A Gentleman's Samplings

Spring has finally arrived in North Central Texas with some great weather. That along with the end of Daylight Savings Time allows for more time to spend outdoors getting the flower beds and the rest of the yard in order.  The sampler guild which I belong to hosted Stacy Nash of Stacy Nash Primitives on the 12th and 13th of March.  I did not preregister for this class because I did not know if I was going to be in town or not. Luckily my scheduled worked out and with a little bit of arm twisting from Michelle , I was able to get a kit from someone who was not going to be able to attend.  I got the stitching done fairly quickly on both the drum and needle roll. On the first day of the class we learned how to assemble the drum and age it with a walnut dye. We also learned how to create a strawberry to accent the top. On the second day we learned how to assemble the needle roll.  With a little help from my table partner Betty, I was able to lea...

As promised in my last blog entry, here is a picture of my finished  Jane Atkinson . Jane Atkinson by Scarlet Letter 40-ct Doeskin Lakeside Linen using DMC I really liked working on this one with all of the colors but the over one saying was a bugger to get completed on the 40-ct linen that was very tightly woven.  I also finished James Wilson (a reproduction by the Haslemere Educational Museum). This was a very quick and fun stich. James Wilson by Haslemere Educational Museum 40-ct Claypot Lakeside Linen using HDF silks A closeup of the top center motif. The leaves are done with a satin stitch as is the flower band underneath the tree. A closeup of the bottom right corner with James' signature block. I am still working my the counted canves piece (Oh My Stars by Needle Delights). I have not really worked on this one a lot since my last update. This is a really fun piece also but big. There will end up being 225 of those little 12x12 blocks in ...

Hello everyone. Again I have been delayed in posting new starts and finishes to the my blog. I finally finished Jane Atkinson last month.  The over one was a bear to get done on the 40-count Lakeside. Unfortunatley I was not able to take a picture of her before I left on a business trip back to Tasmania.  Once I return to the states next week I will post a picture. At the end of January I started the James Wilson Sampler which is in the Haslemere Educational Museum . The Needleprint blog mentioned this sampler back in November of last year and she also mentions it again in her post on 15 Feb 2011. This sampler is on the Needleprint blog and it really spoke to me since I am a male needlework enthusiast.  Here is a photo of the original: And my progress: The chart calls for DMC which I have convert to  Vicki Claytons Hand-Dyed fibers .  The tree at the top center of the sampler is done in DMC 712 (Ecru/Off White) and is very hard ...

Happy New Year Everyone - I cannot believe that it has been over a month since my last post. Time sure flies when you are having fun - or getting older. I have been spending some time contemplating my stitiching goals for 2011. After speaking with some fellow stitchers, I believe that I will spend this year finishing some of my WIPS.  I would really like to get some samplers done instead of just having them started.  I will post the list on my blog once I have narrowed it down. I am nearly done with Jane Atkinson.  I ended up finishing all of the stitching but left most of the over one saying incomplete.  That was a mistake.  So I have been rotating it in out with a couple of other projects.  I only have about 2 more lines of the saying to complete so I am commited to getting this done by the end of the month and I will show a picture as soon as it is complete. I have been wanting to do try my hand at some counted canvas work sincae the middle part of...

Hello gentle readers and dear friends. Once again I must apologize for the lack of updates on my blog. hard to believe that the last time I updated this was in September. I guess my resolution for the New Year will be to update everyone at least once a month even though with the amount of stitching I am planning I will need to do it a little bit more often - maybe once every two weeks. My gaol for next year is to limit my starts and complete some of the WIPS that I have.  I have a couple of large ones that I really want to get completed and a few others that have been in the pile for over a couple of years.  Not much to do on a lot of them so that will most definitely give me a since of accomplishment. I have been traveling a lo over the past couple of months for work (not pleasure) and have not gotten much stitching done. I have been working on some small Christmas ornaments to share with family and friends.  I will post some pictures afte...

Hello fellow bloggers, friends and stitchers.  I have to admit that Jane has gotten the best of of me - I am nearly there but it is taken longer than I want to admit.  Here is a picture of the progress and a couple of close ups.   Not much further to go. Just a little bit more of the border, and then I can concentrate on the lettering, Adam and Eve. In order to give myself a break and to give myself a small feeling of accomplishment, I decided to work on a couple of small things. This is a small Irish Samplings pincushion by The Nostalgic Needle. This will be finished as an an ornament for an exchange in December. I worked this on 36-ct mystery fabric using some left over silks and Gentle Arts Sampler Threads. Here are a couple of other ornaments that I have stitched up also for exchanges. (Just need to "finish" them). Both of them are from past issues of the Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornament magazine. I also stitched With My Needle's Quaker ...

Hello everyone. No pictures on this post - just wanted to give a brief update on what I have been working on. I am still stitching away on my restart of Jane Atkinson. I am nearly done with my border and the big tree in the center.  I have been going back and forth between the tree and the border just to have a change of pace.  Lots of green and brown in that tree which gets a little bit boring.  I have also started on the one over one saying in the top portion of this sampler.  I am doing full cross stitches on the saying. This is not going to be fun but decided if I just do one or two words between my other stitching that will get it completed in no time. Also in rotation at this time is the Drawn Thread's Tocatta Four. This is one with a lot of different band style motifs.  I started this when it was first available (2008?) and have picked it up again just to give me something different to work on.  Lots of specialty stitches and I am doing this one ...