More Olympic Stitching Project

Better late than never. I decided to wait to post today until I finished the second Olympic Stitching Project, the pink and white one. The design is by Christine. I have changed the colors. I also have a relatively minor variation in the hardanger section because I miscoutned. As you can see, I have left off the name and date as well as three silk ribbon roses.

The mom will be able to choose between it and the second one which has been finished for quite a while and also is looking for a purpose. The name and date will be in the oval. This design is from Victoria Sampler. I am not certain the sampler on which it is based is still available.

The birds seem to be happy again. I recently read that it is a good idea to wash bird feeders once a month because birds get spit and poop in the trays. Let me tell you that my first thought was eeewwwweeeeeeee. The seed supply was getting a little low so I just let it run out. Unfortunately I left the feeder outside empty for a couple days. There was something about touching a feeder that was contaminated by bird spit and poop that was decided unappealing.

Yesterday morning when it was still covered by the lovely frost, I brought it in. It did not look contaminated. I could not see any bird drops so you know I did not see any puddles of frozen bird spit. We did take it a part and thoroughly washed it. I have to admit that when I filled it with seed, it looked new. Well, that is except for the fact that the squirrels chewed the ring the birds are supposed to stand on while they eat.

Maybe my birds are a little more intelligent and socially adept than the average birds. I hardly ever see them standing in the tray that holds the seed out for them. They really do stand on that ring. If they do that, their drops have to fall on the ground and will not go into the tray of seed.

I was afraid that the birds would shun my feeder because I had left it empty for a couple days. As soon as I hung it and went in the house to look out the window, there it was, a little nuthatch. The chickadees came, the junkos came, and so did the cardinal. In the background, the squirrels were running through the trees.

Frosty Morn

This morning the frost looked magnif- icent as it twinkled in the sun- shine like yellow diamonds. It was not that the frost was so very thick or heavy. It was, rather the sunlight. It is impossible for me to show you its breathtaking beauty as I had a difficult time with the camera looking toward the sun. What I saw is something I will have to remember.




Now that the floral motif is out of my stitching rotation, I have a little more time to spend on the baby sampler.

Currently I am working on the hardanger section. I am not particularly skillful with Greek crosses but am making progress.

As I worked yesterday, I discovered that I had made two extra kloster blocks. After thinking about it, I decided not to cut them out but to stitch a third kloster to balance the left group with the right group. I may embellish the squares that the klosters form.

Here I am back again with my picture. Everything seems to be working. I still have to go to the EarthLink mail website to receive and send mail but I can handle that.

The consensus is that the flower is a poppy. I uploaded two pictures of my orange Oriental poppies for comparison. Yes, it is a poppy.

I charted the year 2010 instead of 1860 just because. The suggested color for the year was a very dark brown but there was little to no contrast between it and the brown border elements. I restitched the year in a very dark red. I still have to think about it. I tried to center the year in the available space and to blend it into the brown border elements. I need to look at it for a little while longer before I decide whether or not it will do.

Questions and Questions

I have just opened a Gmail account and now I am having a little trouble with Blogger and/or my blog account. I am not certain how this will work out as I had a great deal of difficulty reading my blog this morning.

Last night I finished stitching one of my three Olympic projects. Provided I am able to sign-in to my blog, I will post a picture later today.

Please keep your fingers crossed that I do not loose access somehow to the blog. During the process of creating an easy access to my Gmail account, I totally wiped out my EarthLink mailbox and everything in it including my address book. I am currently using the EarthLink website for EarthLink e-mails.

The day seems so mundane. It is cloudy and gray outside although the temperature is not too cold. I have some less than exciting housework to do before I can stitch.

Saturday I cut the hardanger section on the baby sampler. Yesterday I began to do the needleweaving but ended up picking out all that I had stitched. I began stitching with the pink multi-shade thread because the Greek crosses would make little flower like shapes. As I worked with it, I began to realize that it might be better to use plain white. I plan to back the sampler with pink to draw attention to the pulled thread work and withdrawn thread work. It began to dawn on me that the pink needleweaving might blend into the pink backing and that white needleweaving might show up better. I certainly hope that I am right.

Progress Report

Here are pictures of my Olympic Stitching progress.

I am working on the outer border of the flower, I am not certain if the flower is a poppy or wild rose; I like it just the same. It will become the top of a box. I found the design and finishing directions in Sampler & Antique Needlework Quarterly, Fall 2009. When I saw it in the magazine, I knew I had the perfect silk to finish the box.

The baby sampler is coming along. This is the second time I have stitched it. The first time, I remember that the filling in the heart worked up quickly and easily and was fun to do. This time I seem to be struggling with it.

This morning when we came home from the health club, the cardinals were singing out to each other. I think it was the males declaring their territory. We have not seen them very much at the feeder. I guess establishing their territory is much more important to them.