A Gentleman's Samplings

I can't believe that it has been nearly two months since my last post. But thanks for your patience with me. I have been spending most of my down time just relaxing with needle, linen, and threads - lots of thread,  I have two finishes to show you. First up is 1787 Ellennor Whitehouse Sampler from the Fall 2013 Sampler & Antique Needlework Quarterly.  When I was in Arizona in August to attend the Attic's Summer School I was able to see the original which is in the collection of Vickie LoPiccolo Jennett. Jean and Vickie did a conversion to the Tudor Silks so that we could work this on the 50-ct linen (actually 52 threads wide by 60 threads high per inch).  This was my first time working on the 50-ct linen with the Tudor silks and I really liked it. 1787 Ellennor Whitehouse Sampler / Fall 2013 Sampler & Antique Needlework Quarterly Stitched on 50 count Lakeside Meadow Rue using Gloriana Tudor Silks Another sampler that I picked up on my travels

Just a quick post to show you two recent finishes. The first is Frances Pool 1832 by With Thy Needle and Thread.   Frances Pool 1832 by With Thy Needle and Thread/Country Stitches Worked on 36-ct R&R Linen using recommended Gentle Arts and Weeks Dye Works threads. The second one is a gift for a friend who lost there son in October 2011. Adam was a big fan of Bob Dylan's poetry and music.  So when I saw this small sampler I knew right away that I needed to stitch it in memory of Adam. So here are a couple of pictures before I take it to the framer. Stars & Diamonds by Heartstring Samplery Worked on 40-ct Lakeside Lentil using recommended Gentle Arts Sampler Threads Happy Stitchin... Robert

I put the final stitches in A Flamestitch Sampler by Scarlet Letter last night.  This one was a very fun stitch.  I really like how the bottom section turned out even if it does look a little bottom heavy. Worked on 40-ct Lakeside Pear using the recommended DMC Now to get back to work on AEDEGNES Sampler of 1746 also by Scarlet Letter. Happy Stitching....Robert

As promised in my previous post, here is a brief update on some other stitching progress. During April and the first part of May I worked on finishing up my Anniversaries of the Heart by Blackbird Designs. This has been a work in progress for a long time so I was glad to get it finished. Anniversaries of the Heart by Blackbird Designs Worked on 40-ct Lakeside Reindeer using Gentle Arts, Weeks Dye, and Crescent Colours Started in April 2010 and finished in May 2013 The hardest part was deciding on the personalized blocks for the family members that I want to include on the sampler.  They include by father-in-law, grandparents, great grandparents, my mother, father, wife, son and daughter. I inserted a saying that is special to me and my family in the the alphabet block at the top of the sampler.  "As for me and my house will serve the Lord" - Joshua 24:15 And changed the bottom of the November block by adding a bird from another Blackbird chart.

I cannot believe it has been nearly 3 months since I last posted on my blog. I have just been a little bit MIA from the blogosphere. I found the following on a blog I follow and thought it was appropriate. How did it get so late so soon? It's night before it's afternoon. December is here before it's  June. My goodness how the time has flewn. How did it get so late so soon? - Dr. Seuss I have been spending most of my free time doing other things besides stitching.  The weather here in Texas has been hot but I have really been enjoying it by spending a lot of time outside with family and friends. Since my last post in April, I have started and finished a couple of things. I will break the post up into two or more posts for May, June and July. So here it goes for May. After working on large projects I decided I needed a little bit of a change.  So I went through the stash and found a couple of small samplers that I could work on. The first one is J. M.

After finishing up Ruth bachelor, I needed something that was mostly just cross stitch so I picked up an older pattern that I had in my stash -- A Dutch Sampler from Treasures Magazine.  This was designed as a part of a sampler series by Sandy Orton.  I have completed the other three samplers in the series - An American Sampler, An English Sampler, and A Spanish Sampler - so this would complete the set. I really like the Dutch and German samplers.  They are full of different motifs and some wonderful alphabets. And the best part is most of them contain a ship which I am very fond of from my past sailor days. A Dutch Sampler by Sandy Orton Stitched on 40-ct Lakeside Navy Bean using DMC In my last post I stated that I was going to start/re-start IRS 1738. I had started this sampler a couple of years ago but did not like the way the colors looked on the linen that I had selected.  So I restarted it a couple of weeks ago and did not get very far before I got bored. So I start

I put the last stitches in Ruth Bacheler 1717 by The Scarlet Letter last night.  This was a fun stitch and was very hard to put down with all of it's bright colors.  I really enjoyed working the large areas of Irish Stitch. Really quick once you got your base/guide lines stitched. Worked on 40-ct Lakeside Linen Pecan Butter using DMC I have picked up A Flamestitch also by The Scarlet Letter.  It also has a large band of Irish Stitch - I guess I am addicted. But next up for Nicola's Scarlet Letter Year will be IRS 1738  (seems a little appropriate for this time of year - tax time!).  I have had this chart in my stash for a while. I even started it but did not like the way it was turning out with the floss on the linen that I selected.  So I have chosen a natural linen and will start that project tonight. I completed my tenth chemo treatment last week so I only have two more left.  My next treatment is scheduled for 1 April with my last one on 22 April.  I can h

I have spent most of the last two weeks focusing on Ruth Bacheler 1717 as a part of Nicola's Scarlet Letter Year . Ruth Bacheler 1717 by Scarlet Letter Worked on 40-ct Lakeside Linen Pecan Butter using DMC Can you believe that there are 109 of those little pendants in the border?  I was glad to get those done so that I could move on to the large Irish stitch areas. I completed my 9th chemo treatment last week and only have 3 more to go.  My next one is scheduled for 11 March.  If I stay on the current schedule I should have my last treatment on 22 April. Thanks as always for your continued thoughts, words, support, and prayers. Happy stitching....

I finally finished Christinia Cathcart by Samplar Workes on Sunday.  As you recall this was my Olympic 2012 start.  I had planned on getting this done last year but other things (and projects) got in the way. Stitched on 40-ct Lakeside Magnolia using HDF As a part of Nicola's Scarlet Letter Yea r, I decided to do Ruth Bacheler 1717 . The colors in this are really bright and stand out on the fabric. The only thing that gave me a little trouble at first is the counted satin stitch over 3.  It is not graphed very well on the chart but after looking at some other stitcher's WIPS I finally figured it out.  The only change that I have made is the chain underneath the first row of the satin stitched alphabet - changed this from a satin stitch to a normal cross stitch. Stitched on 40-ct Lakeside Pecan Butter using DMC I only have four more chemo treatments to go.  I was suppose to have a treatment this week but due to my platelet count being really low they hav

I put the final stitches into Scarlet Letter's And All Was For an Appil last night to have my first finish of 2013.  I started this as a part of Nicola's Scarlet Letter Year . Worked on 36-count Lakeside Linen Attic Lace using DMC I am really enjoying participating in the Scarlet Latter Year but I also want to focus on getting some of my other starts completed this year. So for the first part of February I am going to focus on a couple of my WIPS and pick out another Scarlet Letter chart for the challenge. I have just completed my 8th chemotherapy treatment and have only 4 more to go (two thirds of the way done - YEAH!!!). They had to delay a couple of treatments due to a low platelet count so that has moved my final treatment towards the end of March. I am managing the treatments very with just some minor side effects.  Thanks again to everyone for your continued support, thoughts, words of encouragement and prayers.  They are greatly appreciated by me and my fam

Let me start by wishing all you a very joyous New Year. Secondly I would like to thank you for all your kind comments, thoughts, words of encouragement, and prayers during the last several months as I fight colon cancer. I have reached the halfway point of the chemotherapy treatments (6 treatments down - 6 to go).  So far I have been handling them fairly well.  Mainly nauseousness but it last for only a couple of days after the treatment. As I have mentioned before the biggest part of the battle is mental but I have a great support group of family and friends that I can talk to to help me keep a positive attitude. I have not really got much stitching done over the last couple of months.  I did manage to finish 1798 Quaker Sampler by The Goode Huswife. Stitched on 40-ct Mystery Linen using the recommended NPI A couple of years ago a fellow member of my local guild stitched a project as a part of Advent.  She marked off her chart into 24 sections and stitched a section each day