Lucy Redd Sampler

I know, I'm really early in posting this week.  Normally I try to post every Sun., but no later than Monday of my weekly progress.

But I know for a fact that there will nothing to show or post on Sunday!

The reason why, is all the stitching you see, I ripped it all out!  Whenever I buy fabric for a chart, I put the chart and the fabric in a freezer bag together.  So when I pull something from my stash, to stitch, other than pulling threads, I'm ready to go!

The fabric pictured here, was in with my chart.  I have to presume it was the correct one.  It's the correct count. But the more I stitched, the more I wasn't satisfied with the results.  I can tell you the fabric is some sort of evenweave, not sure about the color.  But it was so close to the DMC colors used, that you could barely see the stitching.

Who wants to do all that work, and you can barely see it?!  So I looked at the chart again and it said, it used 27 ct. Unbleached linen.  

Come to find out I have 2 more charts from the late 80's, that also call for same linen and count.  So off I go to the Internet in search of the linen.  Evidently this count must have been quite popular then.  Not so much now!  

Could I swapped out for a different count.  Sure.  But I liked how the samplers looked in the pictures in the charts.  So....I managed to find one piece on etsy, for one chart.  And bought 2 pieces for the other 2 charts, from Anita Little Stitches.  Those 2 pieces I used my handy dandy PayPal credit, because that's a purchase I don't really want the hubby to be all that knowledgeable about.  Ignorance is bliss! Plus if you used PayPal credit they give you 6 months no interest to pay. I usually pay it in full in within one or two months.

Plus 27 ct. In Unbleached/natural wasn't all that easy to find. So figured I should just bite the bullet and get all 3 pieces at once.   And wouldn't you know all 3 charts are wider than 18" so I have to buy the next size up.  Now I am rethinking my choice and probably should have gone up in count, so I could get away with a smaller piece of linen!  Darn!  Sometimes impulsiveness is such a bummer!

So...over the next several days I will be picking threads out of my previously stitched fabric, so I can use it for something else!

Guess that's okay.  Since my wrists need a rest. Went strawberry picking with my friend today.  So that didn't exactly help either!  Plus every time I moved I could hear my knees and ankles crack.  Getting old is no fun!  I know for sure my leg muscles will let me know about their disdain tomorrow.

We picked 3 buckets like this.  I took one, and my friend took 2.  It was perfect for picking!  Slight breeze, cloudy.  Plus we filled those buckets quickly!  All my experience from picking strawberries in Michigan growing up!

I washed and hulled them this evening.  Put one bag in fridge, 2 in the freezer, and gave a bag to our next door neighbor.  My friend made 9 jars of strawberry jam.

I finally managed to put some flowers in my new pots for my front stoop.  But gonna have to stop and get some replacement flowers for my railing baskets! Plus my side flower beds.  Some of my perennials didn't make it!  

Until next week - very happy stitching all!