Plymouth Sampler finished!

Hello stitchers one and all - I'm excited to report I finished up Plymouth Sampler a few days ago. I'm doing the happy dance to be sure! I finally had time today during lunch to press it and get a decent photo. It was a lot of stitching as it's fairly "solid" but lots of fun especially once you get the houses done This was designed after the 9-11 terrorist attack by Brenda Keyes of The Sampler Company as a tribute to America. It is stitched on Vintage Meadow Rue 40-count linen by Lakeside - I purchased this lovely mottled piece of linen some years ago and glad I did. The linen the Lakeside ladies are dying these days is not nearly as mottled as it used to be - maybe because they are dying in bigger lots of linen? I don't know but even my LNS owner was commenting on the changes she's noticed (not that we don't still love Lakeside Linens!). It's charted for DMC floss but I stitched the conversion to Needlepoint Silks that my LNS provided some years back.

If anyone in the domestic U.S. would like the chart please mention it in a comment to this post and I will draw a name in a week or so and pass it on to someone else. It's "gently used" but still totally usable - I wrote the conversion on the chart and it does have a piece of scotch tape along the center where the chart (it's big) was folded in half - I was afraid it would get too worn there so I taped over the crease. It comes with all the accompanying extras included in the original pattern - a chart of alphabets, some history of samplers, etc.

I also finished a little self-framing project (patting myself on the back). This was another piece I pulled out of my "waiting to be framed" pile and decided I could do myself. Once I realized the piece was not as big as I remembered it, I had a brainstorm that it might fit into one of those pre-made frames for panoramic photos. I found this frame at a framing shop on sale for $8.99 - it was pretty ugly when I bought it (see before and after below) but I spray-painted it white, added a little Martha Stewart fine glitter, and it worked out great. This is a Shepherd's Bush piece that was stitched a few years ago in a round robin. Total cost of framing was $13 as I used my 50% off coupon at JoAnn's for the spray paint. :)

"Snowpatch" by Shepherd's Bush

Stitched on pale green linen with silks

Now I'm concentrating on working on With My Needle by The Goode Huswife and Quakers & Quilts by Rosewood Manor. I was sort of stalled on both of them for a bit but now getting going again. It's hot here this week so I'll be taking a dip in the pool this evening and I want to catch that new show called "Boston Med" which looks interesting. Here's a photo of our dog Abby - we call her "Princess Bea" and you can see why. She's got a wonderful life let me tell you!

Finally framed and this & that.....

Hi Friends & Followers! I've been waiting on some pieces that have been at the framers awhile but I've given up the idea of sharing all 3 of them in one post as it's taking so long. At least I've gotten one back so far. This was from an SAL last year - I still love it. I like taking my pieces to my LNS to frame but it always seems to take forever!

My Quaker Lady

stitched with Needlepoint silks on 40-ct Vintage Sand Dune by Lakeside Linen

I haven't been very good about answering questions...Jennifer asked where I got the pattern for my Pride & Prejudice Sampler. It's not really one pattern Jennifer, it is modeled after those "neighborhood" round robin samplers that have been popular. For inspiration I collected all sorts of photos off of the internet from the A&E version of the movie (it's my favorite). Then I put together a rough design and sizing on sheets of graph paper taped together. I pulled all sorts of patterns from my stash for various things, as well as "acquiring" a few more! My plan is to do all the major homes in the story - Longbourn, Netherfield Park, Pemberley, Rosings Park, and the parsonage & chapel where Mr Collins lived. Then I'm adding trees, gardens, people, and some of my favorite quotes. The Bennett house I designed myself. Most of the other houses I'm taking from the samplers that The Stitching Parlor has published. I wanted to do the story in one sampler. It's going to take me a while though with all my other projects going. Thanks for asking!

I haven't really had much time for stitching lately and that is making me very cranky! I sometimes get totally overwhelmed when I look at my stash and the list of what I want to get stitched or quilted but then I put it out of my mind because there' s not much I can do about it. I have thought about shutting down my blog as I don't have nearly as much to show as so many of you and I feel bad and frustrated about that but here I am plugging away. I can't even keep up with my blog reading - my numbers in Google Reader were up over 700....I finally got it down to about 175 but it's creeping up again this week. I don't understand how they figure that number - it can't be the number of posts but maybe number of lines or something? If anyone knows, let me in on the secret!

Here's my progress on 'With My Needle' and 'Plymouth Sampler' -not a lot but I'm inching along slowly.... Getting the border on Plymouth Sampler makes me feel I am closing in a finish...must be a an optical illusion huh? And 2 more lines of verse to go on WMN -I'm sick of stitching letters. (Oh I didn't really say that did I? I've got The Gettsyburg Address kitted up to go so I better get used to it!)



I did finish up a tote bag recently made of a "Bali Pop" - that's a set of batik fabric strips. I'll be using this to haul stuff when I go to my quilting retreats and sew days. It's really sturdy so you can pack a lot in it - even an iron. I'm calling it my 'Mary Poppins Carpetbag'. Remember that carpetbag Mary had and she would magically pull all sorts of things out of it? That's what I thought of when I finished this. Not only am I crazy for pincushions but I love making bags and can't resist buying more bag and purse patterns that I don't have time to make!

My quilting buddies and I recently had a great get-together with another quilting group. We had a wonderful day - shopping at a new quilt store, lunch at a winery/restaurant and then dessert and show & tell on a friend's patio overlooking the golf course. The weather and company were perfect! I'd like to share with you just a few of the great quilts we got to see - these ladies do some fantastic work.

Cherry Applique Quilt - wish I knew who did this pattern - I love cherries!

The one above was made with a couple thousand 1" squares!


This Mariner's Compass quilt was pieced and quilted entirely by hand by the lady on the right! It was awesome!

This is a "Seven Sisters" quilt-in-progress -it's done using English paper piecing.

Thank you for stopping by and I really appreciate it when you take the time to make a comment - I know it' s hard to keep up with everyone!

Stitchin' & Sneezin'

Well it's spring here in Arizona and everything is blooming! Claritin and I are best friends and although everything is beautiful right now I'm looking a little forward to when the pollen dies down and I don't have a continuous sore throat and spend a half hour every morning clearing my head.

Things are moving along with my stitching. I passed the halfway point with Plymouth Sampler - woohoo! I think the second half will go faster as the stitching is not as solid as the first half and a little more interesting. Frankly, I was getting a bit tired of houses and windows. In case you're rusty on your Roman Numerals - MDCXX translates to 1620 which is the year the Mayflower set sail for America.
I sort of set aside Plymouth Sampler for a week or so and worked on With My Needle. I got 3 lines of the verse done but wasn't happy with the coverage of the silk. I'm really picky about coverage and hate when it looks 'sparse'. Mostly this happens with dark colors - I don't like when I can clearly see the X's for some reason. This doesn't happen on 40-ct but I'm using 36-ct so it makes a little difference. Anyway, I experimented with adding an additional half-stitch on top and it looked better so I went back over the 3 lines I had done. It is taking me longer to stitch now with the extra cross but I'm happier with the results so all is good. I'm getting anxious to finish the verse and get to the more enjoyable part of the lady and flowers.
I got back the two quilts I had sent off to be quilted. I tried a new person to do the longarm quilting and she did a great job. She did swirls on my nine-patch quilt which I really liked.

It's now on the guest bed and I need to go shopping to find some nice fabric to make a new bedskirt. Most of what I have seen in stores I don't like - they seem to be making them cheaper all the time and most often it's just straight fabric without any pleating or ruffling - it's like how cheap can we make it instead of how nice it looks. So I plan to make my own and some matching pillow shams when I get the time. The other quilt below was quilted in a beautiful variegated thread of pinks and yellows - perfect choice for these fabrics.

This quilt has joined the stack in the linen closet - I have no more room to hang quilts and we only have 2 beds in our house, but I keep making more quilts anyway! I really need to find a quilt ladder or a piece of furniture where I can display them.

Over the weekend I got out my French Alphabet Sampler and put in a few hours on it. I have so much guilt over this sampler - I don't really like the linen or the threads...and it's so big...but I spent a lot on the pattern ($45 was a lot for a pattern back in 2003) and the supplies so I feel obligated to finish it. The Gloriana thread fuzzes and leaves a little shadow of red fuzz on the fabric. It will get finished someday but no time soon!

As far as stashing - I've been stocking up on Carriage House Samplings patterns - so bummed to hear she is going to quit designing but when you look at the volume she has produced it's no wonder she needs a change. I already had many of her patterns but have been picking up some more here and there to make sure I get all the ones I want to stitch before they are unavailable. As I tell the husband - I'm actually SAVING money because later I'll have to pay high prices on eBay, right?

I'll leave you with some photos of our backyard in bloom. My dog Abby is always watching the pool vacuum - she thinks it's possessed. Hope spring is arriving soon to all of you as well - thank you so much for stopping by!

New start....finally!

Well I'd held off on any new starts since November but I finally caved in! I have had "With My Needle" by The Goode Huswif kitted up for a couple of months. When I saw Heidi was kitting up the same pattern I thought it would be fun for us to do an SAL together. I absolutely love this pattern and fell in love with Terri's last year. (Terri of Chocolates for Breakfast). I think Heidi will surely get done before me but I am enjoying it so far even though I've only got the top band done.

"With My Needle" by Goode Huswife

Stitched on 36-ct R&R Antique Cotton with Needlepoint Silks

I'm making progress on my latest applique quilt too called "Winter Memories". Now that I've got it up on my design board I can see how it's starting to come together. It's a subtle quilt but I'm really liking it. That's the border fabric hanging on the right side.

And look at my latest purchase below!

I have been looking for some sort of curio cabinet to hang on the wall in my sewing room for awhile with no success. I have way too many little knick-knacks and tsotchkes I've gathered here and there and nowhere to put them. When I got my latest Pottery Barn catalog I finally found it! It was a bit too expensive but I had to have it. It's supposed to look like the cubbyholes they used to have in hotels years ago where they would keep the keys and messages for the guests. The funny thing is, when it came it had a little ding in one side and the varnish wasn't as nice as it should be, so I called up Pottery Barn and they gave me a 25% refund. Woohoo! Mr. Helpful Husband hung it up over my cutting table and I put some scrapbook paper that looks like antique postcards in half of the cubbies. Now I need to get busy and finish up some more pinkeeps to display in the empty spaces. You can see in the closeup my very first pincushion - the orange/brown/yellow one. I was into needlepoint for a bit in high school and I made this for my grandmother and stuffed it with sawdust from Dad's table saw. When my grandmother passed away it came back home with me and I've had it ever since. (If you're old enough you'll recognize the decade when I made it from the colors I used! LOL)

I've reached the halfway point with Plymouth Sampler and will get a picture of it up soon. It's so exciting to turn to the second page of the pattern!

A little of this and that..........

I finished the new baby quilt and am getting ready to mail it out - yahoo - another thing off the list! It doesn't look as feminine as I would like for a girl baby but the nursey has a jungle animal theme and the colors were right so I went with it. I quilted it myself this time with a swirly design. (click for bigger view). I'll machine quilt small quilts just not bed-size ones - it's too much work.

I've also been making progress with Plymouth Sampler - I've started construction on the third house, advanced a little on the wharf, and made it halfway through the bottom border. I had to do some frogging because one day as I was admiring my progress and looking at the photo on the pattern I realized I had done the water upside down! The dark portion should be on the bottom and the lighter blue on top -DOH! For a split second I considered leaving it that way but it would've bothered me so I had to take it all out and re-stitch it. Somehow when I wrote in the silk conversion threads on the pattern I got the 2 blues mixed up. For some reason I haven't felt like working much on Quakers & Quilts lately so no progress to report on that.

Finally made it the LNS to take a look at new stuff from Market. I didn't buy much this time....not sure why. I already have several patterns for smalls I want to stitch so I wasn't really tempted to buy any more and that seems to still be big with all the designers. I looked through the new Blackbird Designs book - nice but I wasn't tempted as it didn't seem like anything really new and different than what I already have. This isn't like me - usually I am ooh-ing and ahh-ing over everything. I just picked up the Loose Feathers pattern that had been waiting for me awhile (Winter Wonderland), some Crescent Colours floss and the LHN "Needle & Thread" pattern. Maybe it was the fact that last week I dropped off 2 quilts to be machine quilted by a longarm quilter, and while at the LNS on Saturday I dropped off 3 samplers to be framed. Just putting the deposits down was painful enough and I don't even want to think about the total bill! And that only makes a small dent in my framing pile I'm afraid but I'm committed to making progress this year with it no matter what! I guess because it's so expensive I tend to keep buying more stash instead of getting my finished things framed. (or it could be that I don't have much wall space either LOL)

Hope you all have a great stitch-y week!