Finished my tiny pincushion today and it’s all wrapped up and ready to go out in the mail tomorrow. Hope it gets where it’s going in time.
Category: cross stitch
Baby steps
Well, I’m sure that all six of you who read my blog will be delighted to know that I am back working on something again. I’m actually only finishing a previously-stitched project as a small pincushion, so nothing major, but hey, that counts, right? It needs to go out in the mail for someone’s birthday soon, so I better get crackin’.
Happiness is Cross Stitching Anniversary Giveaway
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!
Real life is getting in the way again
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.
Mary Wigham progress
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.
Mary Wigham begins
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.
Art is everywhere you go!
While enjoying the Village of the Arts Artwalk on July 3rd I commented to my companion that some of the artwork at Divine Excess looked similar to folk art pieces I had seen at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in DC (one of my favorite places in the world, btw). And, sure enough, I found several pieces by one of the featured artists at Divine Excess (Mr. Imagination) on the SAAM site!
I was also highly impressed by several of the other artists displayed at at Divine Excess, including the amusing assemblage figures of Melissa Menzer. You can see some of her delightful artwork here. 🙂
Starting Mary Wigham
I am very pleased to have started stitching on the Ackworth School “Mary Wigham” sampler today. Situated near Pontefract in Yorkshire in the North of England, Ackworth School was built to be a foundling hospital, but in 1779 a school was founded there by Sir John Fothergill. Mary Wigham was a girl from the region who attended Ackworth between 1788-1791. Her piece is important for the history of the samplers as it is the first known with medallions.
Mary Wigham worked her sampler in 1790 – almost 220 years ago! Her sampler is under the care and conservation of the School, and Needleprint is releasing a section of the chart every week via download so that needleworkers everywhere will be able to complete Mary’s breath-taking sampler for themselves. Six of the nine sections have been released thus far, but I am only just starting it today, so I look forward to happy stitching for many weeks to come!
Sympathetic Threads 