Amish Life - Hanging the Quilts - week 2

I don't think it's been really been two weeks I have been stitching on this piece.  But decided it's just easier to round it up.  

I can't believe it's the middle of April.  I do remember being little and time just eked by.  But as I have grown older, the days, weeks, months and years have begun to pass more rapidly.  I received a catalog in the mail recently and thought to myself "wow I should get some of this stuff for stocking gifts!"  I'm thinking about Christmas.  In just the last two eels of warmer weather here in Northern Virginia, the daffodils have bloomed and are beginning to shrivel.  The flowering trees have bloomed, and all the petals float in all directions looking like snow.  The trees all beginning to show their new green growth.

Numerous projects await my time.  Including finish painting my son's bed frame for his move from a dorm room to a townhouse when he begins his sophomore year in college. Along with washing drop clothes to preshrink them, when I decided it would be cheaper to make a couch and love seat cover for the floral print pieces.  Also donations to the town home.  

One of these days I absolutely must haul out the directions and DVD and figure out how to work my new serger.  That's not including finishing the spring cut to my Schnauzer.  Poor Dixie was beginning to look like she hadn't any eyes.

Not to exclude laundry, and cleaning and now the kitchen floor that absolutely needs a good cleaning.  Especially since the dogs have managed to track in fresh cut grass clippings on their wet muddy paws due to the rain.  If I wasn't so cheap, I'd hire someone to cut the dog, and clean my house.  But then I'd have so much less to spend in cross stitching.

Yup not worth it.  I'll manage to find the time to do all these things that are a must, and still manage to find time to stitch.  I always do!  Especially since the next stitching project is already calling to me.  

Amish Life - Hanging the Quilts

With my recent finishes I decided to start stitching the 3rd part of the series.  I debated whether I should since there are others in my stash that are calling to me.

But something inside told me, If I didn't sew and complete it, that it would be awhile before it got back into my rotation.

I know that I am not the only one that mentally charts in my head the next two or three projects out. I have two specific samplers in mind for my next two projects.  

I saved the Hanging the Quilts portion for last.  Mostly because I really liked this section and felt after finish Tending the Garden I would be more motivated to complete Hanging the Quilts.  

I've only been stitching in it for the last couple of days.  Have to get through the clouds, house, and trees and hills. 

Did you ever think about when you start your stitching at the top, that it is like reading the first chapter of a book?  That every turn if your scroll is another chapter and you have to keep going to find out what the ending will be?

I know there are people that start at the bottom.  But isn't that like reading the last chapter first? 

Family Name Sampler

This was a sweet little sampler!  Lovely colors done by Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe.  Designed by Nancy Turner. 

I elected to use antique ivory 28 ct. Linen and used DMC.  It isn't a difficult chart, no specialty stitches, no outlining.  Just straight cross stitch.  I am however proof positive the easier the chart, the more ways I can find to mess it up.

I did more ripping out and re stitching on this chart, that even I am surprised there are no holes in the linen.

To add insult to injury I get to the bottom border and it won't meet up correctly with the right side border.  I start quickly stitching graph lines and realize I made a mistake on the very top border which now has me three stitches off.

Thoughts of throwing it across the room or just trashing it did temporarily cross my mind.  Walk away and let calmness take over.  I must be able to fix it.

Thank god for the handy dandy tiny squared graph paper. I managed to pencil iny border and figure out how to correct it, without ripping it totally out, or trashing it.

Originally samplers had all sorts of mistakes!  Our foremother stitchers were practicing their skills.  Making mistakes, perfecting their stitching.  Do I want my piece to be perfect?  Yes of course!  But it's time like these, rather than cry over missed stitches that I rememberthat there   isn't really any perfect.  There's close enough, and nearly. 

And so I finish, and I will hang my nearly perfect piece on my wall.  Eventually I won't see my mistake or remember where it was.  And no one knows but me anyways.  Well except my sister Cuz I tell her everything!

And she won't tell anyone because she's not on FB and is a lurker on my blog because to be a member you have to have a google account and she doesn't have one of those either.

Well and for those that read my blog.  You now know too.  Remember "mums" the word!

Dunvegan Sampler - Week 7

Well I managed to finish this sampler.  Well almost.  The head of the thistle is missing.  Why ?  Because it calls for queen stitch's each done in four squares.  

I practiced on the waste.  Thought I had it down pat, and it just looked like a big knot. So today while my mother is getting her hair done I am hoing to the LNS to see if I can get some help. 

Meanwhile, I have been working on a small "take along" project that I have taken along for many months and wasn't making much progress.

This sweet little sampler is by the Olde Victorian Sampler Shoppe.  I'm using 28 ct. Linen and DMC.  Got to admit I have done more frogging on this piece.  It's an easy chart, guess I just don't seem to be as careful as ones that are harder.

In addition I saw a new Scarlet Letter chart and I just had to order it for my stash.  Totally busting my March cross stitch budget.  But so well worth it!

Meanwhile must wait till April first so I can  dip into my April budget to purchase the Loara Standish kit.

Last week was a week I don't care to repeat !  My daughter who is in college came down with a virus that required me to spend 3 days with her.  Last Sunday my brother in law had a heart attack.  He was heavily sedated for most of the week trying to get his vital signs under control.  He woke up this weekend and seems to be doing better but now they are running tests to figure out the next step to get him on the road to recovery.  Then my dear friend in Florida, woke up on Wednesday to find her husband had passed away in his sleep. Even though he had not been in good health, his passing was totally unexpected.  My heart so breaks for my friend. She is such a wonderful person and her life has been full of challenges. Even though God doesn't give you more than you can handle, I pray that she has successfully passed his test, and she finds peace and happiness again!

On another note, my sister in Illinois has finally joined the 2000's and is a proud new owner of a Smart phone and IPad. I am hoping she will learn to take pictures of her beautiful stitching and share it!  I tried to help her along with that task by purchasing her a easy to use digital camera a few years ago.  Picture taking she passed!  Downloading the pics from camera to computer- not so much. She makes my stitching look like I'm a beginner!  So crossing my fingers that the smart phone will allow her to share her beautiful stitching!

Dunvegan Sampler- Week 6

Kinda hoping I would be finished this week.  But, is only me, who seems to make a lot more mistakes, the closer I get to the finish?

Plus, I actually had to take a few days this week, to actually clean parts of my house.  I'd sooo rather be stitching, but even I get to the point I can't stand it.  

On top of that I finished another pesky project that was just hanging around.  Probably a year ago I bought fabric to make a valance for my half bathroom.  I even had the bathroom painted one of the greens from the fabric.  But there the fabric sat, all neatly folded, still inside the shopping bag, from whatever store it came from.

I finally sat down this week and cut the fabric, lined it, sewed it, and it now hangs in my half bath. Considering I was working without directions or a pattern. Plus I had to match the plaid to get the width of my window, I'm pretty happy with the result.

But now back to cross stitching.  I am finally on the border at the bottom of this sampler.  If I stayed up all night I could finish it by tomorrow.  Not happening.  After all I do need my beauty sleep.

Plus there is the head of the thistle that I have chosen to leave till last.  Why?  Because I'm intimidated as heck.  It's done completely in queen stitches, diagonally in four measly squares. How are you supposed to make it look like a decent queen stitch in 4 squares is just beyond my mental       grasp!  I know if my sister was here she could show me. But I may have to bite the bullet and take it to the LNS lady to show me. Trying to avoid and only to be contemplated as a last resort.  Hoping I can figure it out all by myself.

On another note, I am still awaiting fabric I ordered from someplace in Cal.  It was a good price, but if I had read the fine print, I may have purchased elsewhere. It takes them 14 business days, after you pay for it, to mail it to you. They say they fill orders in the way they are received.  Seriously, how busy could they be?

Course it's not like I don't have other projects!  I think I did the math, and if I stitch everything in my stash, without purchasing anything more, and the average stitching time was 7 weeks, I still have enough to keep me busy without pause for the next 5 years!

Dunvegan Sampler - Week 5

I am officially on pages D1-D4!   Which means I am officially on the bottom of this sampler!  Still lots of detail to do within the sampler and the never ending border.

Definitely won't be finished by the end of this week.  But gotta be happy with a six week finish. And since it's so close to the finish I can start dreaming about what's next!   Do I I do the 3rd section of Amish Life, start another big sampler, or do some smaller projects?  So many choices.

 Know lots of stitchers that switch colors in the chart on a regular basis.  I rarely do it.  Maybe cuz I don't feel so creative and think the color I substitute will clash.  But I have had to do this a couple of times.  I switched out the beige for a blue in the large letters. Then when I got to the verse it called for a light gold.  Trouble was it was one thread over one thread, and I didn't feel I could see it.  If I have to take the time to stitch like that, I definately want it to be seen! I went with one color ( also used in the sampler) darker. Wouldn't you know the birds in the next line down called for the darker hold, so I switched them to the lighter gold.

In addition the chart called for the tge third line of the verse to be just the numbers if the year.  It looked so lonely. Ripped it out and spent the rest of the day charting out on graph paper then stitching the spelled out words of the year.  Looks better to me!

Last night finished the satin stitches for the grass before I went to bed.  But when I started making mistakes I knew it as time to call it a night. Rip outs and re stitching awaits for me this morning.

This week I got my new serger.  I had one, but it was so colicated I was afraid to use it! I finally did some research and found one that is highly recommended for beginners.  Or as I told my husband, serger for idiots. Can't wait to start using it to serge all my linen edges.  

But even though the serger was a bigger cost purchase, I'm more excited that I was finally able to purchase the chart for Frances Eden 1809 by Handworks.  I saw this sampler on one f the FB groups and fell in love.  Wouldn't you know the sampler is out of print, and the designer retired.  I was a woman in a mission to obtain the chart.  I started contacting complete strangers, most who had already sold their chart or willed it to someone else. I figured it was the one that got away!  But then one came up on eBay!  Spent a lot more than I should, and I probably will frame the actually chart along with the sampler. 

On top of that, the fabric recommended is no longer available. Must have been my week, when I walked into the LNS and she had a piece of the fabric with enough to stitch the sampler.  I'm in stitcher heaven!

Dunvegan Sampler - Week 4

Hoping to have the building completely finished as of this post.  But since I discovered an error on my part, earlier in the day, I spent the next several hours ripping out stitches, then re-stitching.  

Since the only part left is filling in some windows, and stitching the stairs, I decided to call it quits for the night

and start anew tomorrow!  Right under the house there is a large grassy area, which according to the directions are to be done in satin stitch.  Know how to do it, know what it's suppose to look like, but sure wish the designer had better directions, illustration, or even a picture of how she  intended for it to look.  

I have also left the thistle to do later!  Working up my nerve, since it's all in queen stitches.  Bad enough that one of the flowers called for diamond eyelight stitches when it only allowed for it to be done in four measily squares after several attempts, I think I finally got it right.

I am now at the bottom of pages C1-C4, which includes a verse, stitched over one thread.  But I have already copied D1-D4, taped them together in hopes that I'll be able to start those sometime this week 

On a brighter note, may have some news to share on my next post.  Not giving any hints as, I don't want to jinx it.  But readers keep your fingers crossed for me!