Lucy, Katherine, and Mary---My Sampler "Friends"

Thanks for all your kind words about my latest two finishes.  

Many of you commented about the silk satin ribbon on the Kathrine Iones sampler.  The beautiful ribbon was in the kit.  There were no instructions about how to attach it, and I couldn't tell from the photo exactly where it was supposed to go.  I just used my best judgement. 

I first put in a basting thread ten linen threads outside the hemstitched border.  I then started in one of the lower corners attaching the ribbon one linen thread beyond my basting thread.  The challenge, for me, was mitering the corners.

After completing Lucy Adams' and Katherine Iones' samplers, I decided to stitch Mary's Sampler, a complimentary sampler by Plum Street Samplers. If you are familiar with this sampler, you'll notice that I left off the border and made a few other changes.  (My stars are not as yellow as they appear in the photo.)  This was a quick and enjoyable stitch.  It was also a wonderful project to stitch during the Advent season.

On Friday I took Katherine Iones, Lucy Adams, and Mary's Sampler to my framer.  I'll post photos once I get them back.

After taking a break from Ann Hair (The Scarlet Letter), I've resumed work on her.  I think I may have figured out why I stopped working on her.  I had made a counting mistake on the placement of the celtic knot on the far right.  I had stitched it two threads too far to the right.  I wish that I had discovered my mistake before I added the algerian eyes and satin stitches to the celtic knot.  Yesterday I finally made myself rip out that area and now I'm ready to move forward.

Here is Ann as she looked on Friday....not much progress since you last saw here.  Although I have come a long way, I still have quite a ways to go.

I made the discovery that I don't have enough of one of the greens to complete the sampler.  I looked in my stash and found more of the same AVAS color, but the dyelot is dramatically different.  I mean dramatically!!  I laid the two dyelots on my linen so you could see the difference. (The difference is much more obvious in person.)  The only "good" news is that I have enough of the the original green to complete the band I'm currently working on.  I'm not sure what I'll do about the green elsewhere on the sampler.

And now here is one of my favorite photos of Garrett.  The photo is a year old, but I love it.  In fact, I keep a framed copy of it with my Christmas decorations so I can pull it out each year when I decorate.
 

I wish those of you who will be traveling over the Christmas holidays safe travels.  The weather looks bad in so many areas.  Please take care!