Cross stitch pattern for Valentine Day

It's February, and here in the middle of Sweden the snow started to melt. I am sure this is not the end of winter yet, but still, spring cannot be so very far away now. One-two more month...

Anyway, February means Valentine day, and I have made two easy and quick bookmark patterns for you. There is still time to stitch them for that someone special. I hope you enjoy them. Click on the image and it takes you to the downloadable pdf pattern.

I am working on the geometric patterns from last time, I will show you soon.

Meanwhile I am doing lots of patchwork. Bonnie Hunter had a mistery pattern in December, the Good fortune quilt pattern. It consists of lots of tiny pieces, and it requires really good precision. I am struggling, I have to admit, but it is good practice and it will look great. I have just taken apart half of my blocks and sewing them again. Here is a picture from when I thought the blocks are all done, before I noticed that the orange ones are totally the wrong size. I hope to be able to finish them soon and then put the quilt together.

Another interesting thing that I do lately is stitch meditation. I joined a Facebook group where we do a short stitching piece every day, stitching without a real pattern or plan, just for the pleasure of sewing. Some pieces become nothing interesting - and that is OK -, but after a while mine started to shape themselves. I really love doing this.

Here are some of my little pieces:

Aren't they fun? Go ahead and try it! No rules, just enjoy the needle and thread.

That's it for today folks. Happy stitching!!!

A row of tulips - bookmark pattern

Hello, everyone, here come a few pictures of my latest projects, and a small cross stitch pattern for you.

I have been knitting a lot lately, it is one of those periods when I am very tired so I need lots of time when I just relax. I decided to develop my sock-knitting skills, so I am knitting woollen socks in different sizes and different materials. I looked at some tutorials and from those I put together a variation that works for me - and my technique of knitting with the magic loop, two at a time. I really don't like knitting with the double pointed needles. I would like to learn the steps by heart so I can knit these without looking at a pattern. After three pairs I am getting there but not there yet. There will be more two follow. I only have picture of one pair though.

Another thing I was working on was more zipper pouches. Last time I posted, I shared with you a cross stitch pattern that I turned into a zipper pouch. That gave me the idea to use some of my cross stitched or hardanger pieces that were just lying in a drawer and I had no idea what to do with them. Now they can be used. And made one with patchwork, too, for a friend who likes pink-white and gray.

I am also doing an online course with Dionne Swift, Drawing for textiles. She is amazing and I love the exercises we do. It is not about drawing a realistic picture of something rather focusing on mark-making, creating lines with different techniques. Here are some of my examples:

And finally, the cross stitch freebie, a simple row of tulips to celebrate spring. Can be used on a bookmark, a towel, as a border on something, or just use one or two elements for a card. Or make a zipper pouch :D

Happy stitching.

Bookmark freebies - and more eco-dyeing from the kitchen

The eco-dyeing saga continues. :D


After all the plants I collected during my walks (see the results here), I got back to the kitchen. I tried red onion skin. Cooked them in water for about an hour then drained them.


I put in the dye quite a few fabric pieces plus a few lace pieces (crocheted and store bought) as well, some of them not white. I simmered them in this dye for an hour then I left them in the pot for a few days. The result is really beautiful.

The darkest piece is some Aida fabric I had that was gray to begin with, unfortunately I don't have a picture of it before. I didn't like that gray, that's why I decided to dye it. The lace that became gray was a light blue originally, here are the two of them next to each other.

I red about avocado skin and pit giving a nice pink colour to wool. I was curious to see if it worked on cotton. I can report: yes, it does. It is really beatiful, at least I think so. Some of the fabric was mordanted with alum and some untreated.

One of the fabric I dyed with the roses before and didn´t like the colour (pale, liveless beige spots) I dyed again in the avocado bath, folding and tyeing it shibori-style. This is the result. Nice, isn´t it?

I also tried pomegranate, with the same method. The result is a lovely golden colour - much nicer than what it looks like in the photo.

Another experiment i did was with a lichen called salted shield lichen or crottle (Parmelia saxatilis, färglav in Swedish, talán pajzszuzmó magyarul, nem vagyok benne biztos). It is so fascinating when you take a bit of grey lichen and it turns things into yellow. At least it is supposed to be yellow on wool. My cotton fabrics turned more to a beige colour but it is nice, I like it. In the second picture you can see a piece that I didn´t wash right away after taking out of the dye but let it dry and only washed a week or so later. The colour has become stronger, especially in the creases of the fabric.

There is more coming, I have bundles in plastic bags and jars full of dye and fabric on my kitchen counter again. Watch this place for more eco-dyeing. :)

And here is another bookmark freebie, or rather three freebies in one pdf file. I loved making them, I hope you will also love stitching them.

Click on the picture for the pdf.

Happy stitching.

Bookmark with birds

The other day my boyfriend, who is a biologist and a keen birdwatcher, heard the news that near our place there is a capercaillie displaying. For my Hungarian readers: siketfajd. So we went and looked at it, it was an amazing sight. Until it wanted to attack us, at which point we had to simply run for it :D

Here is the guy - not a very good photo but I couldn't get any closer.

This bird, however, reminded me of a typical bird motif in Hungarian folk embroidery. It is called a peacock, but I think it looks more like the capercaillie. So I got the inspiration and drew a little bookmark pattern. Wasn't following any pattern, made it up on my own, but I cannot deny the influence of the "peacock motif".

I hope many of you will enjoy stitching it.

Inspirational sayings in cross stitch

Good morning!


It is a sunday morning here, this weekend has not done much for lifting our spirits, at least when it comes to sunshine. But I managed to do some cleaning and that is a good feeling. :)


I have been reading a lot about craftivism lately. In case you haven't heard of it yet, the word craftivism comes from craft + activism. Craftivists use crafts to convey important messages, often political. I love the bold embroidered messages they create. I thought I would like to contribute to this trend. I choose two quotes, the first by Gandhi, the other unknown, and I made them into cross stitch pattern. Perhaps they are not very strong political messages, but I am sure they can help us rethink our priorities. I am planning to stitch them and hang them in my school. I hope some of my readers will find them useful, too.

Click on the pictures, it will take you to the downloadable pdf files.

Happy stitching.

New freebies - finally

I am so sorry I haven't been here for so long. It's been a very busy time with university, work and some illness. It doesn't seem to be any better until the end of this term, but I will try to update the blog more often.

I know I promised a knitting pattern. I have started to make one more pullover, thinking to take notes as I go, but had to stop because I had so much else to do. I will come back to it soon, hopefully. I cannot knit much, only 15-20 minutes at a time usually, because I have a pain in my left shoulder.

Anyway, I would like to show you guys a few pictures of what I did for the university. We worked with embroidery. I have done lots of embroidery, so I wanted to try something new. I learnt needle lace, goldwork techniques and tried embroidery on materials I had never used before: tulle, organza and other very thin, see-through material.

I also learnt the basics of lace-making at university. It was so cool! I wish I had time to do more.

I also created a cross stitch freebie. There are two versions, one for a card and one for a bookmark. I hope this can bring some spring-feeling to you. Enjoy!

Happy Easter everyone! And happy spring!

Biscornu and bookmark inspired by folk patterns

I was reading a book about the folk art of Kászon - now in Romania, originally a Hungarian area. I was, of course, inspired by the many beautiful pictures and patterns.

The following biscornu and bookmark are using elements that are traditional in Kászon, but are also present in many other areas. However, I tried to create a new design using the old motifs, added my own interpretation.

The biscornu can also be made as a mattress pincushion, so I added a piece for the sides.

I hope you like and stitch them.

Bookmark for St. Patrick's Day

Hello there,


I have another St. Patrick's Day pattern for you. There is still enough time to stitch it if you want to make a statement or a gift. I hope you like it.

If you are interested in St. Patrick's Day patterns, why not take a look at my other freebies here, here and here?


If you want to see what I have been up to lately, here are some pictures.



I have been sewing for my university assignment. First a simple skirt, (Simplicity 2655) that I made more complicated for myself by having to match the checked fabric. Did not turn out to be perfect but not too bad either, I think.

I also started a pleated version but haven't finished it yet, still need to do the waistband and add a zipper.

And I finally found a way to use my bird appliqué pieces that I made a while ago. They have become the centre for two free patchwork pieces. I am turning them into covers for some old and battered ring binders. One is finished with some hand quilting, the other is waiting for me trying my hand in free motion quilting.