Antique Samplers!

I was reading some back issues of The Gift Of Stitching magazine the other day and came upon a link to Christies Auction House. Did you know they have a searchable data base of past auctions, and that there are many, many samplers pictured!?? Just go to the main page and type "samplers" into the search box. Then click on "Search past lots for samplers". So many riches...never enough time...

Keep stitching ladies!

Mary Wigham progress

This is my progress on Mary to date....
I have changed more colours...the rosebuds in this wreath were done in a very pale pink, and when viewed from a distance it looked like I had forgotten to fill them in. I thought the red (3857) was a little too dark, so I choose a shade just a little lighter, 3721. It seems I keep adding colours to the pallet as I go along, subbing them for the creams and whites.

I haven`t decided what colour to do the initials in the center...I will choose something later to balance out the colours i`ve changed. I am skipping around on this, stitching what ever strikes my fancy, and just having fun and enjoying it.

Keep stitching ladies!

Mary goes for coffee

I took Mary Wigham out for coffee the other day...I didn`t have any time to actually stitch on her here, as I had to shop before the stores closed...

This was my progress up til that point...you can see I took the black out the leaves around the squirrel were done in and used the lovely green (my favorite colour). In the medallion on the right, I substituted the black with the dark brownish red...

Isn`t this a cozy cafe? In fact, It`s called the Cozy Internet Cafe...I think i`ll take my stitching someday soon and drink lattes all day!

Keep stitching ladies!

Traditional Stitching

I Have have been on a rather tight budget lately, saving for expenses which I am sure will be incurred during my upcoming move to the USA, but when I opened my email today and opened up the latest newsletter from Traditional Stitches I just could not resist buying some of her fabrics.

I have been stitching Mary Wigham on 36 ct. This has been somewhat of a stitching revelation for me. I have always stuck to 32 ct and larger, thinking I could not see well enough to go for a smaller count. As I have gotten older, I am now doing the 'trombone' manoeuvre (holding things at arms length to focus). I have started stitching with my glasses off. I am nearsighted, and I have tried magnifying lenses of all sorts, including prescription, but I can`t stitch using them. Glasses off seems to work fine, and I have not noticed any increase in eyestrain. Even while stitching Mary Wigham. Which brings me to my point...I love the higher count fabrics now! I especially love only using one strand of floss...no twisting, tangling is reduced, no laying tool!! Not to mention the mileage you get from a skein...not a big deal for DMC, but if you are doing a large sampler with expensive silks, it is much more affordable this way! Most antique samplers were stitched on very fine fabrics with one strand of thread. They knew what they were doing!

So, I ordered some of Janice`s fabrics...36 and 40 ct, from her pre-cut fabric selection. These are a wonderful deal anyway, but she is offering an additional discount to her newsletter subscribers. If you haven`t signed up for her newsletter, you should. Granted, she is In Canada, and shipping to the US would be more, but it still may be worth it to those of you 'south of the border'.

As always...keep stitching ladies!

Mary Wigham

I am still loving stitching this sampler! (I bet you are tired of hearing that). It is so much fun completing one medallion at a time and seeing it develop into a cohesive whole. Well, somewhat cohesive...sometimes I wonder about the colour choices. Of course, maybe the girls at Ackworth didn`t have a lot of choice, they stitched with what they were given. It makes me wonder just how much freedom they had to choose designs and colours. Some of the motifs are a little puzzling...like this one. (I apologize for the poor pic)

Is it a turtle? A bird? A lump with legs? After looking at it for awhile, I thought it just might be a dove with an olive branch in it`s beak. But then that begged the question...why do leaves in black? So I dropped the black from this section...and possibly the whole sampler. It just looks too harsh in contrast with the other colours. And what the heck...as I had already made some earlier changes, and it will be hanging on my wall, I may as well do it so I will enjoy looking at it!

Keep stitching ladies!