Waving Goodbye to Ann

  Well, it has been a long time coming but I finally put the last stitches into Ann Bowers Sunday afternoon.  It was so wonderful to see the end of that very long stitch, a finish literally years in the making.  But it was also kind of sad too because she has been a long time companion and a challenging piece to work on although a lot of that was of my own making.  (my advice:  Investigate the stitches used in a sampler BEFORE going crazy and changing to a high count linen!!!)

  Without further ado,  I show you my now completed Ann Bowers!

Ann Bowers by The Exemplarery
45 ct Italian linen w/ DMC

I really love this wide center band with the birds!

    My major hang up with finishing this piece was the strawberry band above the bargello.  It is supposed to be done in queen stitch, which I found would not work on 45 ct linen with DMC!  Trying to find a stitch to substitute was a nightmare.  Someone suggested I just leave it off but it is one of the identifying characteristics of this sampler and I just couldn't do it.  In the end, I used my go to stitch when subbing for queens and although I didn't like it in the beginning,  I think it worked in the end.
    So there she is, finally finished!  I am hoping for another finish within a couple of days so keep an eye out!!

Hope you're having as much fun with your stitching as I am,    Laura

The Road to Hell...

  Yes, I'm sure you are all familiar with the old saying about the road to hell being paved with good intentions.  That's me, good intentions but getting nowhere fast.  After the wonderful progress I had made in finishing Wips during the first couple of months of the year I thought I would have several more by not but that is not the case.  And I am now prepared to show you why.
  After my finish of The Pink Sparrow Sampler, I pulled out another long suffering Wip, The Red House Sampler and I got very close to a finish before having to move on.

Only my name, date and what remains
of the border left to do.

I had to put The Red House Sampler aside because  a chart that was being loaned to me became available and I needed to get right to it.  I picked the linen and thread from my stash and got down to work.

Blackbird Designs Garland Fair
40 ct. Meadow rue w/ Valdani silk

I still have the over one verse left to do on this one and it remains unfinished since I can't decide what color silk to use.  The Valdani is too thick for over one on 40 ct but I do have several of the Gloriana Tudor silks I can use if I just make up my mind!!
  Then, it was getting close to crunch time with a birthday gift so I got back to work on Mary Betchel.

 I love the colors in this one but for some reason it was just moving along too slowly and I knew I wasn't going to have it finished in time.  I will have to get back to this one soon because I am being over-run by UFOs and the thought of adding another one to the pile makes me want to scream!!
  So, now I'm trying to figure out what to do for the birthday gift.  I have several things in various stages of completion that might fit the bill and I worked on a few of them along the way.  I thought this half finished With My Needle piece might be nice. But as I worked it, it just didn't feel right.  Then I found an error and had to rip out the crown on the right side and I knew it was doomed!

 

Then I did a total new start, keeping in mind that I was moving into the 2 weeks til the event zone. Insane, I know, but what was I to do??

Love, love this piece but red is my color, not hers and I really didn't like the linen.  The silk doesn't give good coverage on it and I really prefer something in a tighter weave.
  So I thought I would just leave it for a while and see what came to me and in the mean time I worked on some other things.  Ann Wallace came out to play for a day and I got her on a lap frame to boot.  I think she might migrate downstairs and become my baseball piece, for a while anyway.  Baseball starts in just a few weeks and is a solid 3 or more hours of stitching just about every night.  I should be able to make some significant progress on her over the summer!

Yesterday, I decided to get Ann Bowers out and try get her wrapped up.  The over one verse on 45 ct is just about making me blind but at least it is the last line!!

So that has been my journey for the past month, wildly meandering and full of good intentions but no new finishes.  I hope to be able to show you at least a couple in my next post and hopefully it won't be another month before that happens!!  However, I can make no promises.  I placed a HUGE market order and who knows what might happen when that gets here!

Hope you are enjoying your stitching as much as I am,   Laura


By the way,  I did figure out what to do for my friend for her birthday and I think you are ALL going to be surprised!!

I've Been Trying and Trying to Make a Post

   I've been trying to make a post for about 2 weeks now and every time I sit down at the computer to write it, something happens and I have to leave it.  So I am now, at this late hour, sitting down, again, to make a post.  Hopefully I will be able to get through it before some other issue arises.
   After my last post,  it was IH&SWeekend round one.  I did stitch that weekend and even managed a finish!!  Let the happy dancing commence! The Inn at Fox River Mill now awaits a trip to the framer.
Love this one and it is so cute if I do say so myself.

  I have really had an itch to finish Ann Bowers so I got her out and managed to finish 2 of the bands I has started before putting her away last time.

There are now just 2 bands left to complete and she will be finished.  One is over one verse, on 45 ct, an issue I have complained about before and will not repeat here.  The other is that darned strawberry band that I have had so much trouble figuring out what stitch to use.  I think I have it worked out now and should be able to get it done soon.

(As you can see, the issue of the fat and thin threads persists even on the 45 ct. linen!  And you can see where I have tried different stitches in that strawberry band and the effect it has had on the linen.)
  So feeling proud for all the progress I had made, I, of course, had to start something new!  I had recently received the linen for Plum Street's Liberty Inn and since that made the kit complete, I jumped right in.

Not a lot of progress yet but it is fun and not very big so I have hope of this one moving along quickly.
  As before, most of my stitching time has been taken up with Serenity Harbor.  I'm not sure why but this part seemed to take forever!  It is completed through part 6 now, so another Happy Dance is in order!

I was going to wait until the end and then go back and do all the back-stitching but the sheep looked like funny rocks in that field without their legs so I had to put it in!!  I am hoping the long stitches of the fence railing will hold up to rolling on the scroll frame but if not I guess I can fix them in the end.
   This makes half way for me but part 9 is about to come out so I will be 3 sections behind again.  I have decided to go back to my rotation and not try to catch up or even stay close.  Working every single stitch just takes too much time on a piece this size and I am making myself crazy!  I have other things on deadlines that are now also behind so I need to get my rotation back on track before all is lost and I flip out from the stress.  Stitching is supposed to relieve stress not create it!
   The Inn had been my 'stitch group' piece and since it is now finished, I was able to move something else into that spot.  Old Glory will now make at least a weekly appearance so it started getting some love this week.

Once this large flag is done, it will get a lot more interesting and I am really looking forward to that!
  So that about wraps it up for this time.  My summer is about to end. I don't think I'm ready for that yet.  EGA starts back up next week with a board meeting bright and early on the lst which means the newsletter will need to be out by the end of the week. The old lazy summer schedule giving way to the busier days of fall.  Reminiscent of childhood....

Til next time,  Laura

Hanging Out with The Girls

   We got our first real snow of the season on Monday night here in the burg;  about 8 inches in my neighborhood.  In this area, they get the secondary roads plowed eventually and the side roads pretty much never.  That means we wait for the snow to melt before we get out of the house and since it is supposed to remain below freezing for the next few days it could be a while.  Luckily, I am okay to stay inside for days on end and stitch and that is exactly what I have been doing!
  The girls have all seen some love over this last rotation.  Elizabeth Shepard got in some extra days this time and is moving along nicely.  I did manage to spill a bit of coffee on her as I was going out of the house to stitch group  though so I'll have to figure out what to do about that at some point.

   I have been working on Ann Bowers during the day when I have some time.  I have a magnifying lamp in my bedroom (where I stitch in the winter) and one in the family room (where I stitch through baseball season).  I have the Dazor in the family room and that really is the preferred magnifier for the 45 ct. linen.  I thought about bringing it upstairs to work on Ann but for now am just stitching her in the family room in front of the fire.  I know, such hardship!!
   The only downside is that since my husband is now really retired and at home all the time now, I frequently have to watch things on TV that I would prefer not to see.   I'm sure you know how that is!!!  I am still hoping to have a finish with Ann by the end of the month and here is where she is now.

I finished the Satin stitch alphabet and did some more work on the floral band yesterday. I plan to put some more of the verse in this afternoon.  (45 ct. over one!  UGH!!!)  Slowly but surely getting there.

Wow! Look how big that 45 ct. looks!!

   Then, quite strangely, I heard some weeping coming from way deep in the bag this week and when I searched those deep recesses who should appear but Elizabeth Mears!!  Seems that she thought  she had been long forgotten, never to be heard from again.  So I pulled her out and put some stitches in her too!!  She is no where near as far along as I thought she was and I am ashamed to say how long it has been since she has seen the light of day. But I think she needs to stay in the current rotation for a while and maybe even see a finish this year!  Keeping in mind she is on no list for this year but may have waited long enough!!

Elizabeth JM Mears 1833 by Queenstown Designs
40 ct. Lakeside Light Exemplar
w/called for Au ver a soie

I've been working on her in the evening since there is only so much 45 ct. a person can work on at a time!
   Well, that just about covers it for now.  It is IH&SWeekend coming up and I hope to find a lot of time to stitch but we'll have to see how it goes.  The kids will be home this weekend for the bridal shower and I just never know how much free time there will be when they visit.  I'll let you know how it goes next time!

Hope you're all enjoying your stitching as much as I am,  Laura

I Do Believe I Have Lost My Mind!

  Once again, my life is interfering with my stitching time!  There are just way too many things going on that have to be attended to that take the needle from my hand.  The most recent of which is our EGA chapter newsletter.  I have been trying to get to it for almost a week.  Other interruptions, board meetings, house hunting, etc. have kept me from the newsletter so I have spent the majority of the last couple of days working on it and all of the various other parts that go with it.
  I took it over in January and even though I had this job a few years ago, I am having a bit of a problem getting back up to speed.  Add to that my bright idea of making it monthly and all of a sudden it seems to be taking over my life!!  I got it out this afternoon though so I am once again free to pick up my needle and stitch to my heart's content.  After I get this posted, of course!
   So on to the stitching! That is after all what we all want to see when we visit someone's blog!!  Well,  after my last post, I continued working on Elizabeth Shepard and I am happy to say I got to see all of the colors at play in the first little section.

It may be hard to see, but there is a dark green, the predominate color,  a brown, and a funky pink all in this corner.
   Then, and this is the 'lost my mind' part, I decided I needed to start another BAP.  Keep in mind that this piece is on no list that I have going for this year.  It's not a SAL or a birthday present and as a new start, it's not even on the EGA Challenge list either.  And it is huge!!!  341 x 341 to be exact.  See, I have truly lost my mind!!  Also,  on 45 ct. linen because we all know I don't have enough projects stitched on 45 ct. going right now!!!
   So this is Rhapsody in Red Ribbon Sampler by Sampler Cove.  I have this entire series which consists of the sampler, a bunch of smalls and a box to carry them all in. I've had them all in my stash since they came out many moons ago and I came across them recently while crawling through my massive stash looking for something else.

The top border is at the half-way point

I started it on a Friday night and only allowed myself through Saturday to work on it.  I am stitching it with the combination of Hand Dyed Fibers that were used in Spanish Rouge and the contrast is just wonderful!  I love this and need to somehow keep it in the rotation.

Pic of the chart.  A large, lovely, red sampler.  How could I go wrong??!!

   The Sunday of this weekend was February 1st and I thought that would be a fine time to get back to something that is close to being finished.  I have several large SAL pieces I carried over from last year and Ann Bowers is the one I felt was closest to a finish.  This is what she looked like when I worked on her last.  From the date on the picture, it was September of last year that she last saw the light of day.  So sad!

This is what she looks like now.  I have been working diligently on nothing but her since the 1st! Interesting how much you have to show when you concentrate you time on one piece!!

I am determined to work on just this piece until it is finished!!  Hopefully, that will be soon.  I am aiming for the end of the month, or sooner if I can keep the distractions down to a minimum!!
  So that's all I have for now.  Thanks for stopping by to visit and hope you're all enjoying your stitching as much as I am!!  Laura

Framed!!

   I had been holding off taking Summer at Hollyberry Farm to the framer in eager anticipation of picking up the framing I had previously dropped off.  I called on Friday and she was just putting the backs on them so I went over first thing Saturday morning to pick them up.  I am so pleased with how both pieces turned out!!!

Close-up of the frame
Love this moulding!!

Harriette Coe is in the same frame, just a redder tone.  Both of these will be residing at my LNS for a while.  I will be picking up One Nation in December since it is for The Hubs for Christmas but leaving it at the shop until then ensures he won't see it until he's supposed to!!  He likes to peek!
  Well, I don't know why IH&SWeekend never seems to go like I plan but this one was certainly true to form.  At the time I signed up, I didn't have a thing on my calendar but by the time it rolled around I was up to my eyeballs in other things I needed to do.  I didn't get to stitch as much as I would have liked but that seems to be a recurring theme so I won't dwell on it.
   I managed to get that last line of verse in on Ann Bowers.  Yeah!!!!!  This is the last 4 lines of this section and I think you can read it pretty well.  I was a little worried about the method I was using to stitch it but if you're not looking at it with a magnifier, I think it's okay.
  

So, this is where I am now and the end is in sight!  I do have 2 more rows of over one verse to stitch but after what I just finished, it should be a piece of cake!!  And after the over one, that 45 ct over 2 is looking like burlap!!  Not really but it is a lot easier to work on than I remember.

   So, for the IH&SW report, I stitched the last row of over one verse above and I started one of those fall pieces that had been calling my name.  Not much to look at yet but I promise, you're going to love it next time.  I confess to taking liberties with the colors, again!!

Butternut Tavern Sampler Pinkeep
by Stacy Nash
40 ct Lakeside Maritime white
with GASTs

Well,  that's all I have for now.  Hope you're enjoying your stitching as much as I am,  Laura

Long Time, Little Stitching

  I find it hard to believe that it has been so long since I last posted given how little stitching I seem to have gotten done.  When I looked at my calendar, I was surprised that it has been almost 2 weeks since my last post and that we are already past the middle of September!  I would say time flies when you're having fun but I'm not too sure that has been the case.  In fact, I'm not sure exactly what I have been doing for the last 2 weeks!!
  I have been working slowly but surely on the verse on Ann Bowers.  It is such slow going that I can spend an entire baseball game and only manage to get in one line of verse!! I had bemoaned the idea that it would take me a whole week to get that first section completed  if I could only stitch a line a day but there have been some days I couldn't get to it at all so it still isn't finished.  But, even though it is tedious as all hell,  I think it's beautiful!

Ann Bowers by The Examplarery
45 ct. Italian Linen
DMC threads

One more line of verse here and then I can roll it to the next section!!  That makes me smile but under that large band you see at the bottom of this picture, 2 more lines of over one verse awaits!!!
   This past weekend we put on a workshop at my local sampler guild, Tidewater Sampler Guild.  We hosted a relatively new designer who is, like Betsy Morgan, out of the Loudon Samper Guild in northern Virginia. This is my second time in one of her workshops and we had a wonderful time!!!!
   I took both of the classes she taught as well as the Sunday project, which was our regular meeting, and each was more challenging than the next!!  The first was a lovely Quaker design stitched on a piece of joined linen.  The joining was, of course, the objective of the class and although the technique is pretty simple, the act is very tedious and challenging.  Needless to say, my linen is not yet joined but it is such a pretty sampler I hope to get it done soon!!

Red and Gold Sampler
by Pamela Darney of Guildhouse Samplers
32 ct. Weeks linen w/Gloriana threads

  The 2nd class was a PA German sampler.  We were given a black and white photo of her model and were to select our own colors and linen for our own project.  Seventeen colors, I think, and all to be used somewhere in the piece!!  Talk about a challenge!!!

 I have  started with someones color palette and made changes to suit myself before but having to come up with all the colors on my own was a little daunting to say the least!  But she had brought hanks of different colors that we had a big throw down with on our selected linen and it was such a blast!!!  Totally worth it just for that part, even if I never manage to finish the sampler.  Which I better since we are supposed to meet in a year so we can see what we all did!
   The Sunday project was like the class above but one step farther.  It was called Variation on a Quaker Diamond and it was all wide open!  Choose your linen, number of diamonds in your piece, motifs in the diamonds, colors of motifs,  my head is still spinning!!!  My plan is to do them in the order that I took them, learning each lesson and adding to it as I move to the next.  Hopefully, it will feel less overwhelming by the time I reach the last one.  Which assumes  brain doesn't explode before I get to the last project!!!
   I have also managed to get a start on the last birthday piece I need to stitch for this year but I can't show it yet since the recipient reads my blog.  I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise!!
   It is IH&SW this weekend and I have really been looking forward to that!  Gives me an excuse to stitch all weekend and not feel guilty about it!!  My calendar has become crazy lately and I could use some guilt free stitching time.  I am also feeling the tug of Fall stitching so I think I may have to give in to that urge this weekend.  I have some things kitted and ready to go that I never got around  to last year and it would be very easy to get those underway.  And since they are small, I could, in theory, have some finishes in short order. Fingers crossed!!

Hope you're enjoying your stitching as much as I am,  Laura

The Happy Dance Continues

    After throwing the rotation out the window and much 'nose to the grindstone' stitching on just this one piece, I finished Summer at Hollyberry Farm on Monday!!! Yeah!!!  There were many color changes and adjustments made but I am very happy with the outcome and I will be getting it to the framer asap!!!

I've  been working on Randje per Week a little too, not up to the 10 rows I usually do before posting an update but getting there!  

   I know I said I was going to go back to Dorothy after finishing SaHF but Ann Bowers has been calling loudly from her perch on the bookcase and I just had to get back to her.  The over 1 verse on 45 ct. is going VERY slowly but it won't go any faster by not working on it at all!!

I am working the verse in a combination of tent and cross over one, to try to avoid overcrowding but to also get adequate coverage.  It seems to working out okay so far.
  I have Ann on the list to finish this year so I think I am going to work on her until she is finished now.  There are six rows of verse in this section and when I roll it, there are is another whole section of verse (not sure how many rows, don't want to look!!) to be done before the grand finale. It is too close to put away again though so I will push through if I can.
  Dorothy is also on the list to finish this year too and I intend to get her done.  I have one last October birthday gift to stitch but I don't think that will keep me from getting Dorothy wrapped up within my deadline. That floral area is half of the sampler but it's mostly cross stitch so should go quickly once I get back to her.
    I am very happy with how closely I have managed to adhere to my list this year! When I did stray, I still found a way to work things off my list too!  Some of my friends have laughed at me for making that list every year but it keeps me focused and seems to get a good number of those UFOs onto the other list I keep of finishes for the year.  My list is growing and since it is only September, I hope to add a few more finishes to the list by the end of the year!

Hope you are enjoying your stitching as much as I am,  Laura

Almost Caught Up

  I have spent the last 10 days working exclusively on Ann Bowers. I was trying to get caught up with the SAL before I needed to move on to other things.  I didn't quite make it but I got pretty close.  This is the section that received most of my attention.

There were many color changes and at times I didn't feel like I was making any progress at all!  But I kept at it and finally got this section done!!
    This is what the whole thing looks like right now.  All the blank sections in the center are over one verse.

 

  The next section is also over one verse.  I need to move on to some other things that are on deadline so she is going away for a while and may not make another appearance until around Christmas.  But I bet you can't guess what I will be working on when I bring her out next time!!!!!

August IH&SW Report

  I managed to find some significant stitching time this past weekend.  I worked on Ann Bowers for 2 afternoons although it probably doesn't look like that much progress.  This is before:

And this is now:

That vine is 4 rows deep and that one leaf has 6 different colors in it!  Add to that, I was also trying to watch tennis and you can see where the progress might be a little slow!!
  Sunday is my regular house cleaning day so I was pretty deep into the day before I got to the stitching.  I had thought I might put some more stitches into my Scarlet Letter piece but I promised my LNS that I would stitch a particular piece for them as a model and I figured I better get it started! I saw a recent finish of this piece over on Keeper of the Crowes  and I just love it!!  Her finish really spurred me on the get this one going!

WTN&T The Pink Sparrow Sampler

This is where I managed to get to with this one:

40 ct. WDW Parchment w/ called for threads

  I will put this in the rotation with the others, that will make 4 right now.  I think 3 might be my ideal number so I need to get this finished fast!  M. Woods should be winging her way to me this week and I may be tempted beyond endurance to make a start on her!!  And I have learned that time split between too many projects gets nothing done fast.  I think I may have to give up sleeping in order to have more stitching time!!!

Stitching Time < Back Pain

  I haven't gotten in as much stitching time lately as I would like.  My back is acting up again and making sitting very uncomfortable.  I have taken to stitching at the breakfast table since those chairs provide the least discomfort.  I have to get up frequently and that cuts into my time but I had the Hubs move my Dazor over by my chair so I can at least get some stitching done.  I get pretty cranky if I go more than a day without the needle in my hand!!!
  Most of my time has been spent with 272 Words.  I think it might actually be the source of my back issue, this time.  I have it on a Kay's lap frame, the largest they make, and it really doesn't work well in my usual place on the sofa.  I find myself sitting twisted for long periods to get across the row and I think that might be the problem.  Anyway,  I have added 3 rows of the verse which I will not show here since it is after all, just verse!!!  I am hoping if I keep plugging away I might be able to wrap it up by the end of the month, or at least by the end of Labor Day weekend.  Keep your fingers crossed!
  I have also managed to get some time in with a couple of other pieces.  The long neglected Ann Bowers came out for some love this past week.This is before:

And this is after.  All that blank space is verse...over one...on 45 count. I am doing it in tent stitch but still!!  I guess you can see why I've moved ahead to the next row!!!

   Then, I also worked on my Scarlet Letter piece, and made quite a bit of progress on that!  Before:

And this is after.

I admit to taking some liberties with a couple of the colors but I am really enjoying this one and having a hard time putting it down to work on anything else.
   Well, that's about all for now.  This is IH&SW weekend so I hope to get in lots of stitching time and have some great progress to show you next time!