Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Heaven: A Weekend of Stitching

Well, my annual stitching vacation is over. :(  Two of my long time stitching friends were here for four wonderful days. We've gone way past just being stitching friends, but that's how it all started over fifteen years ago. We all live in different states now, but we try to get together once or twice a year to catch up and STITCH!

My dear husband escaped to visit his brother for the weekend so it was just the three of us and my two spoiled rotten pugs. Let's just say that Lester and Otis got more attention than they deserve. So it was a SES fest...stitch, eat, and sleep. I, of course, worked only on The Cranberry Sampler.

Laura and Vicky aren't quite as anal retentive as I am so they worked on several pieces. Laura's were all gorgeous samplers. Vicky's projects ranged from needlepoint ornaments to a "Quilted Garden" by Blue Ribbon Designs.

The putti ('the little nekkid men' as a friend of mine calls them) are intentionally left undecorated on the right. A lot of this band was left to the stitcher's discretion. I tried to follow the stitched model as closely as possible because I don't really have much imagination.
The clothed ones on the left are done in detached buttonhole which I enjoy once I get in a rhythm.
The center floral motif was also stitcher's choice of stitches and colors. I used satin stitch, Montenegrin, trellis, and Roman stitches. It was quite an experiment.
The current band is huge and will probably take quite a while, but it is the last one in color. I am anxious to get to the whitework sections so hopefully, there won't be a lot of frogging for the next little while!