Quaker Sampler Finish

This Quaker Sampler was the project from my class at the EGA National Seminar in San Antonio, Texas.  The class was called "Stitching Friends" and was taught by Nan Euler.  It was interesting learning about Quaker schools and their samplers.  The most fun part was designing our own sampler!  We were given a grid and quite a few motifs to cut out and tape onto our grid to make our sampler.  Everyone's samplers were so different.  Our grid and motifs were black and white, but we were given a large amount of Gloriana silk threads in wonderful colors.  Stitching with the silk threads on the Glenshee linen was a joy!

Here's my finished sampler.  I wanted to take advantage of many of the beautiful colors of silk.  It was so much fun, I think I'll design another one and maybe stitch it all in red! 

Happy stitching!
Sherri

Chocolate Harts

 

Just finished!  Chocolate Harts by Plum Street Samplers mounted in a Lone Elm Lane shaker box.

A Few Finishes

I haven't posted finishes for a while, mainly because I haven't had many finishes :)  This was my first finish of 2015 (only because I didn't quite get it done in 2014).  It's "Mildred''s Garden House" by Blackbird Designs.  Although I have to call it Daisy's Garden House since I personalized it with my great-grandmother's name and date she was married.

This one is a sampler from Chessie and Me designed especially for a workshop for the Tudor Rose Sampler Guild. 

This one I started last summer since it was small enough to take on a motorcycle trip back east.  It's "Bloomin' Alphabet" from La-D-Da.

Happy Stitching!

My Studio

I realized I haven't posted any pictures of my studio makeover.  Bob likes to call this room my studio; actually it's a sewing room, craft room, stitching room, morning room, office, all rolled into one.  I'm fortunate to have a large room with high ceilings and lots of windows.

I really don't have any before pictures.  The previous owners of the house used this room as a media room which consisted of black out curtains, a reclining sofa, a HUGE tv and it was decorated with John Wayne memorabilia.  I guess you can imagine that.

My first order of business was built-in in shelving and workspaces for my computer and sewing machine.

I did a T shaped workspace since the room is so large.  The extra peninsula space is available on the office side and the sewing side which really helps.  The shelves provide tons of storage for books and stitching/craft supplies.  The blue apron hanging in the center was used and made by my Grandma from feed sack material.

The end of the peninsula is a bookcase for extra storage.

Moving to the left is an outside wall with sliding glass doors leading on to a porch.  The high ceilings allow space for hanging stitched pieces that haven't found a home anywhere else in the house.  I have a large counter height worktable in front of the sliding glass doors.  The light pouring on to the workspace is fabulous!

Still moving to the left, opposite the built-ins, is a sitting area with lots of lights for stitching.  The sofa is a sleeper so we have some extra guest space if we need it.  The quilt hanging on the wall was made by my Grandma and was the inspiration for the wall color.

The fourth wall has a closet which is full of shelves to store more craft, sewing, and stitching supplies.  The white shelf unit mounted on the wall has glass door knobs as hangers and is where I hang my main stitching and project bags.  I've got a TV in the corner on a roller cart that I can pull out to watch while I stitch.

I seem to spend most of my time in this room doing something or other.  Hmmmm what will I start on today?

Hope you enjoyed the tour!
Sherri

Long Dog Mystery Sampler

Finished and framed at last!  I started with two bands in 2007, two more bands in 2010, and the rest in 2013.  I didn't intend to drag it out like that, but don't most stitchers have some "long term" projects in their rotations?

Leo's Sampler Framed

I had Leo's Sampler framed at the Stitch Niche and they did a wonderful job, as always.  I love the frame!

Leo's Sampler is Finished!

I just finished Leo's sampler yesterday and will get it to the framer soon. I want to have it ready when we go visit at Thanksgiving.  Leo will be 18 months then.  The pattern is "Dawson's Sampler" from Cherished Stitches.

Blackbird PIncushion and More Quiet Book Pages

I've continued to work on Leo's quiet book, but took a break to finish this pincushion.  It's "Bluebird" from Blackbird Designs but obviously it's not blue!  I had some overdyed silk floss laying around that I decided to use instead.  I stuffed it with crushed walnut shells and finished it off with come vintage lace I found on ebay and some little white buttons from the Paris flea market.

Now, on to the quiet book.  Here are the most recent pages:

This pet shop page came from the Snugglebug University blog.  You can find the free templates here.

Leo can rescue the puppy from the pet shop and take it home to its own doghouse!  The door on the doghouse closes to play peak a boo.

Here's a page to put your hand in the mitten.

A train page.  The wheels button on and off.

And ta da!!  The centerfold of the book is the car page.  Leo can drive from home to the lake with the little car.  The lights on the stoplight are fastened with velcro.

Just a few more pages and I'll be ready to put them together.

Happy stitching!
Sherri

Some Finishes and Leo's Sampler

This is "Lone Star", a needlpoint based on the Texas Flag.  It was mounted in a rustic frame on a wool background with a twisted cord that hopefully looks a bit like a rope.  It was designed by Kathy Fielder of the Greater Dallas Chapter EGA.  I'll be teaching it at the Fort Worth Chapter EGA this month. It was a super fun stitch!

Here's another needlepoint, but a tiny one.  It's just under 2 inches.  The design is by Mary Polityka Bush and I finished it into a two sided pin keep.  It's mounted on large metal buttons with a flower trim around the edge.  This was also an EGA project.

I took a break from needlepoint and did this Elizabeth's Designs punchneedle.  I finishd it into a pin cushion and filled it with crushed walnut shells.  This is the first time I've used the walnut shells as a pin cushion stuffer - I love the feel and weight of it!

Leaving you with the progress on Leo's baby sampler.  Maybe I can have it finished by his first birthday :)

Happy stitching and stay warm!!

4 Generations of Grandmothers

Several years ago, I took a class at a TNNA market on making a multi-media memory book.  The class was by The Thread Gatherer and they gave us the most beautiful packets of cardstock, fabric, hand-dyed ribbons, overdyed floss, etc. and chart packs on how to make fabric books and memory books.  Now, I'm not a big scrapbooker, but I like to learn scrapping techniques; so since I had all these wonderful supplies, I decided to make a memory book.  Here's the cover:

 

I used one of my favorite old photos as the inspiration.  Here I am as a baby being held by my great-grandmother with my mother and grandmother looking on.  We always called it the "4 generations" picture. Now that I have grandchildren, I decided to use being a Grandmother as a theme.

I made a page for each person in the photo, gave each page a quote about Grandmothers, and tied them together by using a matching button on each page.

The first page highlights my great-grandmother "Grandma Daisy".  I am fortunate to have memories of her.  She died when I was small, but I can remember visiting her at her big house in the country.  She did a lot of redwork, so I added a small redwork butterfly salvaged from a pillowcase she made.  Here the button is the center of a flower I embellishe with silk ribbon.

Page 2 is for my Grandmother Richardson.  She was a school teacher and liked to read to us.  I love this picture of her reading to me when I was little.  I added a photo of her when she was young and used the button to hold the tag with the quote.  The little doily is one she crocheted as a Christmas ornament.

My mother's page is a little different.  She was never into needlework but appliques these amazing flags, paints birdhouses, and grows flowers.  She takes pride in her restored 19th century house and makes it a welcoming and comfortable home for her grandchildren (and children) to visit.  Her page has a bird house that uses the button as the hole.  I had some bird and cat buttons tucked away just waiting for the right project.  This was it!

And of course, the last page is for me.  I have pictures of me with my granddaughters.  In one of them, Aislyn looks on while I show off the Lizzie Kate stocking I made for her.  I added a little cross stitch piece I did years ago and put the button in a row with other buttons for embellishment.

I really enjoyed sewing, stitching, glueing, and planning my book.  I'm not sure if I'll do another one, but I'm glad to have this one completed  Started in 2009 and finished in 2012!

Happy New Year to all my readers!
Sherri

P.S.  Since I started this book we have a third grandchild and my brother and sister are both grandparents now!

I Love Pinerest!

I am in LOVE with Pinterest. When I'm wake up in the middle of the night, I peruse Pinterest until I get sleepy again. There are so many wonderful ideas, I've found myself copying some of them for holiday decorating.

 

 

I saw a photo of a holiday table with a cake stand used as a candle stand.  Brilliant!  However, I don't have a cake stand and have never really felt the need for one.  So off to ebay I go to find the perfect vintage cake stand for my own table.  I found this wonderful heavy glass stand that's perfect.  I love ebay, too.  Now that I have a cake stand, I might find more uses for it during the rest of the year.  And it will work really well with some of the pieces I have that were my grandmother's!

 

 

I made my table runner out of 16 count Chili Pepper Heatherfield fabric and hand hemstitched it all around.  I think it works perfectly with the cake stand.

 

 

Speaking of getting ready for Christmas (as I was) .  Daisy says . . .

 

 

"I'm ready, bring it on!"

 

Seed Packets and Leo's Sampler

Well, you all know how in love I am with my Four O'Clock plants.  I decided to packet some seeds for Christmas gifts and did a google search for "Printable Seed Packets".  Wow, there are some wonderful free templates out there!  I decided to use these:

I had a great time with my pink colored pencil.  How often do I get to just sit and color?  These templates are from Busy Mommy Media.

I've finally started on the baby sampler for Leo.  I'm doing Dawson's Sampler from Cherished Stitches.  Here my first progress pic:

 

Here's hoping you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  Happy stitching!

Sherri

New Grandson and Another Finish

We had a new grandson while I was taking my break from the computer. I just realized I haven't posted any pictures of him yet. He was born in May.  TaDa . . . Leo

 

Note that in the 2nd picture he's wearing some of the baby legwarmers I knitted. His Mom made a special request for leg warmers and once I got started, I didn't want to stop. I took a sock class to learn knitting in the round and discovered that leg warmers are like socks with no feet!

Here are some of the most recent pictures we have:

You can't really tell, but he's wearing some of my leg warmers in these pictures, too.  Leo lives in Michigan so we've only seen him twice.  He'll be coming to visit for Christmas - I can't wait!

For my stitching friends, here is a recent finish.  It's a "Secret Needle Night" piece from The Silver Needle and Magic by Mona put together a finishing kit.  The finishing kit was fabulous which was good since I've never done a wedge before.

Happy stitching everyone!
Sherri