1848 sampler

An abbreviation of Barrick Samplers' 1848 Reproduction Sampler.

 

 

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Playing with a full deck

That's something I don't hear often.
Hiya.  Didn't get much done yesterday until 10:00 pm.  That's when I printed some labels.  In every size.  From every file.  It was like playing a card game.  This one in the middle, no - use the big one, no - make it all houses, no - how about all Lucy Redd, no - all red houses, no - add a sampler, NO!  I switched them around and around like a shell game. Finally have it narrowed down to the three on the right.

  All this time spent on 3 little squares I may never use.  I checked several places and the ones I liked were all gone, so I'm doing my own in 3", 2 1/2", and 2". 

 

 

Wood is stained, sealed, ready to attach, not as nice as Tammy's from In the Company of Friends.  These look to be printed on very thin acrylic and mine have to be labels on wood.  I guess they can be called a "make-do"!
  Something tells me I will have two sets when the card game ends.  And I will still use my Gadjit (or Dritz sewing gauge).

 

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Cutting it short

Once again, I am shortening the design.  I wasn't planning to, but once I saw how striking these two figures are on this linen, I didn't want anything else to take away from that.  It would still be a great piece with the top motifs but I am liking it just as it is. 
 

 

I thought a type of wallet or purse would be great for a finish, but that's a lot of work without a pattern.  A needlebook is perfect.  But that isn't as visible and mostly displayed in one area.  I like this enough to want to see it often and move it easily so a hanging accent fits the bill.  Framing in a 4x6 works too, but then I leave a hole in the wall every time I change its position.  One thing I would have done differently if I had known the finish .... make both figures the same height.  Other than that, love love love.   The blue fabric will be the back.

 

I am so glad I finally got the hang of blocks of stitches.  My older pieces that had houses or lawns, anything solid, looked striped.  The tension (or maybe the sewing method) created striations that were obvious. 

 

Once I started doing the first half of the stitch from side to side until the area was filled, and then crossed the second half in rows running top to bottom, it made a big difference. 

You can see the arm looks like there is a tiny space between the rows, but not on the dress, chest, or block beneath her. It helps my work look more uniform and that is certainly an improvement.

 

Bud agrees.

 

The doc said xrays show no break.  I have a bad sprain on the right ankle and the left foot.  There is one spot that is very painful to touch and with this amount of swelling and sudden sharp pains, I thought it was broken.  I wish the swelling would go away - can't wear my sandals.

 

 

Hopefully will be painting boxes and making a few corner squares today.  But it's nice outside and Mark is golfing, I'll probably have my butt on the swing enjoying some solitude.

 

Thanks for visiting.

 

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Consistency

Hello hello.  I can't believe we are in the third week of July.  Why is summer flying by so quickly?  Many of you have high temps, we are getting them too.  But I can sit on my swing and not have it bother me.  It just feels like an extended hot flash to me and I am so used to them.  Mark's friend's wife sleeps on a ChiliPad and keeps it at 60 degrees or she can't sleep.  The newest is BEDJET which fills a special cotton comforter with either warm or cool air, dual zoned.  One is beneath you, the other is on top of you.  Never heard of either but a perfect solution to the he's cold she's hot dilemma.  The older I get, the more important a good night's sleep is.  And the tighter with the buck I get - neither of these are cheap.

 

Anyway, received my second order from 123.  It included some linen colors from the first order, and these additional.  I like the gold and surprisingly, Grasshopper.  The Copper Penny isn't mottled much, perfect for me, but there is a red spot.  I will start the stitching there to cover it and work out from there.  That should work.

 

But here's what I wanted to show you and why it is so difficult to order online.  You purchase a chart and order the specified linen and sometimes you don't know that it's very different from the designer's piece and will not look the same.  Case in point, this WDW Dolphin from two sources.  Drastic don't you think?  I don't want the new one, I want the first one.

Under table lighting or a flash, there is no similarity.  My first piece is the right side, dark and gray.  The new piece is light with a tinge of aqua.  I can understand that each dye bath will not be exactly the same but this is too much.  If I had not ordered a second piece, I would have thought Dolphin is the dark, which it may not be!  Who knows which the designer had and which is the real Dolphin?

 

 

Lucky is the stitcher with a linen loaded shop.
Hey.  That's good.  Should be on a T-shirt.

 

Have a good day.

 

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Purple

Tried and removed four different purples until ending with 208.  I need to remove the light trim on the dress and change it to more of a tan or pale yellow so it shows against the light skin.  It just blends right in on the sleeves and neck. 

 

 

Found a beautiful tunic for Carole and will check for tiny rhinestones between doc appointments today.

 

Making more strawberries.  Fat ones and little ones.  I haven't decided if I will sell finished berries, sell the tops, or give out the source.  May take some time to decide. 

 

Have a good day, be safe.

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I ate cake!

A lot of it.  And as I am typing this, a news report is coming through that police were set up for an assassination and 3 are dead, more are injured.  This will be brief but lots of photos.

This is what I made this morning with many more to come.

 

 

For those of you that would like to make the sponge cake, here are the pages from mom's booklet.  Her addition of the chocolate shavings are added at the bottom corner.  The Mahogany is wonderful too, never tried the Maple Pecan on the other page.  These cakes are not the moist soft box or bakery cakes.  You can click on the photo and then click again to enlarge, print if you'd like.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 I have more photos but sadness has turned to anger and I am done here.

 

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