Is It Really Spring Already?

I swear I don't know where the time goes!  There are days and weeks that seem to drag, and then all of a sudden - wham - it's the end of March.  The house renovation has resulted in a few days of no computer as the floor finishers managed to cut off the room with the computer. 

Spring Is Here

We in New Jersey experienced a very mild winter this year.  We had no snow to speak of since the Halloween snowstorm that took everyone by surprise.  And summer made an unusually early appearance this year - we had temperatures in the 70s for much of early March.  You do have to understand that although we have four seasons in the Northeast, spring is generally about two weeks long.  We usually go from freezing cold to our two-week spring (somewhere around late April/early May), followed by really hot weather that lasts into September. 

Our mild weather this year caused all the trees and flowers to bloom early - and I have the watery eyes and runny nose to prove it!  Because of the house renovation (still a sore subject around here), we have no landscaping to experience the wonders of spring.  Perhaps next year ...

However, I have been stitching quite a bit so I do have some progress to share.  But first, a tribute to another stitcher.

Winter Smalls Exchange

The I-Love-Cross-Stitch group held a Winter Smalls Exchange.  Everyone stitched a "small" project - ornament, pin cushion, needlecase, etc. and sent it, along with two skeins of "wintery" threads, to her/his partner, who was not the same person who would send a similar package.  The person who sent to me was Denise in Saudi Arabia!  My package apparently took a little vacation along the way and everyone was getting a bit anxious that it had gotten lost.  However, it finally arrived and was well worth the wait.  Denise stitched a pin cushion that is exquisite.  The pin cushion was accompanied by two skeins of silk - one from Dinky Dyes and one from Madeira as well as some buttons and a very pretty card.  I have never stitched with silks from either of these companies, so I am just thrilled to have the opportunity to do so.  Because of the delay in receiving the package, Denise sent me two more skeins of Dinky Dyes silk direct from 1-2-3 Stitch.    Thank you so much, Denise!

Winter Smalls Exchanged
Received from Denise in Saudi Arabia

I sent a package to Shaunteria in California.  The pattern is from The Gift of Stiching December 2006 issue and is called Snowed In by Something in Common.  But, of course, I forgot to take a picture.

Florentine and Lace Sampler (a finish!)

This is a Jane Zimmerman design that I took as a class at one of my LNS, Mrs. Stitches in Mendham.  We started in April 2011 and met four times before the summer.  Over the summer we were able to finish off the stitching we had started.  Then we picked up again in October.  I couldn't make the last class, which was the last band in the sampler.  For some reason it sat around the house over the holidays.  I finally finished it in early March.

Each student chose her own colors and I really went out of my comfort zone on this one.  I was concerned when I first started stitching that it was just way too bright - but I really like the color combination now that it's finished.  It is stitched on 18-count mono canvas with Kreinik metallics and Au Ver a Soie's Soie d'Alger and Soie Perlee.  The Soie Perlee is used on the cut and drawn canvaswork. 

Florentine and Lace Sampler
Designer:  Jane D. Zimmerman
Design Size - 7" x 19" (approximate)

Close-ups of Bands

Patterns of the Orient

I am trying to finish this wonderful design from Tony Minieri this year.  I have been concentrating on Area 9, which is Kreinik metallic couched with Au Ver a Soie silks.  This past weekend I finally managed to finish the area - hurray for me!  Area 9 is the diagonal band of turquoise and red (with some green and purple accents).

Patterns of the Orient Area 9 Finished
Designer:  Tony Minieri

Anasazi Spirit

Here is my progress on Anasazi Spirit through Lesson Three.  The outlines are cross stiches with Kreinik metallic.  The outside of the stars are oblong cross stitches and straight stitches with Watercolours in Arabian Nights.  The inside is a Walneto stitch in Impressions and Tied Plaited Rays in Elegance and Kreinik metallic around the Walneto.

Progress as of 03/25/12

Close-up of Walneto Stitch

Lesson Four, which I have started but not yet completed, is a Double-Fan-Double in the center diamond.

Moorish Splendour

For those who haven't already nodded off, here is the first lesson in Jane Zimmerman's Moorish Splendour.  The center area is a trellis pattern over alternating satin stitch diamonds.  The diamonds are stitched in silk while the trellis is in Kreinik metallic.  The silk is actually a pumpkin color - it looks a bit pink in this photo.

Progress through 03/30/12

Lesson Two, which I'll start this weekend, is a variation of a Japanese filling pattern using silks and metallics.

Until next time, enjoy the spring and happy stitching!

What Happened to February

I was sitting here minding my own business when all of a sudden I realized that there are only nine days left in February - NINE DAYS!  What happened to the month???  It seems to be true that the older I get the faster time passes.  This was the year that I was going to get my needlework organized, lose weight, yada yada yada.  As I sit here on February 20 I realize that I have barely made a dent in all those laudable goals.  Perhaps with the coming of Spring and the promise of additional daylight (during the Winter I leave for work in the dark and get home in the dark), I will be motivated to try a little harder.

World of Charity Stitching

This year I joined the World of Charity Stitching Yahoo group.  This group stitches quilts, tote bags, therapy pillows, and bookmarks, as well as other items, to give to children in need and the elderly in nursing homes.  Since I spend a lot of time stitching, I decided that I could use that time to help make something for others.  I just finished my first contribution - two squares for a quilt that one of the other members will put together.  The design is a bird that is stitched in DMC thread on 14-count white Aida.  Each stitcher picks her/his color choice resulting in a veritable rainbow of birds.  Since I am not a sewer by any stretch of the imagination, I sent coordinating fabric along with the squares to the talented lady who will put the whole quilt together.  The design was downloaded from the blog Gazette94.

Bird
Gazette94
Design Size 4" x 3" (approximate)

Other Stitching

I don't have too much else to show on the stitching front.  I am working on a few unfinished class pieces.  I thought I would finish Birds on a Cherry Blossom Tree by now but I ran out of the thread for the background.  I only have a few stitches to complete the darn piece so I'm waiting for my LNS to put in an order.  In the meantime I have picked up my Patterns of the Orient, which was a class last year with Tony Minieri.  I love this design but it does require some concentration.  It is stitched on 24-count Congress Cloth.  As you can see there is a lot of "spaghetti" with this piece.

Patterns of the Orient
Tony Minieri
Design Size 11.5" x 8.5" (approximate)
Overall Progress 02/20/12

I am currently working on Area 9, which is an adaptation of a Japanese obi design.  The pattern is developed by couching two strands of Au Ver à Soie silk over Kreinik #8 braid.  It is really testing my eyesight!

Patterns of the Orient
Tony Minieri
Close-up of Area 9 02/20/12

Despite my best intentions, I did sign up for two cyberclasses through Shining Needle Society.  On March 1, I will be starting Anasazi Spirit by StitchPlay Designs, LLC (Carole Lake and Michael Boren), which is stitched on 18-count French Blue canvas.  I've already finished Carole's Anasazi Dream and have Anasazi Song waiting to be stitched.

Anasazi Spirit
StitchPlay Designs, LLC
Design Size 6.2" x 11.3" (approximate)

And then on March 8 I will start Jane Zimmerman's Moorish Splendor.  (What was I thinking?)  I am going to do it in both the Paprika (my favorite) and in Wine (my DD's choice). 

Moorish Splendor - Paprika
Jane Zimmerman
Design Size 10" x 10"

Moorish Splendor - Wine
Jane Zimmerman
Design Size 10" x 10"


House Renovation

I know that I have not mentioned that we are living through a major house renovation.  And I mean major - new siding, roof, windows, kitchen, bathrooms, and HVAC system.  There is not a room in the house that is untouched.  We are coming up on two years with this construction and I can't wait for it to be over.  Aside from the fact that we will basically have a brand new house (this one was built in 1960), the really good news is that I will finally have a needlework room!  The room is the original family room (complete with fireplace).  At some point in the past, a screened porch was incorporated into the house and it has become our family room.  So the adjacent family room will now become my space.  I have been poring through magazines and websites for ideas for this room.  Stay tuned for what I finally decide.

Until next time, happy stitching!

Betty Ring Samplers

To someone who aspires to the title "needleworker" the name Betty Ring is synonomous with "samplers".  She is, after all, the foremost authority on girlhood embroidered samplers.  Her landmark work Girlhood Embroidery: American Samplers and Pictorial Needlework 1650-1850 is a magnificent reference on the genre.  When I first obtained my copy almost 20 years ago, I spent countless hours leafing through the pages just looking at the pictures of samplers worked hundreds of years ago.  I marveled at the designs, some intricate and some quite simple, and the beauty of the stitching, all accomplished without electric light.  Many of the samplers were completed by girls younger than I was when I first put needle to fabric.

Betty Ring's own collection of samplers is now on display at Sotheby's New York in advance of its sale by auction this Sunday, January 22.  The exhibit/auction is entitled Important American Schoolgirl Embroideries: The Landmark Collection of Betty Ring.  I was extremely fortunate in being able to visit the exhibit yesterday and all I can say is - WOW! There are more than 200 pieces in this exhibit and each one is a gem of its own.

Many of the needlework on display are "mourning pictures" which generally are embroidered on painted silk.  It is amazing to see the beauty of the stitches while realizing that girls and women undertook these as memorials for family members who had passed away, many of them babies and children.

Traditional samplers also abound and, since these are more to my taste than the mourning pictures, I was truly in heaven as I wandered the gallery soaking in the beauty.  These pieces range from simple Quaker designs to complex band samplers, from small pieces (about 6 inches by 4 inches) to large (34 inches by 28 inches).  I was awestruck by the accomplishments of all these women who had come before me.

This picture is one of the samplers on display.  I want to thank Emily Bergland in Sotheby’s Press Office for providing this image to me for use on this blog.

Lot 516

Fine and Rare Silk Embroidered Sampler, Abigail Prince,

Newburyport, Massachusetts, dated 1801, Abigail Prince

This piece is worked on a linen ground in silk and measures 15¼ inches by 21¾ inches.

If you are in the New York area and are as fascinated by samplers as I am, I highly recommend dropping everything and getting over there tomorrow.  The auction is scheduled for Noon on Sunday.  Perhaps this is your chance to own a piece of history.

By the way, there is an exhibition catalogue available.  I purchased mine in advance of the exhibit and so had it available while viewing the pieces.  The catalogue itself is a wonderful addition to my needlework reference library.  I am planning on pulling out my copy of Girlhood Embroidery along with the catalogue so that I can reacquaint myself with the stories of these wonderful pieces.

The catalogue is available through Sotheby's website.  Links are also provided to Betty Ring's Girlhood Embroidery Volumes I and II and American NeedleworkTreasures.

I'm going to close this post with two quotes from Colin Eisler's review of Girlhood Embroidery published in Magazine Antiques in September 1994.  "Only recently have art historians begun to appreciate the key role of the pictorial embroiderer - whether that of the individuals who stitched the Bayeux tapestry in the eleventh century or of Mary, Queen of Scots, in the sixteenth century."  He continues "After a century of snobbery, the decorative arts are seen, once agin, for what they are - the staff of life." 

How satisfying that our hobby, what we love to do, continues that history.

2012 First Finish

Hooray - I have my first finish for 2012!  I put the last stitch (actually the last charm) on The Four Seasons of Mystic on Friday night.  I just love this design; it's so nice to have a piece that is seasonal yet can be displayed year-round.  The specialty stitches added some "pizazz" as did all the fabulous threads that were used.  The border is done in Gloriana Threads Lorikeet, which is an overdyed 9-strand 100% Australian wool.  I've never used this thread before, but will be considering it in future pieces.  It was a joy to stitch and provided a very nice offset to the silks.

The Four Seasons of Mystic
Jeannette Douglas Designs

So, what next to stitch?  Well, my New Year's stitching resolution is to finish some of those class projects that have been languishing.  My next project is going to be a painted canvas that I started two years ago - Birds on a Cherry Blossom Branch - which was a class at Ridgewood Needlepoint with Gretchen Viggiano, who created the stitch guide.  The canvas is from HP Needlepoint Designs.

Birds on a Cherry Blossom Tree
HP Designs
Design Size 6" x 9"

I don't really have much more to stitch on this piece, primarily French knots. I can hear some of you asking why I didn't finish them at the time. Unfortunately, as I was finishing this piece, I managed to fracture my left humerus in two places just below the shoulder. I did this during the extremely dangerous activity of crossing the street while out on a walk during a long weekend getaway. (Who says exercise is good for your health?) This severely restricted my ability to stitch with two hands. Considering the amount of trouble I have with French knots on a good day, there was no way I could attempt them with one hand! So this canvas went into the "to be finished" pile. I've decided it is finally about time that I just finish the canvas and be done with it!

I will also be working on a small cross stitch project for the Winter Exchange through the I Love Cross Stitch Yahoo Group.  I won't be able to post that piece until after it has been received.