One Finish and Two New Starts

     I finished the sweet Elizabeth Savilles sampler a week ago. She was a joy to stitch. I wanted to wait for a nice sunny day to take some snaps of Elizabeth, but our weather has been so dreary. Excuse the poor photography.

 Elizabeth Savilles 1841

 Finger Work

Lakeside 36 ct. Patina

Olde Willow Stitchery Threads

       In my last post I mentioned that I had picked out a new project to start as a reward for finishing three WIP samplers. Ann has been in my stash awhile. I fell in love with the bird.

 Ann A. Tarbox Sampler

Hillside Samplings

40 ct. R&R Abecedarian 

NPI and AVAS

      As you can see, I didn't get very far on Ann before I became distracted. I will lay the blame for this distraction on my stitching friend, Katrina. She reminded me of a beautiful Scottish sampler by The Scarlet Letter, Helen Vertue. As hard as I tried to ignore Helen and concentrate on Ann... it was futile. I succumbed and ordered the chart, which arrived in record time, from the Homespun Sampler.

 Helen Vertue 1812

The Scarlet Letter

36 ct. Lakeside Vintage Pearled Barley

Hand-Dyed Silks

I decided to convert the charted for AVAS/DMC to hand-dyed silks. I'm using a combination of Belle Soie, Dinky Dyes, Gloriana and Thread Gatherer silks for Helen. I couldn't be happier with the results.
     Here's a snap of Helen taken from The Scarlet Letter website.

 

      I was thrilled when I found out I won a giveaway from Alma of Blackbird Designs. I won a layer cake of their latest fabric line, Antique Fair. Thank you for your generosity Alma.

Hallelujah... Hannah P is Done

      I thought I would be able to finish all the over one stitching on Hannah P. in a week. I was overly optimistic. It took me a little over two weeks to finish Ms. Hannah. I am so very thrilled to have finally completed this sampler. It's been in the works for several years.

Hannah Pepper

Historic Needlework Guild

Lakeside 40 ct. Vintage Light Exampler

AVAS

       I hope I've learned my lesson now and will not put off stitching the over one sections of a sampler until the very end. Thanks to all of you who left comments encouraging me to get Hannah done. It helped enormously to keep me focused and keep at it until the sampler was completed.

      Over one stitching seems to tire my eyes more quickly. I did limit the stitching of Hannah P. to the daytime. In the evenings I put a few more stitches in Hannah Lancaster. 

 Hannah Lancaster Sampler

The Porcupine Collection

Silkweaver - 40 ct. Days Gone By

Belle Soie silks

      While I enjoy stitching on Hannah L. very much, her colors are subdued. During our dreary winter days I feel like stitching on something lighter, brighter and more springlike. Anything to chase those winter blues away. I dug around in the WIP closet and found Elizabeth S.

 Elizabeth Savilles 1841

 Finger Work

Lakeside 36 ct. Patina

Olde Willow Stitchery Threads

I started Elizabeth in March 2009 and no longer remember why I abandoned her to the WIP closet. Her soft springlike colors are very appealing. I hope to continue working on Elizabeth until I have her completed. Hopefully that will happen before the end of the month. It will be fabulous to have completed the stitching on three WIP samplers in the first two months of 2011.

      We've been having bitterly cold temps this week. Emma and Owen have spent a lot of time napping while I've been busy stitching. 

      Emma enjoys napping under her Corgi sized quilt!

Thank you for stopping by Corgi Cottage and taking the time to leave a comment. I enjoy reading what you have to say and I especially enjoy your encouraging comments to get some of my WIPs completed. I think I may have to reward myself with a new start upon the completion of Elizabeth S. I have something in mind... but you'll have to wait until my next blog post to find out what that is!

Happy stitching!

   

      

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.

    

The Big Chill

      Since I last posted we've had one major snow fall and one blizzard that nearly brought the state of Iowa to a standstill. The poor folks along the Eastern seaboard are currently dealing with the storm. Our temperatures have plummeted to the negative digits and the wind chills have registered at -20 to -30 below zero the past few days. It's supposed to reach a high of 20 tomorrow... it will seem like a heat wave.

       A major snowfall is always a challenge for stubby legged dogs like my Emma and Owen. The first order of business was digging a path from the back door to the garage so they could 'take care of business'.

 

       Since the weather has been so frightful I've spent many happy hours in my stitching chair. I finished Scarlet's Christmas Sampler.

 Scarlet's Christmas Sampler

Chessie & Me

Lakeside Linen - 36 ct. Vintage Pearled Barley

GAST Limited Edition 

        The minute I saw the A&E sampler in the latest issue of Sampler & Antique Needlework Quarterly I couldn't wait the put needle to linen. 

 1836 Mary Hannah Gipson Sampler

Reproduced by Ruth Ann Russell of C Street Samplerworks

PTP - 40 ct Heritage

GAST & DMC

      I was sorting through my basket of charts and kits to determine which one would be my New Year start. I decided on The Scarlet Letter - Jane Atkinson since I had the chart, silks and linen already purchased. It was laying on my dinning room table and it kept calling to me. I decided rather than wait until January 1st I would begin a new tradition of starting a new project on my birthday. So, a little over a week ago I put the first stitches in this beautiful A&E sampler.

 Jane Atkinson

The Scarlet Letter

Silkweaver - 36 ct. Sandcastle

AVAS

Photo from The Scarlet Letter's website.

The bright floral border has helped ease the dreary gray winter days.

      I adore Adam & Eve samplers. I've reserved one wall in my dinning/living room for my stitched A&E sampler collection. There are only six samplers framed and hanging on my wall. I've completed two more samplers and they are waiting to be framed. I won't even admit to how many A&E samplers I have in my 'to be stitched' collection. 

     For those of you who are as passionate as I am about A&E samplers please check out Paulette's latest blog entry, Inspired, and feast your eyes on all those lovely samplers. Darlene is my hero!

     Emma and Owen can hardly wait until Christmas morning to see what Santa has brought for them this year. They're already keeping watch...

Keep warm, keep stitching and play nice... you don't want to find coal in your stocking come Christmas morning.

The Monday Blues

      The big Thanksgiving Day feast is but a fond memory. Black Friday was spent quietly at home with the pups. A relaxing weekend in my stitching chair... a perfect holiday weekend. Monday morning arrived with rain drops and gray skies... the dreary days of a long Midwest winter have arrived.
     Angel Gard Thy Bed has been completed since my last blog post. 

Angels Gard thy Bed

Scholehouse for the Needle

Lakeside 36 ct Vintage Buttercream linen

AVAS silk

      Way back in May of this year I started Hannah Lancaster. This is how she looked when I set her aside.

 Here's some snaps of Hannah today.

 Hannah Lancaster Sampler

The Porcupine Collection

Silkweaver - 40 ct. Days Gone By

Belle Soie and Gloriana silks

The house took forever to stitch, but I'm very happy with the results. I converted the DMC to Belle Soie and Gloriana silks.

 Look who managed to get herself included in the snap. Emma was in a bit of a snit over the fact that there were NO snaps of her in the previous post. I've made peace with her by featuring her in the new header and promising to include several snaps of her in this post. She's my little Diva.

      I did spend a bit of time at the Bernina stitching the latest two blocks from the French General BOM. 

Just one more block to go and then I can decide how I want to put the blocks together. I opted out of the finishing kit offered at the quilt shop. I have enough French General fabric to make sashing stripes and borders.

 

      I managed to get a snap of Emma during one of her reflective moments. I'm sure she's thinking about nature and all the lovely smells and sights we've been seeing on our daily three mile trail hikes we've been taking every morning. Or just about every morning, as long as the good weather lasts. We missed a couple of mornings last week due to icing on the trail. 

      Emma and I are serious about our daily walks as we both want to keep those extra pounds off this winter. I also get the added benefit of two very pooped pups. I let them run off-leash through the campgrounds, so I'm sure they're running at least another mile or so. As they recover from all that exercise, I get some uninterrupted quilting/stitching time.

  

Can you believe she makes me walk in the rain??? 

Thanks for stopping by. Wishing you a week filled with stitching, quilting and everything that brings you happiness.