The Scarlett Letter Sampler Finished and Framed

This week I finished up the Antique Alphabet Sampler by The Scarlett Letter. I enjoyed the color and variety of the silks that were in the package.

 So one more WIP completed from my stash!

 

 

The measurements the sampler called for did not turn out to be the ones on linen but it's all good!

 

 

 

 

The Antique Alphabet Sampler

designer, The Scarlett Letter

 

25 count unbleached linen

silk thread supplied in kit

stitched 1 over 1 as directions in kit

 

I framed this myself with hubbie's help as well. This frame I had in my stash, found once in a junkin' store and contained a very old black and white photo of a young man dressed in late 18th century clothing. He was quite dapper! It was not until I peeled the paper off and removed the old wire they had for hanging that I saw a name and date.

 

There are slightly rusty nails that held the picture in. I actually used them again to hold in the sampler on a board piece.

 

The frame has one ding in it and also 2 of the joints are not tightly flush but this is what you get with vintage frames and to me it adds character.

I often wonder when I find such items, who the person was, was he a local or did the framed picture migrate from estate auctions to the junkin' store from states away?

I had the picture but misplaced it and I'm sure it's somewhere in my stitching space.

 

 

The rest of the frame has been well preserved. If this young man, who appeared to be no older than 25 years old, was truly born and died in the years written, the frame would date to be mid 18th century.

 I paid 2.00 for the frame. I'm glad I can repurpose this with a small sampler.

 

Something right off that also told me later this frame was old was the odd dimensions. It is not a true to size 5 x 7 but more like 4 3/4 x 6 3/8.

I know that frames can be made to fit certain pieces individually but there was quite a bit of space around him in the picture.

All in all, I like the walnut wood and will treasure it on my sampler wall in the family room.

 

 

I have one from the Scarlett Letter on the far left bottom that is actually part 1 of a two part sampler. I already have the matching frame for the second sampler and had started it long ago. When I complete this one, I will need to rearrange my sampler wall in this room a bit.

 

 

This is the next WIP in my stash I picked up. The NPI silks are gorgeous for this coverlet piece. This one is designed by The Scarlett HOUSE........a different designer than above.

I miss counted 2 threads off to start the head of the bird so I am frogging out back to the neck and restarting, hoping to get the count right. Just 2 threads off would have put it off in appearance.

 

 

This one when finished will most likely be framed very similarly as above in the picture.

 

 

Abbie is finally getting some peaceful time.

 

 This week has been a real chaotic time but we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Thank heavens for homeowners insurance but OMG at the deductible and at such a bad time... (really when is a good time LOL)

The pipe that burst is cleaned all up. The hammers and machines that sound like jets have ceased, just for a little bit. The new flooring for the kitchen will be on order tomorrow but will take a week to come in. This project has propelled my sweet hubbie and I to be able to do some re arranging in the house for our needs and more practical.

The kitchen island although very useful 10 years ago with teenagers at the time, now is going to the utility room in the basement for storage of linens, quilts, and the big counter top for folding.

The wood table that really was an eye sore in the basement will be repurposed with a little oil based painting and cutting down the legs to a picnic area outside looking over the mountains on the property. My DH will build benches for it.

The kitchen will have a large braid rug with our table for cozy eating for 2, 4 or 8 actually.

And on and on with re-establishing our home to fit our basic needs.

 

I think all in all it will be more functional. The guest bedrooms will be also rearranged for better function. We also will have some painting to do maybe in the kitchen cupboards.

 

Feathering the nest is quite a job but as long as love is in the home, it's worth every bit and we feel so blessed to have a home.

 

Hope your weekend is a good one.

 

Jennifer

 

 

Saturday Baths and Saturday Samplers

One of the many projects/samplers/etc. I am working on is to finish 12 Washcloths for the upstairs bath!

I found a free pattern, actually many free patterns unlike the ones I did for the Etsy shop, this was is corrugated.

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/corrugated-cloth

Click above for the pattern.

I picked Bernat cotton with a Joannes' 50% off coupon one day and the colors are Cloves, Avocado, and Indigo.  These are fun to make anyways and easy to pick and put down when busy. I'm almost done with one Indigo one.  11 more to go~!

On the cross stitching front, as I was cleaning out some stash and moving it to the studio, I saw this project, brand new and had it for at least 3 years from The Scarlett Letter. I got this actually on ebay and the copyright of the sampler is 1982. I am not able to find it on their website any longer. Someone wanted to know.

But, I opened it up and started this simple sampler! The floss is silk and one strand is used. 25 ct unbleached linen  of which I like and off I go. This antique sampler will go in the family room at the homestead.

The Antique Alphabet Sampler by The Scarlett Letter

 

 



 

 

 

 

The colors in the pic look different than the floss they supplied; however, I still love them.

 I also have a couple I need to work on of my own designs. This little sampler was irresistable though to stitch. The Scarlett Letter reproduction antique samplers are probably one of the most favorite.

I hope this finds you safe, happy, and needles in hand!

Jennifer

Sweet Valentine Goodies for the Stash

The rainy days in Georgia are growing loooooooonger. It's a yucky, rainy evening and we've had many of them this Winter!

But all in all the month of January is almost to a close and in such conversation of "winding it up" I wanted to share with you some things I've added to my stash in the past 6 weeks.

If you like this as much as I do, you can get this and the thread winders at your local Hobby Lobby!

Some are included but I get extra to wind some floss.

(It's a good thing I don't live close to one) LOL

I just love the Springy like green color!

I thought it was a total neat way to add to the other many methods I have for organizing fibers.

Of course I couldn't help but get a couple of heart buttons while I was there.

2 hearts are always a cheerful treat.

And some vintage cotton lace ribbon too.

And mail items NOT from Hobby Lobby are:

an 8 in square black prim wood frame

and my most favorite is this new design Coverlet Birds!

I absolutely LOVE coverlets and when I saw this little piece I knew I had to stitch it.

Definitely will pull me out of the creative slump along with other cheerful adventures.

I also got the recommended Needlepoint Silks of which I have never used before but I do LOVE stitching with silk and I'm sure this one will be a treasure. I've heard only good things about this brand.

The fabric I chose was not the recommended fabric but is As Days Gone By ( I think is the name) by ????  I just had a brain blip. I'm having alot of those lately. ;)

Design is by The Scarlett House

I'm just in love with the colors.

I hope I pick up some speed on this one

I just need to pick it up....LOL  This should be a quickie! It's the Sampler Girl's Mr. Darcy sampler.

Wrinkles and all, here it is so far. Yes, I know the hoop makes marks, I just change around and on certain pieces I'll pick it up from time to time. Hopefully the wrinkles will come out. xxxxxx fingers

Here you can see the contrast of the color of linens, As Days Gone By and 32 ct natural Belfast linen.

I love both actually.

Torn between two lovers. :p

and I was in a Hearts Aflame mood, so I got this Kelmscott needleminder to plant my needles on while I'm stitching my Valentiney samplers. ;)

Oh, hmmmm.....yes, it was in the garden.

Yes, Miss Flossie Mae is going to have kittens and what's really funny is that Thomas, bless his heart, thinks he is the father of them but he can't be as he is neutered, but he tried, yes he did at my astonishment.

Honestly, they are a matching couple now and I think they are this year's Valentines couple expecting!

They sit together on the front porch swing every day.

I guess there's something in the air around here.

I think I was a wee bit late on getting Miss Flossie Mae fixed.

Will be interesting what colors her kitties will be.

Hope your weekend is full of fun and adventure. I know mine will be. I'm attending a seminar Saturday out of town to hear a speaker for the book A Confident Heart by Renee Swope. I think it will be AWESOME!  I might even sneak my stitching in there while I listen if my eyes will let me see without the magnifier light. I've really gotten addicted to the magnifier light even with my glasses.

Stay sweet and until we meet,

Jennifer

Happy Dance in Purple Passion

Finished tweaking my sampler for Domestic Violence Awareness month. You are going to like it...love it......if you like 1800 verses and simple motifs in vintage purples and golds. I ordered Empress in CC silk for a splurge but the color was just TOO tempting.
WOW! The Crescent color silks have gone up in price!

So, the ones I need are now ordered and will be patiently waiting for their arrival from a-b-c-company online.

Well, out of the studio at 1am and into the bed for some ZZZZZZZZZ's.

A long day ahead tomorrow.

Monochromatic samplers

I ordered a monochromatic pattern that I really was drawn to in the mail. This is a design from Examplars From the Heart.

A reproduction Dutch sampler which is one color of silk. Red.

A beautiful rich, red.

I got this from Vickie Clayton's Hand Dyed Fibers website.


I got a large thread winder to keep the silk.



It's simple yet striking.

It makes a statement without being overly done.
I'm pleased with it in reviewing the pattern.

The old Dutch motifs are very pretty.


I'm using the recommended silk fibers in Gandy Tango, a rich red.

This is the first time I have ordered fabric from this website and I really like it, a bit gauzy but it's 32 count Light Coffee.

If you haven't visited her website, you must take a peek.

http://www.hand-dyedfibers.com/

Her mother of pearl winders and products are very reasonable in price, as well as her silk fibers.

Just wanted to share and see if you've used her fabric before.

I love monochromatic pieces. They seem to be more travel-friendly. You should see my thread pallette card right now while I'm 2/3 finished with the Emma Project, the card is quite a mess.

I like winders because you can still store them in floss bags in between projects.

So what's in your stitching basket next?

Mail goodies and other sundries

Well, the turkey day is over. We did have turkey last night, cooked by the Bodyguard, along with mashed potatoes, stir-fried mushrooms, gravy, crusty bread, and carrots. For dessert, we had pumpkin pie.
Ren, Raven, Ruby, and Tom all got a share of their turkey and gravy. Ren ate dogfood last night first, then ate turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes and then pumpkin pie with me and he was so full that he almost burst but he was happy as can be. He waddled, and I mean waddled ,over to his dry blanket and within seconds he was snoring loudly till this morning.
It was quite humerous!
Abbie, oh Abbie, I wanted to make sure she stays with dog food but Body Guard confessed right before bedtme that he did sprinkle some turkey gravy on her night time feeding.
We played with her late last night until she tired out like Ren.
Tom was so proud of his turkey that he purred endlessly.
Ruby and Raven ate till they were stuffed and tucked in their doghouse on top of each other to keep warm in their hay.
This morning, I slept late while BG got up at 5am to get to Lowe's for their sale. It's a man thing. Lowe's that is.
A couple of years ago we both went to Walmart at 5am and joined the crowds but that was when we still did Santa for the kids. This year, sleep is important.
Such a role reversal for him to be the one out at the sales this morning! :0
I woke up and made coffee, turned on a Christmas CD and sipped my coffee with a peppermint stick while shopping a little online. It's so much easier that way.

I didn't even open my mail for the week until last night, and I have to show you that the Vicki Clayton silks came in for A Tulip for My Love. Also the pattern.

I lit up a candle from Bessie Mae's, my fave primitive store with Body Guard's favorite fragrance, pine. This is Cabin Pine. It's smelling mighty good right now.

Don't you love silk floss? I think color is therapy for me. Honestly. The touch of softness and the color palette just lifted my spirits.

I ordered 2 packs because I tend to use more floss than recommended.

Thus, 2 of each color. My favorite of course is this blue on the right.

One little problem is that the pattern calls for 35 count Fieldstone linen. I googled and looked on all websites that I possibly could, plus ebay and still didn't find Fieldstone. I have some other linen so I may use it instead.

I'm excited to start this piece. But I have a few others now to work on for the holidays so I will package neatly for later.