I've Been Framed!

The Dirty Brown Sampler (released in 2001)

Beside the Hearth by Janet Morse

Mystery Linen from stash

Needlepoint Ink Silk 587 Burnt Umber range

Gentle Arts Sampler Threads:  Gold Leaf, Mulberry, Forest Glade

Yes, I take ownership of not updating my blog since October 11.  Am always busy.  Busy does not mean the same thing as productive.  Book Festival,  football, election, trips to the apple orchard, walking, the passing of a friend and for good measure toss in everyday life events is what has been occupying my time.  Oh yes, throw in a couple of fun trips to the framer!  Aren't trips to the framer fun?  I can get lost looking at all the moldings and my head is spinning with visions of the finished product.  While my Dirty Brown Sampler was being framed, Rita, one of the stitch girls from the Homespun group was also having her Dirty Brown Sampler framed.  I think it was fun for the framer and her customers to see the framed samplers hanging side by side.  Two samplers stitched on different fabrics, framed differently and stitched by two different needleworkers.

Lydi Emaline Shults (Emma Lerch)

The Scarlet Letter

Mystery stash linen

A Ver A Soie fibers

Lydia Emaline Shults is a part of my family history.  Her story is rather sad.  She was born October 26, 1865 and was a baby and child during the reconstruction years following the end of the Civil War.  She married a minister and they had no children.  She died from consumption (tuberculous) most likely spread from her husband and his parishioners.  About those colors:  Lydia's crayon box was full of bright colors and she was not afraid to use them.  One of the stitch girls said she wolud glow in the night.  Yes, she just might which is okay with me.  It will be Lydia showing me the way.

All American Finn

Threadwork Primitives (Nan Lewis) released 2014

32 count dove gray linen overdyed with walnut stain

Gentle Arts Sampler Thread, Needlepoint Ink Silk, Sewing Notions Trip

Starfish from Michael's

AppleJacks' Granddaughter has transitioned her room from the pinks of a young girl to a beach theme of a teen.  I found the board at Michael's, AppleJack spray pained the board white and the framer added Finn, cording and the starfish.  A fun piece of whimsy.  My framer and I are calling it the Betty version of a Priscilla finish.

Justice for All

Blackbird Designs released in 2002

40 count Old Massachusetts linen by The Primitive Hare

Needlepoint Ink Silks Williamsburg Blue Range 328 and Russet Red Range 209

After finishing the Dirty Brown Sampler, I started Justice for All by Blackbird Designs which was released in 2002.  The weathering and distress of this linen fit my needs for more family history.  I will add the year 1780 which was the year my Grandfather Johan Martin Shultz joined Colonel John Sevier and his Over-the-Mountain men and defeated the British at the Battle of Kings Mountain during the Revolutionary War.  To my knowledge there is no surviving needlework from my Shultz/Shults family.  (I think they were to busy surviving the challenges of living on the unsettled frontier and caring for their family.). Once again, I did some research and will add Grandfather Martin and Grandmother Julianna's story to the back of this sampler.  A very quick stitch--love the long, tall, leggy letters of this sampler.  Have set a goal for myself to finish this sampler during the Thanksgiving holidays.  No Black Friday shopping for this girl, but I can be talked into shopping for moldings at the frame shop.

There are so many things in the stitching box sitting beside my stitching chair which I want to stitch.  The two samplers which seem to be calling my name the loudest is Sarah's House by Blackbird Designs released in 2012 and the Hospitality Sampler by Words of Praise which was released in 1970.  Thank you for asking, I do have some golden oldies in my stitch stash.  The verse on this sampler has always spoken to me:  Be not forgetful to entertain strangers;  for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.  

Thanksgiving plans include staying at home, cooking some family favorite recipes, planting daffodils for the spring, decorating for Christmas, morning walks, watching some SEC football and time in the Stitch Room!  No road trips, no trips to the malls for this girl.  Our Homespun group is going to do a July exchange and I have already started working on mine.  Thanks to Flosstube, I have some great ideas.