Stitching with the Queen City Sampler Guild

Two weeks ago I taught A Lady's Worke Box for the Queen City Sampler Guild.   I'm very well acquainted with the talent among the members because this is my own local sampler guild. 

Most of those in the class had been in at least one of my classes before, and two of the ladies (Kim H. and Debbie M.) had been in seven of my previous classes! The only class Kim and Debbie haven't taken is my newest one, A Sampler Needlebook, that premiered last month in Denver for The Sampler Guild of the Rockies.  (Hmm--I think I need to develop a new teaching project--I have several ideas in mind.)

Unfortunately, I didn't remember to take a single photo at the workshop.  Can you believe that?  Luckily, someone took a few photos.  I have interspersed the workshop photos with ones I took at a guild stitch-in last week.

 I had asked the ladies to bring some of their completed With My Needle projects. 

Here is Lynn K. with her Long May She Wave (another class project) and Cherished Workes.  Cherished Workes was first published in Fine Lines and is now available through shops as a chart.  Lynn has also completed A Work'd Pocketbook (the queen stitched pocketbook), which is another chart available through your LNS.  Hopefully, she'll send me me some photos once it's assembled, or better still, perhaps she'll bring it to one of our guild gatherings.  I certainly would love to see it in person.

And here, slightly more than a week after the class, is Lynn's stitched A Lady's Worke Box needlebook.  She was working on the hornbook at last week's stitch-in, and I suspect by now she has completed that and perhaps more of the project pieces. (I'm sorry this photo is so bad.  I'm certainly not much of a photographer.)

Next is Sue B.'s completed Fruit of the Vine Sampler Huswif.  Sue spends part of each winter in Florida and took this class in 2011 with the Sarasota EGA.   Sue also brought two more completed teaching projects, Long May She Wave and A Needleworker's Sampler Huswif.  Sadly, I neglected to take photos of them.  The good news is I found photos of Sue with her A Needleworker's Sampler Huswif here.

And here is Sue last week at the stitch-in working on her needlebook for A Lady's Worke Box.

Next is Patti F.  Patti had brought her Ackworth Friendship Book to class, but, alas, I didn't take a photo of it.  (Sorry, Patti.)  Perhaps she'll bring it to a guild stitch-in so I can take a photo to show you.

It is amazing that Patti has gotten so much accomplished on her needlebook because, in addition to working full-time, she referees volleyball matches.  I can't remember the exact number, but she refereed around 17 games last weekend!  That certainly doesn't leave much stitching time.

And last is Diane L.  Diane and her sister, Janis, are both members of our sampler guild.  In fact, this year they are our Programs Co-Chairpersons.

Thanks, ladies, for letting me take your photos.  I know how much my blog readers enjoy seeing stitchers and their needlework.

Two more terrific projects from Cheryl!

Last week when I showed you photos of Cheryl's wonderful ditty box, Tokens from the Sea, I promised that there would be lots more photos of her work. Here are a few more.

First is her lovely Quaker Hornbook that she did with the Mayflower Sampler Guild in Massachusetts. Having known Cheryl for years (our friendship dates back to the days of going to Sampler Gathering), it didn't surprise me that she stitched her hornbook with red thread.

Next is Cheryl's Cherished Workes sewing case which she stitched back in 2005. Looking at the views of the front and the back of her sewing case, you can see how you could also put one of the designs on a box top or you could stitch the two designs separately to make two framed pieces...oh so many possibilities.

Here is the front of Cheryl's sewing case.

Here's a view of the back of her sewing case. And now, here's an inside view showing her sewing case pocket, needlebook, and thread palette.Thanks so much, Cheryl, for the photos. I'll be showing your stitching basket and huswif in the future.

Hope everyone has a nice weekend planned, and make sure you take some time to stitch!

a faux pas...

My apologies go out to Ellen L. whose Cherished Workes project I showed you on Friday, March 12. I neglected to show the photo of her thread palette, so here it is! As you can see it fits nicely in the sewing case pocket.

Ellen wrote that she has pulled out My Favorite Thing Stitching Basket from her stash and plans to work on it next. I'm certainly looking forward to seeing her lovely work on that fun project.

You can read the story behind the naming of this project and see Jill's completed basket and accessories here.

Just a reminder that the give-away on the With My Needle Facebook page ends today at 5pm EDT. (The US went on daylight savings time last night which means for those of you not in the US that we turned our clocks ahead one hour.) Your comment must be made on my Thursday posting to be eligible. Also you can only leave one comment. I had not expected so many lovely notes.

Look at Ellen L's Cherished Workes!

I was delighted to receive these photos from Ellen L. who lives in North Dakota. Ellen and I met years ago--back when we used to go to Sampler Gathering. Wow, what fond memories we have of the classes, tours, and friendships!

Ellen wrote, I just HAVE to tell you that I FINALLY finished "Cherished Workes’"! It’s been on my cutting table for years – 2002 to be exact. Somehow finishing is just not fun to me, but the stitching is heaven! But I followed your explicit directions and all is ‘"well with the world"! It turned out wonderful and now I wonder why I didn’t finish it sooner?

Stitching is my passion but "finishing" is a chore. Think it is because we have spent so many hours stitching our pieces and they can be ruined in the finishing process. The finishing instructions are superb and if you follow the instructions carefully, it all just works out!

It is also a little interesting that we moved after I had purchased the scrim and thought it had been lost. But as with most of us stitchers, it did turn up! Thank goodness! How I wished I had ventured into finishing it sooner. I love this piece! Thank you again for this wonderful design.

sewing case front

sewing case back

sewing case inside with pocket and needlebookenlargement of Ellen's needlebook

an enlargement of the scrimshaw decoration on the pocket

Didn't Ellen do a beautiful job with her stitching and assembly? Ellen, your lining fabric is perfect. Hopefully in the future you won't be daunted by the idea of assembling a project. You have proven that you can do it wonderfully. Thanks for sharing photos of your work.

Cherished Workes was first published in four issues of Fine Lines. I later re-released it as a chart pack, and as it has become one of my most popular charts despite having been previously published. In addition to the sewing case and needlebook shown in Ellen's photos above, a chart to embroider an embellishment for a wooden thread palette is also included.

I want to share a funny story about the sheep on this project. Tom wanted to know what direction a sheep's tail points when his head is pointed down to eat. We tried looking at sheep photos on-line, but that didn't really help. Tom then had the idea that he would use our sheltie, Maggie, to see what would happen with her tail when she pointed her snout down. What you see on the case is what happened.

Cherished Workes by Janis

Janis of Independence, Kentucky stitched Cherished Workes in 2002 when the project was chosen as a stitch-along for the Queen City Sampler Guild.

The first photo shows the case front and the second one the case back. The last photo shows the inside of the case and the accompanying needlebook and thread palette.
Janis wrote, "I love the weeping willow trees and the ladies stitching and fishing under the tree. The sheep are so cute. It was FUN to stitch. "

I have seen Janis' sewing case in person since we are both members of the same sampler guild. Janis is a beautiful stitcher and finisher.

Thank you, Janis, for letting me share your work with others.

Linda Hadden of The Sampler Guild (located near London, England) sent me photos of her version of Cherished Workes. She sent the photos 4 years ago, but previously I had no way to share them with you.

Linda wrote, "Well here at long last is my version of Cherished Workes and I truly hope you approve as I've changed it slightly.

I haven't put any of the crowns on and on the line of "her dwelling place" I stitched a sheep instead of a crown. My large sheep were stitched in Turkey knot that I didn't trim, bullion knots and French knots as I wanted to give some texture to the design and yes I have a pink spotted sheep as seen in the Lake District with my own eyes and I still can't believe I saw it. Not enough tonic with the water that day! The dogs were stitched in Turkey knot, cut and brushed.

I also changed the inside and used linen, attaching the large pocket with buttonhole stitch. I added places for needles and pin in the needlebook. I haven't used any piping and joined the inside/outside together by backstitching both pieces in cream and then whip stitching with the Raspberry Parfait. Not to everyone's taste, but I am extremely pleased with the result.

You'll get to see it in person next time we get to meet up."

Click on the photos for a close-up view. Don't you love the dimension and texture Linda added to her sheep?

For comparision, you can see photos of my model at http://withmyneedle.com/CherishedWorkes.html. On the right is a photo of the case back which is not shown elsewhere.

Linda founded The Sampler Guild approximately 10 years ago. Its membership has grown to hundreds of members throughout the world. Linda publishes a terrific quarterly newsletter which is always so interesting to read. If you live in the UK, you can take advantage of the many guild gatherings; if like me you live far away, you can drool and live vicariously through the stories of the events. You can read about the guild by clicking on the link to the website.