Catching Up

 When last heard from, our intrepid stitcher was nearly finished with her rendition of the AotH chart for February . . .

LHC stands for Leander Howard Cothren.  He was my grandfather on my mother's side and I only remember "meeting" him one time.  They lived in Colorado and we lived in the suburbs of Washington, D.C.  He was a farmer and by all accounts, a good man.  I've decided that my AotH will be a tribute to my heritage and that I want to mostly recognize women in my lineage.  Women who might well have worked samplers much like this one, in their lifetimes.  Howard was added because he had one thing unique to February - he was born on Valentine's Day.  I thought it worked.  In the lower portion you see the name Adda Warner.  She was my great grandmother - Howard's mother in law (oddly enough).  And she was a stitcher!  Well, maybe not a stitcher per se, but she WAS a sew-er.  My mother looked a lot like her grandmother - and I look a lot like my mother.  What's even better, my mother always spoke well of her grandmother. 

Originally Addie was from Circleville, Ohio, but her parents moved the family to Shelbyville, Illinois when she was four.  She married Robert Henry in Shelbyville in 1890 (at the ripe old age of 23!).  In 1898, after eight years of marriage and 3 children, Robert and Addie moved on to Colorado Springs, Colorado.  Robert worked with his hands - was an inventor and carpenter.  While in Colorado Springs, he built several houses, the north wing of the Antlers Hotel,  and is responsible for creating much of the woodwork inside the county courthouse now used as the Pioneer Museum.   Work must have dried up for Robert between recessions; in 1901 he was working on a bridge gang.  After that he went into farming in Pueblo and Rocky Ford where three more children would be born.  Robert just wasn't a good farmer.  As happens in marriages, things break down over time - over money - and in May of 1922, Addie and Robert were divorced.  She went as far west as she could; ended up in Seattle, Washington where she became a house mother to a fraternity at the University of Washington.  I have several quilts made by Addie; also a postage stamp quilted pillowcase.  My mother used to talk about the dresses her grandmother would make for her and her sister out of feed sacks.  So, I know she was a sew-er.  We really would have enjoyed each other, I think.  Addie was born in 1867 and died in February of 1949.

I made quite a few modifications to the February chart to accommodate Addie and Howard; I think it stayed within the spirit of the design though.

Next I did two more sections of Christmas Rules - took me about two and a half days to get those done.

I also worked on something that I'll have a post about tomorrow.  For the last two days of February I'll have been working on The Chase sampler.  Sandra Green (no blog) was kind enough to hear my plea for help in the directions category for that sampler.  She took pictures of her directions pages and emailed them to me.  Actually I did pretty good figuring out the colors.  Knowing what stitches I need to look up in my Red Book, to use is going to be helpful as well.  Thanks so much Sandra!  Here's a picture of her beautiful finished sampler -

Isn't it gorgeous?  Hope you enjoyed!

February Progress on AotH

Here's progress so far on the February chart of Anniversaries of the Heart.  You can tell I've made some changes, but I'm trying to keep all the motifs in there; just a little different.  The last thing to do is the urn of flowers below the house.  This one really went fast - or I did - one or the other.  That means that it will be on to the next two bits of LK's Xmas Rules this week.  And that will be done faster than this.  and THAT means I'll be on to The Chase sampler.  and THAT isn't such a good thing because it sorta makes my skin itch.  Sooooo, methinks I'll have to find another project to slip in the cycle.  Details on the names and dates when I finish and don't forget to check out the Trading Post page (see above below header photo).  Hope you enjoyed!

Windy Ridge Trading Post Now Open

I've spent the last couple of weekends going through my sewing room.  It WAS a disaster!  I'm running out of space.  So, I made the decision to clear out some stuff.  And I'm going to give YOU the opportunity to get that stuff.  I'm open for trading!  See the white bar under my banner picture?  It says Home and Blown Away From Windy Ridge and Windy Ridge Trading Post?  Those are my blog pages.  Click on the page for the Trading Post and it will show you all the stuff I have for trade.

Now don't worry, it doesn't mean I'll never do another Give Away.  In fact, I'm planning to do one soon for my BlogAverSary!  That's not 'til later in the month though.

You may remember that in addition to being a cross stitcher, I've also done some quilting and finishing.  I also dabble in rug hooking, machine sewing, etc. etc. etc.  Some of the things I have for trade are charts that I've used and don't want to keep.  Some things are stuff I've bought and wanted to do, but have never had the time to do.  It's time for those things to find a new home with someone who will attend to them more than I.  Some things are from my fabric stash that I have had to admit I will just never get around to using ALL of it.

I have made suggestions for what I'd like to trade for, but if you see something you want and don't have exactly the things I've suggested I'd like to have in return, then by all means, make a suggestion!  I'd love to hear from ya'll anyway.  Let's Make a Deal!

New Prairie Schooler Designs - Buzz Buzzzzz Buzzzzzz

Edgar (Blacksheep) had a posting about the previews of the new Prairie Schooler designs; he couldn't remember where he'd seen them.  So, I did a little digging and found them on the Stitches 'N Things website - they're taking pre-orders for Nashville.  You can see the new designs (and others too if you fish around on the pages) HERE.  I'm glad that she's done May.  I've been waiting for that one.  My eldest son is a May baby.  My mother was born on May Day.  My middle name is May.  My husband and I were also married in May; so I have a fondness for the month of May.

There's also one that looks like it could be in the Weather Wise series called "As the Crow Flies", and a red white and blue ornament set called "Sunny Days". 

Something else that I told Edgar about was that I remembered that an issue of Gift of Stitching, last year, had psanky eggs (not sure if I spelled that right) and an article about how they went to the Ukraine, etc.  Pam Smith (Prairie Schooler) had three eggs in that October issue (HERE) that are different from the ones that are in the new booklet "Folk Eggs" that you can see at Stitches 'N Things.  So, if you're into the eggs, check out Gift of Stitching and order the issue.  

And, while I'm talking about the Gift of Stitching, I want to say that I ordered some of the thread winders from them at Christmas-time.  All I can say is WOW!  They came bigger than I thought they'd be (which was nice) and I think that they were worth every penny that I paid for them (the shipping is included in the price - that's INTERNATIONAL shipping my dears).

There really are a lot of previews available on the Stitches 'N Spice website of other designers, lots of new stuff to get our stitchy fingers on!  So be sure to check it out.  Hope you enjoyed.