Garden Gate

  

Garden Gate by Stacy Nash

Stash Linen

NPI Silks

The stitching for Garden Gate has been completed for awhile, it has been languishing in my finishing pile.  The next Homespun Gathering is November 21 and is always fun to have completed projects to share.

I made a few changes.  I added a cartouche on the back.

For the inside, there is a wool pocket at the bottom to hold my thread winder and scissors.  The ribbon is from a kit and I added to the scissors.

The middle section is one half of the design for a pynkeep.  The outside is stitched with Nun's stitch and I added wool felt on the inside for needles.

The top is finished with Kelmscott needle rings for fibers.

Am still undecided about adding cording to the outside edge.  For now, I'm calling it a finish.





Stacy Nash Garden Gate

What do unfinished projects and denial have in common?  For me, they both begin and end with me.  I do not know and have no intention of knowing the number of unfinished projects in my stash.  Knowing the number of unfinished projects in my stash is too much reality for me.  Guess you might say, denial is my comfort zone when it comes to unfinished projects.  Is there a stitcher's anonymous recovery program?

I started Stacy Nash's Garden gate several years ago.  The project went into the WIP basket when it came to back side.

 Stacy's original design was stitched on the front cover

and the inside cover but not the back cover.  I thought  the back cover needed something.  And this was the beginning of the problem.  I started looking at other designs.  Did I want something in keeping with the gardening theme a basket? a flower?  Did I want personalization?  a Cartouche?  I dug out design after design, motif book after motif book and could not make a decision.

After much deliberation, I finally narrowed the choices to these two books:  Brenda Keys Alphabets, Motifs and Borders and Minuscules & Majuscules.  I decided the back motif would be a cartouche with an initial.  I was torn between two choices of cartouche's and AppleJack came to the rescue and made a choice for me.  Whew!  It's a good thing one member of this family can make a decision.

Now who would have ever thought something as simple as this could cause so much anguish?

Garden Gate Sewing Book by Stacy Nash

WOW!  It is the end of January, time flies when you are having fun!  There are still many weeks of winter left.  The winter has been very mild to date.  Only one snow (a light dusting) and temps not so cold.  In walking thru Next Year (the garden) I have already started seeing many signs of spring!  Including weeds, lots and lots of weeds.  As we get closer to spring, I am going to be a busy busy girl with yard work and pulling weeds, more weeds and when that is finished more weeds!  As I look forward to spring, here is another Stacy Nash piece called Garden Gate.  I found this piece in my "needs more work stash."

This is front of the sewing book.

This is the inside of the sewing book.

This is the back of the sewing book.  Stacy's original design for Garden Gate does not have any stitching on the back.  Hmm.  In typical Thistle Manor style, I thought this would be the area to take some creative licensing and make it my own.  I have searched through my Stacy Nash designs and will be adding some personalization on the back.  I over dyed the linen for this piece with some of my black walnut concoction.  The black walnut dye has worked its magic, aging the piece.  I have to wait until AppleJack is on a mission  to break out the black walnut concoction because it has a mighty smell!

These are the fabrics I have selected for the inside of the sewing book--Civil War reproductions!

So, while I wait for spring, Garden Gate will be a nice distraction.