A couple of framed projects and Cookies for Santa

Hello Stitching Friends!

How are you all doing? Here in Sweden autumn is approaching and the days are getting darker and the nights are getting colder. As I'm writing this, it is pouring with rain outside and I have lit a scented candle; love, love, LOVE scented candles! I don't mind the dark and the cold since the winter and the snow is my favorite part of the year and autumn is a sign that my favorite part of the year is on its way😊🍂.

Last week my niece had her 18th birthday so of course I had to cross stitch a cool card for her. The design is from the Cross Stitch Crazy magazine, but unfortunately I don't know the issue or designer...😞.

And whilst I was busy making the card, I also took the time to frame dad's lighthouse picture and I gave it to him during the weekend as he visited us for my niece's birthday party. 

Cross Stitch Crazy magazine, June 2020.
Designer: Cheryl McKinnon

I also framed my own little cross stitched themed picture.

From Cross Stitcher magazine, issue 310.
Designer: Durene Jones.

It was so much fun to stitch and I love how it turned out😍!

As far as actual stitching progress, I have continued with my Xmas themed pieces. I'm making great progress on my must-finish-for-this-Xmas project...

...and I have also surprised myself by spending some time on my Xmas doily with the cute little gnomes and Xmas greenery🎅🎄.

But my absolute favorite project this week has been a project I had actually forgotten I had...until I recently remembered it in the middle of the night on one of those occasions when I laid sleepless😳. (My sleep pattern is completely ruined after everything I've experienced and I wouldn't be able to sleep at all if I didn't have my sleeping pills...)

So I bought this adorable pattern way back in 2016 after having seen it on other cross stitching websites.

When I managed to find it, I discovered that I had only made a tiny start before my cross stitching mojo disappeared.

As I took this picture of my pitiful start 4 years ago, I also tried to capture the sparkle on the gold-flecked aida fabric. It's just gorgeous!!!!

I'm having so much fun working on this gorgeous project.

For exemple, I'm just obsessed with these Christmas tree branches! They are so simple but so festive and just soo cute😍😁! 

Luckily for me, I made sure back in 2016 that I had all the threads so there's nothing stopping my progress on this one...well, except for all my other projects I want to work on...😂

So, that is all for now I think. Or maybe not...I just have to include a cute furbaby pic, don't I😉😍?!

He's lost so many teeth now that the tongue is poking out when he sleeps...
...sooo cute😍😍😍!

Hope you all have a great weekend with plenty of time for cross stitch!

Annie

A piece of someone's cross stitching life💝

Hello Stitching Friends!

Recently I was contacted by a stranger, a lady who appearently follows my Swedish CHRISTMAS BLOG every year. She had seen some of my Xmas stitching and wondered if I would be interested in some stitching material she had inherited from her grandma. Not knowing anything about stitching herself, she wanted to see the material come to good use. She sent me some pictures and I could see that I would be able to use at least some of it. She also told me that her grandma's name was Ingrid and that Ingrid had loved doing her crafts and had stitched the most beautiful pictures. And for Xmas Ingrid always sent stitched Christmas cards to all her loved ones💝.

So the other day I received a big parcel filled with bits and pieces from grandma Ingrid's cross stitching life. It was a very emotional experience to go through someone else's leftover stitching💔. To see loved cross stitch projects halfway finished and other projects not yet started but clearly something another stitcher had fallen in love with. I could tell that Ingrid loved various motifs from nature like flowers and birds, and that she liked to stitch on evenweave.

And it made me emotional to see that she used to do exactly what I do when I stitch a readymade kit; write the symbols on the pre-sorted cardboard thread organizers.

There were some small projects that had caught her eye at one time and were waiting to be stitched.

And various pieces of white aida fabrics.

It was also obvious that she indeed loved stitching Christmas cards. There were a couple of Christmas card kits, and even though she had already stitched the actual cards, the kits still contained the charts and the leftover DMC threads. 

And luckily this Swedish cross stitching brand, SVARTA FÅRET,  always lists their threads by symbols as well as the correct DMC number, which means that I can reuse the threads.

There were also some leftover cardstock to use for new Christmas cards.

And plenty of DMC's bright red Christmas colour, DMC 666😁.

And some metallic threads...

After I had spent a few hours sorting out all the leftover DMC threads from Ingrid's projects on my cardboard bobbins, I had built up quite a stash.

It surprised me how emotional it made me feel to go through someone else's stash and unfinished projects. I felt extremely honored and humbled to take care of Ingrid's legacy and it made me feel like I got to know a part of her. Which is a strange feeling to have since I never met her...💝

Otherwise, I have managed to stitch a little bit more on my Christmas doily and made a start on the second Christmas gnome.

Informally, I'm telling myself that if I can stitch one side each autumn my doily will be finished in 4 years... Fingers crossed🤞!

Happy Stitching,

Annie

Xmas stitching in August; another UFO and a favorite

 Hello Stitching Friends!

This weekend I decided to give some love and attention to another old project from my pile of stitching UFOs. Yet again it's a Christmas themed piece. Well, what can I say... I admit, I love everything Christmas🎅🎄😉!

So this is a table cloth. Actually, I have no idea why I bought this one back in the day. I love the pattern and the overall look of it, but I cannot imagine stitching everything four times😩😬. I just don't know what I was thinking...?! Maybe it was on discount; that would explain it... Apparently, I also decided to stitch it on 11-count aida instead of 14-count, so I clearly wanted it bigger than the original. I don't really mind that; it is easier to stitch on the 11-count aida anyway. However, I had decided to still stitch with two strands of thread instead of three so the coverage isn't perfect. But I can live with that too.

However, it didn't take me long to realise that I had used the wrong red shade for the border, so I started by unpicked the bright red border stitches. Luckily I hadn't stitched that much of it...

 

So, it turns out that I started to stitch this table cloth before I started to sew gridlines on all my projects, and now I just cannot imagine stitching anything without my gridlines so I had to add some before I could continue with anything else. 

However, I didn't grid all the fabric; it's a time consuming process and I decided to grid the fabric in sections. Then I made a start on one of the corners...

...and it is looking great so far. It's a fairly simple pattern with few colours and hardly any backstitching...there's just a lot of it, haha😁. But at least it's out of the box of shame...

I've also stitched some more on another Xmas pattern; my favorite at the moment. I'm stitching this one with three threads since the kit comes with 11-count fabric, which means that I can't use the loop start. Which in turn means that I try to anchor the thread in previous stitches. 

And now I've finally reached the elaborate Xmas border and could make a start on it.

I just love this one and so far I'm quite determined to finish this beauty for Xmas this year since I have great plans for it😉🤞.

I've also made a start on sorting out some of my old DMC/Anchor threads. I have leftover threads from old projects lying around and with my stash dwindling fast, I need to make the most of what I DO have.

   

So I got some cheap cardboard floss bobbins and have made a start at least.

Definitely a work in progress but I really like how efficient and organized it makes me feel😂.

Hope you are all doing ok? 

Happy Stitching Everyone💝!

Annie

My Easter stitching

Hi!

Since Easter is coming I have brought out a few special cross stitched pieces at home.
First of all there is my little Easter table cloth that I stitched a few years ago.

 

It is not very big but I love the purple crocuses and the cute little chickens!

There is also this little Easter picture that I've stitched with some more cute chickens and some lovely tulips.

 

Both of these designs are from a Swedish cross stitch company. As you can see, in Sweden we have a lot of Easter chickens rather than Easter Bunnies, and we eat Easter sweets served in an Easter egg rather than actual Chocolate Eggs.  

 

My third piece on the other hand is from an old English cross stitch magazine, and it is actually a picture that I started to stitch while I still lived in London ten years ago. Nowadays I would not stitch a piece like this one. It is too simple for me and the design feels quite old-fasioned.

 

However, because of the history of it and the fact that it has come so far and I have come so far, this piece means a lot to me and it always comes out of hiding at Easter :)

Happy Stitching everyone!

Annie