May I have more hours in my day, please?

Country Life is now in it's beautiful burled wood frame. I thought it would be a real bugger to stretch and pin, but it wasn't that bad. I came close to running out of pins though. My guess is that I used close to a bazillion. It is so hard to photograph closely so here it is in sections.

We've had some gloomy, cool weather lately. Perfect weather to plop in front of the TV and indulge myself with my new wool obsession. I can stitch all day and night and never get tired of it, but this is a nice change of pace. I tried something new and tea dyed the cream colored mat part. It was just too bright. I even dunked the pennies in for a bit. I love the result. I wasn't sure if the wool would take a tea bath well, but I read that all natural fibers will. I have an idea to try next that will combine both penny mats and my love of samplers.

Here's the resting spot for it.

Like I said in my post title, I wish I could order up a few more hours in the day. I never seem to have enough time to get to all the crafty goodness that I want to. I miss making collage art and cards, and I really need to make more effort to do that again. I've just finished my first cross stitch design. The model will soon be stitched, and I'll share that when I can. Then there's the myriad of samplers waiting in the wings, not to mention a couple more must do's from market.

Something needs to give. I know... I'll give up exercising, laundry, and housework.

Have a wonderful week.

Juggling and struggling

Country Life is finally finished. I have joked that I started this back in the 80's, and actually it was late last summer. There were so many times that I wanted to put it aside and start something new, but I'm glad I persevered. I have the most enabling bunch of friends (you know who you are!) and I can be easily pulled off in another direction. I did chart and stitch Maria Tilley in between though. The hardest part will be the framing since it's so long and awkward. I have a wonderful burled wood frame that will work great. You should be able to click on the picture and see it bigger. (Nope, it didn't work for me, I'm definitely in need of a blog overhaul.) I had a doozy of a time photographing it. I had to lay it on the floor and stand on a chair to capture it all.

I feel like I'm struggling and juggling to get to all the things that I want to accomplish. We all have overflowing stashes with samplers that are waiting in the wings. Then there's the new stuff coming to tempt us from the Nashville market. Adding to that, I've started charting my antique Sarah Elizabeth, plus I want to design a sampler, and I still want to play with wool. I'm overwhelmed by my desires. Sounds like a cheesy line in a hopelessly romantic novel, doesn't it?

I literally woke up this morning and my very first thought was to start Sophia's Sampler from Scarlet Letter today. Seriously, the world is in total chaos and this is my first thought? Sad...but true. My pal, Sandra has stitched Sophia. I watched and drooled over her progress forever. I'm going to do mine on 40ct. vintage Lentil that has a lot of mottling. I think the colors in her are great. There's a bit of free-hand stitching and I haven't done much of that on samplers. It'll be a challenge.

This sweet little sampler was stitched by nine year old Emma Mills in 1839. It is now hanging in our guest bathroom. I treated myself to her for Valentine's Day. It was hard to get a good photo through the glass, but I plan to reproduce her this year.

Thank you so very much for the comments and congratulations on the birth of little Rowan.

Here's what's happening...

As I inch ever closer to finishing Country Life, I am so ready to have it done. I wish my photo would do it justice because it is such a beautiful sampler. There's just a bit more of the border, a line of verse, and the over one animals in the corner. I'm considering adding a sheep and a cow in place of repeating the pig and horse as charted. In continuing my new love affair with wool and penny rugs, I made this candle mat recently. The black bottom was once a nice blazer from Goodwill.


I had this in mind when I chose the colors for the pennies.
Please ignore the old woman in the photo and meet my new granddaughter, Rowan Elizabeth. She was born on Wednesday. She's pink and perfect, and we are all in love with her already.

Here I am on Christmas day with the other grand kids, Olivia, Quinn, Kai, and Sawyer. We'll need to make room for Rowan next year.

I plan to start charting Sarah Elizabeth Brooke this week. I bought another antique sampler which just arrived yesterday, and I'll be doing that one, also. I'll post a picture next time. My plan for 2011 is to have those two ready and possibly an original design thrown in.

With a little help from my friends...

is the perfect title for this post. I made this penny rug mat with the help of two special friends. Katrina bought the kit to make it, but had a case of buyer's remorse. I bought it from her because I've always wanted to work with wool. Since it came as a kit with everything included, it was a great first piece for me to start with. I did stray from the original design and omitted a couple of things. My friend, Sandy (no blog ) who I call the "wool master" was a patient teacher and is my personal wool guru. She visited the Phoenix area over the holidays and spent a day with me. She got me started and taught me a few of her tricks. Now I blame her for my newly acquired addiction to wool. I've been searching the local Goodwill stores in search of blazers to cut up, and they are starting to recognize me there. Who buys wool blazers in Phoenix? So, it's not really surprising. It's a great way to build a stash of wool, but it does take a bit of work, especially the felting process. I'm very happy with my first attempt even though I made a few mistakes. It was definitely a learning process.

On the stitching front, it's still Country Life for me. I keep thinking that I'll finish it soon and then another week goes by and another and another...My overall photo doesn't do it justice so I've taken pictures of it in sections.

I love the little dog and bunnies. I'm not so crazy about where that gun is pointed though. Let's just ignore that part of the sampler. The doves on the feeder and the bunnies are stitched over one.

I need to mention that there is an extra skein of AVAS 3734 needed for Jane Tindall's grass. Thank you to Margaret for pointing that out. It was a crazy time when I was finishing up Jane before the St. Charles market, and it didn't get mentioned on the chart. I apologize for any inconvenience.

Happy stitching everyone.

Maria Tilley 1835

I'm excited to show you Maria in her beautiful frame. She was an absolute joy for me to stitch. I have to admit there were times when I questioned my sanity at choosing 45 ct. fabric, but I couldn't be more pleased with her. The chart is now available from NeedleWorkPress. Many, many thanks to Vickie for once again entrusting me with bringing another one of her girls to life. Maria is on display at The Attic, if you are in the Phoenix area and would like to see her.

I'm still stitching away on Country Life, but I'm getting closer to finishing it. I can't remember a sampler ever being so labor intensive as that one, but it is a beauty. I'll post a photo soon.

I saw a spool cabinet like this one on The Twisted Stitcher's blog awhile back. After a few emails with Vonna, I decided it would be perfect for holding my DMC thread. I thought it was time to replace the plastic storage boxes that have held those fibers for more than thirty years. The plastic trays fit perfectly in the drawers. This is a reproduction that I found on eBay, but it really looks old. I have looked forever for a real antique one, but they were either way too expensive, missing knobs, or the drawers were wonky and warped. The height makes it perfect for sitting next to my stitching chair. Thanks for convincing me, Vonna. I love it.

Thinking ahead...

Happy 2011 everyone! As I said last post, I've spent a lot of time thinking about what I hope to accomplish this year. I sat down today with my binders which are overflowing with charts. I limited myself to the 15 that spoke to me the loudest and made my list. Before I get to the list though, these are the samplers that will see action also. Country Life (above) will be first. I love, love, love this sampler. Next will be the Prairie Schooler Alphabet that I am doing over one on 30ct linen . I think I started it last January and it is such fun. I can't remember what sidetracked me away from it.

Lastly, poor Harriet Burry has been languishing away in my wip basket. It's been so long since she's seen a needle that I'm sure she has a complex by now.

I'm not the type of stitcher that can handle a bunch of unfinished projects, so I need to wrap these up. I can't be too hard on myself because I did finish eight beautiful samplers, two of which I had to chart first.

Here's what I hope to work on this year:

Goode Huswife's Peaceable Kingdom

Carriage House Sampling's My Home Town and Pear Orchard Farm

Scarlet Letter's Sophia's Sampler, Sally Hunt 1795, and Jenny Bean (A Massachusetts Sampler)

Cantebury's Jane Woodward Sampler

The City Stitcher's Strawberry Sampler, Two Fine Ewes, and Prize Shorthorn

Homespun Sampler's Ann Sims Sampler

Polly Bartlett Sessions by Hope's Dwelling Place

Heaven Doth Ask by The Sampler Co.

The Heart That Gives by Ewe & Eye & Friends

Hannah Pepper

Some of these have been in my stash for a long, long time and I'm looking forward to them. Of course, I may change my mind a million times, and I know I'll have to squeeze Ann Grant in there somewhere. Wish me luck.

Samplers and Sheep

Maria Tilley 1835 is finished and awaiting her frame. She is the reproduction that I have been charting and stitching for Needle Work Press. Vickie, who owns the original was brave enough and sweet enough to let me choose the fabric and silk and adapt the sampler as I chose. ( Since I chose to stitch her on 45 ct. vintage Sand Dune from Lakeside Linen, let's hope she doesn't do that again!) Truthfully, it turned out really beautiful and the labor was worth it. And the good news is that I didn't go blind. As soon as I am able to get her framed, the chart will be off to the printer and available soon after.

Lady's Garden from Carriage House Sampling was a nice change after the last two big samplers. As with many CHS designs, I sometimes wonder initially at the colors chosen, but I always like the result. I chose not to do the back stitching veins in the large leafy things. So now I've picked Country Life back up and I'm making great progress. I had hoped to have it finished before the end of the year, but unless I give up sleep for the next three days, it's not happening.
I've had fun seeing the endless lists of projects planned for 2011. I've also given a lot of thought to what I hope to accomplish next year sampler wise. I'll post my list next time. With the exception of the upcoming Ann Grant from Shakespeare's Peddler, everything that I plan to do involve old, old charts from my stash.


Samplers and sheep...I don't know which I love more. In my perfect world, it would be a sampler with sheep. Every winter, the fields by my home are dotted with these grass eaters. They are brought in and moved continuously from field to field to mow. I look forward to seeing them every year.
One more thing...I received several emails and inquiries about the bird cookie cutter that I used for my cinnamon birds. I wish I could tell you where I got it, but I have no idea. I've collected them for years and most likely found it in an antique shop. It isn't old, so they might be out there somewhere.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas season, and here's to a very Happy New Year to come!