Cross Stitch Plus

Thanks so much to those of you commenting on our project.  Just a quick update, we are taking our time with the colors.  We have matched all but two.  There is a very very light blue and a light putty color. They are giving us trouble. We are going to a few local places that have floss this weekend.  There is a shop in Issaquah,Eastern part of King County(Seattle is in King County),that does carry threads. We might have to make a trip over there.  Also, to come close to the linen, we need 25 ct.  I usually do a higher count.  The Lakeside Linens has a good match in Pecan Butter but they don't come in 25 ct., any suggestions?? If I can't find a good match, I can do the Pecan Butter in 28 ct.  It would be a bit smaller than the original.

 Look what I found in the garden this week!  A very pretty surprise.  All of my other hellebores  bloom later.

This is one reson the NW stays pretty in the winter.  Green everywhere!

 While the SBA has been busy with the antique sampler, I have been stitching France F.  Now if France were here, she would say," That is NOT my sampler."  When I chose the colors, I eliminated some of hers.  I  was in the midst of that sinus thing and just did what came easy.  She used colors I usually don't use and I was not in a risk taking mood.  I like the way it looks but do feel a bit guilty.

Here was my first attempt at stitching on 40 count.  It did stress my eyes a bit.  However, it was very bright stiff linen. The linen looks to be a  softer color in the picture . It was a bright white. Plus, I did not like the stiffness.  So I will try 40 ct. again. 

I hope you all have a great week-end!  On Sunday we will be watching football.  GO SEAHAWKS!

The Excitement continues!

Thanks to all of you who have read my blog and shared my excitement about the old sampler.  If you read the comments on the last post, you will see that I received a comment from Irene( Starry-eyed Stitcher).  She is very familiar with the area this sampler comes from.  We have shared some very interesting e-mails.  The world is truly a small place!! That plus , bloggers are the nicest people.
The wonderful SBA has been very busy charting the sampler.  I think he has seen it as quite a challenge. He has finished the chart and now we have to deal with the colors.  We are using the back as that is where you can see her choices.  We may do the front as a very pale option. There are only 5 colors so we are trying to decide how to chart them without doing the entire sampler over again with symbols.  He did use symbols on the motifs so that will make it easier. Each letter is only one color so we might just put a number by each letter. Any suggestions on how to show color without re-graphing the whole thing?.

 The entire sampler.

 Elizabeth did very detailed bands.  In stitching the sampler, I think the bands will be the most time consuming.

More detailed bands

This is the bottom.  We left her mistakes in the chart.
I hope to stitch the reproduction and then hang them side by side.
I wish you all a great week ahead!