I myself am made entirely of flaws, stitched together with good intentions.
I got a lovely postcard from Hastings, East Sussex today where sis is currently vacationing, and I thought I would share a photo of how I display my favorite vintage Florida postcards. These hang in my front hallway.
I am not an avid collector, I just pick up the occasional card here and there when I see one I like. I guess it’s the graphic designer in me! I do enjoy finding vintage cards from places I have actually visited or lived.
It’s always a delightful surprise to me when someone announces a giveaway on their blog! Lynn at Happiness is Cross-Stitching is giving away some very pretty things to celebrate the first anniversary of her blog. When I read about such generous people I wonder if I will manage to make it to a year of blogging myself.
Here is a picture of Lynn’s first place prize which includes: a Box decorated with her own cross stitch design (the free pattern will be available to download when she return from her holidays); Coffee pot and cup; Rose pins; Heart shaped ornament with Swarovski crystal trim; Scissor fob with Swarovski crystals stitched 1 over 1. What an amazing assortment of goodies!
Stumbled across the fascinating Unearthed website today, a unique mix of one-of-a-kind finds of all sorts: architectural, vintage and industrial objects for home, office and garden. It’s an excellent place for a browse and a peep into the past, both near and far.
I had no clue what this item was until I read its description: apparently it’s a late-1800s Convent Door Brass Peep Hole! See if any of Unearthed’s currently available nicely refurbished items can surprise you.
…and that feels kind of sad. The few times I’ve sat down and picked up a project it was so rainy or gloomy out that there was insufficient light to work, and I just had to put it back down. Also been spending a lot of time on the computer for my day job and by evening I don’t often feel like continuing to work with my hands for long periods of time.
I guess we all go through stages where even our hobbies become chores temporarily. I always think it’s better to stop for a while rather than work on a project when I don’t really feel in the mood.
I’ve not had much time for stitching this week and my hands have been acting up, so I am hoping next week will be better. Anyway, here’s a pic of me and my mom from this weekend.
Unlike a lot of other stitchers’ family histories, my mother’s never been very interested in the crafty side of life. In fact, she loves to joke about my affinity for “arts and crap”. *rolls eyes* Ho, ho, mom’s such a card. As a matter of fact, she did a lot of tatting back in the 1940s, making collars and cuffs to embellish her work clothes. I think she had quite enough of “use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without” in her day, and doesn’t really understand the point of stitching for pleasure.
Not a lot of progress this weekend, but I offer an amusing aside. We are supposed to be recreating this heirloom sampler exactly as it was stitched 220 years ago, flaws and all, yet I find myself fighting an uncontrollable desire to correct the pattern, and losing.
Forgive me, Mary Wigham, but I want your medallions to be as perfect as possible and I can’t control my inner neat freak. Besides, it’s fun seeing if I can get all the various arrangements to fit correctly in the end. I can imagine that adjustments were made by the original stitchers as they went along, so in a sense I feel I am doing the same thing, thus making this sampler a little bit my own as well.
I didn’t have time to tour the Lunder Conservation Center at the Smithsonian American Art Museum during my last Washington, DC visit, but I will definitely make it a top priority next time. There are some really cool treatment videos from their various labs on the website, here is just one from the Paintings Lab.
It’s true I’ve just started stitching on the Mary Wigham sampler – you can see I’ve only completed about an inch square! But I think it will be a fun project for me, I know I will enjoy working the individual medallions in solitary colors. I’ve chosen 40-count Lambswool Linen to stitch on and am using the DMC colors as charted.
Sympathetic Threads 