One down, three to go...

    I know it seems like it took forever (to me too) to get it finished but I FINALLY got my 'end of the month' birthday piece finished yesterday!!!  It took me a whole week to put in the last band but I was really excited to put in those last stitches. I can't show a picture of it yet but I will be happy to expound on its journey after my friend receives it.
   Now, its on to the charity stitching.  I have been stitching off and on for a number of years now with a group of  ladies on Yahoo.  The site can be found here: American Soldier Memorial project.  The goal is to stitch a memorial sampler for the families of every service member who gave their lives in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan since those wars began. It is a daunting task since there have been so many and I sometimes find it overwhelming. But then my husband reminds me of what a noble cause he thinks it is and I buck up and get back to work. .
   There is no 'official' memorial sampler so we choose things we feel would be appropriate and try to turn them into something the families would feel honors their loved one. I have a couple I like to use. The first is this one:

The flag is from a Liz Navikas design and the verse is taken from a Glendon Place design that actually is a memorial sampler that I've stitched before. Below the verse, the info on the soldier is stitched.
    The other sampler I really like a lot is one by the Cricket Collection which is also a memorial sampler. It is called Red, White and Blue and I find the verse to be very appropriate.

I currently have 2 names and once I have the names I like to get them out a quickly as possible. Lucky for me I have 2 almost ready to go.  One is finished except for the personalization and the other needs just a little more work than that. I hope to have them framed and shipped to the families by the middle of next month.
  The other piece of charity stitching I need to get done is a Habitat for Humanity sampler.  Our EGA chapter stitches these for the group working here in Williamsburg.  Our Outreach chair was just informed that there will be a 'building blast' soon and they are aiming for 12 houses! That, of course, means that we need to have 12 samplers ready.  I am not a huge fan of the design and I resisted stitching one for a long time but since it is such a worthy cause, I do make one or two for them periodically.  We all need to do our part, right?
  Well, I'm off to work.  The sooner I get these finished, the sooner I can get back to my regular rotation.  Frances and Ann are feeling very neglected!!!

Digging Deep into the Past

 Lord help me,  I am still working on the birthday piece I am trying to finish by the end of the month.  I am starting to get a little bit panicky about it since I still have quite a bit to do and the time is getting shorter and shorter. I can not, of course post a picture of my progress on this piece but I thought I might show you what I have stitched for her in the past instead.
  I first meet Tommye in the early '90s  when I moved to the Atlanta area and she was my local shop owner. We got to know each other during our weekly stitch group meetings which were held in her shop.  There was a group of about 8 of us that came to stitch together consistently and I believe it was Tommye's BIG birthday of that time that got us stitching for each others' birthdays.  Over the years, some of us have moved away and others have moved on to other things but a few of us still stitch for each other for our birthdays each year.
  I am an organization freak and list maker from way back.  I make a list at the end of each year of the stitching goals I want to achieve for the coming year.  It is always so much fun to sit with my list and go through my stash making plans for my friends' upcoming birthdays.  Tommye and I tend to have the same taste in stitching projects so I find her very easy to stitch for and I tend to choose something with a bit more than cross-stitch in it since we both like that so much.

  As you know, I started this blog in part to keep track of my stitching since I have been terrible about photographing my pieces for posterity.  I was only able to find a few things on my computer, and a couple of these pictures where taken by her and sent to me later since I didn't take a picture myself,  but this will give you an idea of the kinds of things we stitch for each other.

Darlene O' Steen/Needle's Prayse
don't remember the name
This is the one I use for my profile picture.

Eileen Bennett/Sampler house
Bands of Pearl
Stitched for 2012

Diane Jourdan/Sampler Cove
Sampler 101

I wasn't sure about the colors on this one but she says she loves it!

  Well, that's about all for now.  I really need to get back to work on this year's sampler.  Hopefully, I will have it finished by the end of next week so I can a) get it to her on time,  b) be able to post a picture of it, and c) have something else to post about so you don't get bored and quit visiting me!! 

  Hope to see you back here soon,  Laura

Working my fingers to the bone

  I've been stitching like a crazy fool but mostly on the piece that no one can see until the end of the month!! I am loving it and am going to have a hard time giving it up but I think the recipient will be pleased with it.  It's a lot of work but will be well worth it in the end!
  I took a break from the mystery piece for a couple of days and worked for a while on Frances Pool.  I had stitch group at my house on Wednesday and was shocked and amazed at how little I got accomplished stitching-wise during that period.  We start at 10 am and continued until 3 pm and I only got the tail of the bird in! (Of course the fact that we had someone visiting so we had to take the sampler tour of the whole house. And that we also had to have show and tell with all of my WIPs of which there are a mighty many didn't help with the whole time thing!!)  So I continued to work on it for the next couple of days and managed to make some progress.  Here is where I am now...

I have fiddled with the colors a little more to suit my fancy but I am just to the point now that repro or not, I have the like the darned thing when its done!!
   I also got Ann Grimshaw back from the framers this week.  I love it, the framer loves it, my stitch group ladies love it, I think we have a consensus.  We all love it!!!  We all agree it is the wide black frame with the dental molding that really makes it pop. And everyone agrees she needs to be showcased somewhere that I will be able to see her ALL THE TIME, especially while I stitch.

I haven't decided where to hang it yet so right now it is propped up against the wall on the table in the corner of my dining room.
  I actually have several pieces that are framed and need to be hung but since I totally stink at arranging the pictures on the wall, I usually wait a really long time to get it done and then just have my friends help me do it.   Tommye is supposed to be coming to visit in June and I may just wait for her to help me.   I put her to work at this task last time she visited and she did a really good job.
  Well I better get back to work if I want to get that piece finished on time!  Laura

Moving right along

  I seem to be getting better at the rotation thing.  I managed to finish this month's Ann Bowers assignment,

Ann Bowers
45 ct linen w/DMC

although I did notice after I inserted the picture that I didn't finish off the top of one of the strawberries.
  Frances Pool also saw the light of day this past week.  I would have been farther along with her but my old friend the color conflict came to visit, again.  This is where I got this time around.

Frances Pool
WDW  40 ct Parchment
w/most of the specified colors

The next motif, which should go where my needle is, is a Quaker style bird and berry design.  The bird is supposed to be stitched in WDW Sage but the skein I have is WAY too striped to work birds in!!  I went to my LNS this afternoon and found one that more suits my taste so hopefully I can get some more work done on this one this coming week.
  Of course, the piece that has been taking up most of my stitching time is one I can't show on the blog.  It is the birthday piece for my good friend Tommye and since she reads my blog, it will have to remain a no-show until I give it to her the end of March.  Hopefully I'll have it finished by then!  I guess I better get off this computer and get to it!!
  Later,  Laura

From Reproduction to Adaptation

  I have spent the majority of the past week and a half working on Ann Bowers.  This is a SAL hosted by the Attic and since I've had this sampler in my stash for a really long time I thought this would be a good opportunity to get to work on it.  Then I started it...
  I know that when a sampler is reproduced, the designer must choose to use either the front, which is usually faded, or the back of the sampler to make the color selections. I also know that when colors fade over time, you can wind up with some pretty funky colors a hundred or so years down the road.  But I just could not bring myself to stitch BROWN strawberries!!! There are some really lovely colors in this sampler and it never occurred to me that the strawberries would be brown, so in an effort to save my sanity,  I changed them.
  I pulled out my DMC card and the other colors that would be stitched in the strawberries and I did a family match for a darker color.  It is still a brown but has a lot more red in it and is one I can live with!
Now, I guess we have an adaptation instead of a reproduction but at least I will be able to stand to work on it and later hang it on my wall!

Ann Bowers

  I had hoped to get this months work done and move on to something else since I am supposed to be working a rotation.  The 45 ct. is a lot slower to work on than I thought it would be.  I have worked on it before but a much smaller piece and it was a motif sampler with less densely packed stitching. I do love the way this looks, with the minor color adjustment, so I've kept plugging away but now the next assignment for this piece is out and I am behind again!! I've decided to  work on it until I get the next part finished and then move on.  This is where I am right now:

Ann Bowers
45 ct. Florence Linen w/ DMC

I have the carnation band to finish (hopefully today) and then 2 rows of alphabet and I will be caught up.
   I have totally neglected all my other stitching with the exception of the piece I am carrying to stitch group now.  I needed something easy to carry around to my various groups so I started this one.

Little House
Winter Plaid
34 ct Plantation Linen w/ colors listed

  I had to adjust the white in this piece since I am stitching with one thread but other than that, all is going well. (Except for that mishap I had with reading the chart and stitching the roof in the wrong color and having to rip it out and do it again!!)  This one should be stress free stitch for a while.
  The rotation thing doesn't seem to be working for me so I'm not sure how I will deal with that. I am supposed to be picking up another WIP for Nicola's challenge as well as working on Ellen Chester's SAL of the Maryland Inspiration Sampler, not the mention 272 Words that I am stitching for the Hubs and that March birthday piece that is starting to scream in my ear.  I keep hearing 'stitch faster, stitch faster' and 'pick me!'  in my dreams!!
  Wish me luck,  Laura

Finish Ann Grimshaw...Check

  I put the last stitches into Ann Grimshaw last night.  I can't believe she is finally finished!!!  This sampler has been on my lap frame for about 3 years now and I wasn't sure if I would ever be able to call it done.  But it is!

Ann Grimshaw 1818
40 ct. Lakeside Navy Bean
w/ Splendor silk

   So now I'm doing the happy dance big time and trying to figure out what to work on next.  Ann Bowers sure could use some attention...

Saved by my framer

   I was starting to get anxious about the amount of time it has been since my last post.  I am working ever diligently on Ann Grimshaw and see an end fast approaching but I didn't want to post another picture of her until I had her finished.  Since that is the only sampler I have worked on for nearly 2 weeks, I didn't have anything else to post about!
  Then, this morning the call came from my framer.  It had been a while since I dropped off those pieces and I expected her to call any day so I was really excited to hear that she finally had them ready.  You may remember that I had finished Christmas Rules early in January. I just love the way this turned out!

Christmas Rules

The frame is cherry and the outer bevel is black.  Hard to see I know but should be clickable.  Then I also picked up this one that my friend Tommye stitched for me for my birthday.  I love this one too!

  The frame on this one is actually a dark green and although not my usual style, I really like it.  (Also clickable to be able to see color.) I was having a hard time deciding what to do since my stand-by cherry really didn't work with this one and the Larson-Juhl rep, who just happened to be in the shop at the time, put this one on it and it was just perfect!
  I am working as fast as I can on Ann and should have a finish this weekend and shortly after, a new post.  Until then, keep on stitching!  Laura