Hi folks. One week gone in August already. Hard to believe, tough to swallow.
This Ann Hicks sampler is the first in memory, maybe the first ever, that I have stitched from a magazine. The closest I've been is the very large fold out page from Scarlet Letter's big girls. Stitching fully across starting at top left is my way, right wrong or indifferent. Sometimes the border would be completed across top and left side as a way to keep an eye on errant stitches. How many times I have changed the body to align with the border, only to realize later that the border had the error. Obviously, not a good method. This project is eight pages and I will complete one before moving on. My habit is hard to break and I did extend the top area into the next page, and may do that again just to complete a motif or color. Maybe it won't be as daunting as seeing the entire project at one time. Another first, the majority of Ann is motif, not my usual alphabet or verse. I'm sure the majority of you work page by page, but I'm wondering if there are any rebels out there that can't break their routine pattern of stitching?
Back on my feet, I worked a little last night and am starting the house. Yay! Why do we all love those houses? Am I tempted to change its color? You bet, but I won't. Damn. I'm growing up! I found a few minor errors in the chart so far. The large star in the top center looks light in the magazine photo but the chart says dark plum. I like the plum!
This is for Vickie's Emerson, a finish carpenter who knows why levels are important, unlike the carpenter who turned a very short staircase into a fun house. I guess if you have continual vertigo, you're not sure if it's your eyes or the walls that are leaning! Any carpenter knows, starting with a unlevel surface makes everything done after, crooked as well. This beam is close to 2" wider at the bottom. Mark wants to tear it off and start over and I told him it's not that important. Once it's painted, it may not be noticeable. If it is, I'll hang a candle sconce or slim basket on it!
It's been a long long while since I've felt like stitching a large sampler. Hope it continues. This may end up being in my top ten list of favorites.
Have a great day!!
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7 comments:
Pretty sampler and BIG!!! I can't seem to finish the little Fox Forest one I've been working on, but am contemplating starting a really large one. Why? I'm still heavily into knitting, so am not sure I would really get anything done on a large one. Just trying to figure out if I'm bored with the foxes or not.
Hi Marly! My preference is big samplers so I love this one. I am always afraid that my critters are going to run away, so I do the border all the way around to keep them in before stitching anything else. Just the vine is run, I will go back and do leaves and flowers as I'm stitching. However, I am doing a sampler now that I have the border stitched just as far as the insides are...so maybe I am changing? LOL I start in the top right, as I like to do the sewing method...from top right is how you read a fair isle knitting pattern and also how you hand sew a seam on a quilt piece, so my muscle memory is there and not going anywhere. :)
I hope you feel well enough to enjoy the sampler. It is very pretty and very big! Talk about level. We decided to get some sun shades on a few windows. The poor guy who came to install them had a hard time deciding where to compromise as not one of the windows was level!! They were 1/4 to one1/2 inch off!
Beautiful sampler but I have never done such a big one.
I always start in the middle of the chart but now I stitch one where I started with the border -never done this before!
Have fun stitching this sampler
Greetings Truus from Holland
I will share this with Emerson later today when he returns home form work. Never ending around your place,is it?
I had to dig out my copy of this issue. I wonder if the photo is of the original sampler? I'm leaning that direction because parts are hidden behind the edge of the frame. I can't imagine a new version being done that way. No information about it on the pattern pages. Oh! but in the editor's letter page 3, it talks about the differences in color between front & back, and about that signature patch. GAH! also that the framer trimmed parts off to fit the frame :-O :-(
It's been so long since I've done cross stitch, last multi-page project (still unfinished) I was working page by page, not doing whole rows. For me, the less page swapping, the better. I'm glad you're enjoying stitching this, and hope it continues.
I have never done a magazine sampler, mainly because I like to make working copies and magazines are hard to copy. Sorry designers I need a working copy! I am not a fan of beginning a large sampler but once started love them. I usually do one a year, right now I am torn between Jenifer Gilbert by Hands Across the sea or Peacock,Unicorn and Badger by The Scarlet Letter. l am glad your vertigo is gone for now.
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