Pay it Forward

Hello to all.  Finished the 2011 Stacy Nash club pinkeep with a few changes.  The A and B on the chart is higher than it looks in the photo and I moved them both down, raised the top right flower by one stitch, changed the bottom left, and used 829 on the bee skep and key.

 

 

 This project didn't take very long.  I'm enjoying these smaller pieces but the longer I stay away from a larger sampler, the harder it will be to start one. 

So now it's time for me to follow Connie's lead and pass the chart to someone else, and whoever gets it will pass it to another stitcher. Deal?  To enter, leave a comment on this post, initials if anonymous or no-reply.  I will have Random choose a name on Monday evening about 8pm EST.

 

Until then, I wish you all a Happy Easter.

 

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Template for Spot pouch

I've received quite a few emails asking if I had a template for Spot's pouch, and thought this would be easier than attaching a file to reply.  For any new shape, I just fold paper and cut, then hold the cut-out behind the design in a window or against a light to see how the shape and size fits the stitchery.  Might be a more scientific way to see if the template will work, but I'm lazy and need a visual.  No interfacing since I wanted it soft and wrinkled. Then I pin in several places to center and secure, mark the outline with my  .... my ..... dammit.  I posted about that pen twice and can't remember the name!  You know, the one that disappears with the iron.  Isn't that frustrating?  You know what's more frustrating?  Looking for the pen to get the name and not being able to find it which is why I am not looking for it.  I'm absolutely positive it's not where it should be.  That's my pat answer to a sarcastic "you don't know where it is, do you?".  Yes I do.  It's where it shouldn't be.  Bingo.  Once again, he has to admit that I am right.  You don't have to know the answer to be right.
This is the template I used, sized for 40 count fabric.  Just increase on a copier for other counts.  This is the SEWING line, not the cutting line.  I didn't line it, just added the wool backing (and a piece to the top front), folded the excess top to the inside to create the drawstring casing, stitched in the ditch and trimmed excess.  Lots of online videos for that.
 Click to open in another window, then right click and print.
 Hope this helps to get your Spot on!

 

The next small

Hi everyone.  Just a quick note to show the next project.  Do you remember when Connie sent me a bunch of older PS Santa charts?  She said to keep what I wanted, to share the rest, and several stitchers were thrilled to receive a chart they've been searching for.  She is the epitome of the stitching sisterhood.   Yesterday I received another envelope from her. 

There are some other things going on that I haven't mentioned and I really have no ambition or focus to delve into the chart stash.  What follows with linen choice is even worse.  So when I saw this 2011 design come out of the envelope, I felt relief because I love it, it's small, and there was a piece of linen hanging over the sofa arm that was the perfect size.  Thank you so much Connie.  For everything.  I will follow your example and offer the charts to others in a Pay it Forward giveaway after stitching is completed.

 

This linen was a gold color and rather than look for another piece in the color I would like, I got out the Rit and started playing.  Purple erases yellow, blue makes it green, a drop of red erases green, so it took three different dips to get a neutral brown.  I would rather do that when I find the correct size than cut a larger piece.  Not sure if it's 30 or 32.  I'm using two strands of floss for the design elements and one thread of black for the letters.  I also changed the key's color and will take out the watering can in the lower left and spread out the letters instead.

 

I made my posts on Primitive Stitchers and have no idea from there.  I see that some comments are answered but I don't know how, and not sure about the friends.  When I signed on several years ago, I received all these invites from people I don't know and when I emailed a few, found out that they never invited me.  Anyway, when my mind is not preoccupied, I will learn more.

 

Have a great day.

 

Thanks for visiting.

 

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Spot's finish

  As you already know, my end finish is never what I planned. 

 

 

So here is the finished Spot, in a small bag to carry coins for maybe horse trading back in the day.  I dyed the finished piece, left it wrinkled, backed it with black wool and used black leather lacing to tie.  Spot was too good looking for me, not dark enough, not primitive enough, and once this popped into my head, I knew it would give me the look I wanted.  It's much darker than seen in this photo because of the flash.

I can hang it from a peg rack too, as soon as they are installed in the unfinished rooms.  The starkness of the black against the black wool is so nice.  Too bad I can't get a decent photo.  You can see from my hand how small it is.

Not sure what the next project will be.  I haven't done a sampler in a while and I don't know if I'm up for anything other than smalls.  We'll see.  

I've been checking Facebook pages and wanted to post on the Prim Stitchers page, but I am so confused!  I need to find a Facebook for Dummies tutorial. 

Hope your week - the last few days of March - will be a good one.

 

Thanks for visiting.

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What is a sampler

Happy weekend to you.  We have a light dusting of snow this morning which makes me crabby.  Off to a good start.  The pain is much better though as long as I don't smack the huge shoe into the leg of a cabinet or the stair riser.

 

When I asked about the works so similar to Mary Antrim's, I received a reply from a sampler enthusiast who is also the owner of several featured in the current exhibit, stating there is a group of similar samplers all made in Burlington County NJ.  The Morven Museum in Princeton is showing 151 NJ schoolgirl samplers of 1726-1860 and ends tomorrow the 29th.  If you go to their website you can purchase a catalog from the exhibit under the shop tab.  In reading an article about the Antrim piece which was sold for the highest price on record for a needlework sampler ($1,070,500), I found there is another needlework scene that sold for a little more.  The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston purchased View of Boston Common by Hannah Otis (1732-1801), stitched around 1750 for $1,157,500 in 1996.  I wonder what the bid would be today, almost 20 years later.

The article said it's a huge piece embroidered in wool and silk on linen.  But it's not considered a sampler which is why Antrim is listed as the most expensive.

 

But Antrim's is also a scene, with some cross stitches in addition to lots of embroidery stitches.  What's the difference?  I always thought samplers were letters and verse.  So what determines classification of needlework?   Does it matter?  Since I don't plan on spending a million for a beautiful antique, no.  But that doesn't mean I'm not curious.  Even today, many charts are listed as samplers, but I see a design, not what I would consider a sampler.  So what is a sampler?  This crab wants to know.  I have books on them but I only look at the pictures!  Guess I should start reading.  Maybe that will be my goal this summer as I sit on my swing, if it ever warms up. 

 

 

Have a great weekend!

 

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Making an on the Spot decision

I stopped stitching at this point, haven't stained/aged him yet,

and now I see that I failed to complete the eye.

Then .... a Spot ornament finished with mini pom pom black fringe which needs to be ordered.

 

Or Spot as a pocket on a coverlet patterned bag, suede bag with fringe, or heavy canvas with leather straps.  If I choose the bag, I have several decisions within that decision. 

 

 

Spot on the lid of a paper mache box I will paint black and distress.

 

 

Spot on a Faye bag.

 

Spot on a padded fabric box lid.

 

I hope the pain subsides quicker than expected so I can start walking around.  Sitting with too much time to think can make a confused individual worse.

 

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