Wordless Wednesday

Grace Bridges Sampler

Stacy Nash Primitives

Silkweaver 36 ct Days Gone By linen

Variety of Silks

Victorine Delacroix 1835

The Essamplaire

R&R 40 ct Sheeps Straw linen

Variety of Silks

Summer Vacation

      The weeks have flown by so quickly. We've had lovely warm weather and I've been keeping myself busy attending to all those outdoor chores. I've had time to sit in my stitching nook on the rainy days. I put the final stitches into Elizabeth Smith. Here she is in all her glory.

 Elizabeth Smith 1811

The Scarlet Letter

40 ct. Lakeside Vintage Light Examplar

DMC

Elizabeth is now at the framers and I'll be sure to share a photo of her in her frame in the next blog post.

      I wasn't sure which sampler or project to work on next... but Rebecca was calling to me the loudest, so my decision was made. Here's where I left off with Rebecca in January.

 Rebecca Cullin 1801

The Scarlet Letter

40 ct. Lakeside Examplar

AVAS

And here she is now:

 The satin stitched outline of the cartouche gave me fits. The third time was the charm and I finally got the top of the cartouche stitched properly.

       Last weekend my Guild had their Spring Retreat at Sinsinowa Mounds in Wisconsin. It's always a  treat for me to attend the Guild's retreats because it means I also get to go to The Country Sampler in Spring Green, WI before heading to the retreat center.  A few of the ladies in the Guild also made a stop at Country Sampler too. It was fun seeing what appealed to us and what made it into our shopping bags. It's always a pleasure spending an entire weekend stitching, chatting and catching up on what's been happening.
      I decided that Jane Pattison was the perfect project to work on at the retreat. 

 Jane Pattison 1806

Shakespeare's Peddler

32 ct. Lakeside Vintage Navy Bean

Simply Wool

      
      And last... but not least. Helen Vertue has returned home from the framer.

         Now to the meaning of my post title. Summer is a busy time of the year at Corgi Cottage. There are so many more options and obligations that are pulling at my time. I've decided to take a vacation from blogging for the Summer. Emma and Owen are eager to spend more time taking long walks in the prairie. My garden is calling to me loudly... it needs weeding, plants need to be divided and some beds need to be rearranged. I'd also enjoy spending more time on the sunporch with a good book and a big tall glass of iced tea.
      I'll be back in September with lots of stitching photos of what I worked on over the Summer and photos of what has come home from the framer.
      Emma, Owen and I want to wish you all a fun filled Summer.... and we'll see you in September.

Sarah Gentle

      I'd like you to meet Sarah Gentle. The minute I saw this A&E sampler in The Attic's newsletter I knew that I wanted to stitch it.... immediately. So while I haven't been blogging since the end of March, I have been stitching and enjoying every minute in my stitching chair.

 Sarah Gentle - 1821

Samplers Remembered

Lakeside 40 ct. Vintage Buttercream

Belle Soie and AVAS as charted

      I'd also like to share more photos of a few of my sampler walls in my home. First up is the entire wall that I face when sitting in my stitching nook. Pinned to my quilt on the rack is my one and only felted wool project. Perfect for Spring.

     Here's a photo of my Adam & Eve collection.

I love Tombstone Angel designs and the collection is on one of my bedroom walls.

     The last photo is of Frances Eden and some of my vintage Fiestaware.

 

      I'm currently redoing the sampler walls in my living room and sewing room. I'll share those photos with you as soon as I've decided which samplers will be hanging on which walls. I'm having a hard time deciding.

      I noticed that the my Pasque Flower was in bloom and wanted to share with you.

I am grateful for canned pumpkin.

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.

Where's My Mate???

       The final stitches were placed in Frederick and here he is in all his glory. Isn't he a handsome boy?  Of course he won't be content until his mate, Fredericka, is completed. Be patient my dear boy, be patient.

 Frederick

Carriage House Samplings

40 ct Lakeside Pearled Barley

Needlepoint Inc silks

        An old friend was calling my name and I spent several hours working on Ann Grant. I find the colors so appealing on these long, dreary winter days. 

 Ann Grant 1829

Shakespeare's Peddler

40 ct. Lakeside Sand Dune

Silks as Charted 

I completed the top row of eyelet stitched alphabet. I had to resist completing the second row... I want to savor those eyelet stitched letters. I spent the majority of my time working on those border flowers. As my friend Margaret says, once you have the stitch count down the repetitive border flowers stitch up quickly.

      When I received my latest issue of Sampler & Antique Needlework Quarterly I fell in love with the 1823 RHV Sampler reproduced by Christy Schmitz and Vickie Jennett. I thought it would be the perfect sampler to be stitched on 45 ct. linen.

 1823 RHV Sampler

SANQ - Spring 2012

45 ct. Lakeside Vintage Sand Dune

Variety of Silks

 I love the way the silk stitches stand up on the 45 ct. linen. The gold stitches beneath the second alphabet are horizontal queen stitches. Lots of fun to stitch and I think they look amazing.

      Emma and Owen reminded me that I failed to include any photos of them in my last post. I tried to capture them in action during one of their nightly wrestling matches, followed by a shared grooming session. Owen also found the perfect spot to rest his weary head... the carpeted doggie steps.

      My thoughts are with all of you who have been affected by the tornadoes and high winds.  

I am grateful for the roof over my head.

And The Winners Are.....

      A big thank you to all of you who participated in my triple plus giveaway. I wish you all could have been winners as a thank you for following, reading and commenting on my blog. 
Without further delay:

The winner of Jane Atkinson by The Scarlet Letter is Kelley.

 Hello Laurie! You have made so much progress on Elizabeth Smith. It took me several months to finish her. It would be so much fun to watch you stitch just to see that needle fly through the linen!! I would love to have Jane Atkinson. Thanks for the chance. Blessings from Kentucky - kelley

The winner of Mary Ann Gollins by Cross Stitch Guild of the UK is Mouse.

oooohhh well done on the stitching front and don't do them in your sleep could end up having a frog attack ..lol wonderful goodies you got and would love to be in with the chance of the birds of a feather and the Mary Gollins though number one is nice too ;) love the sleeping positions .lol
take care and have a lovely day :) love mouse xxxxx

The winner of L'arbre de Noe by Julia Line is Michelle.

Michelle said...

Elizabeth is gorgeous and I LOVE the robotic A&E!! So fun when they are different from the norm. Love it. And congrats on the giveaway you received - that little BOAF is so cute. I do think that finishing as a cabinet hanger or for a smalls bowl would be lovely. And what a generous giveaway - it's so hard to choose!!! But, I think I'm going to have to go for the book...it looks like it has some fantastic things in there.

The winner of Birds of a Feather is CJ in OK. 

You accomplished so much, the sampler is amazing and the Adam and Eve are great. Love that little Birds of a Feather design too, and it's just my size. If no one else has claimed it, I would love to have that chart to stitch with the leftover silks. The other giveaways are wonderful but probably a little to much for me. Thanks, CJ in OK ;-) 

Congratulations ladies. Please send me an e-mail with your mailing address. My e-mail address can be found in my profile.

As soon as the sun returns I'll be taking photos of my finish, Frederick, and my other stitching projects. Be back soon.... I hope.

I am grateful for snow/rain/sleet days... because it gives me so much more time to stitch!