stitch project I'm going to carry with me when i travel next month. Did you notice that needle case. Annie made it for me 3 years ago as a part of the EMS exchange. Annie is a frequent visitor to my blog and I'm sure she will be happy to see her lovely handwork again.

Another purse is from Naturally canon. I saw that while browsing thru Ravelry. i love that stitch and couldn’t stop trying it..

I lined it and fixed magnetic clasp for the closure….

…and it is perfect for me to carry few of my crochet hooks and scissors…

I'm planning to finish some of the Christmas ornaments while I'm in India. This time I'm ready with my crafty stuff while travelling to India…because I'll be in India for 2 months and i hope I'll get some time to work on my crafty passion.

Strawberry crochet pattern giveaway is going on until August 31st..Please remember to see you are not in no-reply mode when you post a comment with the pattern request…I'm unable to mail you the pattern, if i didn’t get your email address.

Thank you so much for your lovely comments and great support…

Until next time…

Have a nice day…..nima

Freebie Strawberry Crochet Pattern

2010-08-14T12:23:00.002+04:00

Thank you so much for your lovely comments on this cutie strawberries.

This time also my friend Ninu helped me to test the strawberry crochet pattern. Thank you so much Ninu for helping me.

I'm giving away this pattern free until August 31st.

Please do mail me if you are interested .

I made a mobile charm and a keychain with the little strawberries…

If you come up with any creative idea to use this strawberries, please blog about it and I'll feature your work in my blog.

I need your e-mail id to mail you the pattern. Please make sure that you are not in no-reply mode when you post a comment. I have already mailed the patterns to some of you who have already requested me with their e-mail address.

Thank you so much to everyone who have voted for my quit for weekly themed quilt contest at Quilting gallery.

Please visit the contest page and

kindly vote for my Four Seasons quilt if you like it.

Voting is open Friday – Sunday @ 11:59 p.m.

Thank you so much for your support and encouragement.

Until next time..

Have a nice day…nima

Please vote for my Quilted Wall hanging

2010-08-13T11:32:00.001+04:00

Quilting Gallery is conducting a weekly themed quilting contest and my quilted cross stitch wall hanging – Four Seasons is competing this week under Embroidery/stitchery theme.

Please visit the contest page and

kindly vote for my Four Season

quilt if you like it.

Voting is open Friday – Sunday @ 11:59 p.m.

Thank you so much for your support…nima

It’s raining strawberries

2010-08-12T01:21:00.001+04:00

Strawberry is one of my favorite fruits. I love to see it used for presentation of dishes..just see this lovely mango pudding decorated with strawberries…

Few days back Whip up had featured a knitted strawberry pattern…i couldn’t resist seeing it. I don’t know knitting…and desperately wanted to try it in crochet…and i came up with these lovely little strawberries….

Did you notice the cross stitch on the fabric..i was working on 2 fruit themed placemats …then i was bitten by this strawberry bug.. I thought I'll talk about it together…and here is the cross stitched strawberry placemat.

This cross stitch strawberry pattern is from one of the patterns of Ellen Maurer…I stitched the same motif 2over1 and 4over2 on even weave fabric to get 2 sizes of strawberry.

I also tried to make a cross stitched apple placemat as well..

This apple cross stitch pattern is a remodeled one…i changed the colour of a cherry pattern into apple…and stitched it same like the strawberries to get 2 sizes of apple.

This is one of my favorite finishing methods with the hemming and crochet edging. I have seen my mom doing this type of hemming when i was small, but I always thought that it is the most difficult needle craft technique…I learned it myself when i grew up and now i know it is as easy as eating strawberries…lol.

Few technical stuff:

Once when i talked about cross stitching over 1 and over 2, some of you asked me the doubt, what difference it makes.. this is the difference. We can get 2 sizes of finish from same pattern. 2 over 1 means, i used 2 strands of thread to stitch over 1 thread of the fabric and 4 over 2 means, i used 4 strands of thread to stitch over 2 threads of fabric…we can use this technique when cross stitching on any even weave fabric.
For my last post, i got a query, how to crochet on to the fabric. I used n0.8 pearl cotton thread with the hook size 14. It can dig up the fabric and bring the thread up and we can do the chain..and again dig the fabric, connect the thread, bring it up and do the chain. When you get a scalloped chain on the fabric, you can do a second and third row of stitches for more elaborated crochet on it, like i did for my circle doily in the last post.

Hope these information will help some of you.

Please let me know if anyone is interested in the crochet strawberry pattern. I’m getting ready with the pattern.

Thanks a million for all your lovely comments, emails and get well soon messages…By the Grace of God I'm on my track now ..and getting back to my passion..Hope to come back soon with something new.

Until next time …

Have a nice day…nima

I’m so happy that I won the GOS creative cross stitch challenge

2010-08-07T11:58:00.001+04:00

It’s almost more than 2 weeks since i blogged..the illness really took a toll on me and I'm still running in the 1st gear…lol… i don’t have much crafty finishes to talk about…..few things I'm working on now is still half way…and i don’t like to blog without a picture. so i stayed away from blogging.

It was an energy booster when i saw that i won the GOS Creative cross stitch challenge, and i decided to come out of my hibernation…and talk about something. This is the second time I'm participating for the GOS creative cross stitch challenge . For my first attempt, during last December, i reached top five . I was really impressed with the works of all other participants. Akila’s and Pilar’s works were different and their finishing was so neat and pretty…Thank you GOS for organizing this challenge…

I told you i don’t like to blog without any picture….so here is one of the finishes i finished and that i never talked about….

This pattern is from one of the Gum tree designers, Dawn. You can see Peach and cream doily in her free patterns. This lovely pattern gave me a lot of inspiring ideas and i thought I'll blog about it once i finish other pieces as well…but the other pieces are still half way and i need some more time to finish it….Hope to blog about it later..

Just see this lovely little crochet stitch markers…

My dear friend Joy made these decorated safety pins. She is into jewelry making and once when we talked about crochet stitch markers, i said i usually use safety pins as stitch markers…she is so thoughtful and made this lovely safety pins and gifted me …You can see her jewelry collection in her flicker Album …just browse thru it to see all beautiful jewelry she made in last few years…

She also made a crochet stitch marker with the Swarovski crystal and one with my initial..so nice of her…Thank you so much Joy..

just see this lovely pin…

…this is also her handwork…i love it…

Ok my dear friends..Thank you so much for your lovely comments, encouragement and support…Hope to come back soon with a new crafty post…

Until next time…

Have a nice day…nima

GOS The creative cross stitch challenge # 7

2010-07-23T21:09:00.001+04:00

When i saw this pattern in GOS blog, i thought i’ll make a complete needle work accessory set with this pattern…

I took this snap as soon as i finished the square…but things all turned upside down when i became sick and bed ridden since Monday evening…

….by that time i finished a pincushion and a scissor case with this pattern…

…i took this image just now under my bed side lamp and i know it’s poor lighting…

i need to blog it immediately because the challenge closes today…so i took all my energy to blog about this finish today itself…

…i hope i can come back soon with all finishes i made with this pattern in my next post…

i missed visiting your blogs and posting comments…i hope i can come back soon and see all of your beautiful works…

Thank you so much for your lovely comments…

Until next time…

Have a nice day…nima

Edited:

Thank you so much for all the get well soon messages..i’m perfectly alright now and back to all my routine activities. I’m editing this post to add one more picture of all the finishes together…

Regarding the floss used, I have used Anchor 1315 for flowers and DMC 4070 to give it an autumn look. i really enjoyed working with this pattern. GOS extended the deadline and you have time till July 30 to participate in this challenge. Visit their blog to get more details about the challenge.

Thank you so much for all the lovely comments…

Will come back soon with another crafty post….nima

Dressed up in crochet

2010-07-15T22:58:00.001+04:00

I was thinking of dressing up some of my storage stuff since long time. Last week i got some colorful acrylic yarns from one of our local craft shop…i thought I'll start to dress up some of the storage stuff with this yarn….

..i just played with the colours and I'm so happy with the outcome…

..this was a perfume tin and it is my crochet hook storage since long time…..and i thought I'll start to work on this first…

…this one was a ice cream tub….after playing with single colour for the crochet hook tin, i got bored and decided to play with colours…

…this was a yoghurt tub….it is large enough to store my scissors, rotary cutter and other tools…i tried to play with colours to avoid boredom…and i really love this combo…

I have to dress up some more stuff….but really got bored, playing with single crochet…i think I'll work on that after some time…

Thank you so much for your lovely comments….

Until next time…

Have a nice day…nima

Recycle crochet

2010-07-13T12:41:00.002+04:00

Recently I came across a blog post regarding recycled yarn from the T-shirt. She had explained how to cut the t- shirt to get the yarn. I thought I'll try this using some of my old slips and old vests i have kept aside to throw away…

I got a decent size basket from the yarn i got by recycling the old stuff..

…and i made a bow using a fabric scrap…it’s perfect to hold some of my acrylic yarn…and it will go easily into my yarn drawer.

I made another same basket using some jute chord/thread/yarn…i don’t know what to call it…..It is actually not a recycling..i got this jute stuff from Dubai Diaso few years back and i tried one small basket from this pattern …..

….but it was hard to work with a small crochet hook and i lost interest working with it…when i used larger hook for t-shirt yarn, i thought why not try working with jute using a larger hook….and i made another similar big basket with it…

…this one is perfect for my crochet threads and it easily fits into my yarn drawer…If anyone is interested in this basket pattern, please let me know i can write it for you.

Thank you so much for encouraging me with your lovely comments for my

quilted cross stitch wall hanging…

I’m going very slow with my crafty expeditions these days… Hope to come back soon with another crafty finish..

Until next time…

Have a nice day….nima

P.S: Please feel free to download the basket pattern.

Basket from recycled t-shirt yarn

Another quilt is born

2010-07-06T06:00:00.000+04:00

I have mentioned many times in my blog that i decided to learn quilting as a finishing technique for my cross stitch pieces.

I did 4 season cross stitch patchwork hearts by Bleu de chine last year and I was dying to finish it into a wall hanging.

Last week when we went to Dubai, my DH choose the fabric for sashing and borders…yes you read it right…my darling husband decided the fabric for the finishing…

…and i loved it when it is finished into a wall hanging

…it is perfect on the wall hanging rod in my living room…

Few close up images…

….I did hand piecing for the sashing and attached the border and binding using my new 1/4 inch foot…..yes, at last i got a 1/4 inch foot for my sewing machine…

…i hand sew the binding while i was watching the awesome Argentina-Germany football match…I love football these days….

…close up image to see the quilting….

….it took some time for me to decide how to make a loop to hang it. For my first quilt i used a sleeve. This time I made 2 inch straps and hand sew it and attached a matching wooden bead on it.

My DH called me a professional…I'm over the moon now ….

Thank you so much for stopping by and encouraging me with your lovely comments….

Until next time….

Have a nice day….nima

P. S: Linking this to