Tuesday, April 1, 2014

The Antique Sampler

First, I want to thank all of you for the very nice things you said about Caleb and Hannah.  I do miss them terribly and wish we were much closer.  They lived near here until Caleb was almost 4.  That was great.  We will have to keep up with Hannah by the internet!  Thank goodness it is so much easier than it used to be.
In the evening I did work on the old sampler copy.  As I have said in comments back to some of you, Elizabeth was a 10 year old girl.  No wonder we have very different color tastes.  I am sticking to the design to the letter.  At least as much as we were able to copy her design, errors and all.  I have done lots of frogging.  The Heirloom Gold I was using for the border was very green.  I did not like it and found a much golder version.  So I frogged the entire top border and some of the side borders.  I know that makes me very anal!!!! Plus some of the letters I had already stitched had to be changed.  I am much happier with it now.  I did have to go to the two shops in Northern Alabama to get a dye lot that matched the one I had been using. I have decided that designing charts is a lot more work than it looks like!!!!! Plus, when using the dyed floss, get enough to finish the job!!! DYE LOTS CAN BE VERY DIFFERENT!!!!!

 So sorry for the wrinkles.  I iron after it is all finished. That was a lot of border to frog!!

All of the gold letters you see were frogged and stitched in the pretty Heirloom Gold.  I will be very careful when buying that color.  I love it but not when it is so green.

That's about it for my stitching.  Thanks for joining me. I hope you are all having the beautiful spring that has come to us in the Pacific NW!

21 comments:

  1. I have 4 skeins of Harvest Basket and the are all very different. I need two skeins. Looks like I need to go shopping again. It's looking great.

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  2. Too bad you had to do so much ripping, but I'd say it's well worth the effort. :)

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  3. Oh well worth it Barb to have it exactly as you want it. I'd have done the same. Can you imagine stitching something like that when you were just ten?

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  4. This is looking so good - love your color choices. Know what you mean about different dye lots - I have about 6 skeins of Dried Thyme --all different - and don't get me started about Lexington Green. I've never found a skein that is what it looks like in the photos.

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  5. Sorry you had to frog a lot.
    But, it looks so pretty, so it was worth it.
    What a pretty Sampler it's going to be.
    Marilyn

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  6. That that darn frog....but what a beautiful piece it is so far and look forward to seeing your progress.

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  7. Wow looking great I really like the colours, and yeah dye lots can be very frustrating!

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  8. Your sampler is looking good! Bummer that you had to rip out your border to change the color.

    Robin in Virginia

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  9. So happy you have a good visit with family and you got to visit 2 shops. Yes, I've notice all the time ... dye lots can be different. I'm sorry you had to frog so much, but in the end you will love it. And it will love gorgeous!! Keep up the great stitching...I am your cheerleader!

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  10. I find as I get older that I am embracing the bright colors more than I used to. Good for you for staying with the original!! Laura

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  11. Lovely stitching Barb,the colours are gorgeous.I hope those frogs have moved on!

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  12. Sorry you had to frog so much, but it's well worth to be in love with your own work.
    It looks awesome, wrinkles and all, lol

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  13. Looking great! Hope the frogs hop away for good!

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  14. It is looking great! As much time as you will put into the sampler, you need to be happy with it in the end. I hope no more frogging is necessary!

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  15. Love it all! I find it helps to think of projects like this as more the journey than the destination. So if you have to change up colors it 's all about the experience.

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  16. It is looking great Barb! I look forward to seeing more :)

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  17. Looks lovely. Very pretty. Sorry about the frogs!

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  18. I know how bad missing those far-away "grands" can hurt. Sometimes, it's almost a physical pain. Thank goodness for all of the new-tangled technology that keeps us "closer" to them.
    Your work, as always, is so beautiful! darn those frogs, they always seem to strike when we're most vulnerable.
    It's almost magical, watching this piece come together.
    :)

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  19. Not very motivating to have to do that much frogging but you wouldn't have been happy if you had left the thread colours as they were. The sampler is looking gorgeous. I am looking forward to seeing your progress on it.

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