When good samplers go bad

Good grief.  What a mess I'm making.  Are those curved stem stitch lines on the chart for one row or two?  Is there a trick to stitching on a curve or is my gripping tension the problem?  Whatever I'm doing wrong is making me change the design.   Take a look at how the linen is stretched and wonky.  I started with two rows and then changed to one, forgot that the stitch is to be started at the END of the prior, not in the middle, and after removing it several times, I may not try again. 

 

 

 

 

 

The right side scallops were charted as cross stitch for most and I filled two more with it to avoid any more frustration.  The left side only has two with cross, the rest are curved stems. Will I try again?  Probably.  The stitches are so easy to do and I'm considering changing the stem to chain ~ maybe this will help?  We'll see.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I can always fill with cross stitches but they can't be done in curved lines.  At this point.....you know the rest.  What about the bottom?  Not sure.  If it starts badly, I'll stop and try to mimic the side scallops.  Whatever, I just want to finish it before I get really discouraged and leave it.  The Scarlet Letter always states the experience level for their designs.  Well I'm not an intermediate level needleworker and won't pretend to be ever again.  I miss my marking samplers!!!  I promise never to stray again!!   Remember St. Clare, the patron saint of stitchers?  This article is one of several about St. Clare of Assisi, friend to Francis, and namesake of Assisi embroidery.  And as I'm typing this, I'm thinking of sizing her image to put on a floss tag.  Think it will help?

Enjoy your day.  Thank you so much for visiting and welcome to new followers!

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

Whew!

That was a lot of names to enter!  And here they are randomized.  The numbers beside a few names are the date and time of the entry so I can identify from others of the same name.

And the generator chose number 57.

Carmen Sutton  from Cardan Antiques & Needlework!

Several times the winners have not been bloggers but not this time.

Congrats Carmen.  I'll email you soon.

Thank you again to everyone that participated.

Frickin freehand

Hello people.  What a gorgeous warm and sunny day we have in PA.  Hope you're enjoying your weather and a peaceful Sunday.  As my husband was watching golf on TV, the local announcer mentioned during a break that six local teenagers were killed in an auto accident this morning.  That certainly changed the mood.  As we all have heard many times, life changes in an instant.

First off, I am floored by the response to my tags!  Thank you so much ~ I'm so glad you like them.

  

Now for Mary.  I said how much I enjoyed doing these simple but different stitches, but I can honestly say that I do NOT like freehand.  Progress has been slow because of  removing and repositioning, even though I had my actual size graph to follow.  Not sure if I will follow the chart for the border's scallop designs but the bottom vines of the chart leave me no choice. 

Love this sampler but not enjoying it any longer.  Why am I letting it bother me?  I am a reckless stitcher who doesn't follow rules so if I am incorrect in a leaf position, why do I care?  Freehand is exactly that and should be an interpretation.  Honestly, I allow some of the dumbest things to bother me!

Several of you commented on the rabbit.  It's an old design from Homespun Elegance called Mr. Hare.  There is one chart available here, and I'm sure it's also somewhere on Ebay. This was stitched by my SIL on Klostern but it's not 7 count.  I have another piece of the Klostern in a darker color and you can see it's smaller than 7. 

I had quite a bit of this stuff in two colors, and several yards of 7 count.  All was sold on Ebay by including this fabric with the Cinnamon Stick series santa charts.  I like this smaller count but haven't found any online so I don't know if it's still available.

Added - I received info that the fabric may be Heatherfield which comes in a 10 count, and the chart has been reprinted.  Thank you Carol!!!

That's it.  I'll be back this evening with the winner and I want to thank everyone again for participating!

Enjoy your evening! 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

Tag - you're it!

Greetings!  My followers reached 600 this evening, and you know what that means!   Yep.  Another offer.  I've never put restrictions on any giveaways and decided this one would be for followers only, and then of course changed my mind.  No restrictions.  Very soon I will be selling these sampler tags with snap rings, for attaching to anything you would like, or to slip on a larger floss ring. 

 I will offer a set of 3, your choice, to the name drawn on this Sunday 3/10 at 8pm EST.  Please leave your name on this post only, anonymous PLEASE leave your name or initials.  There may be more designs , but these are my favorites so far.  If I don't like something, I don't sell it!  They are stained wood, 2 1/2" x 3".

So there you have it.  Don't you get tired of me pushing things on you?  Always trying to get rid of something!

Have a good evening ~ leave your name only if you want to enter.  Thank you!

Cheat sheet

Greetings to all!  Hoping you're having a good day.  We're missing the snow storm this time so it's good here. 

In Mary's progress, I realized that the stem stitch is not used for the curved line in the borders, rather the chain stitch.  Video time. 

 

 Since I lost all my bookmarks from crashing, I just entered the stitch + video in Google and came up with many sites.  The best, and all inclusive, is Mary Corbet's Needle 'n Thread.  You can enlarge the video to full screen by clicking the right bottom corner and they are very well done and clear.  The videos are at the bottom of the post (not the arrow at the beginning) in which she features photo examples of variations.  Bookmark her site, and you won't have to search any where else.  I enjoyed the stem so far, and like the chain even more.   I removed the improperly done stem and filled with cross because I didn't like the look in small random areas.

The bottom freehand area is a little scary, so I copied the chart's bottom reducing in size until it fit my linen.  I thought I had it perfect in this photo until I realized the border's backstitch wasn't the edge of the chart and I was two threads shy on each side. 

 

 Five % enlargement was perfect.  I used a green highlighter to show the stitched edge, and I will pin this to the linen and use it as a guide for size, stitching the center area first.  Then I'll cut the larger end flowers off and lay them right next to the stitching area.  If I could find my tracing wheel and paper, I would cheat even more, but I don't think these small designs would trace well on the rough linen.

This is the most unusual sampler I've ever done and it will definitely be framed.  I don't think this design would display as well without one. 

As for my computer, I bought a new hard drive, reinstalled Vista and now need to get all my work back into it.  Until then I am still on 7.  Now my camera batteries were replaced and it changed the settings so when I import a photo, it's the size of Connecticut.  The only organized task I can count on, is the large bin in which I throw all manuals, receipts, warranties, and guides for everything purchased.  Do you notice that many new items come with nothing?  They want you to download or view user guides online which is fine and saves paper, but my aunts and uncles never had a computer and never will.  When I try it, for some reason, I don't understand as well as having the paper in my hand.  Makes no sense - they're the same words!

For those of you that liked the fabric I showed last time, it's a older design in the Williamsburg Sampler Collection of Windham fabrics.  I did find one place that had pieces left in green. 

Scroll down to find it here

Thank you for visiting with me.

Have a safe and happy day!!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

Nothing really

Hello people.  The start of another week that brings us closer to warmth!  I haven't needed it in the last few days because of continual flashes.  Just when I think it has slowed to a very tolerable level, I get several days in a row of flash on, flash off, flash on, flash off.  Just like that commercial for The Clapper.  The great Spirit of Menopause was just clapping away and flipping my switch on and off.

I messed up on my stem stitches.  After watching the video, I realized this was similar to the way I do my backstitch and always wondered why the back side was nicer looking.   But as usual, menobrain didn't pay close enough attention and was too lazy to check the video again before starting. 

Instead of coming back up at the END of the prior stitch, I went over four and back two (into the middle of the prior stitch).   Maybe the bargello stitch was still lingering in my mind.  It looks OK but I will probably remove these small areas of stem amidst the cross stitches and stitch them properly.  The top left is all stem but other areas in the border are a mix.   The videos all showed the stitch used as an outline, but I wanted to see area work.  I started in the same holes as the cross and it gets a little crowded but makes a really nice fill.  The ends are showing linen but since the thread doesn't cross over, I guess that's the way it should be.  It's very easy to do (even if you're doing it incorrectly) and I'm anxious to get to the larger area.  Rejecting a sampler because of specialty stitches is a mistake I've made quite often.  Why am I afraid of them?  They are usually smaller areas and with all the videos and help online, should be fun.  Except for the queen.  I won't go there and don't think we will ever get along.

I received my order from Misi of 1890 Gable House Goodes and just love my berries.  I also received her closet scents and her packaging is just wonderful.

 

  A piece of fabric also came from a blog bud - isn't this a great piece?  Nothing like this can be found around here.  Thank you again!

I've been allowing the filthy little brat cats in the house and I finally touched Missy without blood being involved.  She was not happy and I got a look that could kill!  She starts roaming and when I try to chase her out, she slides under this hutch.  The old man Bud usually sleeps on a rug that he likes at the back door, and Nitzy is like lightening.   We couldn't find him last night because we weren't looking on the FURNITURE!  He was watching us walk by from my upholstered chair, curled up in the computer wires I threw there, and resting his muddy hair against my neck pad.

It's still snowing here and my neck is having a really bad morning so I'm staying home.  Maybe tomorrow I will venture out to our brand new Kohl's.  Finally!  It's a smaller store than most and I need tall sizes which they don't carry, but I can always find another bracelet and golf shirt for the husband.

Have a wonderful week!

Thank you for visiting!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx