My First Finish of 2011

      I put the final stitches in Frances Eden late Sunday afternoon.

 Handwork Samplers

The 1809 Frances Eden Sampler

36 ct. Picture This Plus Legacy linen

AVAS and NPI

       Frances was started way back in January 2008, languished at the bottom of my WIP pile, received a few more stitches in October 2010, and finally was finished in January of 2011. She's going to make a lovely addition to the A&E Sampler Wall in my dinning room
     At the start of the New Year I rummaged through my WIPs and decided to focus my stitching attention on a few samplers with the hopes of getting them completed in 2011. Next up is Hannah Pepper.  Here's a very poor photo of Hannah, taken back in January 2008. She hasn't seen the light of day in two years. I'll be focusing on Hannah with the hopes of getting her finished soon.

Hannah Pepper

Historic Needlework Guild

Lakeside 40 ct. Vintage Light Exampler

AVAS

Unfortunately most of the stitching that is left to be done is the over one verse and the line of over one motifs. I am so slow at stitching over one and I just hope I have the discipline to stick with Hannah and get her done. I think the time has come for Hannah to be completed. Wish me luck.

     

The Gray and White Days of January

      Our January has been filled with lots of gray skies and snow. Our temps have not gotten above freezing and there has been very little snow melt. The bright side of gloomy weather is the ability to spend lots of time in the stitching chair. I got reacquainted with an old friend, Frances Eden, which I last worked on in October 2010. Here's a snap of Frances when I left her:

and here she is now.

 Handwork Samplers

The 1809 Frances Eden Sampler

36 ct. Picture This Plus Legacy linen

AVAS and NPI

 I concentrated on the right side of the sampler and finishing up the sky. The lovely bright colors are a pleasure to work with during the long gloomy days of winter. I apologize for the poor quality of the photos. If I waited for a sunny day I wouldn't have a blog update until the Spring.
      Of course I had to put a few more stitches into Jane Atkinson too. I am in love with the colorful floral border on Jane. I'm making an effort to do at least one strand of the over one verse each time I work on Jane. I don't want to be faced with all that over one verse at the end. That has been my downfall with past samplers that lanquish in the WIP closet because I don't want to stitch the over one verse.

 

 Jane Atkinson

The Scarlet Letter

Silkweaver - 36 ct. Sandcastle

AVAS

      My neighbor and friend, Karen, and her sweet Corgi, Cassidy, gave Emma and Owen new toys for Christmas. I'll leave you today with a snap of Emma and her new squeaker toy. She carries her present around with her like a toddler with a security blanket.

 

Unexpected Gifts

     Happy New Year! Wishing all my readers a 2011 filled with good health, happiness, hope and time to stitch or quilt.  
     As I look back over the holiday season my fondest memory is the 'unexpected gift'. One day I found a package from a dear friend, Sandy, in my mailbox. The pups and I rushed back into the house to see what the package contained. I had been admiring Sandy's beautiful wool table runners and penny rug mats she had been creating. I was stunned to find a beautiful wool pincushion in my package.

Sandy's blanket stitch is perfection. But that was not all that was in my package. She also made this sweet scissors keeper using one of the Blackbird Designs alphabet fabrics.

 Thank you dear friend for taking the time to create two very special gifts. Unexpected gifts... it just doesn't get any better.
     As I was sorting through my WIP pile to try and decide which WIPs I would focus on completing in 2011 I discovered poor Dorothy Ians at the bottom of the pile. Dorothy hadn't seen the light of day since November 2009. I was determined to get her completed by the end of 2010.

Dorothy Ians
Sampler Dames

BOAF 36 ct. Barn Owl 

AVAS and Soie de Paris

 Filling in the background of the verse was boring... but I do love the effect.
      I was also able to put the final stitches into Mary Gipson.

1836 Mary Hannah Gipson Sampler

Reproduced by Ruth Ann Russell of C Street Samplerworks

PTP - 40 ct Heritage

GAST & DMC

     It's a bitterly cold day here in my little corner of Iowa. Emma stayed up late to welcome in the New Year. She'll be spending the day catching up on her beauty sleep. I'll be stitching on Jane Atkinson and enjoying the Rose Bowl Parade. Owen will be happy to snooze in the sun.