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Sunday, March 29, 2009

Well, so much for a rotation schedule! Really, today my viewpoint is that it's much more enjoyable to stitch whatever I feel like stitching rather than having to stitch what's on the schedule. Then again, tomorrow I could feel differently about it.

I worked some on Shores this week. It's fun to stitch, but I am a slow stitcher and haven't gotten very far. I'm glad that I chose 40 count Antique Cotton for the fabric. It's my favorite gold toned fabric. I decided to change the thread for the outlining of the square as black seemed a little heavy for the fabric color, and decided on GAST Freedom, a deep navy, and I'm happy with it. I do need a camera that takes clearer pictures and captures truer colors. The fabric is very gold, but it's not showing up in the picture.


It rained for a few days here and poured yesterday. BabyGirl was home for the weekend. We stayed in Saturday afternoon because of the rain and watched Pride and Prejudice together while I stitched.

Miss Kitty tried to bring a little yellow finch into the house to show off her hunting skills, but we rescued the bird which fortunately was able to fly away. I asked Miss Kitty to please stick with lizards instead.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

I don't have much stitching to talk about as my thumb injury still makes using a needle awkward. I did manage to put a few stitches into Shores, but not really enough to show right now. I am ready to get back to stitching on a regular basis.

My BabyGirl has been home from college on spring break and we've enjoyed having her here for an extended period of time. She's been on the go of course, but did get in some family time. A day with my mom going to yoga, lunch and shopping, and more shopping and lunch with me and my sister yesterday. BG knows how to shop!

My Goode Huswife "Fruitful Clusters" is back from being framed. I finished it last year, and just got it back from the framer. There is a little glare on the glass, but hopefully not to much of one. I really like this burled wood frame. It was stitched on 40 count Creme Brule with the recommended NPI silks.

Working on this piece made think of my own blessings, and so I modified the design a little. I added a cross on the smallest house. The red fox running down the side of design reminded me of Roxy, a dog BG and I found abandoned by a river and brought home with us. She was the light of my life (after family of course), but died almost two years ago. I stitched the fox without the charted white tipped tail to represent Roxy, who was indeed a blessing.

Roxy

This morning I caught the sun rising over the pine trees and through the cherry tree.


A beautiful weekend - hope you enjoyed it, too!

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Finally!!

Finally! My cold/virus or whatever nasty thing that visited is gone and I finally felt like stitching. First - the snow! It has been a long time since we've seen snow and last weekend we were lucky to have four inches that lasted over night. Of course today it is close to 80 degrees!









I picked up Sarah Verrier 1737 to start back on it although I haven't added it into the rotation, but will probably work on it on weekends. It is an Amy Mittens kit with hand dyed silk threads and 40 count fabric. I'm concerned that I've miscounted enough that there will not be enough fabric to complete the sampler as designed, but I'm alright with it not being exactly reproduced.


It is a French-Canadian sampler with the Lord's Prayer in French. I am almost at my favorite part of the sampler, but here are some other parts of it that I think are very charming. The little diamonds with cream centers, the crowns and the half crown when she ran out of space:


The wavelike motif following the amen, the floral band, and the trees with white flowers:


I've been thinking of doing a Lord's Prayer theme, including Scarlet Letter's Elizabeth Ginger 1735.

I haven't gotten very far with my rotation. I thought I would do small pieces while I also work on Shores of Hawk Run Village. Here is Pears by Handwork. There is a cute bird in the upper right hand corner. It's worked on 40 count Park Avenue Blend with NPI silks:

Carriage House Samplings' Stitcher's Prayer, which looks boring in this picture, but it's not! It's stitched on 40 count Creme Brule with NPI silks.


Notforgotten Farm's Harvest Sampler. I don't remeber which fabric I'm using, but I am using DMC threads. Missing words and letters stitches miscounted and removed - I know I must be the Queen of Miscounting!


A very fun piece to stich is My Betrothed, Birds of a Feather. I don't remember this fabric, and it's stitched with the recommended threads.

Even with his carrot nose, one foot and no hands he's a cute little guy. I love the way the tree branches look, too.

I might be ready to start on this again soon. FingerWork's Elizabeth Saville stitched on 32 count Pearled Barley with the recommended threads:


My Beneath the Sunlit Sky, Blackbird, is framed and now in my study. I modified it to include my daughter's initials, as well as my husband's and mine. The colors in this sampler are beautiful. The branch of flowers the bird is perched on reminds me of the wild azaleas that grow on our land and the heron reminds me of the beautiful marshes along coastal Georgia:



This long post is finally at an end - have a wonderful rest of the weekend!