Lots of Goodies to Show You

I decided today to clean out my email mail box, and in doing so I found some photos that I forgot to show you earlier.  I'm so sorry.  I found so many photos that I'm dividing them into two blog posts.  I'll begin with the retail products that you can get at your local needlework shop.  In the next blog post, I'll show some class project finishes.

The first photos were sent by Ann, who owns Knowledge and Needles in Brighton, Canada.  Ann's customer Catherine S. decided to stitch Adorn Thy Heart to celebrate her 50th wedding anniversary this August.  Catherine replaced the verse on my model with her own personalization.  She even found a place to add the words "Golden Anniversary" using gold thread.  What a special touch!

Thanks, Ann, for sharing photos of Catherine and her special sampler.  Catherine, I hope you and your husband will have a very special 50th anniversary year and that you will send me some more photos once you have your sampler completed and framed.  Perhaps you could include a photo of both you and Peter with the sampler.  Hmm--maybe also an old wedding photo.

Next are photos of Dee L.'s completed Quaker Needlework Box. You may remember Dee's name from past blog posts.  She is a beautiful needleworker (and finisher) and is also very prolific.

Dee stitched her box and the accessories on 32-count Antique White linen using Eggplant overdyed thread from Weeks Dye Works.  Dee  wrote, ...very labor intensive - could not begin to say how many hours/days are involved in the stitching and then the assembly!! The lining is a dark purple silk that I purchased in Gastonia, North Carolina at Mary Jo's. (Wonderful fabric store!!)

Yes, as Dee said A Quaker Needlework Box does have lots of stitching--all over one linen thread, but aren't the results outstanding? Well worth the effort I think you'll agree!  I've recently heard from a stitcher who is using blue thread for her version, so perhaps soon I'll have another completed box to show you.

Next is Kay Lynn S.'s Family Record Sampler that she stitched for her daughter and son-in-law to celebrate the births of her two granddaughters.  I love the way Kay Lynn added the words Stitched By Mom to the bottom of her sampler.  And look at that exquisite frame!  Kay Lynn, what a family heirloom you have created!  It is no wonder that your daughter was thrilled to receive this gift!

And last, but certainly not least, is the needlebook/sewing case that Linda Z. won as a door prize a few months ago when Darlene Anderson spoke on Adam and Eve samplers for my sampler guild, The Queen City Sampler Guild.  Perhaps you may remember some of the photos I showed after the event.  Linda had to leave early, so I didn't get to take a photo of the sewing case she won.  Does the design look familiar?  It is one my charts from A Is For Apple.  I love the way the design looks on the blue linen.  And wasn't Darlene clever to turn the needlebook design into one for a sewing case?

Darlene even included a pair of scissors with each sewing case she gave away!

Such a group of talented needleworkers!  Stay tuned for more photos from other gifted stitchers!

A Wonderful Heirloom Gift from a First-Time Grandmother!

I was so excited to receive this photo from Linda M. of her adaptation of my Adorn Thy Heart sampler!  Linda, who lives in Hereford, England, decided to stitch this design as a birth sampler for her first grandchild, Tara Elizabeth Charlotte.  Isn't it wonderful?  Linda, I bet your daughter and son-in-law were thrilled to receive this very special heirloom made by their daughter's loving grandmother.

I think one of the nicest things about using a design such as Adorn They Heart as a baby sampler is that is doesn't become out-dated as a child grows.  Often as a children grow up, they find their baby sampler too juvenile.  However, in my humble opinion, Linda's adaptation of Adorn Thy Heart won't become outdated and can remain in her granddaughter's bedroom throughout her life.  Linda, I'm truly honored that you chose my design to stitch for your granddaughter!  Thank you for sharing this photo of your beautiful work.

Adorn Thy Heart can also easily be made into a wedding sampler as I did for my son and daughter-in-law.  I simply replaced the text on the original sampler with the couple's names, wedding date, and location.   I wanted a sampler that was not so "wedding-ish" that it would be relegated to the bedroom. I'm delighted that Stephen and Michelle have their sampler hanging in their living room. It's hard to believe that they celebrated their 9th wedding anniversary in June. Where does the time go?

I stitched my model on 32-count linen and used 22 different stitches.  If desired, cross stitches can be substituted for the majority of the specialty stitches.

A very special gift to celebrate Teresa's parents' 50th wedding anniversary

Teresa B. from Jacksonville, Florida recently stitched An Emblem of Love as a gift for her parents on their 50th wedding anniversary. 

 Teresa wrote,  I finished "An Emblem of Love" for mom and dad's 50th wedding anniversary. They both love it and were completely surprised. The first time they saw it was when we picked it up from the framers and then took it to our county fair for exhibit. I'm excited to say that it won a blue ribbon! (Mom thinks it should have gotten best in show but she's a little biased.) I stitched it over 2 threads on 36 ct. V. Lt Examplar from Lakeside using a single strand of Belle Soie in Eggplant for the purple and Florimell Silk Floss from Gloriana Threads in Old Gold also using one strand.

It was such a pleasure to stitch this project. It's my first Quaker and I just loved working the motifs, seeing the whole piece grow with each one completed. I did make a few changes that you might noticed. I took out one of the motifs to allow me to put the year they married in as well. Plus instead of just using one color I wanted to pay a little homage to this being for the "Golden" anniversary so I stitched some of the hearts in gold along with the years.

Thanks so much for such a wonderful pattern. Ellen I've loved so many of your pieces but I have to say that this one means more to me than all the others. I'm sure you understand why. The pictures don't do it justice, but they'll give you an idea of how it all turned out.
  
Look at the touches of gold on Teresa's frame and the gold thread she added when she stitched the hearts and her parents' wedding and anniversary years. Wow--just beautiful!

Teresa and I first met at one of Rae Iverson's A Stitchers' Gathering seminars. In fact, she was in the first class I ever taught. It didn't take long for us to both discover that we were both Florida State Seminoles. (I have to admit that Theresa graduated quite a few years after I did.) Teresa and I have been able to stay in touch through needlework seminars and emails and occasionally I see her when I'm down in Jacksonville visiting Tom's family.

Thanks, Teresa, for sharing photos of your beautiful work.  Your thread color choices and framing are wonderful!  I'm honored that you chose one of my designs to stitch for your parents on their very special anniversary. I know they were thrilled!  Hope to see you the next time we're down your way.

commemorating a special occasion...

I was recently asked me if I do custom designs. I’m sorry time doesn’t permit me to do any, but I made the following suggestions to the needleworker who inquired specifically about a wedding sampler. Perhaps these ideas are things you might like to consider also. Many of the same ideas would also work well for a birth or anniversary sampler.

Adorn Thy Heart
Below you can first see a photo of the sampler as it appears on the chart cover. I also sticthed the design as a wedding sampler for my son and daughter-in-law as shown in the second photo. You can also create a smaller sampler by omitting some of the bands on the sampler.

When This You See

Leave off the text and perhaps a couple of bands at the top, and put the wedding information there.

Let Virtue Be A Guide to Thee
Leave off the alphabet and verse and put the wedding information in those areas. If you want a smaller sampler, leave off the floral border and just do the area inside the inner border. Another idea is to do the outside borders and the inner border, and put just the wedding information on the inside.

Kind and True
Leave off the verse and put the wedding information in that area. Another idea is to lengthen the sampler by extending the side bands, and put the wedding information at the bottom of the sampler. Family Ties

Leave off the verse and put the wedding information in that area.

Family Record Samplers
Put the last name (surname) of the wedding couple at the top, and then put all their wedding information in the area below that. You can still keep the cartouches on either side and put the surname initial there. Leave off the names of the grandparents. Put the family surname initial at the bottom in the center cartouche.

Let your creative juices flow and see what you can do to create a special commemorative sampler which will surely become a family heirloom!

Adorn Thy Heart by Anita

I was delighted to receive photos from Anita of Staten Island, New York who stitched Adorn Thy Heart, a band sampler with 22 different stitches. If desired, you can use cross stitch for the majority of the special stitches.

The first photo shows Anita's sampler before framing. Anita was so proud of the back of her sampler that she sent me a photo of that too. Anita says that she likes to be an enabler--not only of cross stitch.

Years ago I got to meet Anita in person when my husband and I were in NYC. Anita met me at our hotel and took me to the garment district where we spent hours looking at beads, buttons, trims, and dupioni silk. I still have such fond memories of our day together. Thanks, Anita, for that day and also for sharing the photos of your beautiful work.

The photo below shows how Adorn Thy Heart can easily be made into a wedding sampler by replacing the text on the original sampler with the couple's names, wedding date, and location.

I made this sampler for my son and daughter-in-law. I wanted a sampler that was not so "wedding-ish" that it would be relegated to the bedroom. I am delighted that Stephen and Michelle have their sampler hanging in their living room. It is hard to believe that they celebrated their 6th wedding anniversary in June. Where does the time go?

Others have adapted this sampler as an anniversary sampler and as a birth sampler for a girl.