1827 Mary Ann Selenah Mott Sampler

1827 Mary Ann Selenah Mott Sampler

Winter 2009 Sampler& Antique Needlework Quarterly

I just put the last stitch in Mary Ann, and then I had to rough her up a bit with some distressing. In my last post, I mentioned that it was brought to my attention that she would look good with my collection of salt-glazed pottery. I was asked by JoAnn what that is. It would be hard for me to describe, so here is an example. I've also been working on Ann Rayner. It's too gloomy here today for me to get a good photo, so I'll try to post again in a day or so. That Ann is one incredible sampler despite the pinhead people.
The last couple of weeks have been really busy. I have a part-time job doing accounting for a small dealership. I've had visions of W-2's, 10-99's, quarterly, and yearly taxes dancing in my head. I haven't had time to read many blogs lately, but now that taxes are done, I hope to get caught up. Hopefully, I can find time to do some painting on my needlework accessories, too.
I also want to comment on the fact that many of you left comments on my last post bordering on hostility and sarcasm because I was outside in short sleeves. Well, all I can say is after I had to endure several months of plus 100 temps, you should be ashamed of yourselves. In case you can't tell, I'm only teasing. I remember all too well what winters are like in other places. I hate the cold, so I feel for those of you dealing with it.
Take a look at these faces. A big change is coming on Saturday, and their world is about to be turned upside down. Ruby and Scarlett are getting a baby Boston brother. He doesn't have a name yet. It looks like they are saying "Brother smother, we're not happy one bit, and we're sticking together". I'm betting they'll change their minds...

Pinhead man and a dog outing

The man went from headless to pinhead. He has such a peculiar body. He reminds me of Napoleon. Maybe he's just some dude with his arm in a sling. Ann Rayner is such a joy to stitch, with one exception. I think the chart directions for the couple could have been grafted better. The heads are over one, which is okay, but the blending of the body and head are confusing. There's also a beard, hair, and a hat done in straight stitch. I decided to modify my guy and omit all of that. I've been working on the house, but when I need a break from all the bright colors and perkiness of this sampler, I switch over to this one. It's the 1827 Mary Ann Selenah Mott Sampler from S&AN winter 2009 issue. I admit that at first glance, it didn't do much for me. It's all alphabet and border. But, it was pointed out to me that it would look really nice with salt glazed pieces. I hadn't thought of that, but it sealed it for me. Actually, the more I work on it, the more I'm starting to love it. I plan to hang her in our bedroom where the colors are similar, and the decor is more primitive. When I finish it, I'm going to age it more.

I'm sure that those of you who are freezing in the snow and cold will hate this, but over the weekend, we visited a new park near our house. It has a nice bark park area. The girls were beside themselves. They chased their ball from one end to the other. They weren't intimidated by the other larger dogs one bit. If I could only bottle some of their energy...

They even made a friend. This Boston, who's name is Otis, loved running after the ball, too. He didn't seen interested in bring it back though. Maybe he was just chasing the girls.

A man without a head

Happy New Year to you all! I've had precious little stitching time recently. Partly due to the holidays, and partly because I came down with a nasty bout of the flu on the day after Christmas. Our entire family caught it one right after another. It was a miserable couple of days. The only good thing is that it helped kick start the annual January 1 diet. I'm not a big goal person, but it's always nice to start a new year. After the Christmas stuff gets put away, I always tear into cupboards, closets, and drawers, and reorganize. As much as I love the coziness of my Christmas decorating, it feels so good to throw out or donate unused things, and get my house back to normal.
Above is my progress on The Ann Rayner Sampler ~1839~ from Threads Through Time. This is such a pretty sampler. I'm using Lakeside's Buttercream , as charted but converted to NPI. The man's face is stitched over one, as are the small sheep.
Below is my take on the Prairie Schooler alphabet that I'm stitching along with this group. I'm doing it on 30ct. Legacy Linen over one. It's fun, but I try not to think about the 25 additional blocks. I'm SWP (stitching without pressure) on this one. If it takes me a year to finish, so be it.

Recently, I've had several new visitors leave comments. Thank you very much for taking the time to say hello. I am very, very behind in catching up with my blog reading, but I look forward to visiting you , too.