A happy finish...

She's done - completed a few days ago, and finally photographed.
Now to find a proper frame, but that will have to wait until summer's end...




I made a few small changes such as adding the completion date and my own initials.



It was also the first time I've stitched over one thread ( Ann's name and year) - I dreaded it at first, but it was not so bad after all!
It was a lot of fun stitching this sampler, but for now I'll take a break from Quaker samplers and pick up some stitching in need of my attention, or will I start something new? Let me enjoy this finish first for a little while....

Strawberries & Chocolate

A little quilt I made during a fun workshop this past Saturday to make a quilt top in a day using a brick layout.
It would have been done in that one day, but we had so much fun chatting and laughing so hard, it didn't matter. Who needs a sauna when you have a bunch of hysterically funny quilters in one room?



Although the top is completed, it'll have to wait for the border fabric to arrive at the shop for me to finish it and prepare for quilting.
Not a problem, as I'm heading for the finishing line of my Ann Grimshaw sampler, and have plenty to do outside of the handwork realm!

not far to go...

Even though I've been away for quite some time from my blog and you all, that didn't mean you weren't in my thoughts!
With the wonderfully warm and sunny weather, I've been away from the computer and spending time outdoors and with friends.
The Challenge posed be me by my friend Marni I haven't forgotten either, I've been working hard to reach it, but doubt if I will make it - I will do my very best though!

In the evenings, when we haven't had company pop in, I've sat and stitched as much as I could.
I'm still really enjoying this sampler, even with the occasional glitch caused by the faults found in the original pattern, causing me to spend precious time taking out stitches instead of making them! Not matter, it gave the brain cells a workout....lol!

Here's where I've left off.....



...and speaking of workouts, that's another thing I've picked up whilst gone from here, going back to the gym, which is where I'm headed to now!

I also want to say a big thank you to all of you who sent such kind responses and encouragements!
I'll try not to stay away too long....

cheers,
heidi

taking on the challenge...

While the painters are working on our home, and the wind blows cold and hard against the windows, I've been stitching away wondering if I will get Anne finished by May 1st.



There hasn't been much time to have long sit-down sessions, so I've been taking a few minutes here and there, even if it's just to do a few stitches. Surprisingly, it's added up nicely and progress is coming along. I'd thought I'd get tired of the Quaker motifs, but no, it's still just as much fun stitching them!

That, plus the incredibly kind words I've received from all of you who commented on the completion of Hannah Beeby, has, like Chicken Soup for a cold, really done me a lot of good and has motivated me even more to complete this larger sampler. Thank you so much!
Add a challenge from a dear friend with what seems a daunting deadline....

...and you've got me signing off so I can go back to my Ann!

Marni's Challenge

My dear friend Marni has challenged me, thrown down the gauntlet:

"Now Miss Heidi, we have a race- me across the US from San Diego to St. Augustine, and you to finish Anne. You have until May 1. at a stitch per mile that's only 3200 stitches give or take."

On your mark, get set, go.


Ok Marni, I accept the challenge!

The rest of you...wish me luck!!! ...and Marni too, with her race!

Another Quaker Sampler

..and this time it's Ann Grimshaw 1818, an Ackworth School Quaker Sampler.



progress so far....





a close up....

It's going to be short and sweet for a while here, still busy with the house, and have other priorities to attend to. I will however, be going to the Handwerk Beurs in Zwolle this weekend. There will be all sorts of crafts featured, including knitting, spinning, cross stich, and quilting. Hope to be able to take some photos and report back to you all about that.
In the meantime, I'll try to catch up on blogs, and see what everyone has been up to - I do miss seeing all that wonderful stuff!

just in....

Drema from Needlecraft Corner just sent me this ( in three days it arrived, I might add! ):

The Au Ver a Soie silks and 32 ct. Pearled Barley from Lakeside Linens so I can start on yet another project, The Houses of Hawk Run Hollow. This is a shot straight out of the well packed parcel...

Yeah, yeah, I'm late to the party; parusing the blogs I've noticed that many people have been working on it, have completed it or are on the Village of Hawk Run Hollow or The Shores of Hawk Run Hollow...but then again, I'm just a humble newbie and new to all of this!

No matter, the colors are luscious, and I'm chomping at the bit, but first things first.

1. help!  - always a moment of "panic" when starting yet another large project - why can't I ever do just little ones?

2. I've never worked with silks before - should be exciting!

3. How do I organize these threads? What are some of the best ways to keep them neat and tidy?

4. How do I figure out where to start on the linen?  I tend to start my works in the upper right hand corner - at least that's the way I'd like to do it with this pattern, and work my way from right to left, top to bottom.  This part always makes me nervous because you want it to be exact and not run out of linen.  Up until now, someone has always helped me with this, and the projects I've worked on were always on large pieces of fabric (ok - I've only been working on two pieces using only one color - the red and white and the Ann Grimshaw)

I've checked out my sparse library on the subject, but it looks like I'll have to "Google" a bit more and try some things out on my own.  

For now however, it's time to check out the repeat of the opening ceremonies of the Olympics.  I missed most of the live show on TV as I was off buying backing fabric ( I know, priorities!) for a quilt I'm making for my friend Mieke.  While watching I'll try to get some stitching done on Ann Grimshaw as well.

have a great weekend y'all!

heidi

a knee, tattoos, jokers and Ann

Hey ho!  

It's past the Witching Hour, and therefore my bed time, so I'll be quick!

Things have been a bit hectic around here: Ro just had knee-surgery. Got new tendons after they tore off during a soccer match. Now he's bed-ridden and needs lots of coddling and care for the next 6 weeks (if all goes well). While he was under the knife, I was sat, waiting , iPod in my ears, and needle in hand working on my Ann Grimshaw sampler to pass the time. There's almost disappointingly little progress on this sampler, but here's a shot of it anyway:

I would've gotten more done, particularly when we were on holiday, but almost everything that I had stitched, which were the top row half-hexagons, had to be taken out because when Ro made copies of the pattern (so I could keep the original at home just in case), the very top line was missing!  It took me a while to figure out why they weren't working out -( please, don't say "duh" - it was hot over there! ), and when I did, had to spend quite some time ( with some @!&*-ing under my breath) to take it all out.  In the greater scheme of things in the universe, it wasn't such a big deal, I guess, but hence one of the reasons for the set-back.  Other reasons: other projects, preparing the house for the knee patient, and picking up yet more chores that would other wise be done by Ro.  At least it's for a good cause!

Also, while I was gone, a package came in the mail for me.  One of my quilting friends offered to have the package sent to her home, so it wouldn't get lost on it's last leg from the States to Holland.  This fabric is for a quilt, for a friend who just moved out of the parental home into his very first home.  He's a lover of Rock and Heavy Metal music, and his bedroom (where the quilt will be on the bed) is completely black.  He's a sweet-heart and good friend.  Darwin adores him (always a good sign!).  I could have made a quilt using different black fabrics (still can) but I happen to see this fabric and thought it could have potential - besides it's such cool fabric!

Since this friend of ours is also Ro's soccer team buddy, and that the boys often get together to play Poker, I thought this bit of fabric could be meaningful to work into the quilt as well...

I'm thinking of a strippy quilt - wide strips with solid stripes?  

Actually, I have no idea what I will do - all is open and swirling around in my head.  There's no rush for this quilt, so that a good thing!

Any suggestion?  I'd gladly hear them - I could use some ideas here!

I have more news to share, but that will be for a next post - It's past one in the morning and as is my usual ritual, still have some reading to do in The Historian.

Goodnight!

productive monday...

Happy Monday!

Not much to report: except that I finished machine quilting the baby quilt for Mieke, took a break from that after an unsucessfull search for a proper/matching binding fabric, and decided to work some more on the triangle quilt, as you can see in the quick snap taken above.

Now DH is BBQ-ing outside and the smoke is coming up and in through my sewing room window....and I'm being "smoked" out of my room!....

Hmmm, guess it's  time to finish up, close the window and move downstairs to do some work on a sampler?

Hope your Monday was less complicated!  lol!!

the rotation of projects or am I really making progress?

It's a cold, grey and rainy day here in Holland.  Normally these are good days to do some stitching, but alas, not as much as I had hoped.  Here's my progress so far.....

Having read on blogs and in articles that cross stitchers rotated their projects, it seemed like a good idea to try it.  The idea wasn't really new, but sometimes it's good to be reminded of them, and then there's the right time for them to be implemented. Now, I don't have anywhere NEAR the amount of projects that many people have in progress, but I do know the unpleasant feeling of that little voice nagging me to work on a project when entering my sewing room, or seeing it lying there in the closet, or when picking up that favorite project of the moment, leaving that poor WIP waiting for yet another day.

So.  Ann Grimshaw will be put aside for two weeks, and my red & white sampler will receive my undivided attention for the coming two weeks.  As mentioned above, the hope was to get more work done, but the "spring cleaning" I've been doing in the house, and some small quilting projects have taken in some of that time, and let's not get started on the sudden runny nose, teary-eyed, sneeze-fest that suddenly came over me this week!  Do you know how hard it is to cross stitch with all that going on?  Right - so that's another reason progress has been slow.

This morning, while attempting a few more stitches, I discovered a mistake.  1 stitch!  Grrr...

In the greater scheme of things it's not a drama, I'm just wondering if I should take everything out to where the mistake was and start all over again?  I'm not afraid of frogging or ripping (whatever the proper term is to cross stitchers) but am more concerned about the pattern not working out as I work my way to the edge...

Any thoughts on that?

Furthermore, work on a small quilting project will resume shortly after this post is published.  It's actually a "copy" of a quilted envelope I use to put my needlework projects with me.  It's around 20 years old now (gasp!) and before recently only served to store my needlework canvases in.  

Oh, and may I say thank you to every one who has so kindly responded and corresponded with me since I've begun posting regularly again?  It brings a smile, stimulates and encourages.

Thank you!

practice makes ... the worry less

I was planning on some stitching today as I'm very pleased with how Ann Grimshaw is coming along, but the red & white log cabin is laying rolled up in the guest bedroom waiting...

So I dug up some muslin and scraps of batting and started to practice quilting by machine.  It's not really quilting though is it?  It's basically stitching through three layers of fabric.  So, I stuck on my "stitch-in-the-ditch" foot on my Pfaff which has never been used even though it's been part of my sewing arsenal for over a year, asked the heavens to smile upon me and...it's easy!  Ok, so you have to go slower, use a bigger stitch size and at the beginning take your time taking the first stitch back and forth three times to anchor it.  Take a deep breath, relax, and let the machine do it's thing!

Thought it would be a big learning curve, but admittedly, it wasn't as bad as it seemed.  Visions of my machine eating fabric, bunching threads, bending needles....all for naught.  Silly rabbit!  

I'll finish up this little block just to get the feel in my fingers and then pull out the quilt - or perhaps I'll make a sample log block and practice on that to see what it will look like?  Depends on the amount of patience and confidence I have.  

Now that the mountain has been made into a molehill, it's time to take a break and have a nice relaxing walk with Darwin.  

See Ya!

Ann Grimshaw sampler - progress report

not in the mood for sorting through attic boxes....



...but after completing two more motives, it's seems like the right thing to do...

first stitches...

Hello!
It's a glorious afternoon here, after a very dark and rainy day.
What a better thing to do while it's raining cats and dogs than to start a new project?
Here's the start of the Ann Grimshaw sampler:



It doesn't look like much now, but hopefully it'll look like a sampler soon.
I would like to mark my progress on my blog, and have seen several on the blogs that I read: does anyone know how to do that? and if so, would you please tell me how?


Materials used:

S & S Linen - 14 count per cm/35 count per inch
DMC # 3010
golden #28 needles