Christmas Preparations

Christmas is coming, the geese are getting fat

Please put a penny in the old man's hat

If you haven't got a penny, a ha'penny will do

If you haven't got a penny, then God bless you

The time between Thanksgiving and Christmas seems to move at mock speed.  There are parties, dinners, shopping, decorating, wrapping, gift exchanging.  If I am not careful all this can put me into a bah humbug mood and I end up like Scrooge!

Secret weapons for warding off Scrooge

Hot Chocolate or hot caramel apple cider

Music:  Il Divo Christmas, Harry Connick, Jr

Stop Top Potpourri (1/2 cup fresh cranberries, 1 orange slices, 4 cinnamon sticks broken in half, 1 tablespoons cloves, 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg and 2-3 cups water)

Sleeping under a Christmas quilt

Reading/looking at Christmas books

Laughing at the Griswold's in Christmas Vacation

It is hard to be grumpy with hot chocolate or warm cider in my tummy.  The house smells and sounds like Christmas with simmering potpourri and Silent Night softly playing.

Clark Griswold says:  we are going to have the happiest Christmas since Bing Crosby tap-danced with Danny Kaye.

It's beginning to look at lot like Christmas

Homespun Gathering Fall 2017

There are special times in life when you think it can't get any better and it does.  This is the case with the Homespun Gatherings.  At the sake of sounding redundant, there is always delicious food, beautiful needlework, inspiration and sharing time with your kindred spirits.

Heartstring Samplery

His Eye is on the Sparrow

Stitched by Jane

An heirloom piece of needlework!  Jane's beautiful execution of tension with her needle and thread is outstanding.  I neglected to ask Jane when she started stitching "sparrow," it is big the colors are rich and it is a piece of needlework which will be treasured by her family.  Jane is an avid gardener and great cook.  Jane was stitching the November word play by With Thy Needle and Thread.

His Eye is on the Sparrow

Sub Rosa

Polly Brown

Stitched by Judy

Another heirloom!  Judy loves stitching big houses and calls herself the youngster of our group.  She may be a youngster in age but this is not reflected in her needlework as she stitches with great execution and skill.  Judy has stitched several large samplers:  Liberty's Welcome, Yuletide Welcome and Ghoultide Welcome by Plum Street Samplers, Christmas Garden by Blackbird Designs, Red House Sampler by Brenda Keys, Christmas at Hollyberry Farms by Stacy Nash and this beautiful Polly Brown by Sub Rosa.  Judy's needle is always busy and she has stitched many other lovely pieces, these are just a few which I have remembered.  Ever the encourager, Judy tells me:  just stitch one needle full of fiber a day and you will make progress.  Judy is working on another big red house: Grateful, Thankful and Blessed by With Thy Needle and Thread--it is a beauty.

Chessie and Me

Club Piece from Country Sampler

stitched by Debby

Look closely at that deer, he is stitched over one.  Can't wait to see how Debby finishes this piece, she is very creative and imaginative with her finishing and framing.  Debby was stitching O Tannenbaum by With Thy Needle and Thread. Several of the group will be stitching this piece and we spent some of the time counting out the layout of the design on 36 ct Legacy by Picture This Plus.  The Santa, the words to Oh Christmas Tree and the sweet sheep all neatly displayed in a shadow box have caused many stitchers to fall in love with this teaching piece from Brenda Gervais.  Like Judy, Debby's needle is seldom idle and am sure she will have this piece finished and ready to share at the next gathering.

Stacy Nash

Country Sampler Club piece

Stitched by Debby

Debby had purchased a beautiful piece of red over dyed velveteen fabric and green silk ribbon for the finishing on this piece.  Hmm, I saw a red sleigh from Target which would be a great compliment piece for displaying this piece of needlework.

Lizzie Kate

To Do List

Stitched by Courtney

Courtney says she will hang this piece of needlework next to her back door so she can read it each morning as she walks our the door to begin her day.  Great words for each of us to practice.

Lucille was knitting, Ruth was stitching a Beatrix Potter baby sampler for a co-worker, Mary was stitching one of the Little House Needleworks Early American Series.  I have retrieved Margaret Cottam by La D Da from my PhD drawer and am determined to get her finished.

Did I mention the food was delicious.  Home baked bread, chicken casserole, corn casserole, cranberry salad, Shepherd's salad, pecan pie and carrots cake.  Yum, Yum--if you walk away hungry  after spending the day with this group, it was your choice.

Thank you Homespun Kindred Spirits for another wonderful gathering.  I am motivated to stitch and have finished projects to share for the first gathering in January 2018.  

Cumberland Valley Quilters Association Quilt Show

This past Saturday, November 11, 2017 was the biennial Cumberland Valley Quilters Association Show.  The show was held at the St. Philip Catholic Center on Second Avenue in Franklin.

We arrived late to the quilt show and only had one hour to look at the quilts and shop with vendors.  Translation:  I have no names of the quilts or the quilt makers.  Since I have so very little information about the quilts or the quilt makers, I will fill in the blanks with the history of Franklin.

This was the raffel quilt.  Pretty nice.  I didn't win.

The City of Franklin was founded in 1799 (the same year as M. completed her Ackworth sampler).  The city was named after Benjamin Franklin.  For most of its first 180 years, Franklin was a tranquil small county seat.  In the years prior to the Civil War, Franklin (Williamson County) was one of the wealthiest counties in Tennessee.  Franklin was the center of plantation economy and there are several plantation mansions which survived.

The Civil War devastated the economy.  The Battle of Franklin was one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War with more than 8,000 casualties and turning every home and building in town into a hospital.  It took 120 years for the economy to reach pre-war levels.  Today.  Franklin is one of the wealthiest cities in one of the wealthiest counties in the United States.

Author, Robert Hicks tells the story of Carrie McGavock in his novel, The Widow of the South.  Carnton Plantation where Carrie and her family lived is the setting of the novel and the site of the Battle of Franklin.  Carnton is a short distance from downtown Franklin.  During the battle, Carrie's kitchen was turned into an operating room.  The floor still bears the stains of countless amputations.  When the battle ended, Carrie tended to the sick and dying and became the caretaker of the burial plots and cemetery located a short distance from her house.

Downtown Franklin is the best of both old and new.  There is the 1937 Franklin Theatre and Binks Outfitters on the same block.  Yarrow Acres, Rare Prints Gallery, and Walton's Antique and Estate Jewelry are some of my favorite shops on main.

There are two quilt shops in Franklin:  Quilting Squares and Stitchers Garden.  Both shops carry a wide assortment of Civil War fabrics and teach classes.

Just off Main Street on 4th Avenue South is Merridee's Breadbasket Bakery.  When we are in Franklin, we usually pop in for a fresh baked cinnamon roll or sticky bun.  Delicious!

The downside to Franklin is the traffic and parking.  I much preferred visiting Franklin when it was the quaint little sleepy town which had not been discovered and we could take a walk on the streets and enjoy the carefully preserved and restored homes.

My favorite part about Franklin--the Nashville Needlework Market is held each February/March at the Embassy Suites!  (Franklin is about 20 miles from Nashville)

My one and only purchase, the pattern for this house quilt.  I have always wanted to make a quilt with a house in it and this pattern looked like it was within my skill level.  Oh, that tiny little flag flying from the house is the Tennessee State Flag.

M Quertier 1799 Debut

M Quertier 1799

Ackworth School

Scarlet Letter

35 count stash linen lambswool?

Gloriana Silk India ink

The chart for M. Quertier 1799 has been in my stitching stash a long time.  M. was one of the first sampler charts I purchased from the Scarlet Letter.  M. is a big girl--she is 11" x 18 1/4" on 35 count linen.  Each time I would browse through my stash, I would say to myself:  "I really like this sampler, I really need to stitch it, it's a Quaker.  What was my reluctance?  I started it once and quickly realized the piece of fabric I had selected was not big enough and also realized M. was a big girl, a big stitch and she would take some time.    

Passion flower motif

Little is known about M. Quertier, I have previously written about her,  The Quertiers were a Channel Island family and M. was admitted to Ackworth as a special case.  My naive heart wants to believe M. was admitted as a special case because she was special.  She was intelligent, had potential and had exceptional needle working skills.  That's my story for M. and I'm sticking to it.

Garland motif with M's initials

There are so many questions I would like to ask M. about her sampler.  How long did it take you to stitch the sampler?  Did you choose/design the motifs or were they chosen and designed y someone else?  Was this a year long teaching project at Ackworth?  The initials MQ are yours, but who do the initials JT, MN, SW and AT belong to?  Were they your friends, your classmates, your teachers, members of your family, neighbors?  Why did you stitch the date 1799 three times?  Were you apprehensive about the turn of the century?  There are three garland motifs with initials, was this one of your favorite motifs?

Carnation motif

M. stitcher her sampler in 1799, my reproduction was stitched in 2017--218 years later.  Will my sampler survive as long as M.'s?  Did M. stitch her sampler outside in natural sunlight, while I stitched mine with cheater glasses and a Dazor light with magnifier?  Did M. do reverse stitching?

Am happy M. is finished and she has a date with the framer.  The Beatrix Potter and the companion sampler to Beatrix Potter are in my stash, they are loudly calling to be stitched.  I need a break from large samplers and Emma Lerch who was pushed to the side while I was stitching on M has been patiently waiting for me to return and finish the stitching on her.  For the remainder of the 2017 I will be working on Emma and smaller pieces before I start another Quaker.