Two more terrific Quaker Hornbooks!!

Jacquie B., who lives in California, recently completed her Quaker Hornbook using Crescent Colours Tartan Plaid embroidery thread and Lakeside Linen's 36-count Vintage Examplar.

Jacquie wrote, I joined Stitcher's Hideaway's "With My Needle 'Quaker Hornbook' stitch-along"...it's been a while since I've stitched last, so this is the perfect little project to get going again...

I love how it all turned out!! So glad I didn't put off the finishing like I usually do so that I can enjoy the hornbook! Finishing instructions were very detailed...reminded myself "Just do what it says!"

Below are a couple views of Jacquie's hornbook threadholder.

Jacquie wrote me before she began assembling her project, and it was clear she was a bit nervous. I assured her she could do this and gave her two pieces of advice: take your time, and use the glue sparingly. I guess she followed my advice, because you can see she did a terrific job. Jacquie, hopefully you now have the confidence to forge ahead with more projects.

Next is Lisa P.'s completed Quaker Hornbook. I'm hoping to see her hornbook in person since she is a member of my sampler guild, The Queen City Sampler Guild. Lisa is relatively new to cross stitch; she is quite an accomplished quilter.

Lisa wrote, I wanted to share with you my latest finish! I joined the "Stitcher's Hideway SAL" you mentioned on your blog a while back. I really fell in love with the hornbook and wanted to stitch it to match the Quaker Schoolgirl Necessities set I've been working on.

I used R & R Reproductions' 18th Century Brown linen and Simply Shaker Sampler Threads from The Gentle Art in Black Raspberry Jam.

I couldn't be more pleased with the results. I can't wait to show it off at the next guild meeting. I just had to share it with you today!

As you can see, Lisa chose the other design in the package. You have your choice of two different designs. Lisa chose the one done completely in cross stitch over one linen thread; Jacquie's design was stitched in a combination of cross stitch over two linen threads and over one linen thread.

Lisa, you can pat yourself on the back for a job well done. Your threadholder will look wonderful with your Quaker Schoolgirl Needle Necessities.

Thanks, Jacquie and Lisa, for sharing photos of your most recent accomplishment.

Please keep photos and write-ups coming for the blog. Everyone really enjoys seeing the completed projects. They are certainly inspiring.

Just a few thoughts on posting photos on personal blogs or photo-hosting websites.

1--Please pay attention to the resolution of your photos. Obviously you want to use clear photos that show the beauty of your work, but you need to make sure that the photos are not so clear that someone can stitch from them. Yes, there are some folks who do that, believe it or not. There was an incident recently of a designer who posted a very clear photo of one of her new designs. A stitcher saw the photo and stitched the design before the chart was released. Can you believe that?

2--Please don't post a designer's copyrighted assembly instructions or translations to other languages on the internet. I have seen this done all too often, and it severely hurts our industry. Most designers are willing to help anyone who doesn't understand the instructions. If, on the other hand, you're assembling a piece based on your own technique and descriptions, that is different.

3--If you see any copyright infringements, please let the designer know. Too many designers are leaving the field because they are tired of seeing their work "given away" and they can't make a living. I personally find that very sad. I hope you do too.

Temporarily distracted...

I’ve recently become temporarily distracted from my needlework as I’m trying to piece together my family history. Off and on over the past few years, I’ve worked a little bit on it, but my interest increased recently when my son, Stephen, asked if we had a list of family names on the Chester side. (I think that he and his wife want to look over the list for ideas of baby names.)

Tom’s father, the youngest of 10 children, was orphaned when he was only 2 years old. We only knew about the family names going back a few generations, but thanks to the internet I’ve been able to trace back a few more generations.

When we named Stephen we thought that we were just “pulling the name out of a hat”. We didn’t know of any other Stephens on either side of our family. Can you imagine my shock to discover another Stephen Chester (born in 1809 in England) in Tom’s family? The “other” Stephen Chester is our son’s great-great-great-great-great grandfather. I think that is SO cool!!

I decided to join ancestry.com so I could get access to census, birth, marriage, death, etc. records. Next I entered the information I had for my mother’s family. I already had lots of information on them. It probably helps that her family has been in Virginia for nearly 400 years. (You may remember the story of Mrs. Waddleow.) It was particularly neat to see my grandfather’s draft registration card from WWI. (I never knew he had blue eyes.) The census records are also very interesting--it is fun to see where people were living and also a list of all family members who were there with them.

On my father’s side, a cousin and I are trying to piece together the Quigley background, but it is going slow because we don’t know much. It doesn’t help that there seem to have been a zillion Quigleys in Virginia, all with similar first names (John, James, William, Mary, etc.). I certainly wish that I could find a family Bible, or even better a sampler, showing somethign about the family history.

Until yesterday, I really hadn’t done anything with my father’s mother’s side of the family. My grandmother had been a member of the DAR, so she had done lots of research. I decided to start entering her information on a family tree. Chills ran down my spine when I ran across a photo on the internet of her father, his parents, and his siblings taken in about 1867—you see, I have the very same photo hanging on my wall. My grandmother was always very good about identifying people in photos; in fact, she had typed not only everyone’s names, but also their birth, marriage, and death dates. I have no idea who the person was who posted the photo, but am hoping that he will respond in my inquiry so that we can piece together more parts of the puzzle.

I think you can now see why I’ve been so distracted this week. Hopefully next week I’ll get back to work on some new designs and also stitching on the Deborah Walker sampler. Deborah was so good about recording her family history on her sampler. Her sampler is part of the Chester County, Pennsylvania Historical Society's collection.

...and the give-away winners chose...

I thought you might enjoy seeing what the give-away winners chose as their prizes. Their choices are quite varied as you can see.

* Diane from Ohio chose Adorn Thy Heart and My Needle's Worke Box.

* Nicole from South Carolina chose Blairgowrie and Quaker Sampling III.

* Patti from England chose Mrs. Waddelow's Huswif and Within My Heart Sewing Case.

* Kathleen from Massachussets chose Adorn Thy Heart and An Emblem of Love.

Ladies, your charts are on the way to you. I hope you enjoy you'll enjoy them.

I've shown photos previously on my blog of all the designs listed above but Blairgowrie, so here's a photo of my model.Blairgowrie is an orginal design based on elements found on Scottish samplers. The sampler got its name from the Scottish town of Blairgowrie which had a very rich textile history.

Hope that you are having a great weekend!! I've gotten in a wee bit of stitching on the Deborah Walker sampler as I daydream of being back in beautiful Holmes County.

Looking for a great place to stay or perhaps have a needlework retreat??

Here is another view of the rolling hills and farmland of beautiful Holmes County, Ohio! Unfortunately, it rained nearly the whole trip which hindered taking better photos of the scenery.Thanks to Trip Advisor, I found a wonderful B and B, The Barn Inn, in Millersburg. Loretta and Paul, the innkeepers, have lovingly turned this barn into a beautiful B and B, full of antiques.

Loretta and Paul are such gracious hosts. Each morning, after a delicious breakfast, Loretta gave lots of suggestions for things to do in the area as well as some background information about the Amish. She is certainly a wealth of information!

Below is a view of the front of the building. Don't you love the image of a quilt on one of the sides of the barn?
Next is a view looking at the backside of the barn. Notice the long porch. The reviews that I had read all gave glowing reports, but I was overwhelmed by the place--it surpassed all that I had heard.

Little did I know that Loretta is also an incredible quilter. Often she does her own designs.

The next few photos are of just a few of the quilts that grace the place. Quilts are everywhere! You can get more views of the inside of the building at their website.
One afternoon, Loretta showed me some of her quilts, and we talked about her passion! Talk about a talented needle artist! WOW!!

The next quilt was one of my favorites!! Loretta, shown on the right, designed it several years ago, and it hung at the Paducah Quilt Show.....quite an honor!!

Here are a few close-ups of this spectacular quilt. It is very 3 dimensional. The photos don't do the quilt justice!!The following square is one of Loretta's favorites!! I think you can see why!

In turn, Loretta wanted to see the models that I had taken with me when I taught in Canton several days before.

Loretta, thank you for your warm hospitality! I could have stayed forever. I know we'll be back some time!!

On the way home, we drove by this enormous basket--the Longaberger company headquarters in Newark.

WMN give-away winners!!

Well, I certainly know how to get comments from lots of you…just announce a give-away!!

There were 153 comments left on my blog post of May 13th; however only 150 counted for the give-away. The remaining three were not eligible--0ne was deleted by the writer (who had forgotten to leave her contact information), one was written after the midnight cut-off, and the last one was written by me announcing the end of the give-away.

Using a computer-generated random number selector, I chose 4 names as winners. The winners are:

#26--Nicole who wrote, I would love to be entered in your giveaway! Thanks!! :)

#56--Kat who wrote, Happy Anniversary! May I also be entered in your drawing? Woo HOO!

#64--Diane who wrote, Happy blogiversary Ellen! I'm finally getting around to stitching some of the projects I got from you when you were in Columbus, OH for State Day in 2008. Now I'm starting the "Quaker Turtles" and the "Hornbook". Pick me, pick me! I hope I win the drawing!

#140--Patti who wrote, Gosh there are only 140 people before me. As you know I love your blog and your designs and I want to wish you a HUGE HAPPY BLOGAVERSARY!

Lots and lots of Love Patti xxx

Although Patti indicates that she was #141, she was actually #140 because an earlier comment was deleted by the writer who had neglected to give her contact information and posted another comment later on. (Would you believe that Patti also won charts in the last give-away?)

It is really a small world because I've met two of the winners in person.

Ladies, please email me at examplar@withmyneedle.com with your choice of two retail charts and also your mailing address, and I’ll send your prizes to you.

Thank you to all who left a comment. Your thoughts really warmed my heart. Thank you! I wish I could give prizes to all of you.

Coming home from teaching in Canton, Ohio (which is about four hours north of where I live), I decided to stop and spend some time in beautiful Holmes County. Holmes County, with its beautiful rolling hills, has the largest settlement in the US of Amish. Large white farmhouses and barns dot the countryside.

Here are some photos of the area on a rainy day. Despite the gloomy weather, I think you can still enjoy the beauty of the area.

Miller's Dry Goods is the place to go for fabric.

Lehman's is a stop on almost everyone's visit to the area. It is hard to describe, so you're best reading about it here.Linda Z. (whose photo you saw yesterday) said we must try a fry pie. At the advice of a local Amish couple who were buying some, we opted for a strawberry-rhubarb one.This was the charming sign outside a home with beautiful baskets made by the family who lives here. I found a wonderful sewing basket at a very reasonable price.
Do you need some shoes? Perhaps you might want to try these on for size ...... or perhaps not--they are made of chocolate at the Coblentz Chocolate Company. The next two photos are outside views of the "factory"--absolutely charming!

As you can see, this is truly a wonderful part of the world...so serene! Perfect for a relaxing get-away. I'll post some more photos in a few days.

Another wonderful project from Sandra C. of Yorkshire!

Sandra C. of Yorkshire, England, recently sent me some photos of her completed Maidens of the Sea.

Sandra wrote, I stitched "Maidens of the Sea" in late 2009, so it's a minor miracle for me that I got it assembled so quickly. It is worked on 28 count Dusk blue Juliana evenweave with DMC threads. I struggled with the assembly, mainly because my fabric was so thick, but I'm glad I persevered. The little pearl button is the spare from my Mother in Law's nightie, let's hope she never loses the original.

I love this photo of her project pictured next to a Nantucket basket. The basket, with its mermaid scrimshaw decoration, certainly is the perfect touch to showcase her project. I hope you also noticed Sandra's seahorse scissors from Uncommon Scissors.

Here is a photo of the front of Sandra's sewing case. Don't you love the beautiful button she chose for her closure?

Next is a view of the inside with the seahorse needlepage and the fish threadwinders.
Here is a view of the sewing case back.And last is a photo of her scissors weight.
Sandra, you have done another incredible job!! I'm honored that you've chosen to stitch (and finish) so many of my designs. Thank you very much for keeping me updated with photos.

You can see more examples of Sandra's beautiful work by typing her name in the search engine on the left sidebar of this page.

Tonight at midnight (EDST) is your last chance to leave a comment for the give-away. Only one comment per person. Your comment must be left on my Tuesday, May 11th, post and not on this one. There are now 145 comments. I'll announce the winner on Thursday, and you'll have 72 hours to claim your prizes. Good luck!

Inn Stitches Spring Fling 2010!

Thank you, Kim and Kathy, for the terrific weekend at your 4th annual Inn Stitches Spring Fling!! Everyone sure had a wonderful time from the Monte Carlo night (we used DMC thread for our "betting"), to the classes, to the good times with friends!!

There were tiaras and yellow ducks galore. The yellow ducks made their premier at the first Spring Fling and seem to multiply each year quicker than rabbits. Some ducks even return year after year.

Here are Dee's Quaker Turtles with her ducks. I took this photo before someone told her that turtles eat ducks--oh dear!! Here are a few of some of the great gals in the Fruit of the Vine class on Saturday. Don't they look intent....well, all but one.Next is a closer view. Pat (on the far right of the first row) has her Busy Bee Sewing Case on her work station.Wow--look at all these With My Needle projects, and all stitched by the same person!
And here is the wonderful needleworker, Dee L., with some of her projects. Dee told me she has a few more at home. Next is Linda Z. with photos of three of her completed With My Needle class projects. Here is a close-up of the pieces Linda brought for Show and Tell. These projects (A Sailor's Remembrance, Tokens from the Sea, and Friends in Stitches) are from classes at Inn Stitches and at the Western Reserve Sampler Guild. Linda has enjoyed filling her ditty box with lots of nautical goodies. She has completed quite a few other WMN pieces, some of which I've shown previously on my blog.
As you can see, Linda and Dee are excellent needleworkers and are also very prolific. Thanks for bringing your projects for me to see in person.

I wish I had taken more photos in class of everyone's progress. Several people have nearly finished the needleroll, and another has nearly finished the scissors weight. Please don't forget to send me photos.

The final photo is of me with Carol, Linda, Debbie, and Kim. These four ladies have taken all seven of my classes. I wanted to recognize them with this photo and also a small gift. Debbie has the distinction of taking her classes in three different states--Ohio, Michigan, and Washington.When I said I wouldn't be seeing them for awhile since they had taken all of my classes, the entire group of attendees decided I should come back with a new project for Spring Fling 2012. We all pulled out our calendars and have blocked off May 15-17, 2012 for the premier of a new project. My mind is spinning with ideas!

Thanks everyone who made this weekend so wonderful and memorable!! See you at Spring Fling 2012!!

Thank you!

Thank you very much for all the lovely comments. They have meant so much to me!

I try to acknowledge as many comments as I can, but this time I don't think that's going to be possible. Tuesday afternoon we lost our internet service. The provider has sent someone out twice today. We think the second time was the charm. (Please keep your fingers crossed.) It will be next week before they send someone out to fit the tv cable.

Being without internet service for these past few days has put me way behind with emails. With getting ready to go off to teach over the weekend, I know I won't have much computer time. Please accept this note as a THANK YOU!! I wish everyone could be a winner in the drawing.

Perhaps you might enjoy designing your own sampler. Just click here. Then click to enter Felicity's house where you'll be able to design a sampler. Enjoy!!

The first anniversary of my blog and a celebration give-away

Today marks the lst year anniversary of my blog. Coincidentally, over night the number of WMN Facebook fans topped 700! This sounds like the perfect time to celebrate with a give-away!
I'll randomly choose 1 winner for every 50 comments, with a maximum of 6 winners. The give-away winner(s) can choose any 2 of my retail designs

To be eligible for the give-away:
1--Leave a comment for today's blog post.
2--Leave only one comment.
3--Make sure there is a way for me to contact you should you be one of the winners. If you have a blog, I should be able to get your contact information there. If not, either post your email address with your comment or check for your name once I announce the winners on Thursday, May 20th.
4--After I announce the give-away winners, you will have 72 hours to claim your prize. If I haven't heard from you by then, I'll choose another name.

It has been so much hearing from so many of you either through the blog or through Facebook.

Good luck, and thank you very much for your continued support and enthusiasm for my designs!!

Upcoming Class Offerings

Georgia

Today is the final day to register for the June 26 and 27 classes (Fruit of the Vine and Long May She Wave) at the Stitch Shop in Buford, near Atlanta. To register, call Terrie at 800-598-4614.

Texas

I’m teaching two classes (Fruit of the Vine and Friends in Stitches) in San Antonio on July 16 and 17. There are two openings in each class. If you’re interested, email Beth at bethwalter14@hotmail.com or Nicole at nicole.rutledge@sbcglobal.net for details.

Ohio

I’m looking forward this weekend to teaching Fruit of the Vine and Call of the Sea in Canton, Ohio. This is my fourth time teaching in the area (3 times for Inn Stitches and once for the Western Reserve Sampler Guild). I know I'll see lots of familiar faces. The last time I taught up there, everyone in both classes had taken at least one class with me before. For some, by the end of this weekend they will have had all seven of my class projects. Guess I need to get busy creating a new class project.

If you will be at the retreat this weekend, please bring any WMN designs that you have completed….class projects or other designs. I’d love to see them in person. We’re going to have a great time--Kim has planned lots of fun activities!

You must be present to receive the class kits.

Oh--and some interesting Mother's Day trivia.

Did you know that the first Mother's Day in the US was celebrated in Grafton, West Virginia? Previous attempts had been tried in the US to establish an official Mother's Day, but it was Ann Jarvis who finally was successful in 1908. Ann petitioned her church, Andrews Methodist Church, to hold this special day. In 1962, the church was declared the Mother's Day Shrine. (Thank you to my cousin, Linda, for this information. Her mother, my Aunt Nancy, lived in Grafton during her latter years.)

As I mentioned in my previous blog post, the carnation symbolizes maternal love. As a child I remember the women of my church wearing carnations to honor their own mothers. One would wear white carnations if her mother had died, and red or pink if her mother was living. I think this is another custom is not practiced very much. (I only saw one corsage yesterday.) Today it is more common for mothers to be given a carnation to honor them. Yesterday members of our church youth group continued this fairly new tradition and gave red carnations to all the mothers.

Hundreds of dewdrops to greet the dawn,
Hundreds of bees in the purple clover,
Hundreds of butterflies on the lawn,

But only one mother the wide world over.

(George Cooper )

Most countries have set aside a day to honor Mothers, and the date varies by country. We celebrate Mother's Day in the US on the second Sunday in May. Click here to see the dates in other countries.

Below is one of my father's favorite photos of my mother.Carolyn Watts Quigley
(1923-2005)

Have you ever noticed the the WMN logo is a carnation? I chose the carnation because it is an very old motif in needlework. My daughter drew the logo which is found on my projects. I think it is quite fitting because the carnation represents maternal love. You can read more about the carnation here.