A Very Happy PS Dance indeed!

Hello Stitching Friends!

Today I finished The Night Before Christmas by The Prairie Schooler and I'm so so happy with it! 

The Prairie Schooler, Book No. 199
 THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS

Some finishes pleases you more than others, don't they?! Well, I just love this one and on the inside I'm very busy doing a very happy dance😁! I just love everything about this project. The pretty old-fashioned letters...

...and the gorgeous sleigh, and the sleeping cat and dog, and all the beautiful silvery snowflakes! It just amazes me that The Prairie Schooler ladies managed to get so much detail and Christmas feeling into a design with only SIX colours! Personally I also found it extremely relaxing to only have six colours to keep track of😊.

I did a couple of small changes to the design to make it my own. I changed the colour on the reindeers' harness/shackle (?) from green to red to make them stand out more. I also added an extra little snowflake above Santa's sleigh where there was an empty space.

I haven't decided yet what frame to use. Closer to Christmas I will go through my collection of frames and see if one of them will do my finished piece justice...

Now I'm trying to decide what PS Christmas project I'm going to start next. The two festive charts I'm deciding between are DECEMBER....

...and CHRISTMAS EVE.

Decisions, decisions... Maybe I'll live in the moment and start both of them...

Before I leave you I have to show you the gorgeous Easter flowers I have on my livingroom table.

I love surrounding myself with beautiful handmade things made by myself and by the people I love, and these colourful paper flowers are made by my clever and creative sister. I wanted something happy and cheerful for my tables and begged asked my sister to help me and these colourful blooms are what she came up with💝. Do I need to tell you I was well pleased😍😍😍?!

And if you want to fold your own spring flowers my sister has a Youtube channel, THE PINKLADY DIY , where you can find a 'Fold a Tulip' tutorial🌷🌷🌷!

Now I'm off to make some Fried rice for dinner😋! 

Hope you are all ok and finding time for some stitching💝.

Annie

A wolf, an elephant, and a little bit of Xmas

Hello Stitching Friends!

I cannot believe what has happened in Europe and Ukraine since I last posted on this blog😨😢💔... 

However, if I'm going to stick to cross stitching, you may remember that during the Winter Olympics I had decided to try to work on Emma Congdon's Christmas Town every day during the competitions. I managed to stick to that goal pretty well so now the town has progressed from this...

...to this! 

Cross Stitcher magazine, issue 285

Now there are mainly white areas left to stitch. However, with everything that has happened lately I have found it hard to motivate myself to work on it. But I'm trying, and I'm determined to finish it.

Another project I have been working on after Christmas is the collection of three animal siluettes by Durene Jones.

I have now finished the wolf siluette.

Cross Stitcher magazine, October 2021

And I also finished the elephant siluette, but a friend of mine saw it, bought it, and it now hangs on her wall.

Cross Stitcher magazine, issue 379.

So now I have to stitch it again if I want the complete set😉.

As far as the polar bear is concerned I still have a long way to go...

Cross Stitcher magazine, issue 379.

After the Olympics I really wanted to stitch something cheerful and colourful so I made a start on the sampler A Song for Spring by Cheryl McKinnon.

A Song for Spring designed by Cheryl McKinnon.
From Cross Stitcher magazine issue 354 (March 2020)

In the last week or so I have struggled with my stitching/crafting mojo and suddenly I felt like picking up one of my Prairie Schooler Christmas projects again. There's something really relaxing about stitching PS charts. I only wish I had more of them.

The Prairie Schooler, Book No. 199

As you can see it is coming along nicely.

That is it for now, I guess. I've really struggled writing this post; my brain and my heart are just all over the place😔... I hope you are all well and staying safe in this crazy, scary world😔. 

Annie

My own Olympic challenge... and an Happy Dance!

Hello Stitching Friends!

I thought I'd pop in here and post my latest stitching update before the Winter Olympics kicks off for real tomorrow. I have a feeling I won't have much time for blogging during the next couple of weeks since I'm a crazy sports fanatic as well as a crafter and passionate dog lover. 

I've decided to set my own stitching challenge during the Olympics. 

I have picked one of my long-time WIPs, Welcome to Christmas Town by Emma Congdon, and decided that I'm going to stitch an hour or two a day on it every day before I move on to my favorite projects. I would really like to finish some of my old WIPs and I hope this can be a good way to do it. If I can stay disciplined, that is😉🤞.

So, I actually started my 'challenge' last week when my my own Christmas Town looked like this... 

Welcome to Christmas Town by Emma Congdon
Cross Stitcher issue 285, November 2014

Since then I've added some more wooden details on the houses...

...and some more Christmas trees.

I also spent some time on the large area of blue sky, so in one week the project progressed from this...

...to this: 

I really have high hopes for this project... and if I can finish it soon I don't have to feel guilty about starting even more projects in the near future🙈😉.

I haven't made that much progress on the wolf...

...but the bright elephant is slowly taking shape!

And guess what...? I have even had time for a finish!!! Who doesn't love a happy dance moment?! It's the smaller January design by The Prairie Schooler and I'm really, really pleased with it.

JANUARY
The Prairie Schooler, Book No. 177.

I made a couple of changes to the pattern. I chose to stitch the phrase Snow Day in red thread instead of brown (not too fond of brown) and I also added some more snowflakes to the design❆❄❅!

Speaking of snow .  . . we had some more snow yesterday and my oldest furbaby (he turned 13 in January)  happily wore his knitted wooly sweater to keep him warm. I've lovingly knitted 'only' five sweaters for him so far😂😍🙈.

Happy Stitching,

Annie

YAY- I'm back stitching again!

 Hello Stitching Friends!

I'm back😁🙌! And it makes me really happy💝. 

So, what happened you might ask...??

Well, I certainly did not plan for this extended break from cross stitch (as well as blogging about cross stitch) since last summer, but other things just happened in my life...as they do sometimes. I suddenly found myself knitting and crocheting lots of stuff for friends and aquaintances which kept me busy for several months, and then there were plenty of Xmas gifts to be finished. And before I knew it 6 months had passed since I had threaded a cross stitch needle...😲!

But now life has slowed down again and I have finally been able to dug out my cross stitch stuff again, yay! And I know you won't be surprised when I tell you that the very first thing I did was starting some new projects😂. During the autumn I saw this gorgeous silouette of a wolf designed by Durene Jones in Cross Stitcher magazine issue 375...

...and I knew that as soon as I started stitching again I wanted to stitch this wolf. 

As it turned out, this design was then joined by two more in issue 379...

...so obviously I had to make a start on all of them😉😁.

Since the wolf is my favorite design of the three I made a start on it first, and it's also the one closest to being finished.

The other two I have just started, and here's the elephant...

...and the polar bear.

Even though I'm back stitching and enjoying it, I have found it extremely difficult to stick to one project. Nohing new there really, but I'm more restless than ever and I'm a bit frustrated with myself because of it. I spend an hour or two on a project and then I loose interest. Maybe I can blame the covid situation...or the menopause...? Part of me just want to keep starting new cross stitch projects and hope that one of them will grab my attention for longer than a day, but that's obviously a bad solution😉. So I've looked through all my WIPs desperately hoping that one of them might grab my attention again...and only The Prairie Schooler projects called out to me.

One of my WIPs is the smaller design from the book No. 177 called JANUARY and inspired by the snowy Swedish season I decided to bring it out again.

This is where I'm at with this one...

I also found this pattern book No.143 with another snowy theme so - surprise, surprise - I started this one too.

My progress so far...

Finally I have to show you my 2021 calender from Cross Stitcher issue 365 which is now - AT LAST - framed and up on my livingroom wall!! As usual I did it myself and used a low cost frame from IKEA.

2021 calendar, Cross Stitcher issue 365.
Design by Cheryl McKinnon (Tiny Modernist)

I just looove this project!!! Soo much fun to stitch and looks great on my wall too😍😍😍! Now I've spotted a similar calendar with little doggy pictures 😍🐕🐶😍 and I'm dying to make a start on it, of course😂. But first I'm going to TRY to finish a couple of projects; hopefully the Winter Olympics will provide me with plenty of time and inspiration for that🤞🤞🤞.

My constant joy and reason for living😍🐾😍...
and a dear old Santa that mum made over 50 years ago🎅😍

.

Lots and lots of love to you all and I hope that 2022 has treated you well so far💝.

Annie

My WIPs part 2: The Prairie Schooler

 Hello Stitching Friends!

Time for some more WIPs and this time I thought I'd stick to one well-known designer, The Prairie Schooler. It was only after I started this blog and started reading other cross stitch blogs that I found out about their work. I love the fact that they do a lot of Christmas designs, and that their charts aren't too complicated nor do they require too many different thread colours. Since The Prairie Schooler charts aren't available here in Sweden I've had to order charts from abroad and through the years I have bought a few here and there.

* * *

This is Cats, Bats & Witches and I've had this WIP for quite a while now. Since I don't celebrate Halloween I only get around to stitching Halloween designs when I get inspired by all you fabulous bloggers working on your own Halloween projects in the autumn. And, although it is all part of the Halloween mood, I must admit that I find it a bit boring with all those black stitches...

 * * *

I LOVE the winter and lots of snow so this was an appropriate design for me. However, as usual I didn't have all the thread colours when I started this project, but I'm hoping to continue work on this one when the weather starts to inspire me again⛄❆.

* * *

The Prairie Schooler Santas. I started this project as a SAL together with  STITCH NICHE back in the day, but then my life got really stressful and I stopped stitching, and sadly, from what I can tell, Stitch Niche hasn't blogged since 2017. Hopefully she'll get back to it again as I did🙏. 

Right now I'm thinking that these Santas have such big red coats and it looks terrible boring to do all those red crosses....😞.

* * *

I love this Christmas Tree Farm design, but I started it a long time ago and unfortunately I didn't stitch any gridlines before I started working on the design. That means that it is MUCH harder to stitch the design and it requires more counting and concentration. I've tried to add some gridlines afterwards, but it is a bit tricky. I'm so annoyed with myself because I'd love to work on it but all that counting puts me off at this point in time..

* * *

I really love this design, but when I got it I didn't have any 14-count aida fabric in the right colour. I did have  a little piece of goldish aida though so I decided to stitch one of the small designs in the meantime. Moving forward a few years, I now have the right fabric so maybe I'll finally get around to start stitching the large design closer to Christmas.

* * *

The Night Before Christmas has been my favorite PS chart this year and it has received quite a bit of love. I love the different Christmas scenes in the picture and all the little details that are included. I wouldn't be at all surprised if this one will be my first finish from my Prairie Schooler WIP pile.

* * *

There are also a couple of more Prairie Schooler WIP's added to my WIP page. AND I also have another couple of PS charts that I haven't started on yet, but maybe I'll add those to the WIP pile when/if I celebrate Christmas (stitching) in July this year❌🎅! 

Finally I just have to share my progress on the gorgeous Cheryl McKinnon 2021 calender from Cross Stitcher magazine! I worked on it all afternoon/evening yesterday and I have now progressed from this...

...to this:

Every stitch is a joy and I love seeing the little seasonal details appear. In fact, after I've posted this and taken the dogs for a rainy early evening walk i'm going to carry on working on it. It definitely looks as if the second half of 2021 needs some work😉.

Take care💝,

Annie

Searching for new quick and easy go-to charts... and other crafty stuff

Hello Stitching Friends!

What a crazy start to this year it has been here in my little x-stitch nook. Plenty of visits to the vet and broken down technology; just one (financial crisis) after another. And the vaccination is going REALLY slowly here in Sweden; neither my dad (who's got alzeimers😢 and is 73 years old) nor my mum has had any vaccine yet. At this rate I will still be waiting in the new year.. Unfortunately I also live in one of the areas in Sweden that has the highest rates of covid-cases so I have to be really careful. But so far everyone in my family has stayed healthy so I just continue to keep my fingers crossed🤞.

So most part of February I spent knitting and selling some wooly mittens to earn some well-needed money...

When I was finished with those, I crocheted some Easter inspired gifts and things for my home.

 

For example this cheerful doily that I displayed in my hallway. 

 

Even though me and my furbabies spent Easter on our own it was nice to spruce up my humble little home a bit💛💜💚.

I also stitched Easter cards to send to some family and friends far away, and once again I used my favorite flower charts by Lesley Teare from The World of Cross Stitching issue 230.

They are just PERFECT for cards; quick to stitch with very little backstitch and one can combine colurs and patterns any which way depending on your stash and the occation.

 

Unfortunately I have a strong feeling that almost everyone near me have received at least one version of these flowers, so it is about time I find a found a new easy, very quick and adaptable go-to card pattern. 

I have realised though that it is easier said than done as I've been going through my cross stitch magazine stash...😳. Either it's too much backstitch to make it quick, or there are too many colours used, or the patterns aren't very adaptable... Still, the search must go on!

Due to all the knitting and crocheting and cross stitch cards, I haven't had much time to spend on larger projects. Just a few more added stitches on The Prairie Schooler chart The Night Before Christmas ...

However, I have spent a lot of time thinking of what I want to stitch during the summer ahead. Which projects do I want to (try to) finish? Do I want to make some new starts? Are there any stitching challenges I can join to speed up my stitching? I'm hoping and praying that some sporting events will take place in the coming months, such as Stanley Cup playoffs, the Ice-hockey world championships, the FIFA European championships and the Olympics🙏🤞🙏...and if they all do, there will be PLENTY of time for me to do some stitching! And frankly, I can't wait!!! And I look forward to having more stitching progress and projects to show you here on the blog this summer.

In fact, I'm about to start a new exciting project very soooon (who am I kidding?! I just cannot NOT start new projects😂🙈😂) and I'm iching to get off the computer and finish gridding my fabric! 

I hope that you are all well, and I look forward to chatting with you about lots of stitchy things soon again🌷🌸🌷!

Annie