Wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving

Even though our lives have been riddled with challenges and problems, I choose to be grateful for all the blessings.

May this find you and your families in good cheer and health.  May all of us find the strength and courage and not lose hope. 

Life interrupted - once more -

 Life and planned finishes and all needlework plans and projects interrupted - dealing with a ‘flood’ and all the resulting damage at the office ... 

So close to a finish on yet another easy sampler during these trying times ... just not sure if I have the energy to get this off my frame today....

And, the long promised update on all my recent sampler projects from last year until now will have to wait a while longer ...I do apologize ...

Here is a simple project I started on May 10, 2020... could have finished it in June as planned but practicing with new protocols and N95 masks etc resulted in exhaustion and no stitching or even other activity for weeks.  And, just as we were getting used to the N95 masks and getting back to a more ‘normal’ rhythm, we were greeted by ‘rain’ in our office thanks to the tenant above inadvertently leaving the bathroom sink faucet running and vacating the premises for 2-4 days because of the power outage in the building thanks to the storm 1.5 weeks ago.

It has been a very trying time once again - really disheartening to see a space we have taken good care of for years in such a state of disrepair... have been working nonstop to try and get some semblance of order since last Friday  ... water and sophisticated electronic equipment are not a good mix...lots of research and work ahead ... some of the framed needlework pieces, Japanese embroidery, diplomas etc  were ‘in the rain’ - have not had time to really look closely at ‘decorations’ yet.

Anyway, here is the last little bit left on this Nürnberg sampler by Essamplaire ... started it on May10 during the mandatory Covid shutdown... was a delightful project to work on while attending the 7-11 webinars daily since early March trying to understand and learn more ... lots of worry and research ... having simple stuff in my stash to keep myself busy with was really a treasure to have.

Grateful that no one was injured ... many of us are going through difficult times ... and once again, time with needle and thread - creating,  even with just simple techniques,  is a soothing ‘constant’ in my life. Most thankful for the little things ... 

Hoping that all of you are well and that you have found time to ‘create’ things also... 

A change of pace - Ann Dale ‘on a short hold’

Taking a break from Ann Dale was finally my only solution ...
I have to think through color choices and have already spent the past months letting a simple cross stitch project deter me from my original plans for this year.  Finding out that this once so out of print and hard to find chart and kit is now readily available is not helping my attitude towards this project.
Making me question why I looked for years, bought a chart and then found the original kit with a chart and paid quite a bit for it ... this, only, so I could explore ‘primitive stitching & samplers’ and see how another designer approaches their work!
I am planning on taking a week to ten days away from it but have to continue with it - otherwise I know it will end up being a UFO (Unfinished Object) forever I fear.... and that would be a total waste of energy and time and money.
The recent out of print / limited editions and then back in print ‘simple samplers’ have made me very wary of the way social media is being used to drive sales and market things.

Anyway, I decided to get some of the recent social media driven ‘on a whim’ simple/travel  project category’ purchases out of my system.  So, I tried to work a simple sampler and attempted to work it in hand once more -  that lasted about 15 minutes !  Then tried sticking to a hoop - about 2 hours of unproductive results  late on Friday night and finally set up things on a frame and then started, changed colors, added stitches to keep my interest and finished this project on Saturday afternoon.  The finishing instructions that had originally made this Facebook store post intriguing to me and had driven this purchase are not what I had hoped for... so, I will consult my books to jog my memory and make it a bit of a learning experience on some other points at the end of the month.

And, so, on this beautiful Sunday morning I started another one of the simple sampler project kits that was a ‘special shop exclusive’ last year ... until I have Ann Dale sorted out so it can be just a late night / when I am tired sort of project, I think I will just get some of these ‘new to me, simple projects’  out of the way...

ENJOY the weekend - hope you have time for needle and thread ! 

Early morning light ...

My favorite way to start a Sunday ... watching the early morning light dance across my needlework and see the silk threads gleam golden.  It is more spectacular with filament silk but I was working on a simple sampler this morning... trying to solve some color and charting issues ...
the ‘real’ camera was upstairs and sadly the IPhone did not capture the glimmering silk.... but see the long shadow a small needle cast in the second photo ...

Ann Dale 1827 - Shakespeare’s Peddler 

Ann Dale 1827 - Shakespeare’s Peddler 

I know I am woefully behind in updating you all here ... had every
intention to get this done on January 1, then February 1 .... maybe it will be
a long post on March 1 .... no promises though 😉
Anyway, hope this finds you all well,  hope you are enjoying your times with needle and thread ....
I have had some excellent experiences that will take time to describe.
At the present moment I am trying to figure out some details on what I consider simple but charming,
mainly cross stitch samplers - things that were supposed to be fun and easy are actually taking up more ‘thinking time’ thus  slowing down my progress on what I call ‘easy stitching‘.

Anyway, just wanted to post briefly - am still around.

Happy New Year - 2020!

May this first day of 2020 usher in Peace, Happiness and Contentment
- wishing you all a Happy New Year !

I hope the last few days of 2019 have been peaceful ones for you.
I am most grateful for all the things that are part of my life.
I hope to post about all my recent activities and the long overdue needlework
and sampler photos shortly.

Hope you enjoy this first day of the year !
Can’t believe we are now entering the year 2020 ... that seemed so far
in the future ... even ‘1984’ seemed so far away when I was reading
A. Huxley’s book for the first time ...

May we all embrace each moment and have the Courage
to face all the adventures still ahead ...