Posting is a little better.

I was all set to take pictures yesterday and make up a post for you.  A little before 9:00 a.m. we received a call asking if we could travel to a critical appointment 75 miles away and be there within three hours. Needless to say all of my plans for the day went beside the way.  We did not get back home until 7:00 p.m. and all the gorgeous sunshine was gone. Today is not so good and the pictures show it. 

First of all there was a question about whether or not we have baby blessing cards for boys.  We have lots.  It is just the little girl card we ran out of. 

Here you have it.  I finished the needleweaving in the three triangles.  I cut and pulled the fabric threads in the three central cartouches.  Then a very dear friend and stitching mentor was able  to describe and make me understand where the miscount is.  I have cut it all out and will be able to restitch it quickly.  You can see the shadow of the holes where it was on the right side.   

Here is Dog House sampler.  It is coming along nicely. 

There is going to be a change up in my stitching routine.  I will be getting a new model from Just Cross Stitch magazine.  It is a little cutie and I hope you can see it when it is published. 
I will be setting Dog House Sampler aside and working more slowly on the wedding sampler. 

That's all for now because I have to take care of some laundry.  Why does household business have to get in the way of stitching? 

Slipping Again?

Blogging got away from me.  I do not know if this entry is late for this past week or early for the coming week.  Let's say early for the coming week and forget about the past week. 

This morning was magical.  I was standing with my back to the sun admiring  the vine with little red trumpet shaped flowers that I grow for hummingbirds.  As I was looking I heard a buzzing sound coming closer and closer to me and then I heard cute little chipping chips.  It was a hummingbird checking each one of the tiny hummingbird sized flowers.  When it was done, it came down right in front of me at eye level and hovered long enough for me to talk to it.  Life is wonderful.  

I go back to school this coming Monday.  School actually began Tuesday.  The past week was Welcome Week for the kindergarteners.  Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, they came with their parents and had special activities to do.  One of the activities was pictures.  Today I saw a composite picture of my new kindergarteners.  They are a cute bunch.  I tutor in kindergarten.  Please do not laugh.  We have all-day kindergarten.  The kids have some definite educational goals to reach by the end of school in June and they have a short attention span.   They need a little help to reach their academic (and please do not laugh at the use of academic) goals.  We work hard but still it is a struggle for some.  We will see what this new school year brings. 

The wedding sampler has been a struggle for me this week and there is little progress to show you. 

I struggled with the idea of needleweaving and making the picots on the stretcher bars and rollers.  I could just barely pinch and pull the thread through to make the picots in the two small triangles.  There was no way I could reach the larger triangle to pinch and pull the thread through to make picots.  I finally gave in and took the fabric off the stitching frame.  I just may end up taking out what I have already done to redo it off the frame. 

During the Labor Day weekend, I made baby blessing cards for little girls.  We have a program at the local hospital meeting and welcoming new parents.  It is a PR thing for the hospital but we also offer a blessing to the new babies if the parents wish it.  I cannot tell you how joyful it is.  After we do the blessing, we give the parents a card with the blessing to bring home.  It truly is an act of love. 

 I am working on Dog House Sampler again.  I have desperately needed to do some non-mentally taxing work for relaxation and to occupy myself.  It will become a tooth fairy pillow for the grandson of a friend. 

Last but not least, get yourself over to Nancy's blog to register for another of her give aways.  

 Go to see what I mean; her give aways are fabulous. 

Can You Believe It? It Has Been a Week and I Am Back.

Well, I have been busy during the past week.  I did back the two hangings for baptism in time for last Sunday.  I was so intent on finishing them on time that I forgot to take pictures of them when they were finished.  But please believe me that they were in church on time together with the baptismal certificates that I printed.  There was a third certificate that I brought in too.  We had two baptisms on 9 August; I printed them together with the one baptism on 23 August.  I forgot to change the date on the one for 23 August so I had to print it over.  Am I loosing my mind or what? 

I have been doing some knitting. 

It has been so long since I got this yarn that I no longer have the coat that it was to go with.  I think I may give it away. 
The scarf is over 72 inches long.  The ends are turned up and stitched together along the sides to form a pocket at each end. 
You can put your hands or things in the pockets.
Or you can just have them as a decorative feature. 
Neat huh?  I thought so.  That is why I wanted to make the set. 

I continue to work on the wedding sampler.  This week I had to do a little repair work so you cannot see that.  I did stitch in all the Algerian eyelets in all the chevron sections between the kloster blocks. They are stitched in Kreinik braid but you cannot really see the glitz it is so subtle.  You may see a little at the bottom of the middle chevron but because the field of focus is a little narrow, that area is a little blurred. 
I will go on to stitch a line of twining vine on each side of the three rectangles.  Then I will begin cutting the linen and needleweaving.  Please hold me in your thoughts as I cut the fabric.  That is always a slightly scary time. 
I am not going to do much stitching tonight because we are going out to pick up a 12" square canopy.  It is for one of our sons; he is a telephone lineman.  It will keep the sun off him when he is working.  If he does not want it, we will use it to give us a little shade when working in the garden.  It is a win-win no matter what the final outcome. 

Now for a little shameless advertising.  I want you to go over to Nancy's blog, Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe.  She has another give away and you can state your choice for what you what your give away to be.  her things are a delight to have and to work with. 

Why Does Life Keep Getting in the Way?

I guess that life just happens regardless of what we plan. 
Deb, I am very sorry I never posted your comment on my last entry. 
I had hoped to make an entry to show you what I am doing once a week.  Let's start again. 
We have had several baptisms at church during August.  There are two more on 30 August.
I was stitching one from the beginning and have it ready to back.  I am just waiting for the second one that someone else is stitching to finish  them both at the same time.
Here is the one that I stitched.

Just the other day, I received in the mail, a partially finished sampler.  It is Heirloom Wedding Sampler by Thea Dueck, Victoria Sampler. 
The owner of it is having some health and vision problems that are preventing her from finishing the stitching.  Thea suggested to her that I might be able to finish it and so I am finishing it. 
It arrived rolled on scroll bars making it not especially easy for me to show you the entire sampler.  What I have to do is finish the Hardanger section at the bottom and finish the floral heart garlands at the top and then stitch on all the pearl beads.
I have stitched this sampler twice already so I am ready to go. 
This is the first one I stitched. 

                                             This is the second one that I stitched. 

This is the one that I am going to finish.
Tonight, I am going to try to match my stitching to that of the owner by working the remaining diamond eyelets that surround the three rectangular cartouches at the top of the section. 













Now I want to tell you about Nancy's fabulous give away. 
Her threads are lovely; just take a peek.

Go to her blog to register for her give away. 


And that's all folks for this week. 

A Little Bit of Life

This week my stitching has been to make a baptismal banner from the cross stitching to the backing.  We have a baptism Sunday, 23 August and now I will back it.  When it is finished, I can begin making one for 30 August. 
The mats and frame were ready for the wedding sampler and I thought that you might like to see the fully finished sampler. 

It is time to think about my personal stitching.  It should take me a week to make the second baptismal banner. 
We had a nice time at the cottage last Saturday.  I did pick up Row by Row license plates at the quilt shop in Wahkon before we went on to the cottage.  The license plates are Fabric Fishing.  I guess that I will be making totes before I pick up my personal stitching.  It just gives me longer to mull over the decision.  And that, in itself, can be fun. 
This morning before the sun rose, as soon as I could see colors I was out in the garden.  Tuesday I got a new weigela bush for the hummingbirds and 5 new perennials for the garden.  This is the one that I got, My Monet.  The online information states that it is hardy to climate zone 5.  The garden center, a very reliable one, indicates it is hardy to zone 4.  I guess that I will have to save the receipt in case it does not make it through the winter.  I also got a gillardia; this one, Arizona Sun, a coreopsis, Sunray, and a leucanthemum, Real Charmer.  The three look very nice together and their heights should be complimentary. 
The last two perennials are a pair of campanula, White Clips and Pearl Deep Blue, just because I like these little flowers. 

I missed posting last week.  I have been busy what more can I say?  It looks like life may begin to slow down a bit for a couple weeks. 
I have more pictures of the wedding sampler for you.  Actually I finished it a week ago and went out to order its mats and frame.  You should see the whole thing; until then, this will have to do. 

This is what you saw last, two weeks ago. 

Here it is finished with the needleweaving, beads, French knots, and silk ribbon work. Quite honestly,  I can take little credit for it.  I understand the colors are perfect.  I knew from the moment I put my hand on the fabric I was channeling other energy.  The sampler has a life of its own.  Now for a little more eye candy. 

During this week,  I have been working on a banner for a baptism at church.  I thought that I was seriously over extended when I discovered that the one I am working on is due 23 August and not 16 August.  We do have two due for 9 August but I only have to back them. 

Just to make certain I am not at loose ends, I have made four tote bags, one for each of the Nelson girls.  Two were born Nelsons and two married into the Nelson family.  I used the Row by Row license plates from All in Stitches in Zumbrota, MN.  My husband's father's family farm was in Zumbrota. 

New Life for an Old Blog

It has been a little less than a year since I last posted.  I have decided to resurrect the blog because there are several people who are interested in my progress on this sampler.  I feel this will be the easiest way to do it. 

It is another wedding sampler, the second one this year. 

It is a little hard to believe it looked like this a week ago. 
Ruth Ann can verify that. 
Now for a little eye candy from the sampler. 

Later today I will complete the hardanger needleweaving in the heart above. 
After that I just have the sprays above the hearts.  Some Japanese ribbon stitch leaves, two spiderweb silk ribbon roses. some pearl beads and a few French knots. 
All in all, I should be able to order its mats cut and frame made next week. 

While I was outside taking these pictures, I had chance to look over the gardens. 

The raspberries are at their peak.  They ooze juice and are so sweet. 
It is a dream, maybe goal, that we have to be able to stand in the middle of our raspberry briar patch and eat raspberries off the canes until we are beyond satiation.  We are there this year.  

I may not continue to use the blog.  I may have to use Facebook.  Something has happened; it is extremely laborious to upload pictures.  This one of the raspberries was tipped on its side.  While they look unnatural when the picture is on its side, they do not look too strange. 
I am a little apprehensive about what will happen when I try to upload a picture of my blue hydrangea; I will give it a try. 

Nikko Blue is blooming like it is made for Minnesota when it is really for a slightly warmer climate zone.  Our winters kill the growth that is supposed to overwinter for the flowers.  Nikko does not reliably bloom on new wood.  I have some HUGE blue pom poms.  I had not been especially good about acidifying its soil last year.  Its flowers are blue in acidic soil otherwise they are pink.  As you can see, I have some mauve flowers.