Ring, Ring.... It's Your Framer Calling

      It's always a pleasure when my phone rings and the Caller ID lets me know my framer is on the line. I had brought three samplers to be framed and they were ready to be picked up.
I love the moulding  I chose for all three samplers and couldn't be happier with the results.
First up is Dorothy Walpole:

Not Forgotten Sampler

 

      I rearranged a portion of my Sampler Wall in the dinning room to include the two newly framed samplers. I have a direct view of the Wall when I'm sitting in my stitching nook.

 

The Rising Harvest Sampler

I haven't selected a spot for this one yet.

      I also finished Ann Grant last night. Annie G. was such a joy to stitch. I loved the colors in this sampler and the lovely eyelet stitch alphabet. For some reason the tree in the bottom left hand corner of the sampler gave me fits. I kept loosing my place on the chart which added to the difficulty of getting all those branches stitched correctly. It's a dreary, cloudy day today and the linen color did not come out true to color on my photos.
      Here she is in all her glory:

 Ann Grant 1829

Shakespeare's Peddler

40 ct. Lakeside Sand Dune

Silks as Charted

 We've been experiencing very mild, summer like, temps for the past couple of weeks. It was wonderful seeing the first blooms of the season in my garden.

I am grateful for a mild Iowa winter and summer-like temps in March.

A Finish, An Old Friend, A New Start

     A couple of weeks ago I put the final stitches into Dorothy Walpole. I can't remember when I enjoyed stitching a sampler as much as I've enjoyed stitching Dottie. Without further ado... here she is in all her glory.

 Dorothy Walpole

The Scarlet Letter

Lakeside 36 ct Vintage Pecan Butter

AVAS Silk

 

 

      It wasn't hard to decide what to work on next. Once I saw Robert's, A Gentleman's Samplings, recent finish, I knew I had to unearth my Mary Allen from the bottom of the WIP pile. It took me some time to find poor Mary. I had started her way back in 2008. I have no idea why she got banished to the closet for three years... but her time had come once again.

  Mary Allen - 1818

Samplers Remembered

34 ct. Legacy Oaten Scone

NPI silks

 

      I've mainly been stitching my samplers  on 36 or 40 count linens the past few years, so it felt strange to be working with a 34 count linen. Now that the days are getting shorter I'll save Mary for nighttime stitching and give my poor eyes a break.

     Unfortunately I had to put poor Mary aside once again. I ran out of four of the colors needed. Fortunately my not-so-local needlework shop had all the colors I needed and I'm good to go once again. I hope I'll be celebrating another finish soon.

     Of course I couldn't remain idle while waiting on the silks. What's a gal to do??? Why, start a new project, of course. I've had the silks pulled and a nice piece of linen set aside for Ann Grant. It was time to get her started.

 

 Ann Grant 1829

Shakespeare's Peddler

40 ct. Lakeside Sand Dune

Silks as Charted 

 

     While I've been busy stitching Emma discovered the perfect headrest for watching the world go by.

       

      Thanks for stopping by and taking the time out of your busy schedules to leave a comment. I enjoy reading each and every one and value the friendships I've made since starting this blog two years ago. 

      

Dorothy W and the Redwork Quilt

      I know, I know.... it's about time I posted something new on my blog. No excuses, just the lazy days of Summer and lack of blogging enthusiasm. I have been stitching though. Here's what has captured my attention this Summer.

 Dorothy Walpole

The Scarlet Letter

Lakeside 36 ct Vintage Pecan Butter

AVAS Silk

It's been a total joy to stitch. I love the bright colors and the specialty stitches.  The alphabets are stitched in eyelet and satin stitches. The band between the verse and the bargello section was stitched in rice stitch. It was charted for eyelet stitch, but I chose the rice stitch as I was told the original was stitched in rice stitch. The bargello section was a lot of fun to stitch too.

The dividing bands are stitched in Queen and herringbone stitches.

It was hard to get a good snap of the sampler as it is quite long. The linen appears pinkish in the close-up section snaps... it's not in real life.

    

 

       Every July the city celebrates our Norweigian heritage at Nordic Fest. My favorite event at the Fest is the Antique and Crafts show. I've purchased a special piece of antique needlework or quilt at each show I've attended. This year I chose a beautiful antique Redwork Quilt. It's 100+ years old and the workmanship is beautiful. I've always admired redwork quilts but knew I would never make one myself and I definitely wouldn't do the lovely handquilting.

      I finally got Ann Hall back from the framer. The frame was purchased at The Scarlet Letter Open House event last summer.

       I think I found the perfect spot to hang Frances Eden. The bright colors of my Fiestaware collection plays well with the colors in Frances.

       A post wouldn't be complete without a snap of Emma. She's spent her Summer doing what she does best... relaxing.

 Wishing you all lots of stitching, quilting and relaxing time as the Summer draws to a close. Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by for a visit.