I've Not Been Very Good...

I can't believe how terrible I've been over the past months about updating my blog.  Please accept my apologies.

Several needleworkers have sent me photos of completed With My Needle projects.  Thank you.  So sorry that it's taken me so long to show off your work.

The first photo is from Mary Lou G. in Kansas.  Her project is A Needleworker's Sampler Huswif which I taught for her guild.  Mary Lou decided to frame the project versus making it into a huswif.  (This is a class project only and not available in shops--sorry.)

Next is Joan C's An Emblem of Love. She chose to stitch the single color version of this sampler and used Spring Violets Belle Soie thread. Joan told me that the thread colors are much more vibrant than this photo shows. Joan's unsure what linen she used.  Didn't she chose a beautiful frame to showcase her sampler?

Pam Z. stitched Quaker Sampling III as part of a SAL with the Kindred Spirits Sampler Guild in Michigan. She used Birds of a Feather's 36-count Sandpiper linen and  Cranberry Gloriana Silk thread.  Pam said this was a fun stitch.  She's also stitched Quaker Samplings I and II which I showed you in an earlier blog post.

I hope other members of the Kindred Spirits Sampler Guild will send me photos of their completed samplers. Thank you for choosing one of my samplers as your guild focus project.

Here is Clara's With A Pleasant Thought. Clara is an Italian doctor.  She chose this project because she was "enchanted by the poetry". She also wrote, I purchased your other designs: they are just beautiful! (Thank you, Clara.)

Clara used 35-count Vintage Country Mocha linen from Zweigart. She personalized the sampler with her parents' initials so that the project would be a tribute to them.

And last, but certainly not last, is Gill F's Elizabeth Wood sampler.  I had the great pleasure of meeting Gill in person a couple of years ago when I was in Australia. Julie, the owner of the Crewel Gobelin shop, hosted an open house, and afterward invited me to dinner at her home.  Gill had a very delicious Pavlova for dessert...yum, yum.

Gill wrote, I am writing to let you know I have just collected from the framer my latest piece of cross stitch, your design – Elizabeth Wood, 1822.  It was an absolute joy to stitch and even more pleasure to pick it up from the framers today.  It is a  not already occupied.   To have met the designer makes it even more special. 

My life recently has been taken up with grandchildren, of which I now have thirteen, so to finish and have framed a cross stitch gives me great pleasure.  Thank you for providing me with the enthusiasm to complete this beautiful design and have the pleasure of admiring it on the wall as I walk pass.  I am attaching a photo of the said Elizabeth Wood cross stitch.  

Ladies, please accept my apologies for having take SO long to show your beautiful work.  Thank you for the photos and notes.

Good news--at long last there will be some new With My Needle designs--three retail projects and two teaching projects.  The directions are now written and the photography on four of the five is completed.  The projects are now with my wonderful reviewers who read through the directions before I publish the designs. Look for all the new projects sometime this summer. I hope you'll enjoy them.

Supply information on the new designs

I've gotten lots of inquiries about the supplies needed for the three new designs, and rather than answering each one individually, I thought I'd post the info here. These designs will be available at the Nashville Tradeshow. Some shops are taking pre-orders.

Mrs. Waddelow’s Huswif

Linen: 32-count Amber, Wichelt. Two pieces are required:
Huswif: 10-1/2 inches wide x 19-1/2 inches high (This gives a 2-inch linen margin.)
Needlebook: 5 inches wide x 6-1/2 inches high (This gives a 1-1/2-inch linen margin.)
Thread: Brick, Weeks Dye Works, 3, 5-yard skeins
You may want to choose your 5 printed cotton lining fabrics first before choosing their linen and thread.
Kelmscott Designs Putford scissors are shown in the photos.

I'm thinking about giving Mrs. Waddelow some other needlework pieces in the future so you may want to think about that when you get your supplies...I'm sorry that I can't let you know how much fabric or thread beause I won't start designing the pieces for a couple of months.


Quaker Sampling III

Linen: 36-count Maritime White, Lakeside Linens, Inc.
Stitched size: 21 inches wide x 6-1/2 inches high
379 stitches wide x 116 stitches high
Total number of stitches: 12,461
Thread: Cranberry, Gloriana Threads (I used 2 full 6-yard skeins of thread with none left over. I recommend you buy 3 skeins in case you have more waste or do more “frogging” than I did.)


Within My Heart Sewing Case

Linen: 32-count Summer Khaki, Zweigart, Inc.
Recommended amount of linen: 21 inches wide x 15 inches high
Threads: DMC embroidery thread and silk threads from Dinky-Dyes, Gloriana Threads, and Needlepoint, Inc. (NPI). DMC substitutions are provided.
Old Rose 145 (NPI)
Dark Old Rose 148 (NPI)
Coral 622 (NPI)
Palomino Gold 695 (NPI)
Black 998 (NPI)
Bougainvillea (Dinky-Dyes)
Kirribilli (Dinky-Dyes)
Ocean Pines (Dinky-Dyes)
Birch Brown (Gloriana)
Olive Grove (Gloriana)
DMC 823, Dark Navy Blue
DMC 3782, Light Mocha Brown (3 skeins) (matches linen color)
The model also uses the Kelmscott Designs mother of pearl daisy thread rings. Their ruler and flower pot scissors are also shown in the cover photos.

A couple of you were concerned about my sewing case being out in the snow...not to worry. Using Photoshop, I superimposed the sewing case photo on top of a photo of the table on our deck. I wouldn't risk any of my needlework getting wet.