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!!!

Heart in rainbow colours for Valentines

Hello everyone,



I have been MIA for more than a month, sorry. I got some silly cold and wasn't feeling very well. I did some easy, mindless sewing but couldn't do much of anything that required thinking or counting etc. I will show you some pictures later.
But now it feels I am back among the living :D and getting more active, hopefully.


I was thinking long what to do for Valentine's day. If you have read my blog for a while you might remember that I am not a big fan of it, mostly because in my home country, Hungary, it is a recent holiday, introduced by flower and sweet shops and is all about trying to sell things, without any real meaning or tradition behind it. But perhaps the younger generations feel different about it.

At the end, I made a small heart pattern that expresses much more than just love. It also has a "political" meaning, if you like: the right for everyone to love whom and how they want. I feel very strongly about human rights, and I am following the craftivism movement (crafts + activism that is using crafts for a cause).

This pattern can perhaps be my first, although simple, contribution to craftivism. Use it on a card, a pincushion, a bookmark etc.

Some practical advice:

Don't worry if you don't have the exact colours I used. Just take out your threads, first choose the main colours of the rainbow, then pick out some that can be transition colours (or you can even omit those) and stitch. Have fun playing with your colours.

I hope you like it.
Happy stitching

More hearts - for Valentine or not

As I was browsing through my files today, look what I found. These heart designs I made last summer, and somehow forgot about them. Funny, isn't it, that I would find them just a few days before Valentine's Day.


There are two versions in black and white: a smaller and a bigger one. And then the smaller one I also made in colour, with two different colour schemes. I really like these unusual colours, but feel free to use whatever colours you prefer. Looking forward to seeing your versions. :)

Happy stitching.

Subversive Valentine

After yesterday's broken heart post I got some criticism that I am becoming kitschy… or mushy… and perhaps there is something in it. :)

So, as an answer, I came up with a simple subversive cross stitch pattern for those who have different feelings about Valentine day. And it is anyone's guess which one I truly agree with ;)

Happy stitching :)

Free blackwork pattern for Valentine's Day

I have been missing stitching blackwork, so I thought it was time to try and draw another pattern. I am planning to do a few hearts in different styles and different stitches, we will see if I have enough time and energy to do it.

Anyway, here is the first heart in blackwork. I hope you will like it and use it for some lovely gifts.

Here is my finished mobile phone case:

And here is my loom. I bought it in October but didn't have time to assemble it before the winter holidays. Then I was stuck for a while on how to hang the heddles. Then I found a really good video that helped me. Now it is ready to start the warping - as soon as I have enough energy.

Valentine's Day Biscornu

It does not often happen to me that I am prepared in advance. :D Now, however, I remembered that Valentine's Day is not so far away, about four weeks from today. That means there is still enough time to make a few little gifts.

What about a lovely biscornu in lovely pinks? Or, if you feel like purple or blue - go ahead, change the colours, pick your favourites, get creative :)

I got a bit carried away, couldn't keep the two sides in the same style, one is more controlled, symmetrical while the other is a bit whimsical - but I have a feeling it will look quite good when put together. There is place in the middle for a nice little button.

I think I am also going to stitch this soon but didn't want to wait until I have a finished product to photograph. Perhaps someone can stitch it before me? Race you? :D :D


Please enjoy, and send me a photo if you make it.

Click on the picture, as usual, to get the pdf download. In case you don't have Google and can't download it, write a comment and I will send it to you in an e-mail.

Small Valentines

Hello, everyone,

I haven´t been blogging for a while. Life has just been busy... well, not much busier than usual, but I am having a little cold and it makes me so tired every day. You know, the type when you have no high temperature, you are able to work, but you feel sick all day, having headaches and drop down by the time you are home from work. And it is just not getting any better. :(

Anyway, I have been playing around with MacStitch - my new cross stitch program. To be honest, I am not very happy with it. It has lots of nice features, I just miss the things I was so used to in my old PCStitch. Like the drag-and-drop function. Anyway, I am sure I will be all right with this after a bit of more practice.

Another strange thing is, it doesn´t let you save in jpg format - only a small, thumbnail version. So I had to learn how to publish pdfs on the blog. Let´s see if it works. :) I am using the thumbnail jpg files to link to the pdfs but they look a bit strange, I am sorry about it, will try to fix this for next time.


Some small Valentine Day´s patterns - click on the picture to go to the pdf and download it.

Oh, and I have bought a huge pile of wonderful books again - I will be back with some photos soon.

Until then, please, let me know how you like this new way of posting patterns. Does it work for you?

Happy stitching
Agi

Last-minute mini Valentine's day cross stitch patterns

I know I said I am not much of a fan of Valentine's day. But working with a bunch of 11- and 12-year-olds, I had to give in and do Valentine's crafts in my lessons. It seems to be infectious :D :D

Not much time left now, but there is still time to whip up one of these small patterns for a card, a gift tag or a small present, like a scissors-fob, a coaster or a pincushion.

Crazy quilt challenge february block and paper piecing

I have put together my February block for CQJP. I also started to put in some stitches but didn't get far yet.
This is what it looks like now:



I got a few comments on my January block, saying how it looked like old quilts, so I thought I would explain how I am doing them. I am not a quilter - though hope to be one sooner or later :) -, I haven't done much sewing either, so I don't have a huge stash of fabric. I do have some, though, that I have bought lately, mostly in second-hand shops and flea-markets, and also a pile of used clothes. These are the ones I am using.
I also got through my cross stitching things not long ago when I moved, and found a few small pieces that were practice pieces or unfinished smalls, and thought that crazy quilt blocks would be a good way to use them up. So I will try to add one to the blocks every month, if I have enough.
The piece in the Janauary block was to try out the celtic pattern I used for making 28 mini-bags as gifts when my class graduated. The one in this piece was just a funny experiment: once as I was drawing a cross stitch pattern, a computer-neird friend said: "Photoshop is still much better, you can use different layers in it." So, naturally, I sat down to show how I could use layers in cross stitch, using an organza ribbon.

I also would like to show my first paper-pieced pincushion. I used the English paper-piecing method, sewing by hand, then needle-turn appliqué. It is a bit wonky but I like it.



Somehow or other, as you may have noticed, I have made a heart :D :D Apparently, the Valentine-day craze has caught up with me. Who would have thought? :D :D

A non-Valentine sampler

I have nothing against Valentine's Day - in the countries where it is a tradition.
In Hungary, however, it is not. It appeared just a few years ago, and it has been promoted by florists and gift-shop owners. Thus, it is much more about business than anything else. That said, it seems that the younger generation has accepted it so it may become a tradition in a few years time.

Speaking of love, though, I believe that it cannot be exercised as a campaign. Real love is there all the time, and we must make an effort to show our love to those around us who are important. Not only on the 14th of February.

If you agree with me, you might want to stitch this little sampler. If you put it up, it can stay on the wall all year round. :D :D
Hope you find hapiness in stitching it. I made it in red but you can use your favourite colour or a variegated thread.