virtue planted

My first finish of 2011 is my New Year's Day start - Plant Virtue. What a happy little design with a positive message. I thought a lot about the virtues I would like to, or probably should, plant during 2011.

My favorite stitching bits in this sampler were the jaunty rooster, the cheerful sun and those pretty flowers. While working on the rooster, I remembered a book that I used to read to my DD when she was little. For the life of me, I cannot remember the title, but it was about a little rooster whose job it was to wake up the world every morning. Time spent going to the library with my DD and reading every day are really some of my favorite memories.

Least favorite stitching parts were the bricks and mortar. I also didn't notice until I finished it that the lower right window is off by one stitch. I wonder if I had noticed it on the chart before I stitched if I would correct or leave it!

Goode Huswife - Plant Virtue
R&R 40 count linen, mystery color

Here are the other things I've been stitching. I tried to do a different design each of the first 15 days in January. Seriously, it made me nervous! I'm still working on my list of 15, but have changed the fabric on a couple of them and am still considering swapping some out for other pieces. I'm not posting photos of those designs where I've just stitched a snippet of a border.

A little design to honor my sweet husband and our marriage of many years. Not a good picture at all - the colors aren't true; it's really much prettier in real life. One of my goals for this year is to learn how to take better pictures!

Goode Huswife - Quaker Marriage Sampler
Lakeside Linen, 40 count Vintage Light Examplar
Needlepoint Silk 635

I am in love with almost every one of Blackbird Design's Rewards of Merit. Here is Bluebird, and I hope it's the bluebird of happiness and will hang around for awhile. It did take a little adjusting to get used to working on 30 count fabric, but I like texture of fabric and thread for this piece.

Blackbird Designs - Bluebird Reward of Merit
R&R 30 count Cafe Kona (I think)

I've always thought that Dainty Housewren was a quaint and charming little design so I'm glad I decided to stitch it this year. Here is my start, which looks a lot like the noose/tree in the Hangman word game we used to play as kids. For some unknown reason, I started this with the tree instead of the border; hopefully I've counted correctly! Maybe I was getting tired of stitching borders.

Carriage House Samplings - Dainty Housewren
Lakeside Linen 40 count Vintage Light Examplar

I also started a reproduction sampler by Muriel Brunet and was halfway through the left upper quadrant when I realized I had ordered the wrong size fabric! That's what I get for not stitching at least the width and length of the border. I'm not posting a picture, although I loved stitching the red alphabet - it's just too painful!

I don't want sign off without taking a moment to remember Lisa. She was a very upbeat person, encouraging, modest, creative, supportive, funny. She loved primitives, old graveyards with interesting stones, horses, reading, her VW bug, Halloween, but she especially loved and was so proud of her family. I think about her quite a bit when I stitch, as I'm sure many of you do. I was very glad to know her the little bit I did.

Have a good week.