Something way better than cross stitching.....

... at least in the point of view of my Mr.
The last couple of month I was working on and off on a poker table for his birthday (which will be next week) and last week I finally finished it. Today he came to my working place to pick it up and he is very happy with it. Actually he is playing with some friends right at this moment that I am writing this post.
I know poker table pictures do not belong on a cross stitching blog, but I am showing them anyways to you.

Fair & Square Round 12 arrived

Take a look at these beautiful Squares from my Fair & Square partner Kim. They arrived yesterday and are maybe the most beautiful squares I've ever received. Well, I know I say that about every pair of squares I receive in this exchange group, but every single pair is beautiful and one of a kind. Kim stitched this little Deer Sampler for me on 32 ct. linen with 1 over 1. I also tried to stitch my squares on 1 over 1, but I realized that I could have never finished it in time. So I did the regular 2 over 2.

For Kim's Squares I picked a design from à mon ami pierre and rearranged the single motives to fit them into the right size.

Little Moon Welcome

Easter holidays are almost over. Besides some nice long walking through the woods that almost ended up in 3 hour hiking trips, we stayed most of the time home spread out on our sofas. And that means I had a lot of time for stitching.
I made some great progress on Little Moon Welcome. There are a few blank spots due to two colors missing. I figured I will substitute them when everything else is stitched up.

Pikkuloma!

Today was my last day in school! Now I have 4 days of during the Easter holidays and than I am going straight back to my internship at the Helsinki City Theater.

I have been quite busy this week. I finished up a sofa for a customer and finally, after almost a year, my own bench. The top can be taken off and I am storing our winter scarfs, hats, mittens, as well as a few of my handbags in it. I made the seat in "chesterfield upholstery" style. I also finished up Emma's Sampler.I finally sewed it up to a cushion yesterday. Of course I had to place it on my brand new bench. It goes so well together. The Mr. was as well positively surprised when he got home yesterday.


While getting already in the holiday mood yesterday evening, I also started a new stitching project. But it is not my new chart "The Good Neighbor", it is supposed to be stitched with silk thread and I don't have it yet in my stash.
I started stitching "Little Moon Welcome" from Brooke's Books. Usually the designs by Brooke are a bit too cute for my taste, but with this Welcome Sampler I literally fell in love. And the best thing of all is, that it is a freebie.

New Stash!

Juhuu! With yesterdays mail, my new chart arrived. It is "The Good Neighbor" from the Drawn Thread. With the moment I have seen this design, I fell in love with it. But I think I will keep this for a little later start. I am really trying to finish up some more of my WIPs before I am starting the next big project.


Today I finished one of my current stitching projects. But I will not show you a picture yet. It is the squares for my Fair & Square round # 12 partner Kim and I don't want to spoil the suprise. I will post a picture as soon as she received her squares.

Virvon varvon tuoreeks terveeks tulevaks vuodeks. Vitsa sulle, palkka mulle.

I love traditions!By living in Finland for 3 years already (my anniversary was April 1st - no kidding!) I got to know a bunch of new traditions that I had never heard of before. One of my favorites are the Easter traditions in South of Finland. On Palm Sunday, one week before Easter, children are dressing up like witches and going from house to house telling their saying, while waving a feather decorated willow branch, giving this branch and receiving candy in return.The saying, you can read in the headline, basically means that they are wishing healthiness for next year and will give you a branch if you give them a reward. Instead of buying candy from the store, this year I baked a bunch of lemon cupcakes with raspberry frosting.