Not quite done

Last week I thought my little sampler from Cross Stitch Antique Style Samplers (June Greenoff 2005) would be done by today. Not quite. I had a work trip to New York City in the middle of the week, which slowed my stitching. Even so, just working in the evenings while we watched tv or my husband read to me I've almost finished the cross stitching. One little bird is left to stitch, then I can do the drawn work. It is pretty simple hem, but I've just never done drawn work before so I don't want to rush through it. After that I'll mount the piece over colored fabric--maybe green so that I can use this as a Christmas decoration. What do you think?

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Embedded memories and the unexpected importance of dating your needlework

Does anyone else mark events in their lives by their projects? I don't mean wedding or birth samplers that are made to especially commemorate a life event, but works that accidentally record important facts simply because of when they were made? In general, my projects remind me of what was going on in my life when I made them and help me recall things I might otherwise forget, but I have one piece that is an essential historical document for me.

My life was in a lot of turmoil at the time I stitched this little rose. I was in the middle of a divorce, in between apartments and looking for a new job. At the same time, from out of the blue I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. It was a lot to take in all at once and as a defense mechanism, part of my brain just refused to remember whats and wheres and whens around that time. Stitching was my therapy, and when I finished this little piece, I stitched the date into it.

As a result, every time I go see a new doctor, I look at my cross stitch before leaving the house so that I'm prepared to answer basic questions, like when did I have my first MS symptoms and how long have I been on such and such a medication. I remember my general disease chronology, but I can't for the life of me remember the starting date without my cross stitch. And thank goodness the picture is so pretty. It never makes me feel bad remembering that time when I look at it, just happy because I really enjoyed the stitching.

No one would guess by looking at it how important my rose is to me and my memory. I didn't foresee its importance at the time I stitched it either, but because I never actually wrote about the things that were happening at that time, it is my only path to those memories. Some day I may write it all down, but honestly looking at this pretty stitched flower, is a lot more soothing than words could ever be and it has worked just fine as a personnel record up till now.

People always say that it is important to initial and date your needlework for posterity. But sometimes the act of dating a piece turns out to be more important for us than it could ever be for our heirs.

 

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A little at a time

A little at a time. That is what I kept telling myself all of July. I've been putting in a lot of extra hours at work and repeating this mantra is the only thing that keeps me on task instead of flying off to try to do six things at once. I'm not really making progress, but I am not falling behind either.

 

At home I have to repeat it often too. Even though my big move is done, finding a roommate and then rearranging everything to make space for her had to be done a little at a time. I've been working on the apartment all month and I finally finished the day she signed the lease. Sometimes it felt as though I would never finish everything, but a little at a time worked, even though there will always be more housework.

 

Since I have been so busy, I've been applying my little at a time philosophy to my needlework as well. The results are much more satisfying than they are at work because they are so tangible. Using my new mantra, I've made progress on several projects, including the gift basket I featured last week. Here is another example.

 

I am working on some pillow shams for a September wedding. The first weekend I was back in Colorado, I bought and washed the fabric. The second weekend I cut and sewed the shams. The third weekend I centered the waste canvas and started stitching. And just a few days ago, with a little time to spare one evening, I attached the ribbon trim. Two more stitching weekends and I will be done. A little at a time is working and I'll have a fantastic homemade wedding gift done on time. It feels great. A little at a time doesn't always work for me, but a little at a time stitching is the best therapy when everything else is out of control.

I've hardly felt like I've worked on these, but they are almost done!

 

 

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A little wish for a happy life together

My time in Rhode Island was well spent. There wasn't much time for embroidery, what with managing kitty introductions, yard work, Easter and visits from friends, although I did help my new neighbor with a cross stitch kit and spent a lovely evening with her gabbing about cats and stitching. My last day in New England we spent at my husband's son's engagement party, hosted by his sister-in-law-to-be in a pretty glass coffee house in a Boston park. A lovely time, but we learned that the kids are too shy for a wedding shower. The engagement party was a compromise so that people could celebrate without putting the bride and groom on the spot. Luckily, I had already finished their shower gift and slipped it to them on Easter without fanfare.

 

My gift was simple embroidered pillow cases. Since I wasn't 100% sure that the bride would be changing her last name, although I know she is thinking about it, I went with their first initials--conveniently K & K--and cross stitched these pretty initials on each pillow case. The pattern is a free one from Blackwork Journey. The initials are classic and understated, just like the couple. I fell in love with the pattern when I went to the site to download a free blackwork sampler pattern. I have all the materials for the sampler, but somehow the pillowcases took precedence. It is nice to have a little project that can be finished quickly! I actually did most of the stitching during my last visit home and finished up in Colorado before this last trip out.

 

Now I have a request from my husband to make some for our bed, and have just heard that my baby cousin (20 years old) will be getting married later this year. It will be a great fast gift for her as well. So, I guess I will be busy stitching pillow cases this year, but it is so nice to have a little hand made gift of love to send along with these new relationships. A little wish for a happy life together.

 

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A wedding sampler goes home

Last year, one of my resolution projects was to finish a wedding sampler for my husband's son and daughter-in-law. I started it in June 2012 and originally planned for it to be done that Christmas. Of course, it wasn't. I finished it last June and had it framed in July for this Christmas. Then our plans changed. Instead of being out east for Christmas, we were in Colorado. But yesterday, we finally celebrated Christmas together.

 

Roger was back home in Rhode Island, and his sons with their wives, fiancées, and the new grandchild came over for a meal and some late Christmas cheer. I joined the festivities via FaceTime. I'm so happy that even though I live so far away, I can still participate!

 

Roger's son and daughter-in-law are both black belts and teach in a Boston KungFu school. They've both been to China and Japan, so when I saw this pattern in the March/April 2012 issue of Just Cross Stitch I knew it would make the perfect wedding sampler.

 

Although it took me eight months to complete, it wasn't boring. I really enjoyed the different types of stitches in this samplers. And I am happy I was able to complete it for Christmas this year. It was worth the work.

 

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Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is Mom's birthday. When she was visiting earlier this month, we presented her with her birthday gift--a cross stitch sampler that made me laugh even as I stitched. To understand why, you have to know:

1. that Dad was a history teacher, so our whole family has always been enamored of historical artifacts, and;
2. Mom has a coffee pot collection. She has at least 50 coffee pots--none of which include a Mr. Coffee. Hers are a variety of new and vintage drip and percolator pots. Included in her collection are my favorite double globe vacuum pots, and a drip stand that I got her in Costa Rica, which consists of a wire on a wooden stand that holds a cone-shaped bag of grounds through which you pour your boiling water.

A portion of Mom's coffee pot collection.

I knew I had to stitch this pattern as soon as I saw it. It is a free pattern from Plum Street Samplers that was featured on the DMC blog back in March. You can download the pattern here.

When my parents saw it, they both started laughing and Dad asked if the poem were made up, or if it came from an actual gravestone. It was made up, but it sure would be a fun inscription to use! It will soon hang in Mom's kitchen near the coffee pots. Happy birthday Mom!

 

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Iris jacket

Several months ago I mentioned a jean jacket that I had once embroidered with some irises. I didn't think that I still had the jacket. After all, I had bought it on a lunchtime shopping trip with friends 15 years ago. But, fall is here and while I was looking in my closet last month to see which jackets were in Colorado and which were in Rhode Island I found it! As with my quilts, it has been washed and faded, but it still fits and is very comfy.

 

Here is the design up close. I stitched the pattern with DMC floss over mesh that you pull out with tweezers after washing the stiffening out. They are more springy than autumnal, but it still makes me smile to see these happy little irises. I'm glad I can still enjoy wearing them.

 

 

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The projects I can't tell you about

One of the frustrating things about sharing my projects with the world is that I can't share the gifts I am currently stitching--even when they are big projects that take a long time to complete--because the recipient might see them.

I've got a couple of these projects underway and have spent many hours working on them this year already. Since I can't show you my progress, the next two blogs will showcase the large gifts I finished last year.

Today I will show you a wedding sampler that I made for my sister and brother-in-law's Christmas gift. Yes, they have been married 8 years, but my philosophy is that it is never too late to give a couple a wedding sampler.

This sampler was adopted from a pattern by Hillside Samplings called "Seasonal Samplings". It attracted me for two reasons. First, my brother-in-law is an active hiker who has already helped my 5-year-old nephew climb his first Adirondack high peak. I thought the pattern would appeal to him as well as to my sister. Second, it wasn't just cross stitch. There were several new stitches that I had never worked, which made me excited to stitch the pattern.

I started working the sampler last January and finished it April 1. My favorite Massachusetts needlework shop and framer, Hoops and Needles, had it framed before the end of the month, so My parents visited in the fall it was ready for them to bring home to New York and wrap for my sister. I'm told that it was greatly admired on Christmas morning.

The finished design measures approximately 6" by 15".

The strawberry blossoms were stitched with eyelet and satin stitches.

For this tree I replaced smyrna stitch accents with gold beads.

The rhodes stitch apples were particularly fun because I had never tried this stitch. I liked how it turned out.

 

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