Cross stitch : ABC Baby Afghan Complete

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ABC Baby Afghan Update 4
ABC Baby Afghan Update 3

ABC Baby Afghan Update 2

ABC Baby Afghan Update 1

Completed afghan with maroon backing and knotted edges

When I found out I was preggers with Jr., I finally made my way to the textile shop and bought some material to complete my baby afghan.
Chose a soft dark maroon cloth as the backing.
A dark colour will be able to hide any stains in the future...we are using it for a baby, stains are inevitable.

Took the afghan and backing material to a tailor and he sew it for me.
Then made knots for the edges.
And it's complete =)

I hope Jr. would love his afghan...my 1st present for my little prince <3

My 1st Cow!

Before I get started on Blossoms, I was finishing up a small project.
Bought it in Zhuhai some time back and it's the first time I'm stitching a Cow.
As it's supposed to be an accessory, the so-called cloth is made of soft plastic.
I wasn't used to stitching on such a material before and I found it to be a pain.
So I procrastinated =P
In the end, I broke two needles =(

So, why did I choose a Cow?
Because I planned to give it to a Cow in our family...moo mooOOoo

To make this cute little Cow, I have to stitch two cows which is a mirror image of each other.

Once the cows are done, cut it out carefully following the edges. So now there's two separate pieces.

Then stitch both pieces together at the edges. And stuffed it with synthetic cotton to bloat it up.

End result is a cute smiling 3D Cow!

I hope you like your Cow Melaine =P

MoooOOOooooo!!!

Cross stitch : ABC Baby Afghan Update 4

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ABC Baby Afghan Update 3

ABC Baby Afghan Update 2

ABC Baby Afghan Update 1

Small Snail slowly making it's way...

"T" for Tracy =D

"U" was done pretty quickly.

Another butterfly to pretty up the afghan.

"V" for Victory!

Super cute and blue Whale =)

"X" marks the spot. I know...the green is getting boring -_-

Mum commented that the "Y" is too simple.

Everyone loves the cutesy Zebra. He has the best colour!

Nice colour combination when you look at all the alphabets together =)

This is the afghan I've spent so much time stitching. Have not washed or iron it out. Still have a little finishing touches to be done before it can be used.

I actually finished stitching the baby afghan some time back but was too lazy to post pics.

It feels so good to see all the beautiful & colourful alphabets.

Now, all I have to do is to buy a backing cloth to cover up the back as to not scratch the baby when it's being used in the future.

I doubt I'll be able to get it done before I leave in a few days time.

Will keep the afghan safe and get it done on my next trip back.

The baby afghan is so pretty...I can't stop admiring it =)

Cross stitch : ABC Baby Afghan Update 3

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ABC Baby Afghan Update 2
ABC Baby Afghan Update 1

My arm is now feeling numb from stitching too much.
And I think I'm falling sick =(

Pics colours are not really nice as I took them in my room at night with the lights on.
Hence the shadows.

"L" for sweet love <3

Cute little shy Mouse for "M".

"N" is just green.

A purple Owl perching on an "O"

"P" for Piggy

I think the "Q" turn out pretty nice in purple.

And a simple pink "R"

I'm currently working on the alphabet "S".

If I'm not too sick tomorrow, perhaps I'll be able to finish "S" and move on to the next alphabet.

I need some cuddles.

Maybe it is love sick.

Cross stitch : ABC Baby Afghan Update 2

Previous ABC Baby Afghan Update 1

I've done lots of progress with my stitching.
I'm already half way done...yippie!
Mum is already contemplating what colour to use as the backing cloth =P
She's thinking of brown, which I'm not very keen on.
I prefer something sweet and neutral...'cause we don't know whether our 1st baby is going to be a girl or boy.

What's a nice neutral colour for a baby?

I've finished up to the alphabet "K"

"C" for Kitty Cat. Pei Ann hates cats.

Now, every time I look at the alphabet "C", it reminds me of Pei Ann ;P

"D" looks super simple but it took quite an effort to get it done.

"E" has the same design as "D".
Both used a lot of half stitches.

"F" for Froggie.

A butterfly pattern which was tedious to stitch!

Looks beautiful once it's done though.

Needless to say, "G" took minimal amount of time to stitch.
Nothing special about it.

"H" for woozy Horsie.

My horse looked like it had booze instead of hay =P

A polka dotted "I"

"J" is just like "G"

My fav alphabet so far is "K". The Kangaroo looks like it's ready to hug someone!

I still have a long way to go before the afghan is done.

Gotta spend more time stitching and less time eating.

People have been commenting that I've put on quite a bit of weight.

I'm not denying it....but it still doesn't sound like music to my ears -_-

Maybe it's time to go on a little diet.

Cross stitch : ABC Baby Afghan Update 1

Between catching up with friends and stuffing myself with food wherever I go, I managed to work on the Baby Afghan that I got a while back.

So far, the letters A & B are done.

It looks so cute.

I can't wait to work on the rest of the alphabets!

How cute is that?

This "A" has a funny story that I'm sure Melaine, Aunt Serene, Aunt Helena, Mum and I will never forget...

You see, we were having another mahjong session in my house.
Since they have enough players this time, I could sit back and do some stitching.

Then I proudly showed my handiwork to my aunts...

Obviously they were admiring it 'cause it's so freaking cute =P

Then Aunt Serene said...

The crocodile is so cute lar. "A" for Crocodile =)
Melaine & Me : 0_0
Nolar..."A" is for Alligator!!

Everyone then burst out laughing...Crocodile is more commonly used in Malaysia than Alligator so I think my baby will have a hard time learning that as well.

And we usually teach kids that "A" is for Apple =P

At least the letter "B" comes without an animal to crack us up =) Though Mum said they should put a Bee for "B". Yeah...maybe she wanna consider being a cross stitch pattern designer =P


I'm enjoying myself tremendously working on this project.

I just wish I have more time to stitch.

Cross stitch : ABC Baby Afghan

Last year I was searching around for a cross stitch project to occupy my time and I came across this cute and pretty afghan. If you're wondering what's an afghan, it's a blanket but made by hand. It's a very personal gift in my opinion.

When I saw this Baby Hugs ABC Afghan by Dimensions. I couldn't resist. I just had to get it eventhough we don't have a baby yet(not from lack of trying!) So I thought why not stitch it first then when our baby comes...there's a beautiful afghan all ready to keep the baby warm =)

So off I went searching for the cheapest kit to buy. I stalked eBay day and night hoping to bid on the one with the perfect price. I've tried searching in shops but they don't seem to stock these kind of cross stitch kits.

Finally...I found one and made my first eBay purchase. And thus began my anxious 2 months wait for it to arrive. It's seriously crappy that it takes that long to arrive from the USA because of customs. Much prefer to buy it at the store if I can to save myself all the trouble of making sure my package arrives..

When the package arrived...I tore into it in record time.

The kit comes with cotton thread, 18 count acrylic afghan fabric, needle and instructions. All I had to do is sort out the thread and arrange them on a card and then stitch away!

When I'm done, it should look like this.

I feel that the afghan size is just nice at 29" x 45"(74x114cm).

The fabric is really soft and not too heavy for a baby.

Just perfect.

And I do believe my baby will love it =)

Merry Christmas!

He...he...heE! (I'm trying to holler like Santarina and not Santa!)

It's Xmas and it's freaking cold in Macau...only thing that's missing..SNOW!

(If it does snow here...I'll go into deliberate hibernation =P)

Anyways...I decided to make a few Christmas cards this year for loved ones.

(I hope you all have received it by now...if you didn't...either I didn't sent you one or it got lost in the Mail (most likely this is what happened!!)

The patterns I chose to stitch were from the Cross Stitcher Magazine that I bought after much deliberation as it's quite pricey...why must reading materials be so expensive huh?

But no regrets whatsoever =)

It took me a few days to complete the cards and they turned out pretty fantastic =D

Cute Christmassy cards

I like this one the most =D Wanted to keep it for myself but I finally decided to send it to people I love.

Cross stitching is such a labour intensive hobby. If only I can stitch like an Energizer rabbit, then I'll have enough cards for all my friends and family who deserves a prezzie from me ^o^

Maybe I should start now and prepare cross stitch presents for next Xmas =P

Hmm....where's my Xmas prezzies?

Cross stitch : Carp Complete

I finally completed my cross stitch carps after working on it for about 2 months. Doesn't it look beautiful? Have yet to decide whether to take it to the framers. As I've mentioned before, I made some changes to the original pattern. I changed the colour of the green carp to red whom is now known as transcolour =D. I've also decided not to stitch the red border as I feel that it would limit my framing choices such as size and colour.

Actually..I lied, this is not how it looks like now. I took this picture when I really thought I finished it...but then I was lazing on the sofa reading a book when it suddenly hit me...I forgot to stitch the Chinese characters on the left. But then I was too lazy to snap another pic...so that's why this pic below is without the Chinese characters.

I'm so proud of myself =D

These are the shiny threads I used to stitch the scales on the carps. It's 3 times the price of normal threads.
Of all the carps...I don't fancy these two the most. The red one looks kinda weird. Nothing really wrong with the gold one...just think they look awkward together.
This is transcolour. Supposed to be green but I made him red...he didn't turn out too bad did he?

Unfortunately, the black carps didn't really stand out even after I stitched it's scales. It sort of blended in too well with the water. And also it got overshadowed by the beautiful gold carp just next to it.
I like this carp the best. Maybe because of how the body is positioned...I can be so biased =P

Close up on the shiny scales. It seriously was a pain to stitch the scales on all the carps.

So...now that I've finished my carps, I'm moving on to other stuffs. Currently I'm working on some smaller stitching projects which I'll post here when the time comes. I also have a wonderful cross stitch project waiting for me in Macau. That one is a long story so I'll save the story for some other time.

Cross stitch : Carp update 6

With much hard work and strained eyes, I finally finished stitching the water. It ain't easy as it's all in half stitches! Now all I have to do is the back-stitch to make the fish scales. I hope I can finish it in the next week or so. Back-stitching is really tough on this pattern as there's no outline to follow instead, it's sorta scattered all over the fish.

This is before I started on the water...looks a little disconnected with the empty spaces...

Look at it now =D The effect is great isn't it? Though I think it makes the black carps less outstanding.

I tried to put the pics side by side for comparison but for some weird reasons, not able to do it in blogger. Not really in the mood for stitching today so I guess the carps would just have to wait for a little while more to get their scales.

Cross stitch : Carp update 5

I finally finished stitching all 9 carps. It was all done with love despite the drama with transcolour. So now what's left is stitching the water, some small leaves and also to add bling bling scales to my carps. I've already bought the bling bling threads and it's triple the price of normal threads. I hope it'll look nice on my carps as it's the first time I'm blinging any of my cross stitch projects.

Yay...It's almost done. It looks much better in real life than in pictures.

When it's finished, it should look like this. Guess which is transcolour?

Yup...this is transcolour. It's a male just because it gave me so much pain and drama ;P

Was out shopping today so I'll work only get to work on my carps tonight. I'm sort of in a hurry to get this done as I have another hobby of mine that needs attention. Ooooh...I can't wait =D