10.27.09
Posted in Samplers at 6:47 pm by deRomilly
Also back in my not-quite-a-UFO pile, we find the Acorn Sampler kit from The Drawn Thread. This was a fun little piece to stitch, and I’d really like to hang it on my wall, so I should probably get around to finishing it and getting the hardware for it. It’s white and colored work and a variety of stitches throughout the band, including some pulled whitework. It came with the cutest little acorn charm for the bottom!
As usual, click for the full picture and details!
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Entire Sampler
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Detail 1 – Top of sampler
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Detail 2 – Middle of sampler
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Acorn Sampler – Detail 3 pulled work bottom
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09.08.09
Posted in General at 7:00 am by deRomilly
And so little time to play with them!
Just offhand, I can think of bargello, berlin, broderie anglaise, hardanger, mountmellick, stumpwork, cutwork, punto in aria, zardozi, bunka, japanese embroidery, wessex embroidery, counted cross stitch, band samplers of every ilk, canvaswork, goldwork, shisha, macramé, blackwork, or nué, crewelwork, schwalmwork, Dresdenwork, Assissiwork, and so on…
My problem, of course, is that when it comes to thread I am a glutton. I want to learn everything and try every technique, no matter how complex. Of course, this isn’t feasible, especially when you realize that I include all thread work in that desire – including knitting, crochet, bobbin lace, needlelace, sprang and any number of other techniques that escape me at the moment, including plain sewing. (I have made a conscious decision NOT to try naålbinding — knitting on TWO needles was confusing enough for me. I don’t really want to try knitting with only one, however historical it is. 
There isn’t, of course, enough time in the day to explore everything I want tot do. I try not to let that stall me, and just keep going. I do find myself back at three in particular that I love: cross stitch, silk shading, and crewelwork. I’m sentimental, and these are the three that my mother and grandmother taught me. Somewhere I still have my first cross stitch sampler — the one that took me four years to finish because I kept getting bored. When I find it I’ll post it. I have some sort of idea of charting it (it was stamped on cheap muslin) and doing it again in my current ability level and then framing them side by side. I think it would be cool. Will I make the time? Who knows.
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07.31.09
Posted in Stitching Genres at 3:08 pm by deRomilly
Working my way through my box… also on the “decorate a bathroom in my house” concept, there are three of the Kats by Kelly designs all stitched. These are actually stitched with the KbK signature in the corner, rather than my initials, because I feel Kelly’s signature is very much a part of the design, and they ARE her artwork. I love these. In particular, Gone Fishin’ reminds me of my own baby Rhys, gone now for a bit over a year. I miss that cat. He used to “fish” just like that on our dinner plates in college when we didn’t have a table to eat at. And if you called him on it, he would get this look like “What? Oh dear. How DID that paw get THERE?!” As if we didn’t know.
Yeah. Rhys. I miss him.
Click to see the entire image in a larger format.
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Gone Fishin’
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Paperwork
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Purrnina
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06.24.09
Posted in Samplers at 7:00 am by deRomilly
Sad Sampler
I thought I’d written about this before, but I don’ t seem to have – maybe on a forum or rec.crafts.textiles.needlework usenet or somesuch.
So here goes again.
Years ago I was a member of the Society for Creative Anachronism (that’s also where I got the name Romilly, but that’s another story). I don’t fight, so I needed something to do with my hands — I started a sampler, taking historic motifs from various patterns I owned and mixing them up, adding a few of my own and such.
It was also a way to use my stash of Gentle Arts Sampler Threads and Weeks Dye Works threads.
What I learned, the hard way — they mean it when they say “don’t wash.”
How I learned it. Squirrel pee. Or bird. Whatever it was, it’s three drips on the sampler. In retrospect, these were not thread or fabric choices I should have made for a piece I was going to be carrying around in the woods with me!
I tried to wash out the stain – it’s still there, though I can’t get a good photo of it. I think it melted some of the fabric threads. And the red threads (aren’t they always the culprit?) ran. All over the old-formula lugana – the stuff with NO cotton or natural fibers in it at all (OK, so it was also a way to get rid of a fabric I hated stitching on…) so it stains easily. It’s sad. Both the situation and the sampler.
The sampler sits in my UFO (unfinished objects) box to this day. I keep meaning to try overdying it in a tea color to antique it a bit – or just cut it up and use it in a crazy quilt as is. I never seem to get around to either of them, though. And so it sits. Waiting for me to do something – anything with it.
Details below. As usual, click to see closer.
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Sad Sampler
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Top of the band area – see the bleeding?!
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Sampler Motifs
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Small (tiny!) motifs – some over one
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My initials – Before EO
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Holly Point Strawberry. I’m still proud of this!
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Pulled work area
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hardanger section
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A very pretty white cutwork area. I’m still proud of this.
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02.03.09
Posted in Giveaways at 7:00 am by deRomilly
But first I’m going to explain how I came to the answer, because given the comments and number of them, there may be some questions.
This afternoon I pulled up the post and l copied all 25 comments into a word document, turning them into 2 column layout and then cutting the comment out. I then removed the comments from me. *grin*\
I then removed the three extra posts from Michelle (who had inadvertently mistyped her url). Then I had my godson, who is 2 weeks away from being 12, draw the name out of my hat. And draw it out he did. He wouldn’t give me the slip of paper.
He started spelling…
M…
I…
C…
Yup. Michelle, you didn’t get any extra tries for the extra comments, but you still won the book! For those of you who didn’t win, and still want a copy…
Here’s the link to the Amazon. It really is an amazing book. When I was reviewing it so I could post the giveaway I kept finding reasons I should keep it. . . I could do this with this pattern… or that with the other one. But I knew I’d never get around to it!
So Michelle, email me your address and I’ll get it shipped out to you.
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