Cross Stitch Finish: We Live in Hope

I fully finished my Blackbird Design piece, We Live in Hope. WHEW. I’m so excited about it!!

I started stitching this back in 2022 and then set it aside. Later in December I was frustrated with a different piece I was stitching so I set that one aside and picked this one up again. That’s when this one stuck and I stayed with it. I finished the stitching in early February. Then it was time for me to make a frame. I framed this one tight. I don’t like a lot of border or open space between the stitching and the frame.

The colors on this are like the first photo in this post. Speaking of colors…I stitched this with all of the called for colors. If you look at the chart the colors are entirely different. Stitched it’s MUCH brighter and I like it so much better. Many thanks to The Attic for showing this in their newsletter. It’s what got me wanting to stitch it.

I got the frame at the thrift store for $3. I cut it down and then ordered some conservation glass for it. I put good glass on everything that I want to make sure it lasts. I ordered the glass from Custom Frame Solutions.

I stitched this one to…

honor my grandparents on my Dad’s side of the family. They both came to America from Sweden in the early 1900s…Grandpa in 1902 and and Grandma in 1908.

A fun fact about them is that Grandma’s sister came to America and Grandpa’s brother came to America. They ended up getting married so brothers married sisters. Even more fun is that my Grandma’s name was Elsa and her sister was Anna…Like Else and Anna from Disney’s Frozen movie. HA!!

Sadly I never knew my Grandma. She died in 1949 and I wasn’t born until 1965. She was crafty…she was a quilter and did hardanger. I just know I would have loved her. She passed on her diabetes to me…but I don’t hold that against her.

Admittedly, I wasn’t a huge fan of this chart until I figured out that I could stitch and personalize it for my Grandparents. I love the ship and the house…I’m sure that journey across the sea was a big step for them. I love the phrase “we live in hope”. I’m sure that was exactly how they would have described their voyages.

My Grandpa had wrote to my Grandma asking her to come. Grandpa had remembered her from church. There was a six year difference in the time Grandpa left and Grandma left…can you imagine not seeing someone for six years and connecting up with them long distance? Then Grandma came to America and had to work so she could pay off her passage. So three years after her arrival in the US she worked until she was able to go meet up with Grandpa and marry. I can’t imagine it!

Grandma never did see her family “from the old country” again. Grandpa did go back for a visit to Sweden in the late 50s after Grandma had passed away.

They settled in New Richland, Minnesota. They bought a farm there and were dairy farmers. My dad later bought the farm from my Grandpa and that’s were I grew up. My dad was one year old when my grandparents built the farm house where I lived.

It’s a little odd that I feel such a close connection to these Grandparents even though I never met either of them. I think it’s partially because I grew up on the farm and partially because even though they weren’t alive, I always felt warm feelings whenever anyone talked about them.

I started hanging some smaller samplers in the living room. I sit and stitch to the right of this display. You can see my light there.

My grandson Anders is named after my Grandpa. It would be his great-great-grandpa. When he came to US his Swedish name was Anders Ivar. When he got to the US it was changed to Andrew Iver to Americanize his name.

I stitched this on 40 count Picture this Plus Legacy with the called for threads.

Here is a better look at the corner and the cross stitch.

I put a card on the back to record the history of the piece. You can buy the pocket and index cards HERE.

I also made this note on the back…I thought about typing the note but decided to do it in my own handwriting.

I’m so glad to have this one finished. I’ve wanted it on my stitching wall.

Many thanks to Barb of Blackbird Designs for creating this piece! It’s been such a joy to stitch.