Wohooo - Here She Is!

Here she is - Anne Maria Clarke-Richmond reproduced by Essamplaire:

To stay as close to the charted piece as possible while still adding my information, I used additional "invisible stitches".  I used the cream floss to sign my full name in the lower left corner and the finishing date in the lower right corner (this morning at 00.30...) - all over one.  If you don't know that it is there, you will probably not spot it find it unless you exacarefully, so I am pleased!  Here is a close-up of the date (I had to bend the linen so that the shadow of the stitches indicates where they are):

I really got pretty excited when I recalled that the Ann Rayner sampler (Threads Through Time) uses the same type of alphabet.  Ann stitched the entire alphabet in her sampler, so I could just pick the capitals from her chart.  (This is another beauty in line to get stitched.  Where can I buy more time!?)

As usual, the real drama started once I decided to iron the sampler...  Oh, I am not a fan!  Not at all!!!  First I freaked out because it looked like the iron burned the linen.  It didn't, the linen just has darker streaks in it.  Then I discovered a couple of unidentifiable smudges that I (knowing that it was a stupid idea as I did it) decided to attack with a Tide-to-Go pen (yep, I hear the stitching-community's collective gasp from all over the World...).  Needless to say, now I have two paler spots in the linen.  One of them will disappear in the case I decide to frame her, the other...  well, I am not real sure why, but I don't really care.  I guess that I am a real odd-ball of a stitcher.  As soon as the work is finished, I am just not that intrigued or careful any more. 

And that is good news, or I would have to set up a serious talk with the parrots (in the basement).  This is a Drawn Thread design (Real Roses) that I adapted to be more personalized.   I switched the lady holding the hands of two children to DH, our - at the time - 5 (only!) parrots, and myself), composed a new verse and added all of our initials, bird and man alike.  I also decided to experiment with fancy edgings and I did have a ton of fun stitching it. 

This is what I discover today:  first off, edges are folded - I know that DH has mentioned that he has seen some of the parrot baby hang form it.  Sigh...  Then this; someones beak or claw has pulled out my right eye and pulled a strand out of the pain-in-the-neck long-arm cross-stitch border.  I am sure that I'll find some more "added personalization" to this piece as I start to patch it back up.  I love the parrots, but sometimes I tell DH that we need second house for him and the birds!!!  You don't blame me, I'm sure...

Hmmm, maybe the bird babies are hinting that they are not pleased to see that their monograms are missing, poor neglected creatures!

On to happier things - I bought myself some happiness on Ebay last week.  I go a very cheap Queen of Freedom by Mirabilia (I am thinking about linen color...), a OOP totally fantastic bell-pull designed by Mads Stage for Clara Waever back in the days (1960-70 probably), and a kit published by the Swedish Home-craft Society (hard to translate..).

Since I have problems with discipline when it comes to stitching (and since I apparently don't have a problem lying to DH in regards to stitch related issues), I did start on the Swedish kit right after my ironing adventure.
The text translates "Craft Concerns Everyone".  Pretty cute, huh!?

Yeah, about lying to my DH.  He made me promise (we even shook on it) that I would get my very-close-to-getting'er-done Peacock Tapestry back out.  I know that I really should, but I also really rather not...  PT, inconveniently enough, is the only stitched piece that DH has ever been interested in.  I did guilt him into asking to see the finished Richmond sampler earlier today, but that request was more placed out of politeness and keeping peace than out of any real interest, I suspect.  Oh well, I'll marry a stitcher next time around - but he has to have a bigger stash that I do and preferable all the hard-to-find OOP charts!

Did you note that today's post was thrown out on the net earlier than usual, by the way?  That is thanks to one of mu "guild moms" (yes, Missy R, I am referring to you!!!).  She brought her laptop to the latest stitch-in to show everyone the blogs that some of us enjoy fiddling with.  Missy R specifically asked me "what are you doing posting at 2 in the morning!?".  She is right (I am hanging my head), so I will try to change my blog-in-the-middle-of-the-early-morning habits and be better about my beauty sleep.

Oh, and a final call out: Thanks a million times to Mr L-Bug for driving over to Mrs L-Bug's work to drop of her "really important to have a closer look at scissors fob".  I had asked her if she wouldn't mind bringing it with her to the stitch-in so that I could have a look at it and take some pictures.  Mrs L-Bug reenacted the conversation that the L-Bugs had over the phone while he was trying to figure out what in the world she was trying to get him to find, and it was rather funny.  I think that it ended something like this:  

Mr L "Are you talking about this pile of crap here on the table" 

Mrs L "Yes, that's it!"

Gotta' love the guys - don't they know treasure when they see it!?  And I also love her rather resigned response...

Anyway, Mrs L-Bug  pulls out the fob, informing me about the morning's adventures in regards to arranging the transaction, when I realize that I left my camera at home!  Ooops...  I totally forgot that L-Bug is also a real shutter bug, so she pulls a compact camera out of her purse, we take the pics and she e-mailed them to me later that weekend.  So, I'd like to send a big thank you to Mrs L-Bug too!!!  

Without further due, here it is.  Isn't this just adorable?  We have decided that it shouldn't be that hard to make our very own home-made ones, so that is shaping up for another "fun & quick craft" session to look forward to!

Well, time for bed.  I promised Missy R...    Plus  Blogger or Mozilla or something else equally mystical seems a tad crabby tonight, so I'd better stop before one of us ends up crying...

Take care, have a great mid-week, and don't forget to stitch!



S is for SAL

I hope that everyone had a really nice weekend.  I slept for hours, snuggled with parrots, dragged a very reluctant DH out for a walk in the winter landscape, and stitched like obsessed on the Richmond sampler.

The Richmond sampler is an interesting stitching experience..  I love the sampler, the motifs, the colors, the feel of the silk on the stitch covered areas.  I also love to see how all the silk lengths disappear from the thread holders while a sampler is born.  (Isn't that one of the wonders with stitching; you look at all the floss hanks and at the "blank" linen and you know that a picture will grow from it all.  Amazing, I think!)
The over-two ares stitch up fairly quickly and are a true joy to work on.  The over-ones - not so much.  I am way too detail fixated to be able to deal with charts, over-one diagrams and photos of the sampler that are not in agreement!  When I stitch a sampler, I want the sampler to look as it did on the photo or model on the cover.  That is what I fell for and that is why I got the sampler in the first place.  I also think that stitches out of order in an over-one section can really create problems.  So, to cut this story short, I have also done a great deal of ripping out over-one stitching that did not follow the detail photos.  It will all be worth it in the end, so it can take the time it needs.  Just need to be more careful with looking at the photo before I read the chart....
Here is a progress photo.  Sorry about the less than flat linen... I am an in-hand stitcher and this is how most my samplers look while in the process.

I also had a thought while stitching this sampler.  It has to do with the well-known video to Sledgehammer, the song by Peter Gabriel.  If you have never seen it before (my jaw dropped when I realized that both DH and P.Snickety at work are too young to remember seeing this classic!) hurry up and watch!  I remember that this was the coolest thing I had ever seen - it was truly the height of technology and art mixed together back in 1986!  I showed this video to both DH and P.Snickety and both of them looked at me and said "I don't get it!".  Sigh!!!  (For the more sensitive readers; excuse the female and male "cells" in the beginning of the video below - I don't remember seeing those on MTV, so that section was likely never shown on TV.)

 I got so obsessed that I even researched the song & video on the internet.  Plus I listened to Sledgehammer about 15 times in one evening - I don't think that I have listened to the same song over and over for ... .. well months!
Anyway, I thought that there were some really interesting things to learn about this video. :
-  This video was widely popular and influential, using claymation, pixilation, and stop motion animation that gave life to images in the song
-  Peter Gabriel was filmed under a glass table - it took 16 hrs to complete all the pictures of his face that were stitched together to make the video
-  Won nine MTV Video Music Awards in 1987, a record which still stands as of 2010.
-  Ranked at number four on MTV's 100 Greatest Music Videos Ever Made (1999). MTV later announced that "Sledgehammer" is the most played music video in the history of the station.
-  The portion of the song featuring the synthesized flute solo was realized in the video by first one and then two oven-ready turkeys, headless and featherless, animated using stop-motion. These were animated by Nick Park (of Wallace and Gromit fame) who, at that time was refining his work in plasticine animation.  (I love Wallace and Gromit - have all the movies at home!!!)

So why am I writing about this?  Because, the thought struck me that it would be so cool to make a stop motion video of a sampler in the making!  Yes, I know that I am a nerd, but really - how cool would that be!?!?  :-D

Other than that, I have pulled myself together and decided that I cannot ignore my SALs any longer.  Tonight, I finally started on part 7 for the Drawn Thread Alphabet sampler, and I have the S section complete!  The T section is pretty large while the U part is itty-bitty.  The hardest part is to drag this piece back out of the stitching room and start stitching on it, but once that hurdle has been climbed, I enjoy most of the stitches - even though in today's section, the "square boss" stitch looks pretty much identical to a rice-stitch to me (both the finished stitch itself and the way to get there...).

After the DT SAL is completed for this time, I need to get to the Moss Creek piece.  It will be hard - I am already missing the Richmond sampler.  Sniffle.  We spent so much time together this weekend that I am going through withdrawal right now.  Not good.

I also pointed out a gorgeous sampler, that is new to me, for DH today.  He didn't really get the hint...  Even though he did do a double take when I told him the prices for the silks packs that Attic Needlework offer (the sampler was their "sampler of the month" back on Feb-2010).  The trick is to read the most expensive floss first and everything else sounds almost reasonable after that...  Anyway, here is a link to a beautiful version of the Ann Rayner sampler charted by Threads Through Time.  This link will take you to photos of the original sampler and some background information by Nancy Sturgeon of TTT.
Finally, I have been updating all my WIPs to the right, so that you don't think that I ran out of unfinished projects earlier this month.  Nope, there is an almost never ending well to scoop from...  The list to the right isn't even close to complete!
Happy stitching and talk with you in a bit,

SALs

Are you involved in any SALs (Stitch Alongs)?  I am!  I am currently working on three different projects with stitching buddies all over the country.  I thought that I would share them with you today.

Here is a progress picture of Bent Creek's Snapperville:

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My friend Pink and I have been stitching on this baby for a while now.  A really fun stitch!  We take one scene at the time, with no set due date.  I enjoy this stitch for several different reasons.  First off, this type of "whimsical" design is something that I would have never contemplated purchasing just a few years back.  There was also a time when I felt that overdyed threads were just too complex (and expensive) to work with.  It is truly a joy to feel movement and expansion in a hobby.  There is no end to all the fun that is to be had!  Another fun thing is that Pink is one of a handful of friends that I have gotten to pass over to the "dark side".  Pink is probably more of a chef and baker than a stitcher, so I figured that a SAL would keep her on track..  ;-)   Even though lately, she has been spending a good amount of time knitting or crocheting.  Her excuse is the large amount of babies that keep popping up in her family and among her friends.  We may have to sit down and have a talk about this (the knitting/crocheting part I mean, not the babies).  Another thing that is neat about this SAL is that Pink lives 20 minutes down the road, so every now and then we meet up and stitch, chat and drink snazzy coffee drinks at the local Starbucks.  As you can see, we are doing pretty well - only two scenes left and we are finished!  That reminds me that i should probably call Pink, wish her a Happy New Year and ask when we can meet for stitching and dishing next!

Here is another SAL - DT's Sampler of Stitches.  The progress photo is a bit out of date, we have since added on one additional part. 

This is a great SAL piece, since it is huge and get a bit overwhelming at times - support group and cheer leading troupe are recommended tools.  I am stitching this with my friends NJ-Babe and Having-a-Ball.  NJ-Babe also invited a couple of her friends which is really neat - a great way to make new friends!  We are 2/3rds done and we may even finish up this year.  Both Having-a-Ball and I discovered that we did not line up part 4 with part 1 properly.  Both of us realized this when we started working on part 6...  No, we are not going back to correct our errors!  I have slowly learned to be less OCD about needlework than I used to be.  A lot this more relaxed attitude is thanks to NJ-Babe who always says "can you see it from an airplane?".  You can't so I'm all right.  I have also decided that I stitch for fun.  Stitching is my hobby and I do it to relax, not to add some extra bonus stress in my spare time....

Here is the final SAL and this one is a really big one too; She Maketh Fine Linen designed by Rae Iverson of Moss Creek Designs.

Rae is in a class by herself when it comes to needlework design.  She keeps learning new techniques, which she then incorporates in her designs so that her students can learn them too.  I have been fortunate enough to participate in her seminars, ASG (A Stitchers' Gathering) a few times in the past.  I highly recommend ASG!  High class teachers and great projects every time.  The SAL group consists of four ladies that met at ASG; NJ-Babe, Fly-Girl, GoTo-Stash (she works at House of Stitches in Indiana.  Practical?  Life saving?  Dangerous?  You bet!!!), and myself.
I think that we are about half-way done on this one.  I am the one slacking here; we have had a part due for a long time now.  Guess I need to pick up the binder and get started on it today!

Tell me about your SAL experiences.  If you don't have any, try it - I am sure that you'll like it!  It is "safer" and more relaxing than Round Robins or exchanges.  No worries about items disappearing in the mail and if you need to take a break it's all right.  Just tell the rest of the group to go on without you for a bit.  You can always catch up down the road.  Works great!
I enjoyed the exchanges too, but you are not on your own time anymore.  I think that I did three or four rounds of the cross-stitch ornament round robin a few years back.  It was fun, but could get pretty stressful at times.  (I have yet to finish up all those ornaments, but that is another story....)

Happy Stitching!