Heart's Ease Examplar Workes

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