Saturday, October 13, 2012

Hanging Out With the Gibson Girls!

Yesterday I took two reproduction samplers up to Carol to be framed.  (Much to my dismay, some of my favorite frames have been discontinued!) 

The first sampler was Janet Gibson (from Hope's Dwelling Place).  I had started this sampler more than 5 years ago when it was one of my sampler newsletter SALs.  I got bogged down when it got to the large swan, sheep, and cow which had quite a bit of cross stitch over one thread and were then filled in with rows of buttonhole stitches.  I also still needed to stitch Adam and Eve.  Perhaps you may remember my showing you Janet here back in January.  You can see in the photo how close I was to having this sampler completed.

Poor Janet laid buried in my stitching basket until a few weeks ago when I decided that I had too much work done on her to let her languish any more.  I just needed to move forward.  The good news is that I finished stitching her about a week and a half ago, and here she is in all her glory.

You may wonder about areas where there appear to be missing stitches, such as the deer on the right who is missing a rear leg.  Yes, that is exactly what was charted on the reproduction. 

As I mentioned earlier, the swan is filled with rows of buttonhole stitches going in all sorts of directions--mainly horizontal rows, but there were some vertical rows, and a few that were even slanted!!  The hair on Adam and Eve was made from a fine twisted cord!  I'd never used that technique before for hair.  I must say it looks pretty cool.

Before retrieving poor Janet Gibson from my stitching basket, I completed Mary Gibson (from the Halsmere Museum in the UK). 

I'll post some more photos once I get the framed samplers back from Carol in a few weeks.

I'm very busy getting ready to teach soon in La Crosse, Wisconsin!  However, I'm still finding a bit of time to stitch on Mary Katz (from the Mercer Museum in Pennsylvania)  in the very early morning hours before beginning my work.  (Stitching keeps me "sane",  How about you?)

If you will be in either of my classes in La Crosse please bring any of your With My Needle projects you've completed.  I'd love to see them in person!

14 comments:

Catherine said...

Lovely finishes!

Grit said...

Wow, so wonderful.
Liebe Grüße Grit

Mouse said...

ooooo well done :) gorgeous finishes and you know I didn't notice the missing leg till you mentioned it ..lol
love mouse xxxx

Margaret said...

Wow! Both are gorgeous! Funny that they're both Gibsons. lol! You did a great job with Janet. And Mary is wonderful! Did you use the recommended DMC for that piece? It was DMC called for, wasn't it? Can't wait to see them framed!

Barb said...

Both samplers are just beautiful. I have Mary Gibson in my to do pile. Did you use the colors that were called for? It is so pretty.

Faye said...

Both of your AE samplers are stunning~~~ And, on the previous post, I LOVE the antique shaker box....Gorgeous... Nice job my friend, Faye

Nicole said...

Beautiful finishes Ellen! I'm curious if you used the called for DMC on Mary Gibson too. It turned out so pretty!

Mary said...

Ellen, both of the Gibson girls are real beauties! I have a few close-to-finishes lingering in my pile too. Time to get them out again, I suppose...

The Inspired Stitcher said...

Oh Ellen, you get a huge AMEN from me with regard to stitching being a sanity saver. I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have my stitching. Love the Gibson girls! They turned out beautifully. Can't wait to see them in person once Carol works her magic on them. Have a good week!

Deb said...

Those are two wonderful finishes!! I've got both of those near the top of the stitching pile, but it always takes seeing a wonderful finish such as yours to make you want to start on them right this minute. Can't wait to see them framed.

geeky Heather said...

They are both amazing, Ellen!! Congratulations on the finishes! All that buttonhole...yikes!!

Chris said...

2 beautiful finishes!

robindefender said...

Yay! I was hoping to see Janet posted on here soon. You did a great job finishing her off!

woolwoman said...

Absolutely gorgeous samplers Ellen - I can't wait to see your framing choices and what is next in your workbasket. Have a great weekend - Mel