Christmas in July!

I would like to thank all of you for your kind comments, thoughts and prayers regarding my health issue. A brief update is provided at the end of the post.

In my last post I had not yet decided whether to start something new or to finish something in my WIP pile.  It has been very hot here in North Texas so doing a couple of holiday pieces seemed to be in order.

Jane Pattison 1806 by Shakespeare's Peddler

I have had this chart in my stash since it first became available.  This piece really looks very looks and feels like a Christmas sampler with the border of green garland and candles.  I stitched this on 40-ct Lakeside linen using the recommended Gentle Arts Sampler Threads instead of the recommended wool threads. I did substitute the Harvest Basket with Gold Leaf since the Harvest Basket was very close in color to Cidermill Brown and I wanted to add a little bit of gold to the piece like in the picture on the pattern. I also stitch two bands using Algerian Eyelet (the band under the first line of alphbets and the line above the last line containing Jane's last name) and the checkerboard bands I used a rice stitch just to add a littel bit of texture to the piece.

Christmas Garden by Blackbird Designs

Being in a festive mood, I decided to finish Blackbird Designs Christmas Garden which I had started back in  March 2012.  I changed the wording on the bottom of the sampler to an alphabet and numerals. I also added the year at the top of the sampler.  The plan is to get this framed so that we can place it out during the holiday season.

I am going to get back to some of my current works in progress.  I would like to get the stitching completed on the Needle's Prayse Celtic Wallace and Robertson Sampler.  I only have about 6 more blocks to complete before starting to gold work on the piece. And of course since I cannot work on just one piee at a time I will probably work on my Blackbird Anniversay of Hearts sampler.  Just a couple of more blocks to finish on this piece.

In August I will be making a trip to Phoenix to visit with my friend Gloria and to take in a weekend get together at Attic Needleworks. 

Health Update

At this time, the doctors are still reviewing the results of the PET Scat, CT scan and x-rays so I am in a holding pattern.  The initial results showed the possibility of cancer in two additional areas but they might also be false positives. Due to this, chemo therapy has been delayed but I should have a better idea of the attack plan later on this way.  I will keep everyone posted.

Thank you once again for your continued thoughts and prayers. 

Happy stitching!