Swedish summer, Mother's Day and a few more finishes!

Hello Stitching Friends!

Hope you all are ok? Over here in Sweden summer has arrived, and me and my furbabies can go for long leisurely walks in the beautiful Swedish countryside. 

On my balcony I'm growing chives and basil for all those lovely summer salads. I have also had my first covid shot, and have my second one booked for the middle of July. Thankfully my parents are fully vaccinated now which is a relief, and my family are actually gathering next week to celebrate my wonderful niece who's graduating and leaving her school years behind her and who already has a job as a security guard lined up🙌.

But apart from all that, I'm mostly spending my days cross stitching whilst watching sports on the telly😁. And my dogs use my balcony more than I do because I prefer to stitch curled up on my sofa😂. As well as being a crafting addict, I'm also a very crazy sports fan and I've been known to plan my life around World Championships etc. So with all the icehockey going on right now (Stanley Cup playoffs and the World Championships), and then the UEFA EURO 2021 and after that the Olympics, I plan for endless hours of stitching fun in front of the telly this summer.

I have already had time to stitch a few smalls. It was Mother's Day here in Sweden last weekend so I stitched a card...

Original design from The World of Cross Stitching, issue 198.
Designer: Lucie Heaton

...and a bookmark...

Petal Markers featured in Cross Stitch Collection, issue 206.
Designer: Lesley Teare

...for my lovely mum.

In fact, I owe the bookmark finish to the amazing TIFF who kindly offered to send me DMC threads (and aida fabrics) from the US so I could finish this project and few other unfinished projects💝. Her wonderful kindness still warms my heart💝🙏. Thank you again Tiff !!!

I have also managed to finish my snowglobe designed by Emma Congdon and I'm very pleased with it!

Festive Flurry from Cross Stitcher, issue 298.
Designer: Emma Congdon

My original plan was to display it in a hoop (like the original design) but hoops that size are just too expensive for me right now so I'll probably use a regular frame from IKEA in the end.

I love all the rich colours!

Finishing an old project felt soo good and really made me feel inspired to finish more projects so now I'm spending a little bit of time on this cute doggy picture every other day so I can get it finished too. I've already finished the top right corner and bit by bit I'm getting there. Lots and lots of white stitches left to do though...

It's a dog's life from Cross Stitch Collection, issue 224
Designer: Jayne Netley Mayhew

I have also finished the spring tree from the seasonal trees design by Cheryl McKinnon...

...and now I'm working on the brightly coloured autumn tree.

I haven't decided how I'm going to finish these yet...  Any ideas?

Seasonal Trees from Cross Stitch Crazy issue 260.
Designer: Cheryl McKinnon

I haven't quite finished cataloguing my WIP's/UFO's yet but I have taken some more pictures of them. Hopefully I'll finish that task next week before the EURO starts on Friday 11th. 

Now I'm going to leave you to go for a walk with the dogs before I get stuck into some more stitching. I saw these cute little dreamcatcher letters that I'd like to have a go at😁😉...

Hope you have a lovely stitchy weekend wherever you are💝🌞🌸!

Annie

An Enlish harbour, a reindeer and Swedish summer

Hello Stitching Friends❣

My menopause hormones have really given me hell this week and therefore my stitching has been a bit sketchy. Some days I've really enjoyed my stitching and other days I haven't wanted to stitch a single stitch. 

However, today I did enjoy stitching on Tranquil Harbour by Lucie Heaton. In fact, I think it's my favorite project at the moment...at least for today, haha😊.

I love all the different details on this project. I can switch between stitching a boat and then some water, and then some reflections in the water and then some bright and colourful houses. Since I easily get bored with a project (thus having 30 on the go at the same time😉) I love that kind of variety. 

My Swedish summer project is also coming along very nicely.

I have seen some lovely Christmas stitching on your blogs lately, and it made me really keen to start one of my own Prairie Schooler Xmas designs this past weekend. Especially as I had found a lovely piece of sparkly aida fabric that would make a perfect background for the gorgeous design called Christmas Eve.

However, I didn't realize that the piece of fabric actually was too small for this project until I was going to start stitching on Saturday and the disappointment really threw me, I must say. 

Having no other suitable fabric for the Christmas Eve design I decided to start another Prairie Schooler Xmas chart instead, The Night Before Christmas, but my heart just wasn't in it.

Quite a pityful start actually...

Because I was still desperate to use that lovely sparkly aida with gold threads I decided to use it for an ornament from the Christmas Eve chart instead.

But I ran out of steam with this little cute project too...

Hope that progress on all your lovely projects have been better than mine. Right now I feel like I haven't made any cross stitching progress at all lately. I just can't seem to stick to a project for more than a few hours… but I also know that the crazy hormones and the tummy aches make me more restless and edgy than I normally am😞.

FINALLY… I'm probably the last one to join the party, but I found this amazing CROSS STITCH CALCULATOR when I was trying to work out the size of fabric I needed for my PS charts. It's simply genius! Just add the stitch count of your chosen chart and you'll get the exact size of the fabric you need for your chart. Just LOVE IT!

Take Care, 

Annie

Nice progress on Tranquil Harbour!

Hello Stitching Friends❣

Just a quick visit here to show you my progress today on the beautiful harbour scene Tranquil Harbour by Lucie Heaton.

This is where I put it down after my first session:

And this is where I stopped tonight after stitching all afternoon and evening...

Pattern from Cross Stitch Collection Issue 224

I'm very pleased with myself! I would say that normally I'm quite a slow stitcher, but for some reason - and although I was really tired today - my needle was flying! Now you can make out the hills in the background and more houses including ceilings on the quay. It's so inspiring to work on a picture when you can see it coming alive in front of you!

Tomorrow I have a dreaded date with lots of laundry and a hoover so sadly there won't be much time or energy for stitching… 😢

Hope you're all doing ok. Here we have had more hailstorms, snowflakes and rain the last few days… doesn't exactly feel like spring😳. But at least it's good weather for staying indoors and stitch for hours😉.

Happy Stitching,

Annie

Spring Into Summer New Start Binge: Tranquil Harbour

Hello Stitching Friends❣

This weekend I made a start on a new project, all in accordance to Spring Into Summer New Start Binge hosted by TIFF and RACHEL. I had actually forgotten about this picture Tranquil Harbour by Lucie Heaton from Cross Stitch Collection Issue 224 which I ordered the material for back in the day.

When I went through my cross stitching stash recently I came across it again, and with my present longing for boats and the sea I thought it'd make a great new start. However, the blue aida provided was 16-count which I tend to avoid - just to fiddly for me in general - but I found a piece of light blue 14-count in my stash - which I had also forgotten about - which turned out perfect for this project, yay! It is a lighter shade of blue than the original, but it still works as a good background for this lovely motif. 

Before I started stitching I stitched gridlines with matching sewing threads. Whenever I stitch a larger project I spend a couple of hours doing this; it makes the counting so much easier and saves me time from having to unpick mistakes later on. Whenever I stitch gridlines I am reminded of my grandma Mary (whom I have written more about in THIS POST) who always stitched gridlines on her stitching projects. She stitched amazing pictures and I have one of them on my wall...

This stitched picture by grandma sits high up on the wall above a cupboard

 so it's hard to get a good pic of it... 

Anyway, back to the start of Tranquil Harbour. I spent yesterday afternoon working on it and I started on the quay and stitched two houses. 

Even though it doesn't look like much, I'm quite happy with the progress.

And I have another finish!

I'm not going to frame this sweet picture until I have stitched all three in the series. But I love it and can almost hear the sound of the water hitting the rocks and the sea gulls squawking...

Take Care and Stay Safe💝❣

Annie

Birthday gift and a cute stitching companion:)

Hello Everyone!

 

Happy New Year to you all and hope that your next year will be filled with stitches:)

I have been spending time with my Festive Flurry, but I can feel my attention starting to waver from this one, especially when I have to stitch browns and oranges - not my favorit colours. Therefore I definitely think before and after pictures might be appropriate right now and boost my inspiration:)

So this was progress before the New Year...

 

 

...and now I'm here...

 

Actually, I have done pretty well so far:) It really helps me to see a before and after shoot on my projects, especially those days when it feels like I'm getting nowhere with my projects...!

Today was my mum's birthday, so I wrapped up my gift in this gorgeous crafty wrapping paper...

...I found in my favourite craft shop. Isn't it wonderful? Perfect for homemade gifts:)
So what did I make for my mum? Well I made her a cushion with a crafty theme...

...and I love how it turned out:) Here's a close-up of the cross stitched section:

The design is from Cross Stitcher issue 287 and the designer is Lucie Heaton. I changed the thread colours quite a bit in order to be able to use some of my own stash of threads and use even more bright colours since my mum favours bright colours. The original chart was meant as a picture where you could attach real buttons and saftey pins for added texture, but since this was going to be a cushion I added those things by stitching them instead:)

Remember I told you I had TWO projects I wanted to make a start on?? Well, now I have started to prepare the aida fabric for that next project by stitching gridlines, so in a day or two I should be able to make another start:)) But I am determined to continue with the other two favorite projects too; I know that it suits me to have several fun projects on the go so I can switch between them depending on my mood:)

Finally I just have to share a super cute pic of my smallest furbaby who always keeps me company on the sofa while I stitch:)

He likes to snuggle down in the nearest cosy blanket and distract me with his cuteness lol!
In case you can't tell, he's a mix between Chihuahua, Dashound and Beagle; the devotion of a Chihuahua, the body and fierceness of a Dashound and the colouring of a Beagle!!!

Happy Stitching Everyone!

Annie

Happy New Year, and Thank YOU!!!

Hello Everyone!

One of the best things for me this year has been starting this cross stitch blog! It has given me sooo much joy and inspiration. I have enjoyed 'meeting' lots of like-minded cross stitch fanatics; I have enjoyed sharing my various cross stitch projects with you and I have been very, very grateful for every wonderful comment I have received! And I have found a very enjoyable way to keep my English language skills resonably alive! Simply a win-win all around! So THANK YOU SOO MUCH for being part of this wonderful experience!

I'm really looking forward to sharing many more projects with you in the new year, and to see what projects you all will choose to stitch in 2016.

So, on to real stitchy matters:) Today I was not able to work on Festive Flurry as much as I would have liked. I had to make rasberry ice-cream for New Year's Eve at my sister's, and I had another project to work on as well. This is as far as I have come now:

I have started to add faint outlines so maybe you can start to see what it is...? I realised that I had to start stitching the background too, since it is much more boring than the colourful buildings in the middle, and I don't want to risk being left with only the boring background and then loose my stitching mojo in the process...! Let's hope my plan works lol:)

Time to show you another Christmas gift I stitched this year. I stitched this picture for my dad, since he loves the sea and boats.

He actually built a large boat that we spend every holiday on when my sister and I were children and he still has the boat that is now over 30 (!) years old. The picture looked like a simple design, and it was, considering the limited amount of colours, but it was much more time-consuming to stitch the big blocks of colours than I imagined! I worked on it up until the evening before he received it and I must have spent around 150-200 hours on it. (I'm not the fastest stitcher around...) The design is from Cross Stitcher issue 292 and the designer is Lucie Heaton. I did change the words into the Swedish version of 'Every day is a gift' instead of the original 'Every day is a new adventure'.

At last I want to wish you all a

 

VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR,

 

and I look forward to catching up with you all in the new year!

 

Annie

Wonderful Crafts Fair and some stitching!

Hello Everyone !

Yesterday I visited a yearly Crafts Fair in Stockholm (the capital of Sweden) and I had the most WONDERFUL TIME ! I spent lots of money and bought lots of crafty goodies : )
As far as cross stitching is concerned , I bought all these small beads for a real bargain price : ) 

They aren't Mill Hill , but I tried to pick beads in nice colours that I could use instead of Mill Hill seed beads . Now that I have found out how much I love beading I have to make sure I have a little stash of beady beauties lol !

I bought more of my very favorite knitting yarn !

 

I have never come across another yarn that is sooo soft and cuddly ! And luckily they come in my favorite colours too : )

I also got some sparkly metallic threads in Christmas colours for crochet projects . . .

 

Since this was a general crafts fair I also got some scrapbooking material and some crafty magazines ! Normally craft products - including cross stitch products -are very expensive in Sweden , so it is absolutely lovely to have an opportunity to find some bargains for once in such an setting ! It was just a wonderful time and something that really fed my soul with happiness : )

 

Otherwise I've had a really busy week and I've hardly had time to sit down to stitch . . : (

Therefore I had decided that today would be ALL about stitching , so for 8 hours I stitched . . . and it was pure bliss ! It made me realise how much I had missed not being able to cross stitch , so this week I have to make an effort to find more time for my cross stitch projects .

 

I worked on my Iphone-cover and made really good progress on it ! Almost all of the white background is done :

It is difficult to see on the pictures but I have used some white Pearlescent in the background . I tried to catch the sparkle from another angle . . .

. . . but I'm not sure it worked . . . lol : ) I can't wait to see this one finished and to be able to put it on my phone !

Speaking of finish , I am FINALLY finished with my never - ending strawberry band ! ! ! I did the last backstitching today . . .

Chart from Cross Stitcher issue 239.
Designer: Lucie Heaton

. . . so now I have stitched 14 strawberries in a row ! Mentally this was a huge struggle - soo boring to repeat a pattern over and over - but I must say that in the end they look great together all in a row ! However , I can safely say that I have definitely had enough of strawberries for this year lol !

Hope you've all had a really nice weekend with lots of nice cross stitching !

Annie

Too many projects and too little time...

Hi everyone !

This week I've been doing all sorts of crafts , so my stitching has had to take a bit of a backseat . . : (  Sadly there just isn't enough hours in the day for me right now to do everything I want to .
For example , I've been making crochet snowflakes . . .

 

 . . . that I am going to stiffen and hang in my Christmas tree this year .

I've painted acorns in silver and gold . . .

. . . and I have made more handmade decorations for my Xmas tree :

The one cross stitch related activity this week was that I joined the wonderful SAL Kitten Stitching and the Friday Frolics , which gives me motivation to get some stitching done every Friday at least ! So this Friday past I worked on my Christmas tree for the Christmas Ornie SAL 2015 . . .

. . . and it is now finished ! Yay ! In the original chart (designed by Maria Diaz from the free leaflet with The World of Cross Stitching issue 183) the tree trunk and the top of the tree are left empty . . .

 

 . . . but I thought it looked odd so I decided to repeat the pattern ALL the way to the bottom and the top . I'm very pleased with it , but of course I have to turn it into an ornament as well in the next few days . . . Wish me luck !

I also started on another letter from the Crocus ABC in The World of Cross Stitching issue 212 : )

The ABC is designed by Lucie Heaton and it is a joy to stitch : ) I'm thinking I should use it to make something for myself too . since I like it so much . Maybe when all the Xmas stitching is out of the way . . : )

I have also started to stitch on a Iphone mobile case : ) This is the one that I am using right now . . .

. . . but I want to stitch myself a Christmas-themed case too ! A Christmas Fanatic like me certainly  needs a proper Christmas case !

I don't have a chart for this cover so I'm going to try to 'design'/put together something that I like . I have started off with this Christmas Tree from an old leaflet of Xmas designs from Cross Stitch Crazy magazine and then we'll see . . : )

I must try to get some stitching done on my Christmas gift projects this week - I have really missed my stitching ! The days and the weeks are starting to go by really fast now and there is sooo much I want to stitch before Xmas !

How is your Xmas stitching going ?

Happy Stitching Everyone !

Annie

Christmas stitching update!

Hello Everyone !

I just HAD to show you all my progress on my Stardust fabric - I just LOVE that name ! ! ! And I love stitching on the this goldish aida ! This is my progress on my Gingerbread sampler from Cross Stitch Crazy (issue 208) so far :

I just love stitching this one so much and I could easily skip all my other projects to just work on this one , but I've managed to restrict myself to a couple of hours each evening : ) Some of the colours -like the light green - have a tendency to fade into the fabric but I can easily say that I don't care lol ! This fabric just makes everything look stunning ! There is also an aida with silver flecks , and I have a feeling it will be making its way home to me ( from the online store ) sooner rather than later . . .
I'm slowly coming to realise that I have a thing for stitching with a bit of bling ! !
Who would have thought ? !

Since I'm on a roll here I might as well show you my progress on my other Xmas projects : )
Here's my red and white Christmas picture  . . .

. . . where I am working my way across the red sky with my new red thread . I'm also working on the outside frame , so not long to go now : ) Still thinking of how to finish it . . : )

 Here's the progress on my Swedish santa :

I'm also stitching my way across this sky and it is coming along nicely . I had a go at stitching Santa's facial features , but it looked a right mess so I've decided to leave him as he is . . . I think . . ! I've been so spoiled with stitching Joan Elliotts beautifully detailed facial features lately . . !

Speaking of Joan Elliott , this is where I am at with her Christmas Fairy :

She hasn't had a lot of attention the last couple of weeks , but I've added a bit to the skirt and to the furry details of her dress:)

The other day I found this gorgeous Crocus ABC designed by Lucie Heaton in an old magazine (The World of Cross Stitching, issue 212)...

 

... and I just had to have a go at stitching some of these letters! The yellow and purple crocuses look wonderful and are very quick to stitch too:) I had some scraps of hand-died Polstitches aida to stitch on so these letters ended up looking absolutely fabulous : )

 

Happy stitching everyone!

 

Annie

A few of my WIPs . . .

Hi Everyone !

OMG , you should see the state of my livingroom table ! ! ! Or maybe not . . . ha ha !
It is totally covered with Zip Lock plastic bags filled with a variety of different cross stitch projects . . . One day I may be brave enough to share a picture of my own personal WIP chaos , ha ha , but today is not the day : ) )

I cannot show you ALL of my Xmas gift projects , but luckily there are still plenty of WIPs whose future recipients won't read this blog .

So here are a few of my WIPs screaming for attention on my livingroom table . . .

 

I have shown you these before . They are freebie gift tags designed by Fiona Crouch from Cross Stitcher magazine issue 286 . I have now finished these and I am in the process of thinking of how to use these charts again for more gift tags - hence the WIP status : ) I loved stitching these simple yet Xmassy  designs , but instead of stitching with red thread on white aida , I think I'm going to stitch them on red aida fabric with white thread . That should be equally Xmassy , don't you think ? ! Or I might stitch these designs using metallics . . . If I am going to make gift tags for all my Xmas gifts I still have about 40 to do so wish me luck : )

 



These strawberries ( designed by Lucie Heaton in Cross Stitcher magazine issue 239) you have seen before too , but now I have started the backstitch on the first few . And you were all right ; they benefited from some backstitch : ) I have now stiched 6 berries and I have at least 6 more to stitch . . . Boring , but I must say that they look yummie , so I am pleased with the progress :)

Those of you who take part in the Christmas Ornie SAL 2015 recognize this Prairie Schooler Santa , which is going to be my ornament for August : ) I love working on this Santa ( from Cross Stitch Collection magazine issue 243 ) and I am really looking forward to do the other two designs featured in the magazine : )

 

This ABC I found in Cross Stitch Collection magazine issue 246. I loved these pretty Zweigart letters, but I realised too late that I should have stitched them on coloured aida instead of the white aida band . . . I just wasn't thinking . . !  As this looks , you can hardly make out the pretty LITTLE flowers, nor the blue backstitch . Bummer ! However, I will carry on with this particular aida band , and maybe I'll stitch it onto a blue towel to bring out the blue in the letters . But next time I use this pretty ABC it will definitely not be on white aida !

 

At last I just have to show you my progress on Joan Elliott's Christmas Fairy ( from Cross Stitch Crazy magazine issue 159 ) ! I'm a huge Christmas nerd (I even have my own Christmas blog ) and in the evenings I have started to watch some Xmas movies and lit some scented Christmas Candles and then stitched on my Xmas Fairy . Therefore progress has been good : ) This is another project that I am totally in love with , so I am very happy that I have been able to find some special time in the day when I work solely on this Fairy , just for myself : )

That is all from me for this time : )

Happy Stitching!

Annie