Happy May!
          There is nothing like a big bouquet of flowers to sing out the praises of the month of May!  Here is a bouquet for all of you.
          It has been a very hectic month for me.  I am getting ready for a teaching project (my first) at the Schwenkfelder Museum's "Penn Dry Goods Market Days".  I will be teaching the stacking biscornus from my design "Mary Sophia's Pennsylvania German Sewing Set". 

It has been a real learning experience getting ready for this class, especially about ordering materials and how to put kits together.  I still have a lot to learn but hope that all will go well as I am a bit nervous, being a first time teacher and all.  Most of the people who've signed up are familiar to me, so I will be very grateful to look out among the participants and see their wonderful, friendly faces in the class.  And really, I think the stitching community are among the nicest, friendliest people ever!  Just don't bring any ripe tomatoes to class,
okay? ;-)
          I have some more good news regarding my designs.  "Stone House on the Brandywine" received a First Place Ribbon at the 50th Annul Woodlawn Needlework Exhibit.  I just got her back and am finishing up the final details on the chart.  She will be available for purchase within the next week or two, so check with your favorite needlework shop to regarding availability.  I also entered Mary Sophia's ... in the 3rd Annual Needlework Exhibit at the Rehoboth Beach Historical Society and won another First Place Ribbon for it (the design won a First Place Ribbon last year at Woodlawn).  Needless to say, I am so honored and thrilled!
          As I have done the past few months, I am attaching a copy of With my Needle and Pen's May stitching schedule for "A Maryland Inspiration."  I hope everyone is enjoying the project.
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Hello everyone,
          Okay, I think I finally know why they call people of a certain age "over the hill"! It is because everything goes very fast on the other side of the hill, especially time. I can hardly believe that it is May already and we are five months into the new year. If you are calculating the passed time by how much you’ve done on your sampler, I’m hoping that you are at least somewhere near May, in May or, perhaps, in June, July or August! Hope springs eternal!
          The stitching assignment for this month is the house. We will start with the roof and work our way down. I think you will find that the roof will be easier to stitch if you do just one color at a time. I also suggest that you stitch back and forth rather than diagonally, as it will help your stitching to lay much better and the roof will look more consistent with the color blend.
          When you’ve moved on to the house (bricks, windows, etc.) please be aware of the stitch change on the center window – there is one additional stitch to accommodate centering. You will note from the diagram that the windows, door and shutters do not have any detail in them yet, i.e., backstitching. You will not do the backstitching until all the stitching on the house is complete. I am saving that for next month, along with the window panes. Needless to say, it is a lot of stitching and I do not expect you to do it all in one month. I am going to break up the monotony with some of the motifs surrounding the house. The diagram below will show you what is on the plan for May:

          I’d also like to mention, there have been some concerns expressed over the colors of silk being too light or too dark for the linen. I mentioned in the chart instructions that it is impossible to guarantee colors of overdyed threads and linen. I purchased my Belle Soie when it was first introduced, and bought it as a package deal of 25 skeins. My "Butterscotch" is a rich, golden color with good overdyed effects along the strand. Several people have emailed me stating that their Butterscotch was very light. If you find that any color does not work with your linen, please don’t be afraid to change it. If you need some color suggestions, email me and I will let you know what alternatives might work. For the most part, if you are using NPI, then you would just choose a color shade darker or lighter, whichever the case may be, in the NPI color series, i.e., Palomino Gold series, etc.

          Have a wonderful month of May and don’t forget to stop and smell the flowers!

Yours in stitches and friendship,

              Theresa                 

Hello again,

I just wanted to add two more update pictures from Anne.  She is really moving along and is way ahead of the stitching schedule.  Here are the pictures:

Great job Anne!

I would like to mention, Anne expressed concern over the bright color of the peacocks.  As I stated earlier in the SAL, dye lots of hand dyed silks can vary considerably.  If you feel that a color is too bright, or too light, or whatever, feel free to change it to something you like better.  There are no hard and fast rules for the colors used in any sampler, and I encourage you to use your own color sense if you don't like what I've chosen.  That will release the designer in you!

Yours in friendship and stitches,
Theresa

Hello fellow stitchers,

I hope everyone had a Happy Easter.  The stitching schedule for April is going to be the upper right quadrant of the sampler:

You will note that I’ve added a few motifs from the body of the sampler, i.e., the peacock, apple tree, hearts and crown. You will stitch these on both the right and left quadrant of the sampler. I’ve also included the queen stitched grape cluster/strawberry centered above the carnation motif. If you are current with the schedule, you will have already stitched the center carnation motif but, if not, stitch that now as well. Stitch everything in the illustration above (if you didn’t already stitch the upper case alphabet, you can stitch it now). NOTE: the Eyelet in the right corner border of the floral border is stitched using Belle Soie "Chester’s Blue". As indicated in last month’s schedule, I’ve left out the interior of the lozenges, as they are over one and can be quite tedious. In future schedules, we will intersperse the over one stitching and the house stitching with other elements of the sampler interior so that you don’t get too bored or overwhelmed with the redundant stitching areas.

If you did not complete March’s schedule, you can incorporate that into this month’s schedule. Attached to this schedule are several shots of progress photos from SAL participants. Great job! As always, if you have any questions of comments, you can contact me at HeartseaseEW@gmail.com.

Thanks again for your participation in this SAL and have a very happy spring!
Yours in stitches,
Theresa

P.S.  Here are update pictures from two of our SAL members:
Anne's progress:



Kay's progress:

Congratulations ladies and thanks for sharing your pictures.  Looking very, very good!

It is hard to believe that it is almost the middle of March already and that St. Patrick's Day (not to mention Spring, Easter, etc.) is just around the corner.  I hope everyone has kept busy and warm stitching this winter.  I, for one, have been very busy.  I was asked to create a Delaware Sampler based on antiques from the area.  I settled on a New Castle County design to use as my footprint and filled the sampler with symbols representing Delaware, i.e., the Blue Hen (our State bird); Cardinal (runner up for State bird); Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly (State butterfly); Grey Fox (State wildlife); Peach Blossom (State flower); you get the idea.  At any rate, I believe it is the best sampler I've designed so far!  I wish I could post a picture but, for now, I cannot as it may become a teaching piece for a sampler symposium in the Fall of 2013.  I can assure you, though, it will be worth the wait!

Also, I was asked to design the Mayflower Sampler Guild's Annual Christmas Ornament for 2013.  Each year the guild reaches out to a designer to have a limited edition Christmas ornament designed specifically for the purposes of raising money for conservation. In the past the monies raised from the ornament sale have gone to the New Bedford Whaling Museum to conserve a sampler, as well as to the Connecticut Historical Society to fund a sampler exhibit.  They also sent them a donation to acquire a sampler from Finkel's where the Historical Society owned a portrait of a young girl and wanted to get her sampler to bring both together. Last year's ornament, designed by Fran Colburn of Legacy Designs went to the Plimoth Plantation to help build a permanent home for the Plimoth Jacket.

 

I just finished stitching it and am waiting for the arrival of some beautiful tartan ribbon so I can assemble it.  Here is a sneek peak at the digital rendering.

It will be available for purchase through the Mayflower Sampler Guild as a limited edition of 50 kits.  As soon as I have information regarding the availability, I will post it on my blog.

Now, on to the business of the Maryland Inspiration SAL.  I'm a little late getting the schedule for March posted here on my blog, but for those who are following the SAL through Ellen Chester's "With My Needle and Pen" Newsletter, you already have it.  Here is March's schedule:
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Hello fellow stitchers,

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! The stitching schedule for March is going to be the upper left quadrant of the sampler:

 

Stitch everything in the illustration above (if you didn’t already stitch the numbers and the alphabet, you can stitch them now). NOTE: the Eyelet in the left corner border of the floral border is stitched using Belle Soie "Chester’s Blue". I’ve left out the interior of the lozenges, as they are over one and can be quite tedious. In future schedules, we will intersperse the over one stitching and the house stitching with other elements of the sampler interior so that you don’t get too bored or overwhelmed with the redundant stitching areas.

If you did not complete February’s schedule, you can incorporate that into this month’s schedule. The schedule for April will be the right side of the sampler (same as diagram above, but flipped). So, if you are ahead of schedule and would like to continue on, you can start on the right side of the sampler.

Since this is my first foray into leading my own SAL, please let me know if I am suggesting too much stitching, too little stitching, if I need to explain thing more thoroughly, etc. I’m all for constructive criticism and welcome your thoughts. You can contact me at HeartseaseEW@gmail.com.
Thanks again for your participation in this SAL. Stay warm for now – Spring is just around the corner!

Yours in stitches,

Theresa

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Hello everyone,
           What a surprise to wake up this morning and see a few inches of snow on the ground!  I don't think snow was in the forcast, so it was really unexpected, but very pretty.  That thought just reminded me of something my big brother said when we were kids -- it was snowing and was getting deeper by the minute.  I commented that the snow was so pretty, it covered everything that was ugly outside.  My brother didn't miss a  beat when he suggested, "Why don't you go out and stand in it for a while."  Wasn't that mean?  LOL
          After six months of stitching, I finally finished "Stone House on the Brandywine."  My framer, Karen (also a fellow DVHSG member), sent me a picture before framing.  Since I stitch in hand, by the time I finish the piece, the linen is pretty wrinkled.  Karen always does a wonderful job stretching and lacing my pieces, so a picture of it during the process, without all the wrinkles, was a welcome treat.



As you can see, it is still in the process of being stretched, etc., but I thought you'd like to see it.  This design means a lot to me as it brings back many memories of "rides in the country" when my children were little.  We lived in the city, so I often took them for rides in the Brandywine River area, hoping to see some wildlife, horses and grazing sheep and cattle.  There were many stone houses in the area and I often wondered to myself about the stories they could tell of all the history of the area and the people who had lived and visited there.  So when I wrote the poem, it was a take on that memory.  The sampler itself is rather large, but if you don't want to stitch the whole thing, you can stitch the top or bottom part alone, just move the bottom border to replace the blue cornflower border.  I tried to incorporate symbols of Pennsylvania in the sampler, i.e., quaker motifs, which I pumped up with a bit of color; quilt blocks; deer -- you get the idea.  It is stitched on 40 count Lakeside "Maple Sugar".  The linen is not vintage like it was for A Maryland Inspiration, because this design was not meant to look like a reproduction.  I hope you like it.
          Have a great super bowl Sunday, and I hope your team wins!

Yours in friendship and stitches,

Theresa