My Calendar Blew Up

  I had big plans for stitching this past week.  I was sure I was going to get Francis Poole finished and maybe even get caught up on the Ann Bowers SAL.  It was not to be. My calendar totally blew up, with some things moving from someone else's list to mine, and I got very little stitching time, again.  There were a couple of evenings I didn't get to stitch at all!!!!
  I did manage to get some work in on Francis Poole. This is where it was last time.

 I got the rest of the vine in and happily, it met.  The vase on the right was all the way in and I decided I didn't like the color so I ripped it out and stitched it again in a different color.  I was going to loan this to my local shop when it was finished but I think I have changed nearly all the colors now so probably not.

  So far, the calendar is light for this week.  My local sampler guild is having Betsy Morgan in to teach a class next weekend but other than that, I am free as a bird.  I hope to finish this in the coming week and get caught up on Ann Bowers before the next assignment comes out.  Hmmm...... sounds vaguely familiar....

A Day with Catherine

  My EGA chapter had a workshop today with Catherine Theron.  Eighteen ladies from our region gathered here in the burg for a day of fun, laughter, and stitching with one of my favorite designers.  The sampler she taught is called "Morning has Broken" and is pictured here.

Anything with a house and I am pretty much in.  Make it a red house and I am totally there. Let the house be off-center and I am on the moon!  This definitely rang all the bells!
  Catherine is a wonderful teacher.  I've taken more than one class with her and she is always charming, witty, and  manages to keep things moving so everything gets covered.  Here she is (standing) with our Special Events Coordinator.

The time passed quickly.  We learned some new things.  Got reacquainted with some old things, or things we didn't get quite right the first time we learned them (i.e: Spiral Trellis Stitch!! Don't know if I'll ever get this one  right!!).  Here as some of the ladies with noses to the grindstone.

A great day and a good time had by all!  I'm looking forward to our next class together.

Not much stitching time...

  I've spent most of my time this week spring cleaning.  An ugly job but someone's got to do it.  And like everything else, it always takes more time than you think!  I have company coming in a few days and I really wanted to blow the winter stink off the place before they get here.  I'm sure you know what I mean.
  With all of that going on, I had very little stitching time to work with. I usually stitch in the evening which affords me at least 3 hrs. a night but that wasn't even possible this week.  I did manage to get a little stitching in though not on the pieces I said I would be working on in my last post.  What can you do?? You have to work on what calls to you!
  I managed to get the outline for the scalloped eyelet row in on A Flamestitch Sampler.

  This whole band is supposed to be done in Algerian Eyelet.  I have done just about all of those I can stand ( the whole top of this piece is just about all A. eyes!) so I think I will fill in the colors with rice stitch.  That seems to be popular with others who are stitching this one as well.
  The other piece I worked on this week was Sarah Elizabeth Brooke by The Scarlett House.

This is one of the pieces I started in preparation for a trip to visit my friend Tommye in February, a year ago. I had gotten about 3 inches of the vine done in each direction and then put it away. It didn't get any love on that trip or at any time since then.  I have picked it up a couple of times since then but it was always put aside for something else.  When I took it out this week to work on it, I knew I had changed the color of the vine (Shocking isn't it!) but I couldn't figure out what color  I had changed it to and neither could any of the ladies in my stitch group.  So... I ripped it out and started it again.
  Now this is supposed to be the year of the UFO.  Finishing some of the multitude of these I have around the house is the objective.  Does it still count as a UFO if you start it over??  Sure hope so!  I have been really good at sticking to my guns on this point.  I have not started a new piece this year at all yet!!! And the temptations have been great.
   Have you seen the new one by Shakespeare's Peddler??!!

Sarah Chapple
by
Shakespeare's Peddler

Ordered it as soon as I saw it!!  I will try to hold off but I don't know how long I can stand it!!!! Of course that would mean another BA UFO!!

Catching Up My SALs

  Since I finished Tommye's birthday gift and the 2 memorials I needed to complete, I have moved back to working on my SALs.  I am woefully behind on the Maryland Inspiration Sampler and have been working on that for the last couple of days.  I've had some issues with some of the colors (what else is new??) so I have stitched and ripped and stitched again to get it the way I want it.   I have converted from the over-dyed to the solid silk in a couple of places (both of the vines) and had to dig for older skeins for a couple of others so the dye lots are better matched to what the designer selected.  This is where it is right now.

Maryland Inspiration Sampler
40 ct Lakeside w/ Belle Soie &
Needlepoint Silk

I love this piece but it is huge and there are a ton of color changes.  Good thing it's in a rotation!

  Ann Bowers saw a little stitching time as well.  I'm not too much farther along than last time but she is next up to see some serious needle time!

45 ct Italian Linen w/DMC

 Last but not least, I have revived a piece for the Scarlet Letter Challenge.  I finished Ann Grimshaw back in February and haven't worked another SL since then.  Next up in that category is Flamestitch Sampler.

Flamestitch Sampler
36 ct Summer Khaki w/DMC

Sorry for the creases but I try not to iron until I'm ready to frame.  This piece is just getting to the good parts and I'm looking forward to getting back to work on it on a regular basis. The bargello is going to be so much fun!!

  I do still have Francis Pool waiting patiently in the wings and I will try to get her back in the rotation as well.  She is close to a finish so that should act as motivation!!

Mystery Revealed

   My friend has confirmed receipt of her birthday gift so it is now safe to show it here.  I started this piece for her about 5 years ago and when I got started on the 2nd band, I knew there was no way I was going to get it finished in time. So, I put it away and stitched something else for her birthday.  I meant to get back to it sooner but always seemed to be too short of time.
   I keep all of my WIPs in tote bags, many, many samplers in many, many tote bags, and this past fall it seemed that the tote bags were taking over my room!  I decided that this year I was really going to make an effort to get some of those WIPs finished.  While evaluating just what I was up against,  guess what I found??!!  I don't have a before picture but here is the after.

Spanish Bleu by Sampler Cove

  My very good friend Tommye was the recipient of this sampler and her much better photography can be seen over on her blog I'd Rather Be Stitching. She has also graciously posted pictures of some of the  samplers I've gifted her in the past!
  This is the companion piece to Spanish Rouge also by Sampler Cove and as you might imagine it's done in the most luscious reds! That one is for me and although not slated for finish this year, maybe next!

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