iStitch

Monday, 1 March 2010

Alphabets à ... finish!

Click on the picture for a closeup view

I put the final stitches into Alphabets à... last night and then added my initials and the year 1*1 in the top right hand corner which wasn't very easy considering the fabric is 48ct! This French Gander linen can be found at Simply Necessaries for those of you brave enough to try it. The sampler measures 8" x 6" so you can imagine how tiny the stitches are.

Click on the picture for a closeup view

Although you cannot tell from the really awful photographs, the linen is a very pale ivory and the red thread was AVAS Soie Surfine 109 stitched 2*2. For the scissor enthusiasts, these tiny golden scissors are Elizabeth 1 by Kelmscott Designs.

I have no idea what I shall work on next. I have three new designs charted but I am wondering if interest is waning or is it simply that the Nashville Fair has been too much temptation to all? Maybe I will pick up an older project that was put to one side; such as the miniature red stitching shown *here* from Miniature au Point de Croix by Françoise Prax which I got from amazon.fr; or maybe a re-start of the Merry Cox Diminutive Sewing Set shown *here* - I really did not like this much although I adored the tiny wood tray so I may design my own version based on the dimensions used by Merry; or how about the long forgotten Loara Standish sampler *here*? The list goes on ...

The sun has got his hat on .... hip hip horray!

Thanks for visiting

Take care

Labels: Alphabets à ..., Loara Standish, Merry Cox, Miniature stitching, Red

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Wednesday, 13 May 2009

Yes another DBS update!

Here's yet another update on the Dutch Band Sampler which seems to be the only thing I have to work on at present - well that's if you ignore those UFOs loitering in the back of the cupboard! In January 2008, I posted about the Loara Standish sampler (here) which sampler I started way back in ... 1999! This is such a beautiful sampler and it's almost 2/3rds finished so I really should get back to it. There is also Beatrix Potter. I am trying to ignore her as I've gone right off her (sorry Beatrix) maybe I should work a motif or two to keep her happy.

Tonight is our Stitch-n-Bitch meeting which I am looking forward to. Caroline has taken herself off to Cornwall this week so there will only be the five of us but I am sure we will have plenty to stitch and bitch about!

It's dull and gloomy here today but at least the high winds have dropped and we didn't get the heavy rainful that was forecast. I can't really complain but exactly when is the long hot summer going to start?

Not much else happening here so ...

thanks for visiting

Take care

Labels: Beatrix Potter Quaker SAL, Dutch Band Sampler, Loara Standish

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Wednesday, 16 January 2008

Loara Standish and Elizabeth Kensington Samplers

This is the Loara Standish Sampler which I referred to in my post yesterday. I had forgotten how lovely it is and how much I enjoyed stitching it at the time. I cannot remember when I started it or why I gave up stitching it but it was probably because it needs a lot of concentration with all the double running stitches. Anyway, now that I have re-discovered it I am going to make a start on it and maybe put it in a rotation. It is stitched on 36ct hand dyed linen with silk floss. OMG I have just found a working copy of the first part of the chart and written on it is 29.01.1999!! That must have been my start date so I am going to set myself a target finish date of 29.01.2009 - 10 years for one sampler - that really will be a record for me!! LOL

This sampler is the antique one that was stored with the Loara one. This was stitched, as you can see, by Elizabeth Kensington, aged 9 years, in 1843! It's in a fairly good condition with only a couple of tiny holes which I hope will not be too noticeable when backed with raw linen and framed but even if they do show what the heck, the piece is 165 years old and I doubt I would look that good at that age!

I will be making the draw for the scissor fob later today and will post the winner tomorrow.

Thanks for visiting

Take care

Carol

Labels: Antique samplers, Loara Standish

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Tuesday, 15 January 2008

It's worth clearing out cupboards

A few more stitches in Merry Cox - but oh dear, I redid the verse and miscounted! I did not want to split my name and now I have ended up with two split words and two gaps. Oh well it will have to stay - I am certainly not frogging as it's stitched on 36ct over one thread! Now I must think of something to put in the gaps - any suggestions welcome.

Yesterday I decided to clear out a cupboard and ended up clearing out two wardrobes too. I felt really industrious and, although I only got one sack of rubbish, I did manage to sort out a lot of stuff to go on ebay on the next cheap listing day and ... I came across my unfinished Loara Standish sampler. I started this a few years ago and I think I am about 2/3rds of the way down so I really must pick this up again and put some more stitches in it. I have seen the actual sampler in the Museum at Plymouth Mass. It's absolutely wonderful and well worth a trip there if you are in the area and the kit for this sampler is for sale in the gift shop.

http://pilgrimhall.org/s_sampler/htm

I also came across an antique sampler that I brought 2 or 3 years ago. This needs framing and I did sort out some raw linen to mount it on so will try and get that framed shortly. I will take photos of Loara and the antique sampler tomorrow. I also found a forgotten stash of fabric and other stitching goodies so it pays to clear out your cupboard occasionally!

Thanks for visiting

Take care

Carol

Labels: Loara Standish, Merry Cox

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