Valentine

The Primitive Hare

Valentine (Freebie)

30 ct Primitive Hare hand dyed linen

Stitched with Lancaster Red

Look what I picked up this afternoon at my LNS.  Yes, Betty the finisher has once again worked her magic.  I think Great-Great-Great-Great-Great- Grandfather Johan Velten "Valentine" Shultz would be pleased his grandchildren remember him.  (His other Granddaughter Lydia, also thinks he's pretty swell, she's been waiting for him).

Valentine has arrived in time to join the beginning of red decorations for Valentine's Day.

It's hard to live in Music City (Nashville) and not watch the television show Nashville.  Fess up: whose watching?  Deacon is one of my favorites--he's easy on the eyes.  I will admit it is not as good as Downton Abbey, but some interesting characters and plot twists and the music isn't bad either.

Just down the street from the LNS is the House of Blues.  You guessed it, an upcoming scene for Nashville was being filmed.  A trip to the LNS is always exciting, sometimes more exciting than others.

Now, time to plant myself in the stitching chair, pick up Hannah Breed and catch up on Nashville. 

 

Think Snow

Remember these guys?  They are suppose to be thinking snow!

Snow is rare in Music City.  For those of you who don't live in the south here are some facts about snow:

1. The mere mention of snow in the forecast is enough for school to be closed.  
2. With the fall of the first snow flake, there is a run on the grocery stores for milk and bread.
3. Double your driving time if snow has been sighted within a fifty mile radius.

Don't disappoint me Snowmen, Thistle Manor is beautiful with a blanket of snow and I have my long johns ready and waiting!

The Needlework Police is Knocking

Hannah Breed has languished in my stitch stash for years!  One of the reasons Hannah has languished in the stash is because I was afraid to start her!  Fear #1 has been faced--Hannah has been started.  My second fear and reason Hannah has been so long in waiting is because of the Queen stitches!  Darlene O'Steen in her book The Proper Stitch says this about the Queen stitch.

Queen stitch, also known as rococo stitch, though time consuming, is one of the loveliest stitches found on works from the seventeenth century.  When Queen stitch is pulled, a lacy effect is achieved, creating a stitch "fit for a queen."  The resulting pattern of the Queen stitch is a diamond shape with center tacking stitches.

Before I tackled the Queen stitches on Hannah Breed, I got out my trusty, old faithful, doodle practice piece of linen and gave the Queen stitch the old college try.  The first ones looked terrible!  Since Hannah was nine years old when she stitched this sampler, I was not willing to concede defeat and continued stitching.  Admittedly, the more stitches I made, the better looking they became.  As is the case with most needlework, I believe the secret to the Queen stitch is the correct amount of tension.  I will agree with Darlene the stitch is time consuming and uses lots of fiber. 

I had big plans for the weekend up to and including cleaning out the leaves from the hellebore (Lenten Rose) bed.  Mother Nature had other plans which included heavy rain and tornado warnings. 

Am selecting fibers and linen for Stacy Nash's Christmas at Hollyberry Farm.  I am changing the fibers from Gentle Arts Sampler threads to Needlepoint Silks, (because I enjoy stitching with Needlepoint Silks).  I will be stitching Hollyberry on Weeks 35 count straw.  I am determined to have a Christmas sampler for 2013!

Got to run, the doorbell is ringing, I suspect it is the Needlework Police coming to inspect my Queen stitches.

Thistle Manor

Well. . . I would like to report that life at Thistle Manor is not as exciting, or as glamorous or as dramatic as life at Downtown Abbey.  Like millions of others, I was glued to the television set on Sunday night to watch the wedding of Lady Mary and Matthew and all the other shenanigans.  One of my favorite scenes and lines is when Matthew Crawley says to Tom Branson:  "I've told you before, if we are mad enought to take on the Crawley girls, we have to stick together."  Ahh, I think this has the beginnings of a good friendship. 

This weekend I have plans of planting myself in the stitching chair with Hannah Breed and making progress on the alphabets, while watching Downtown Abbey reruns.

Charm Packs

Is everyone enjoying a good belly laugh?  Everyone who knows me knows my least favorite color is pink!  I was one of those children who did not have hair until I was about four so I was dressed in pink.    Mother thought if people saw me wearing pink they would think I was a girl instead of a boy.

Knowing my aversion to pink why the pink quilt?  I am blaming it on my addiction to charm packs.  My love for charm packs far out weighs the dislike for pink.  One of the many reasons I love charm packs is because of the great variety of fabric, design and colors.  However, there is usually one color in the charm pack which does not sing to me.  You guessed it, it is usually the pink one.

Being a creature of habit, I bring the charm packs home, allow my eyes and fingers to enjoy and start thinking of projects and choosing my favorite ones.  Almost immediately, if there are any pink ones in the pack, they get discarded to the pink pile.  Over the years as my collection of charm packs has grown so grew the pink pile.  In my goal to reduce my fabric stash, I came across the pinks and the growing number!  Sewing the 5" charm squares together and setting them on point seemed like a simple and quick way to eliminate to reduce the pink stash.

While purchasing fabric for the sashings/borders, the kind ladies at the quilt shop told me the quilt was not pink.  They said:  it is the pink family of red.  They were as convincing as Mother dressing me in pink so people would think I was a girl.

Life is Good

How many of you have seen the Life is Good tee shirts?  AppleJack and I have a few and we both believe Life is Good.  Take today for instance, I received a telephone call from the LNS.

Pineberry Lane

Lydia Emaline Shults Tudor

And the frame, nice and primitive just the way I like.

Waiting at the post office was a package from Country Sampler, Spring Green, Wisconsin

Inside the package--Broken Dishes by Jo Morton

and if that was enough goodness, the LNS had Christmas at Hollyberry Farm.

Life is Good!  Congratulations to Nicola and grandson, Archie William--Life is Good, really good!

Scarlet Letter--Hannah Breed

It is a rainy, overcast winter day at Thistle Manor and the perfect day to make stitching progress on Hannah Breed.  Am so appreciative to Nicola for challenging everyone with her red letter year of The Scarlet Letter. The Hannah Breed sampler has been languishing in my stash for years.

Hannah is being stitched on 32 count vintage examplar liner by Lakeside.  (am still having anguish over the R & R 18 Century Brown).  Am using Kreinik Soie d' Alger silks.  My second challenge with Hannah (the first being the linen) is two of the silk colors.  The colors were so light, when stitched onto the linen, they were lost.  I wanted to stay as true to Hannah's original sampler as I could, but made the decision to use a darker color.  The colors for Hannah range from very pastel to bright blues and reds.  Am thinking Hannah used the fibers she had or perhaps borrowed fibers from someone else.

Several years ago, friends were visiting with their young daughter.  I remember the daughter asking her Mother if I was learning my ABC's because there was an ABC chart is every room!  Well, Hannah must have been learning her ABC's because she has stitched five sets of alphabets into her sampler.

Am waiting for a couple of fibers to fill in the missing letters of the alphabet.  Was so anxious to get started stitching on Hannah, I started before all the fibers arrived.

As we enter 2013 I will leave with the words from one of my favorite prayers;

May the roads rise to meet you, may the winds be always at your back, may the sun shine warm upon your face, the rains fall soft upon your fields, and until we meet again may God hold you in the hollow of his hand.