Charts for Sale

Sunday, April 24, 2011

A Couple of New Starts for Spring

     I hope you all had a very blessed Easter and the Easter Bunny brought you lots of sweet treats to celebrate the day.
      My needle has not be idle. After completing Helen Vertue I didn't waste any time in starting another Adam & Eve Sampler. Here's my start on Ann Hall.
Ann Hall 
The Scarlet Letter
40 ct Lakeside Luna
NPI Silks
I'm in love with the way Ann chose to stitch her alphabet... it gives it a bit of a lacy look. I also enjoyed stitching the cherub and am looking forward to stitching the other one on the right side of the sampler.
       Here's a snap of the chart cover, from The Scarlet Letter's website, for those of you who aren't familiar with Ann Hall's sampler.
The reason I chose to stitch Ann is because she will fit in this lovely frame that I bought at The Scarlet Letter's Open House last summer.
 I've been following Alma's (Blackbird Designs) progress on her Elizabeth Sheffield sampler. I instantly fell in love with the over-one bird in the upper left hand corner of the sampler. I wanted to stitch that bird right away. So... I caved in to my longing and started Elizabeth Sheffield this past week. That over one tweety is very stitch intensive... but I've really enjoyed stitching every one of those stitches. This represents about four hours of stitching. I'm very S L O W at stitching over one.  I've chosen to do a full cross rather than just the tent stitch.
 Elizabeth Sheffield
The Scarlet Letter
36 ct. Lakeside Vintage Examplar
Belle Soie and Dinky Dyes silks

The weather has been awful in what seems like forever and Emma and Owen have been spending much of their time doing what dogs do best..... sleep.
 You really didn't think they slept on the floor did you?  Emma and Owen will be celebrating their third birthday on Tuesday, April 26th. Time has just flown by since they came to live with me on July 4, 2008.
      Hopefully everyone who requested the Helen Vertue conversion has received it by now. I was unable to send the conversion to Dawn and Sue R. because no e-mail address was included with your requests. If you're still interested please leave a request with your e-mail address in the Comments.
        Until next time... happy stitching.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Helen V is a Wrap

     Helen Vertue was a delight to stitch. The border is what drew me to the sampler. I converted the silks, as charted, to variety of hand-dyed silks.
 Helen Vertue 1812
The Scarlet Letter
36 ct. Lakeside Vintage Pearled Barley
Hand-Dyed Silks
     I did make some minor changes. The diamond motif  was supposed to be done in satin stitch with an eyelet stitch border. I chose to stitch the motif in rice stitch. After stitching all of the windows in satin stitch I was ready to move on to a different stitch.
     The flower blossoms in the upper and lower verse borders were stitched in queen stitch. It's been a long time since I've done any queen stitches and I thoroughly enjoyed stitching those blossoms. 
      Some readers requested my conversion for Helen. I think I've sent the conversion to everyone who requested it... but if I've missed anyone, please just leave a request in the Comments and make sure to include your e-mail address.
      Spring has finally arrived in northeast Iowa. My crocus have bloomed and a few daffodils are starting to appear. The arrival of Spring also means that Emma and Owen can resume their romps in the community prairie. Nothing puts a smile on those sweet Corgi faces than a good ol' romp...
 Until next time.... happy stitching.