A New Start

Yes, I finished The Cranberry Sampler! Woohoo! It should be framed within the week. And yes, of course, I'll post pictures.

So rather than cruise through my stash, I chose Prairie Moon's "Red and Black II". It's a very striking piece, but I hope I don't go nuts stitching with black for the next several weeks! I did change the red. The original was a little too orange for my tastes.

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Birthdays ROCK!

I don't care how old I get, I love my birthday. Look what I got in the mail on Monday!!! Not one, but two stitched pieces for my birthday. My friend, Laura, stitched "Bands of Pearle" by The Sampler House. She knows how much I love this piece. I can't wait to get it framed. Because it's done all in shades of ecru and taupe, it's a little hard to see, but take my word for it...it FABULOUS!

And this precious piece is from my friend, Karen. It's called "Friendship is a Sheltering Tree" by All Through the Night. It's already pinned and ready to frame. I've got the perfect place for it too. Don't you love the little bunnies?

 

Stitching friends are the BEST!

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The Cranberry Saga Continues

Have you ever noticed how certain stitches look like a 8 year old made them? (and I'm not talking about those 19 century 8 year olds who were stitching massive samplers) That's how I feel about four sided stitches, especially in whitework! Not to mention they're boring after the gazillionth one! And that would only be half a gazillion if I could count and didn't have to frog! By the way, frogging used to refer to the 'rip it, rip it' thing. Now it reflects the way my eyes bug out after all that unstitching!

(I laid a piece of blue paper behind it for the photo, just to enhance the design, since it doesn't photograph very well.)

Anyway, I've moved on the to the buttonhole bars and satin stitches in The Cranberry Sampler. And, as expected, those four sided stitches don't loop so crappy now.  And don't contradict me, even if you think they do! I'm not doing them over.

Here's a better view of the circular trellis that I mentioned last week. You can see it best in the light green leaves. It reminds me of a whirlpool.

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Varoooom!

Guess what? We added a new vehicle to the garage this week! Nope, I'm not driving a new car. I'm pulling a new cart with Lester riding shotgun.

In case you can't tell from the photo, Lester is missing his right front leg. It's been seven years since his amputation due to a mast cell tumor.  He's fine, just getting a little older (he's eleven now) and a lot slower.  Wear and tear has caused early arthritis so our daily walks, which he insists on, have become shorter and shorter. And since Otis, who is only five, needs a lot more exercise, my husband devised this low-to-the-ground cart for Lester. It has a pillow on it and Richard even put his name and a Lotus logo on it!

I drag it behind me until he just decides he's had enough. Then he gets on and rides the rest of the way. It saves me a lot of frustration too. I get really tired of trying to coax him along, until finally, I end up carrying him. That's twenty-two lbs. of Pug! What a load. He has regular stops we must make so his adoring fans can give him lots of love and belly rubs (same thing to him). I just hope he doesn't get so used to it that he jumps on before we get to the end of the driveway!

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A Shameless Plug!

WOW! I'm featured in ♥ Etsy Hearts Beads ♥ blog! "Meet Tommye from TJBdesigns"

This is a great team of talented beaders on Etsy. Check out the team page and all the members!

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My Favorite Part

Finally! I've completed the color bands on The Cranberry Sampler by Needle's Prayse. I love whitework and have been anxious to get  to this part of the sampler. Of course, the prep work for the needleweaving is a little tedious, but I'm on a roll now. I tried to accent that section in the photo with a darker piece of fabric, but it's too early in the process to really show up yet. Be patient.

 The large band above the whitework was a fascinating challenge. Lots of different stitches, including circular trellis, which was a new one for me. It's used in the dark green leaves on the right side motif, if you want a closer look. Like detached buttonhole, it's worked on top of the fabric for the most part. But instead of working back and forth horizontally, it is stitched around the leaf from the outer edge to the center for a very cool effect.

Unfortunately, I'm developing some pretty painful arthritis at the base of my right thumb, so long hours of stitching may be a thing of the past. So I'm trying to take short breaks more often. Then only thing that could truly keep me from stitching is amputation! LOL

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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!

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