Thanksgiving Comes Again

Back in 2007 I picked up Prairie Schooler's Thanksgiving Comes Again (book # 141).  It features PS's well known verse/scene theme for this month's big family holiday.  Back then I was doing a lot of stitching for sale; time was of the essence; abbreviation was required.

 
I finally settled on this:

Basically I stitched a part of the scene on the bottom of the sampler and then a couple of words.  Added a few more geese to fill in space too.  I also wanted to speed up the framing process.  I picked up the frames, really nice coppery colored ones, on sale.  They are 8x10 photo size - that gives you an idea of scale.

I stretched WDW overdyed wool in Wine over foam core board and then cut my linen to a size that was smaller than the field of the background.

I then fringed about a half inch of the linen on all sides and laid it out on top of the wool.  I didn't even have to tack it because the wool grabs the linen and keeps it in place - like a flannel design wall grabs your quilt squares.

Then I just closed up the frames and covered the back with some very pretty scrapbook paper (they were small enough for that).

I thought you guys might like to see this way of decreasing the amount of stitching and saving money on framing.  I'm glad I did this post because I'd forgotten about my version of this - need to pull it out of the basement and hang it up since it IS that time of year again!  Hope you like it.

Wedding Sampler - Framed

Went into Michael's today and picked up this nice 8x10 frame.  Gives the sampler a cottagey feel; I thought they went well together.

Micahel's is having a great framing sale, by the way.  Several are buy one - get one for a penny.  This one was among the deal.

Last Batch of Kris Kringles are Done

The Kris Kringles I've been stitching up on the small bits of fabric are finally done.  I did two of the designs over again.  Here they all are again - - -

 Not keen on this one - it's pretty boring with Santa just holding that darn tree; may add some beads or something to spruce him up.

 I call this one Santa of the Birds - he was supposed to have something else on top of his staff, but I added a goldfinch instead.

 This is Santa of the Geese and is done on patterned linen.

 First Santa of the Nutcrackers I did was using WDW - Ladybug as the red.  Not too sure about the result, so, I did it again . . .

 This time using WDW - Liberty.  I also changed the top of this staff to be a miniature nutcracker!

 This is Santa of the Robins.  He's also done on a patterned linen.

 Santa of the Swans.  Pretty sure I stuck to a DMC color here for the blue.  In fact, in most cases, I used DMC colors - but changed them all from the Prairie Schooler selections that contain a gray haze to more pure colors.  Still have the same feel.

This is Santa of the Sweaters (to differentiate him from Santa of the Birds); shows what the original staff looked like.  I really liked the pattern on his robe.  Haven't completely decided how I'm going to finish these, but I'm thinking oval shapes.  We'll see how it works out.  I've moved on to stitching Brooke's Books "Spirit of America"; saving my AotH to begin between Christmas and New Year's.

Wedding Sampler - Modified from BBD 2008 Mystery Sampler

 

When I was stitching the BBD 2008 Mystery Sampler, I got to the second chart and imagined it in different colors.  All of the sudden I saw a wedding sampler.  So I have this acquintance who was recently married and I thought, this would be perfect for her!

I did the top and left side following the pattern from the first chart in the mystery sampler, then the center medallion from the second chart in the mystery sampler.  The right side sort of mirrors the left side.  The bottom is the word LOVE, using the letters in the first chart.  I fiddled with a lot of the berrys - actually had to take some out to make room for the medallion and stars over top of it.  If I had to do it again I would probably start out with left green vine first, then stitch the medallion; that way there'd be less taking out of berrys.

As far as colors go, the darker green was supposed to be WDW Moss.  Well, I'd run out of that, so I made the DMC substitution; 469 I think.  Then used the WDW Olive that was called for in the chart.  The blackbirds along the edges are done in Flax.  I used a light purple and a dark purple instead of the Peacock called for in the chart.  Purple is the bride's favorite color.  Then the blackbirds over the medallion, instead of making them black, they're now done in Gentle Art Chalk - which makes them into doves!

This was super easy to do.  I am a fast stitcher.  I began on Friday night.  I felt punky on Sunday, so sat down to stitch a couple of times during the day - that day only.  Otherwise, my stitching is done early in the morning and in the evening when I'm watching T.V.  So, it could be banged out in a week if you needed a quick present for a bride and groom.  It's stitched on R&R Old Mill Java and came out to be about 5 x 7 inches.  That means I can find a nice 8 x 10 photo frame to put it in and viola!  Hope you like it!

Two More Frogs to Share

I think at this point, I have to say I have enough.  Well, maybe.  It was Deb who got me started on these darn things!  Anyhow, these aren't being used, just for decoration; I'm WAY too much in love with my DragonKeeper (do you suppose the dragons will actually PROTECT the scissors from those in this house who would go against my wishes and warnings and use them for snipping anything BUT embroidery?) . . .

I digress. First up is the Russian lacquer bowl with clear glass frog.  I love red and this was my favorite one until the turquoise dragons came along. 

Next up is this green gem -I love how this tall frog sits up proud above the bowl; it almost looks like some sort of berry. 

Although the maker of the frog is not marked on it, it does have impressed on it "Patent Apld For"  It is different from most other glass frogs I've seen.  The bowl is 4 -1/4 inches diameter and although not marked, was labeled as Anchor Hocking Glass Co., Forest Green Sandwich Glass.  It is really pretty.

Bronny wrote me a nice comment on my last  post about the DragonKeeper that it was a Fenton remake of an older design.  I thought that was neat since Fenton is a West Virginia glass company and I live in WV. 

I have two more frogs that need bottoms and then I really MUST be done.

Under the better late than never heading; my son sent me the above picture of a glass pumpkin he got at a farmer's market in the Puyallup, WA area.  I think it's gorgeous!

My youngest son and I have been fighting off a stomach bug since mid-last-week.  It's a very persistent one.  My husband says a lot of people at work have been coming down with it.  Over the weekend though, son came down with back, neck and head ache and a slight temp - none of the symptoms I've had.  This morning, he insisted that he be taken to see a doctor (he has aged out of his pediatrician's office so this meant starting afresh at the practice his father and I go to).  Of course, I'm too OLD to have accumulated any common sense about these sorts of illnesses; that they just have to run their course.  Naturally, while at the doctor's office, the subject of meningitis came up and although I admitted that the thought had crossed my mind, I said that I felt his symptoms just weren't enough to cause alarm.  Well, turns out mom knew best.  Just a virus, has to run its course, be sure to drink liquids, etc. etc. etc. And by the time we got home, he felt well enough to go to work.  By golly, that doctor was a true healer!

Finally, a lot of my pictures lately have had my quilted runner as a background - I made it years ago - with set in seams no less!  The blocks were so difficult to make that I stopped after making five of them; and that was just enough for a runner.

Going to go sip my watered down OJ and work some more on my Modified BBD 2008 Mystery (Wedding) Sampler; hope to have progress pics soon.  Thanks for coming to visit!