My goal

My tastes are changing and have been for some time.  I have repeatedly mentioned that I am interested in a sparse look, less clutter.  So what do I do with all this stuff? 

 

Mom's area is now the dining room, larger than our original small room.  I am tired of dusting chairs in a room we don't use, tired of looking at the clutter, so the old dining room will be cleaned out.  If we have a large party (when hell freezes over), a simple adjustment can accommodate more guests here.  As an example, this is what I am trying to accomplish - less items, focus on pieces, calm and peaceful. 

 

Before - Bowls and stitching and dookies and loaded cupboards.

 

 

After - A door will be made to close the cupboard but until then, the baskets stand out as they should, not a bunch of smalls that the eye just flits over.  A writing and stitching table with plenty of light and little clutter.  A chandelier pulled out of the way (I want to sell this one).  When the doors close the cupboard, you will notice the samplers on the wall.  It's not as it will be when finished, but closer.

Now where do I put the chairs?  And the monster bowl that is too large to set anywhere?  It's always something.

 

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Sale date

Items on the For SALE page will be offered starting at 1 pm EST on Sunday the 27th.  Check is fine.  Paypal is fine.  Any questions, please email me, samplersandsantas@gmail.com.

  It sure feels like fall.  Really cheated this year of my favorite season.  Very late start, very early close.  I found two monster zucchinis this morning and made three loaves of  Death by Chocolate zucchini bread.  We really like the chocolate zucchini bundt cake, but every year I get requests for this loaf and it seems to be the favorite.
Recipe here.

 

The sale items will stay on the page until they are gone.  I decided not to split them into two sales because they certainly will not all sell at one time anyway.

Enjoy your weekend! 

Texas, we're all thinking of you and hoping for the best.

 

 

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Making a table sampler

Yep.  After playing with Susannah I decided to pull out another stored sampler. 

 

This is The Goode Huswife Ruth's Sampler (with changes of course) and the linen is so sheer that I couldn't see the aging .  Originally she was sewn into a padded envelope with a pocket on the back but it still wasn't making me smile.  I thought she was the perfect shape for another table sampler.

 

I didn't want to fuse interfacing but it needed a backing so ..... I counted out 15 threads from each side and pulled out the 16th.  Then I folded the linen back directly on that line and pressed, ripped a piece of muslin to fit.  Using a fusible hem tape, I attached the muslin around the edges.  No need to stabilize the fringe with a row of stitching, the fusible won't allow more raveling.

 

 

 

 

 

Big difference?  I trimmed the edges to the same distance from the muslin and fringed, then roughed it up. 

 

 

Lots of places for her to rest, and I intend to age the linen more. 

 

That will be it for table samplers, the only ones I have primitive enough and the right shape.  Too bad I didn't stitch Ruth on the same linen as Susannah.  It is so perfect for this ... thick, soft, nubby.  Poor Ruth is skimpy, scratchy, flat.

 

That's it!  Have a good day.

 

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Working

on prices after wasting a lot of time checking online sellers.  Some prices are very high for Aida, reasonable for linen, and some are outrageous.  So I did what I thought was fair, please comment with your thoughts if you check the page.  Shipping is not included, almost all will be First Class at $5 or less.  You can email me for a more accurate cost or request Priority.

 

Now.  About Susannah.  I needed to take a photo and when I threw her on the table, I felt a twinge of regret.  Still thinking about her and since the sale is next week, I have a few days.  She looks really nice on a old table and is a perfect size and shape for this type of display.  Anyone else throw a sampler over a table top?  I haven't found another one that works this well mainly because of the primitive design and heavy linen.  Sounds like I'm keeping her, but I still have the chart just in case.  She is aged and stained, has been in a drawer for quite some time but she's breathing freely now.

 

It's freezing here.  So disgusted. 

Still watching the chicks grow.  They were all gray fuzz but now they are getting their true feathers.  It's hard to get a decent photo because their bald heads are in constant pecking mode!  I hope they grow quickly because hunting season is in two months.   Deer season is September and the fawns are still spotted, hoping their moms make it through.

 

Have a good day.

 

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O Susannah (French)

 

will be included in the sale as will my sampler sack.  I am tired of this one also and it's not like I don't have the chart to stitch it again (which I will not), in fact, I have so many that I can enjoy a little fire.

 

My surgery went quickly and was painless, wish I could say the same about the post-op.  It will get better I am sure but it will take quite some time to adjust to the gaping void.  Suck it up!

 

I hope I haven't irked everyone by showing pieces that I decide to add.  Just thought it would give you an idea of what is being offered before the actual offer. 

We had a heavy downpour and as soon as it ended, the birds appeared.  Chicks are growing but still small enough for the brats.

 

 

One in king size and his double in half size.   The lovers came in after the rain.

Enjoy your week.

 

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Happy Eclipse day

to everyone that will be viewing the event.  I did not get the glasses and nature would probably call me away at that very time anyway.  Damn antibiotics.  What really ticks me off is the tooth being extracted tomorrow does not bother me at all.  But I guess the dying nerve can wreak havoc in the gums which has happened.  I just hope the bone graft he will use to fill the root cavity doesn't make it worse.  And guess what?  Another week of meds and sticking close to the bathroom.  Certainly putting a damper on the end of what has been a very short and very cool summer.

 

So about the sale .... it will be next week.  I haven't priced the others yet and need to buy boxes or padded envelopes for shipping just in case items sell, I want to be prepared. 

 

As for stitching, I find I am searching for food in the evening because my hands are idle.  Maybe I should look for a small to work on.  I have all that dotted linen that struck my fancy a while back and designs on it would be very small, but then I have more pieces to display.  So they should be Christmas ornaments.  But do I still think those dots are the bee's knees?  

 

For some reason (hormones revisited?) I am changing once again.  This time, even my favorite candle scents are causing my delicate olfactory sense to find them quite objectionable.  In other words, my big snorter thinks they stink.  Carole has a new hoard of candles now.  And if I could find a decent piece of fairly private property that didn't cost as much as the house, I would be building instead of trying to fix this one.  It's like crabass at defcon level 1, just waiting for someone to light the fuse and release my claws.

 

One thing that hasn't changed is my preference for sampler shapes.  I am drawn to longer and thinner pieces, really like my Fiske and Redd large squares,

 

but these wide rectangles, not so much.  I fringed Susannah all the way around, another mystery linen that raveled and I hated but primitive enough for this reproduction.  At one time she was hanging free, but now she is lying on the bench or table.  I have never understood the usage of lying and laying so if it's incorrect, excuse.  (Seeing the result of modern day teaching of grammar and spelling on social media, I should be concerned?) I am considering adding her to the sale also.  Susannah was not very good at alignment and this one is very primitive.

 

Lydia would look very nice in a black frame, she was wrapped around a large mache box and fit perfectly, but I tired of the box displays, too.  What the hell? 

 

My hair is even changing from bulky fuzz to flat thinning fuzz.  When I say that to someone they laugh, and obviously have no idea how badly a large claw around their neck would hurt.

 

Have a good day folks.

 

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