E@K! We meet!!

 Facts: EKIS@KARAYOM

What: A local stitching group composed of filipinos from all over the metro (and beyond)

Where: Meets at the DMC shop in Megamall

When: every 4th saturday of the month.

Goal: To help spread the love of cross stitching.

Fact: This was our FIRST meeting and it was a success!!! :D

My favorite shot of the day. We call this the "YOUNG ONE and the ONCE YOUNG"
It just shows that the love of cross stitching is for everyone. Little Nina is 8 and Mamila is 63. Both proud and happy members of our local stitching club Ekis@Karayom.

Of course, as always, what stitchy get-together would be complete without food? We had a massive potluck resulting in a fiesta... it was such a big spread, people kept going back for seconds, thirds, fourths... (I know I went back for Rene's spaghetti at "least" 4 times).

Nothing cements bonding better than food. And after the food... it's free for all. People overcame their shyness and asked the stitchperts to show them the how-tos of cross stitching. Little circles, group sessions were made on the spot. 

Basically, it was a riot. A fun, happy riot where people not only learned new tricks but built friendships. I've heard people say they can't wait for next months E@K Meet.  

Here are some pictures of what went down that day. Just to give you an idea of what we plan to do.

Everyone is listening in on Honey as she gives an impromptu tutorial. 

One on one tutorial.

Tutorial by Honey.

 Big or small, it doesn't matter what size you're project is... we appreciate each one.
But be ready... the first thing people usually do is FLIP IT to check out the back. Hence the tutorials.... everyone wants to know how to do a neat back.

Check out Honey's SAP order. (stitch-a-picture)

And look at her back!

Rene's WIP of Amorsolo's Waling-Waling.

Little Nina and her mum Jen. Love of stitching gets passed on from one generation to the next. 

Meet two of the friendliest shopkeepers ever. DMC's Rose and Jean. 

Little Nina getting a tutorial from Big Nina

Some had already left by the time we got this picture going... but it was a full fun day.

One of the members, Tet, couldn't make it and sent over brownies and butterscotch bars (yum!). The fun part, she sent a note and decorated each bar with an X. That's 36 bars!!

Trix showing off one of her WIPs

Checking out the back of Mickey Mouse.

Honey teaching the very basics

Tutorial session with Honey.

Honey starting off with the basics, the right length of thread.

The Panda and Panda-girl.
No, he doesn't stitch. But he's fully supportive and that's what counts. 

What is E@K for?
We want to spread the love for cross stitching and OOMPH up the skill level of each one.
And basically, to find friends who enjoy the same thing as we do. :)

Latest Job: Hobbes

I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.
This is my latest project. Making this for my Panda for his birthday...but due to an unfortunate fall, I sprained my wrist and wasn't able to finish it in time for his birthday. I'm still doggedly trying to finish it. The brace has been off a couple of days and I'm trying to zoom as fast as I can but with utmost care to railroad and tuckaway my back.
No... I haven't finished my other WIP's but this one is close to being finished... making this my first for 2012. Rawr!!! Yeah!!!
Give me a week more and it'll be done! Woohoo!

I've had people ask me where to buy the pattern and if I'd sell it after I'm done with it. I actually converted a comic strip into a pattern... but I don't think I can sell it. Copyright belongs to Calvin and Hobbes' maker. I just wanted to make it as a gift for my Panda who loves them. 

Anyway, hope you enjoyed seeing him come alive little by little :)

A STITCHY BIRTHDAY

My little group of stitchy friends and I have gotten into the habit of celebrating our birthdays at our local DMC store. (yes, they lovingly let us and we in turn lovingly support them 100%).

Last June was my turn...and given how I love to have fun, I had party hats, loot bags, kiddie tablecloths... and we potlucked ourselves full. 

The Little Mermaid design was in honor of the Mermaid SAL that is ongoing... the Looney Tunes in honor of the latest series that DMC has launched here... every little thing had a meaning. And it was so much fun!

Ofcourse, it wasn't just food... we brought our stitchy stuff to show and share. No get-together is complete without some form of "okrayan". (**okrayan- critiquing). 

But it's all done in good faith. :) End goal being us laughing and our stitching improving. 

Here are some pictures to show you the fun we had during my birthday. And no... I'm not 12 (though the hats may say otherwise). Multiply that by 3 and you'd roughly get to my age. LOL!

This is Yeya, one of my stitchpert teachers 

Nina, our resident Lizzie Kate fan 

I had two cakes that afternoon. Oh and by the way, that's Rene's famous spaghetti. It's TO-DIE-FOR.

Group shot!

Their gift to me. Stitched by Honey, beaded by Yeya, framed by Rene and all around supported by the rest. I'm treasuring this forever!!!

Cake from Angel. Thanks Gel!

Loot bags filled with either beads, patterns, thread heaven, tiny hoops, invisible thread for  beading, fabric.... I prepared a month in advance and shopped for this party :D

This is HONEY. One of the stitchperts. She taught me how to TUCK AWAY and generally is my stitching mentor. :)

Kathie, my stash shopping buddy. 

Mega Stitchpert Rene. Who stitches majority of the DMC patterns for their displays etc.  He's done this LAST SUPPER at least 3 or 4 times... 

Look at how NEAT his back is.

These stitchies gave me the itchies.

I realize it's been quite some time since I've updated my blog. A lot has happened. First, there was another local stitchy get-together by DMC Philippines. This was when they launched their Team Manila patterns. I'll be updating a little bit at a time as I don't want to jumble everything up.

Sheer loyalty to my local DMC makes me temper my words... before anything else, I want to say I LOVE DMC. But I don't want to sugar coat and pretend I like the latest designs.

The patterns are designed by Team Manila. Funky designs for Printed shirts. Yes, it promotes the country.  (Of all people, you'd hear me cheer for that. Go PHILIPPINES!!) Yes, we hear you say you were targeting the youth. But here's my constructive thoughts on it:

Cross Stitching is done by those who want TIMELESS designs that would stand the test of time. If you were targeting the youth, the patterns are great but it would've been better making them into SMALL KITS instead. I don't think the youth, especially teenagers, would take hours of their life stitching the same color... over and over again. It's like a poster! I know I wouldn't have the patience for it. You're talking thousands of stitches...on the same color. Now on the other hand, if they had made patterns of the actual sceneries or landmarks... then, it would be worth stitching such a big size. But why would we want to stitch up a poster? I wouldn't even buy the poster, let alone stitch it up. Designs like Team Manila's belong on the funky Tshirts they were originally designed for.

Whoever approved the team manila designs and decided to make it into BIG poster sizes... hmm... may I suggest asking/making a survey of the local stitchers and asking them what they would want to stitch/spend on? I can't believe no one thought of making them into small kits-- since they did say they're targetting the youth. These are team manila designs...I've seen their SMALL posters in their shops. I wonder why the marketing person/folk decided to make it as a BIGGER cross stitch pattern. Bet he or she does not stitch. Or else she'd know how...err... mind-numbing it is to stitch the same color for hours and hours and hours and hours and hours...

Here are the pics so you can see for yourself what I mean... take note-- each project is huge...  forgot the stitch counts but let's just say it's more or less 200++ x 250++ stitches...

I love this sign post. If they can make the arrows into a shirt or better yet a bag, I'll totally buy it. 

Now, with all that being said, I do want to say DMC came up with a brill plan. They called me aside and asked me to form a local club. A local stitching club. And with the people that came to support DMC that day, we decided to call the club EKIS@KARAYOM (literal translation is X's and Needles). 

We brainstormed on the name and voted for it. And decided to meet once a month, every 4th saturday. 

If it weren't for DMC, our little stitching group wouldn't have grown so fast. So... thank you DMC for the idea. :) I'll do my best to promote Cross Stitching and bring it back to the forefront of craftsmaking. 

Oh! Here's our beautiful DMC girls. The women who have wholeheartedly supported us and who keeps us smiling. (*clap-clap-clap*)

And here are the folks who helped form EKIS@KARAYOM. :)