Birthday gifts and new seasonal designs

 Hello Stitching Friends!

It was my sister's birthday in the middle of April, and since she and my brother-in-law have become caravan lovers in the last few years I decided to stich her something with that theme. Instead of making a birthday card, I stitched a little hanging ornament for her which I decorated with matching beads. The words on it says something like 'Home is good but caravan is better'.

Sadly I have lost the chart details for this little caravan. I used threads from my stash.

My main gift was a stitched picture of a couple relaxing in front of their caravan and it wasn't difficult imagining it being my sister and brother-in-law.

This is a kit from the Danish company Permin.

To personalize it I decided to try to match the look of the caravan in the picture with their own caravan, so I changed the original green stipes on the caravan to reddish stripes. 

I think it turned out quite well. And thank goodness for that because it was a MUCH more challenging stitch than I thought. Lots and lots of colour changes and lots and lots of backstitch and areas with cross stitches in just one thread. I really had to push myself to get it finished...but I'm glad I did.

So, having struggled with that project for quite a while, I was so happy when it was finished that I just HAD to start some new fun projects! You understand, don't you?😉

Having access to an online magazine site, I found this cute little Christmas SAL in Cross Stitcher magazine.

A  three part Christmas SAL designed by Susan Penny.
 Published in Cross Stitcher magazine, issues October/November/December 2019.
 

The finishing details were really simple and I love Christmas projects so I thought 'why not?' 

And then I found a REALLY cute little calendar project in the Januari 2021 issue of Cross Stitcher magazine. The colourful but simple seasonal motives by Cheryl McKinnon are really cute, and I decided to put them all together and turn them into a big sampler. 

I'm taking my time with this one, enjoying the slow process, stitching a little here and there whenever I feel like it. I have yet to start the November and December months as you can see. I'm constantly amazed at how Cheryl McKinnon can create such cute little details with just a few stitches! Like the two little sheep in the top right corner; so simple but so perfect😍👌. 

I have also learnt a new stitch from Youtube; the clever pin stitch🙌. I tried it on a single black cross stitch as seen below...

...and it worked pretty well I must say. I need to invest in a better pair of scissors though, to be able to cut the thread REALLY close to the fabric. But I will definitely use the pin stitch again, that's for sure. 

But the project I have spent the most time on lately are these gorgeous four seasonal trees designed by Cheryl McKinnon. As you can tell, she's quickly becoming my favorite designer at this point in my life.

Seasonal Trees by Cheryl McKinnon.
Published in Cross Stitch Crazy issue 260

As soon as I saw these colourful seasonal trees I fell in love. All those seasonal motifs😍😍😍! But instead of having to get four different frames/hoops for them, I decided, once again, to put them all together. As usual I didn't have all the thread colours I needed when I started this project, but I used a small part of my tax return to order some more DMC threads.

In the beginning I had most of the spring colour threads so that is the tree that got the most attention. Now I have received the missing colurs too, but I really want to finish the spring tree.

I haven't decided how to finish this project yet. Turn it into a cushion? Or a hanging? Oh well, knowing me I'll have plenty of time to think about it before it's time to decide🙈😂.

Hope you are all well? My mum and dad have finally had their first covid vaccination which is a relief, and it looks like I might have my first one some time in the next couple of months.

Annie

Ten (or in my case seven) Things for Jo's Tenth Blogaversary

Hello Stitching Friends!

When Jo from the blog Serendipitous Stitching recently celebrated a tenth blogaversary she listed and answered a Ten Things Tag list. I really enjoyed reading the post, so I decided to join in the fun. However, I haven't kept an extensive record of my stitching the way Jo has, so my own list is unfortunately incomplete and only contains seven of the ten tags.

The tenth blog post you made

This was a post back in April 2015 and I was really happy to finally get around to framing a summer window.

I'm still hoping to finish the autumn and winter windows from the same series...

The tenth blog in your blog list

At the moment it is A Stitcher's Story which is written by the super sweet Vickie who displays the most gorgeous seasonal stitching projects on her cabinets and shelves AND adores poodles🐩🐩🐩! She has even designed a really cute Calendar Poodle SAL which is free on her blog.

A designer you have stitched more than ten designs.

This was a little bit tricky since I like a lot of different designers. However, the more I though about it I realised that the designer I have stitched the most is probably Lesley Teare since she designed my favorite go-to design for cards.

I have definitely sitched this design more than 10 times, haha! I have a feeling that designs from Joan Elliott and Emma Congdon come in a close second and third if you check out my WIPs and finished projects...

 

 A project that took/is taking more than ten years to complete

Since I am a periodical stitcher this tends to happen every now and then, and even more so since I also love to start new projects instead of finishing my WIPs. 

This Christmas scene was a loooong time in the making, but these days I put it up on my wall every Christmas. 

The pattern is from an old Swedish weekly women's magazine.

At the moment I should think that this sweet little girl is my oldest WIP. I started stitching her when I still lived in London 16 years ago. Clearly I wasn't too worried about fractionals back then, but whenever I bring her out these days all those fractionals makes me cringe. So she goes back in the UFO pile again...

The tenth colour on your current project. Do you use it a lot?

My current WIP is a seasonal design in four parts and DMC 964 is used for the summer and winter motives .

I certainly like to stitch with bright and happy colours, and this blue shade features in at least one more of my current WIP:s. 

Your tenth finish this year (or last year if you haven't finished ten so far this year)

Well, right now I'm working on the 10th and 11th finish for the year, so I'll just show you my ninth finish instead which I gave to a good friend of mine.

I'm ashamed to admit that I've lost the design details for this project...

How has your stitching style changed in the last ten years?

My stiching style has changed A LOT in ten years, that's for sure.

When I started this blog I was into Joan Elliott's pretty but complicated fairies... 

...and life-like animal motives.

I didn't see any limitations and thought I could stitch just about anything, regardless of size, beads or metallic threads. I think about it as my delusional phase...🙈😂😳. I just don't know WHAT I was thinking...?! Most of those projects are still UFO; do I need to say more..?! Although I might pick some of them up again since they're quite close to being finished...

Somewhere along the line I discovered designers like Emma Congdon, Durene Jones and Cheryl McKinnon and projects with blocks of bright colours...

...and a lot less time-consuming backstitching.

Maybe some cheerful sayings...

...and pretty nature/seasonal designs.

The urge to stitch pretty, complicated fairies or large animals with lots of confetti stitches has completely disappeared along the years.

The one constant cross stitching love has been Christmas projects....

....but I try to stay away from too much backstitching and/or tricky charts/details in my Christmas designs too these days. 

Overall, it seems I've moved away from complicated stitching and now just want easy, cheerful and uncomplicated designs at this point in my life. But who knows what kind of cross stitching projects I will like in 5 or 10 years time...😉😳😀???

Finally, I want to leave you with a short video from our morning walk today. We are really enjoying gorgeous spring weather here in Sweden😳...

Don't you just wish you were here?!😂

Happy Stitching,

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

A catch-up and old favorites comes out to play!

 Hello Stitching Friends!

It's about time that I get my act together and update you all on what stitchy things have been going on over here in my Swedish X-stitch nook, don't you think?!

Lots have happened since I wrote here last, and not all good. I've had some unwelcome issues (due to an unsympathetic doctor) with my medication which has led to sleep struggles, and I had to change my old Iphone to an android Samsung since I sadly couldn't afford to stay with Iphone. My beagle has had some health issues with his back and I have lost count on how many times we've been to the vet and doggy physiotherapist. And don't get me started on my finances...😱.

But my family and friends has managed to stay healthy and at the moment we are enjoying the Swedish winter with plenty of snow and cold temperatures; my favorite kind of weather!

As far as stitching is concerned, I did get quite a lot done before Christmas. I stitched some small Xmas themed gifts which I regrettably forgot to take pictures of. I also stitched this picture for my mum who enjoys spending time at her allotment.

I mounted the picture in a tray for her and I'm really happy with how it turned out.

My plan was to make a cross stitch tray for me too using this gorgeous wintry scene, but I didn't have enough time to finish it before Xmas.

Hopefully I can get it finished for this year's Xmas🤞!

However I did manage to complete another project. I stitched this Christmas picture some years ago and I finally got around to framing it which felt really nice!

You can't really tell but it's stiched on goldish aida and with a gold-coloured frame it looked really festive and looked good on the wall next to one of my other cross stitched Christmas pictures.

After Christmas I looked forward to working on this project for myself...

...but I haven't managed to get further than this yet.

The thing is that the last couple of years my eyesight has changed and  now I need a new pair of glasses. In the last month or so, the switching of mobile phones and staring at digital screens for hours has made it worse and I find it a bit of a struggle reading some charts😞. Hopefully I can find a way to afford new glasses this year but meanwhile I've looked for ways to still enjoy cross stitching.

So last week I got to thinking of my old Prairie Schooler charts, dug them out from my stash, and realized that they would be perfect to use and stitch right now! The charts are so large, clear and easy to read, and they don't use too many colours AND the pictures are easy to stitch without too much details. So, all in all very easy on my eyes! Yay!!!

Most of my Prairie Scooler charts are Xmas-themed, but I don't mind that. I made a start on the smaller of these two January charts...

Of course I had to start with the dog, although I think it looks more like a wolf...😳😉.

I also made a start on Reindeer Round-Up....

...and of course the reindeers are the most fun to stitch.

I also spent a weekend working on The Night Before Christmas....

Simply adore this pattern!

In between my eyesight and the fact that I feel so tired all the time, it is a bit of a struggle to get a lot of stitching done. However, I'm enjoying it and there's no rush. I'm just so grateful that I bought those gorgeous PS charts back in the day!

Hope you're all well and Happy Stitching💝,

Annie