Stress, Sun & Stitching

Stress certainly has a way of seeping in all areas of one's life, doesn't it?  At least for me if I'm really stressed about something I tend to enjoy everything else less.  The car (thankfully) is due back by the end of today and it might actually come to less than expected (hooray).  There was even sun yesterday, if only for a day.  In an attempt to lighten my mood I headed outside with Mina to select some floss colors.

There really is nothing like natural sunlight to make everything seem brighter :)

I've had this particular sampler design sketched out since last summer but just can't seem to commit to a color palette.  I've narrowed it down some but still have a ways to go.

I think I might just have to go ahead and begin stitching through my doubts.  I think it's one of those situations where I'm talking myself out of believing I've made the right choices.  After this past week a little lack in confidence is to be expected and it may have slowed me down a tad but I refuse to let it stop me all together.  So keep an eye out for the first few stitches of this (as yet unnamed) sampler.  With any luck you'll be seeing them soon.

xoxo

Jennie Lynn

Color Bind?

Forgive me for using such a common pun but I just couldn't come up with another title for this post :)

Anywhoo . . .

I seem to collect thread. It's not intentional, at least no more intentional than simply and uncontrollably being drawn to something that you love. Forgive me for using such a common pun but I just couldn't come up with another title for this post :)Of course I collect more than I should. I will "temporarily" misplace a thread, being absolutely convinced that it is the only color that will work for my project, I hastily order it. Usually, by the time the replacement thread arrives in the post, I've already located the original thread and dismissed it as not being quite right for that project. So now I have two. When I shop at my LNS I go there with the sole purpose of selecting linens, because I have more than enough thread. Of course, I use the thread there to guide the color selection of the linens and then when I find a combination I absolutely love I convince myself that I don't already own whatever skeins I've chosen so I have no choice but to buy them along with the linen. So again I end up with two skeins of the same color and in some particularly embarrassing cases, three skeins.

Having multiple skeins of the same color has led me to a bit of a problem this morning (yes, too much thread can be a problem).

I adore hand-dyed threads, especially Gentle Arts. To each his own, but for me the color and shading cannot be matched by commercially dyed threads and I rarely stitch with anything else. Anyone who has stitched with hand-dyed threads knows that there are differences between dye lots. Usually these differences are very subtle.

Two skeins of Gentle Arts Old Hickory. One I ordered online and one I purchased at my LNS, scant months apart. The skein on the left is just slightly darker and more brown than the skein on the right. A set such as this is wonderful for shading or for making a part of a sampler appear stained with age. At least that's what I would do. The difference is barely noticeable, as my husband couldn't see any difference at all. Do you see a difference?

Two skeins of Gentle Arts Harvest Basket. Similar method of acquisition of as with the Old Hickory thread. The skein on the right is certainly more yellow whereas the one of the left just appears brown (at least to me). More than a subtle difference but certainly nothing to get all worked up over, right?

Finally, two skeins of Gentle Arts Walnut. To be honest, these were most likely purchased years apart but when I purchased the most recent one from my LNS there were skeins there of both shades. Even my husband noticed the difference between these two skeins. The skein on the right was bought specifically because it was such a different color than what I remembered it being.

This post does have a point to it, I promise. I'm beginning work on a few samplers and I have chosen one of each of these skeins to use, two on the same project. Obviously thread suggestions are just that . . . suggestions . . . but do you ever purchase a pattern intent on achieving the same look as in the model? Does it bother you when you go to purchase the threads or gather them from your stash and realize that one or a few or none of them look as they do in the photo? I would hate for anyone to be disappointed after purchasing one of my patterns and was hoping all of you could give me your input into this little color conundrum I seem to have created for myself.

xoxo

Jennie Lynn

Keeping Threads

The arrival of the new threads from Gentle Arts was the perfect excuse to continue my organization. My threads are already (reasonably) well organized into little shoe boxes. I tied painted scraps of fabric onto the boxes to denote what colors are stored inside. The threads themselves are stored in little baggies; it's the only way I've come up with to keep the skeins and loose threads all together. Whenever I'm working on a project I simply take out the box of the color I'm looking for and sort through until I find the perfect one. My problem arises in that I usually have to take out several before I decide and the "rejects" are simply tossed in a basket to be put away later. I have such a basket in almost every room of my house, as I'm always chasing the sunlight throughout the house when choosing colors. The basket in the photo is just one of many and I'm ashamed to say they were all overflowing.

What seemed a reasonably simple task quickly became something more. The boxes already house more than one color thread: green and blue, orange and yellow and so on. Both to fill the box and to make color placement easier. Still I end up with a brown that is awfully golden, a blue so deep it could be black, and a green that could be brown. Of course, I think a large part of it has to do with my mood. I'll put a particular color in with yellow and then when I finally find it a few months later wonder why on earth it wasn't where it belonged in with the browns. I think I might be making this more complicated than it needs to be :)

I decided to pull out of the boxes all of my DMC threads and store them somewhere else. Where else I haven't decided yet. I also took out all of my Gentle Arts Simply Wool threads and am now keeping them with my wool scraps. I use them almost exclusively for wool applique so this just makes more sense. Or at least it does to me now. Aren't the colors beautiful? They're slightly different in color than their cotton thread counterparts. I don't use them very often but after seeing this photo I'm wondering why not.


I've tried so many different ways to organize threads and am always searching for the next "better" way. How do you keep your threads?

xoxo

Jennie Lynn

Gentle Arts Spring 2012 Colors

As I promised, here are the new colors from Gentle Arts. I apologize for the late afternoon light but the mailman came a little later today than usual.

Burlap is a very golden brown. To me it looks like strong tea with a little cream in it.

Carriage Black is a faded black that when put up against a true black actually looks blue. (That sounded a little confusing when I read it back to myself). It's very similar to Weeks Dye Works Onyx.

Linen, to me, is the most interesting of the three colors. I had expected an off white but both skeins I received were a very, very subtle pink. I would say they most closely resemble the color of cherry blossoms. Speaking of cherry blossoms, they are blooming here. Before moving to this area I had seen so many photos which of course don't do the beautiful blooms justice. But then again, the photos don't make me sneeze.

They are lovely colors this year and I am already considering swapping Burlap with a color in an upcoming sampler design. I imagine I'll be using Carriage Black as well given how I love the look of faded black. Anyone have their own favorite?

xoxo

Jennie Lynn

Free Tulip Pattern

This is just a little tulip I stitched during my daughter's nap yesterday. I adore tulips but am not really a fan of Spring patterns. I find it particularly difficult to design or stitch for Spring given I don't enjoy the pastel colors so commonly associated with the season. I do like pale green and struggling to find a color for the tulip itself I finally happened upon orange. I usually consider this color reserved for Autumn but just a shade or two lighter than a pumpkin tipping slightly towards yellow and I think it makes a lovely Spring color.

If you would like to download the free pattern simply visit my Free Patterns page and click on the link below the photo of the stitched piece. As always, if you have any difficulty downloading the pattern please e-mail me at appleseedprim.blogspot.com and I will send the pattern to you as a file attachment.

Things have quieted down here (at least for a little while) and I am patiently waiting for the new Gentle Arts threads I ordered to arrive. I am considering using one of them in a new design and I will be sure to share pictures of them as soon as the postman gifts them to me. I adore new threads and feel a bit silly being driven by anticipation to check the mailbox a few (dozen) times a day. But you understand, don't you?

xoxo

Jennie Lynn

Mercy Sampler

Teach me to feel anothers woe
To hide the faults I see
That mercy I too others show

That mercy show to me

I think this is a lovely sentiment to begin the New Year. I enjoyed stitching this sampler immensely and not only because the verse is so appealing to me personally. It's just such a simple sampler. It's small, measuring only 8 1/2 inches square and was so easy to stitch in hand. It also uses only two thread colors which meant much fewer tangled threads in me sewing box.

The colors came so easily, as well. The moment I saw Gentle Arts Portabella I instantly fell in love with the color. It was such an elegant blue-grey and so beautifully variegated. I stitched this sampler during the holiday season, and with so much frenzy around me and such an udemanding sampler as this was a blessing.

As soon as the sampler is framed it will hang with "Mercy" doll. When I chose the fabric for her dress I wanted a pattern that was simple but the colors of this particular fabric were too bright, black and what looked to aqua. I bleached it in an attempt to lighten the colors some and to my surprise the little flowers became brown and blue, almost identical to the colors in the sampler. Obviously these two pieces were meant to be . . .

I'm putting needle and thread away this weekend and working on a little paper project. As all the holiday decorations begin to come down my house is feeling empty and I'm already looking forward to St. Valentine's Day. Hopefully I'll be able to share that with you next week. Perhaps it will be my first tutorial to share with all of you.

xoxo

Jennie Lynn

Edit: Mercy Sampler and "Mercy" Doll are now both available as e-patterns for purchase on My Designs page or feel free to e-mail me.

Winterberries Free Pattern

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

I thought that if any of you could find time between shopping and finishing off the left over pumpkin pie you might enjoy stitching my Winterberries free pattern. It's the start of the holiday season and though I don't feel festive just yet I intend on starting some holiday decorating today to hopefully foster the holiday spirit.

This pattern was stitched on a scrap of 30ct R & R linen using all Gentle Arts threads and it measures about 4 inches square. I plan to sew it into an ornament and have the fabric and ribbon all picked out but am waiting until the kids go back to school on Monday. I was anxious to share it, though, and try out my new idea. I would like to try something a little different with my free patterns. Winterberries will be my test run and hopefully some of you are willing to be my lab mice :)

On the Free Patterns page, below the photo of Winterberries, there is a link (a little bird to be precise). Click on the link and a PDF of the pattern should open in a separate window. From there you can either print the pattern or download the file onto your computer. I've tried this on all three computers in the house and it's worked each time. Of course, that's no indication it will work for everyone else. If you have any difficulties downloading the pattern e-mail me and I will send you the PDF file as an attachment. Provided everything works out as planned, though, I think this will be a much better way to share my patterns with all of you. The PDF file is just a simpler version of my PDF patterns for purchase and should give everyone a much clearer chart to stitch from. If there are too many issues or if all of you just prefer it I'll go back to the way I did it before. I do hope it works, though. I have plans to convert all of my older free patterns to this format as well, so fingers crossed.

Be sure to let me know what you think!

Also, don't forget to enter my giveaway. My little partridge still needs a home for the holidays.

xoxo

Jennie Lynn

Euphemia Myles Finishes

Dora was kind enough to send me a photo of her finish of Euphemia Myles Sampler. She stitched it on 36ct R & R Creme Brulee using all of the suggested threads. Instead of the embroidery on the bottom she added some motifs from my June Blooms free pattern using Gentle Arts Woodrose. Isn't her finish exquisite? I adore the hand stitched quilt binding and am now anxious to try it for myself.

Her timing was impeccable since I have just finished framing my Euphemia Myles Sampler. The frame has been sitting for weeks in my craft room; I just couldn't seem to find the time. I'm not sure where to hang it, which might explain my procrastination. For now it is sitting on our entertainment cabinet, right behind the X-Box console. With four children and a husband who loves all the latest technology my house is an interesting blend of both old and new. I would love a truly prim house but between the building blocks, sippy cups and endless electrical cables my home is more of a hodge podge. I can't complain though. I have a wonderful family and I can't help but smile when I see my son's latest Lego creation perched proudly on the mantle right next to my antique iron stone.

I haven't picked up needle and thread since finishing Cora Lipton's Marking Sampler. My hands have been happily busy but they are aching to stitch again. Josephyn Sayer has been sitting for over a month now almost completed. I had hoped to have her finished and released by Thanksgiving. I suppose I still can but I hate working under a deadline. So much of my life is scheduled, right down to the minute, or at least it seems. I even wait to use the bathroom until it seems my daughter is least likely to get into trouble while I do (any mother of small children will know of what I speak). For me stitching has to remain the one thing I do when my heart tells me to, not the clock or calendar. I realize I have yet to post a photo of my stitching on Josephyn Sayer. When I take it out to stitch next (very soon) I will snap a photo of it first.

Until then I wish you all the best.

xoxo

Jennie Lynn

Cora Lipton's Marking Sampler

I have finally finished my little marking sampler. It was an absolute joy to stitch. Though I doubt I could do it often, it was wonderful to sit down and just stitch without worrying about counting stitches or constantly having to look back to a chart. I must confess that I did cheat, or at least try to. When I began stitching the cursive alphabet up top of the sampler it became obvious I was going to have trouble fitting a full alphabet. I did pull up my pattern maker software and try to configure it in such a way that I could include the entire alphabet. I couldn't figure out how to do it without frogging stitches so I left it as is. I have seen many antique samplers with incomplete alphabets so I imagine I am in good company in just simply running out of room.

In this sampler I also experimented with intentionally pulling stitches so that the piece would look as if it were worn through time. I left out a couple of letters and a few of the borders are incomplete and I purposefully left blank most of the lower part of the sampler. In a few places I pulled the thread under in the back to secure it and then pulled it back out through the front in the last place I had stitched leaving a little of the thread hanging to make it look as though the stitching had come undone. Again, I doubt I could do this regularly but it does give the sampler a very old feel to it.

The threads are lovely. I used Gentle Arts Picnic Basket, Gentle Arts Toasted Barley and Gentle Arts Wood Trail as well as Crescent Colours Green Onion and Crescent Colours Onion Skin. They are beautifully faded colors of brown and green with Crescent Colours Green Onion being the most subtle. It mostly appears as white but there are slight hints of a very pale green. I adored working with the thread. I didn't intend to stitch the entire cursive alphabet in that particular color but once I started stitching with it I didn't want to stop. The linen is a scrap of 30ct R & R Reproductions Flax. It's a smaller pattern and not much linen is needed.

When the sampler was finished I signed the bottom Cora Lipton. For a week's worth of evening stitching my husband and I were watching Band of Brothers on DVD. I have an affinity for war films and it is a wonderful mini-series. Lipton is the last name of one of mine and my husband's favorite characters. I can't explain it but the name got stuck in my head and it just seemed . . . right. Cora was simply a first name that I liked. It is odd how we come up with these things isn't it? Wrapped up in this little sampler is a memory of my life that will now always come to mind when I look at in years to come. I imagine each and every one of you can say the same thing about things you have stitched. It doesn't always occur to me as I'm stitching but it is true that every stitch carries with it a little piece of the women (or man) stitching it of that moment in her life.

I finished the piece by folding over the edges and binding it with a blanket stitch. I've considered stitching a ribbon to the back and hanging it on the dresser in my bedroom. For the time being it looks lovely sitting on the table in the living room. I just have to remember to move it every time Mina climbs onto the sofa :)

If you would like to stitch this little sampler it is available as an e-pattern only and the cost is $7.50. The pattern is complete, showing all the "missing" stitches and a second chart included contains the rest of the cursive alphabet. Perhaps you could find a way to incorporate the remaining letters into the pattern? The sections where I chose to have "missing" stitches are marked. As always the pattern will include a color photo of the finished piece, both black and white and color charts to print and finishing instructions.

If you would like to purchase the pattern for Cora Lipton's Marking Sampler you can e-mail me or use the Paypal button on My Design page.

Now onto finishing the sampler I put aside when I started working on this one. There seems to be a never ending stash of designs to stitch but unlike with say, laundry, I love always having something waiting to be worked on :)

xoxo

Jennie Lynn

A gift from a friend and a giveaway prize

My sweet, sweet friend Lynn sent me this little care package of flosses. Two are Crescent Colours which I don't normally stitch with and don't really have a stash of. Of course now I need to start one. She also sent a skein of Gentle Arts Brandy. I already have a skein (or two) of that thread but the one she sent me is a completely different shade. That's one of the things I adore about hand dyed threads: no two dye lots are identical. It was such a sweet and unexpected little surprise. Thank you, Lynn!

My second surprise this week was winning Sandy's giveaway on her blog The Humble Stitcher. This sweet little pinkeep arrived in the mail just yesterday. The stitching on the piece is beautiful and the fall colors are so rich. My youngest daughter, Mina, went to it as soon as I opened the package. Apparently, she's a lover of prim as well. She especially loved the buttons hanging for its' beak. I haven't decided yet where I'm going to keep this little lovely but it will have to be out of her reach.

Last week Mina was evaluated for a speech delay. Despite being 20 months old she has the speech production of a 9-12 month old. Both of her older brothers had moderate speech delays and are still receiving therapy for some articulation issues. They're seven and nine years old, so issues like these aren't resolved quickly. It's a struggle for both Mina and I, but having been through it twice already I feel as though I am in more of a position to help her than I was with either of my sons. I am just thankful that this is so far the biggest challenge any of my children have had to face.

Other than that it's been quiet here. Later this week my husband is going out of town. It's both a blessing and a curse. I enjoy having time with just the children and I and yet it's also very challenging having so much time with just the children and I. I don't realize how much I rely on my husband for back up until he's not there to help. The weather is warming up again; Summer is having one last hoorah. By next week the Autumn season will be in full swing. The Halloween costumes will be arriving, we've planned a trip to the local pumpkin patch and corn maze, and soon after will follow pumpkin carving and decorating. By far my favorite time of the year it always goes so fast. I've often complained to my husband to move to a part of the country where the weather is more often like it is now. I swear, Summers here last nine months of the year. But then again if we did move to such a place then Autumn wouldn't be nearly as precious, so I'll simply enjoy the days I have, and wish all of you the same.

xoxo

Jennie Lynn

Apple Tree Free Pattern

I adore apples and not just apples but apple orchards as well. Growing up in Upstate New York I have the utmost appreciation for the beauty of apple trees year round. Even in Winter the bare branches are beautiful covered in snow. The bark is almost black and the trees have such a striking shape contrasted against the snow. When I was younger they would bring to mind the writhing limbs of a tortured soul, but I was a morose teenager. Now they look to me as if they are dancing.

In Spring the blossoms can boast the most lovely shade of pink I have ever seen. I have such fond memories of the Apple Blossom Festival every year in the town I grew up in. And of course in Autumn they bear such a wonderful fruit even as the leaves on the branches begin to change.

Where we live in Maryland there are no apple orchards and though cherry trees can be quite beautiful they do not (to my mind) hold a candle to apple trees. I do miss my hometown, apple trees being just one of many reasons. In their honor and in honor of the town I grew up in, here is this month's free pattern. It was originally meant to be part of a larger sampler but in the end I opted for a tree with a slightly different shape. The two apples depicted here are Macintosh and Red Delicious, two of my favorites stitched using Gentle Arts Mulberry and Gentle Arts Limited Edition Plum Pudding. The tree is stitched with Weeks Dye Works Bark and the leaves are Gentle Arts Endive. If you would like to stitch this pattern for yourself you can find it on my Free Patterns page. I hope you enjoy this pattern and just in time for the start of apple picking season.

xoxo

Jennie Lynn

Hooray! New Threads . . .

I thought I would share with you some new thread releases that I recently received. They just arrived in the mail today. What a wonderful treat on a Monday!

The first is from Crescent Colours. It's not a thread line I use often but these new colors are wonderful. When I ordered them I was told they were "plain". You know what I love about over-dyed threads? They're never plain. There's always so much subtle variegation and depth in even such a "simple" color as brown or grey. I specifically like Eggshell and Polliwog. Brown Hen is a very complicated color with light and dark brown with hints of grey/green and yellow. Honestly, I don't know how to describe it.

The next is Gentle Arts. You've already seen Antique Lace; it's used in Blest Art. Wheat Fields is my favorite of the new threads. It's a wonderful combination of dark and light gold and green. It's perfect for Autumn and I'm trying desperately to fit it into a design but that rarely ever works for me. I'm sure that if I let it sit long enough on my table it will eventually inspire its' own design. I'm still waiting on the new Weeks Dye Works colors but I'll share a picture when I receive them.

On another note, a friend of mine purchased the e-pattern for Marked Anne and commented that she had difficulty printing the pattern so that the chart lines were dark enough for her to see. Has anyone else had this problem? If so, please let me know. I always print out a test of all my e-patterns and assume that if it prints well for me that it will for everyone else. If you've had any problems please e-mail me. I would hate to think that anyone purchased a chart they couldn't use.

Hopefully tomorrow I'll have this month's free pattern stitched and ready to post. It's in honor of my favorite time of year, apple picking season. Until then I hope everyones week got off to as good a start as mine did.

xoxo

Jennie Lynn

Marked Anne

Marked Anne is my another recent finish, a smaller piece done in Gentle Arts Nutmeg and Dark Chocolate. My intention was to finish it into a pincushion but it seems just a little too large. Stitched on 30ct R & R Reproductions Dye Pot Blend it measures approximately 5 inches by 9 inches. Perhaps I will still stitch it into a little pincushion or pillow or maybe framed along with all my other pieces patiently waiting. I adore the rusty pumpkin orange and the linen has a hint or orange to it as well. It's a very simply primitive piece and a quick stitch taking me only a few evenings to finish.

Between this and Blest Art I am certainly gravitating towards those wonderful "Halloween" colors of black, orange, and green. The weather here the past few days has been wretched, 85 degrees and humid, as far from Autumn as I could imagine. Here in Maryland the season won't begin to turn until the end of October. But as the calendar says Autumn is approaching I will choose to make it so in my mind regardless of the weather outside.

Marked Anne is available for purchase as either a printed or e-pattern. You can visit My Design page or e-mail me directly for more information, pricing, and to order. Thank you to everyone who ordered the Blest Art pattern and I know some of you are already begun stitching on Euphemia Myles Sampler. I can't wait to see finishes!

After my mad dash to finish Blest Art I will most likely take a night or two off from stitching. I believe my husband is starting to feel neglected. These past few nights I've done little more than shush him while I was preoccupied counting stitches. A little rest is in order but I do promise September's free pattern soon along with a sneak peak of my next pattern. I can't keep from needle and thread for too long!

xoxo

Jennie Lynn

Blest Art Sampler

Blest Art is finally finished! I've been busily (and happily) stitching away at it every free minute this past week, hence my lack of blogging. It is finished, though still unframed. I just couldn't wait to share it.

I have been working on this piece for awhile now, stopping from time to time to work on another piece, but then dutifully returning. The design is somewhat whimsical (for me anyway) which I've come to like in it. As I said before, the border was a bit of challenge to design and I had to go back and tweak it a few times after I had started stitching. I do like it, even though it is a bit wonky. I had difficulty choosing how to design the vine border between the first to lines of the alphabet. I'd considered stitching a simpler version of the outer border but in the end decided on a stem stitched vine with a few little leaves added in cross stitch. Finding the perfect color white was challenging as well. Thank goodness for Gentle Arts latest thread releases. The color looked perfect online and I ordered it right away but still I had my doubts. When my package from Gentle Arts finally arrived the color was even better than I had originally thought. Of course I opened the package minutes before the children were due home from school with hours left before I could stitch with it. I think I showed a great deal of patience that day though I do admit to rushing through the evening cleaning. GA Cornhusk is a wonderful color as well. It's a little bright and I was skeptical at first but as I began stitching it won me over quite quickly

The colors are Gentle Arts Cornhusk, Weeks Dye Works Onyx and a new color from Gentle Arts Antique Lace. It was stitched on 30ct R and R Reproductions American Chestnut and finished measures approximately 12 inches square.

The verse is one of my favorites. Be my ambition to excel in the blest art of doing well. I adore the sentiment and hope I in my own life take care to do well in all that I choose to do.

The pattern is available for purchase as either a printed or e-pattern. You can visit My Design page or e-mail me directly for more information, pricing, and to order. I have one more finish to show you (what I worked on while waiting for my thread to be delivered). Hopefully I will find the time to post it tomorrow; for now the time has come to start preparing dinner. I hope you enjoy the pattern and please let me know what you think of it.

xoxo

Jennie Lynn

Progress on at least something . . .

The drama of the air conditioning unit continues . . .

The gentleman who came out last week looked at the unit for all of five minutes and decided it couldn't be repaired but rather needed to be replaced. I was a little skeptical. He spent more time writing up the bill than he did actually inspecting our air conditioner. I asked that someone come out today to do a full appraisal. The gentleman who came out today came to the same conclusion but he spent almost an hour examining the unit and talking to my husband. So it looks like we are getting a new central air conditioner. I'm both a little excited and nervous. Any major home repair puts me on pins and needles and not the kind I like :)

Now begins the negotiating between the heating and cooling company and our home warranty company. So far both have been very accommodating so I have high hopes. We're still waiting on the actual bid to do the work then we need approval before any work can be done. Right now we're just . . . waiting. By our estimate the whole process will take about two to three weeks. Then of course we have to put the attic back together and start repairing all the water damage. For having gotten so much done in the past week it feels as though so little was actually accomplished.

I did manage to make progress on Blest Art. Virtually all of the alphabet is finished as well as some of the verse. I'm still not entirely happy with the white thread I've chosen. I'm in the middle of a pretty heated argument with myself about the color when I get an e-mail from Gentle Arts about their new thread releases. Have you seen them yet? If you haven't you can see them here. Antique Lace looks perfect! It's hard to be sure with nothing but an image on a computer monitor but I went ahead and ordered it. I'll just hold off on stitching those parts of the sampler. Even if I don't end up using it for this particular piece I'm always thrilled to order new threads. They are like candy to me and there can never be too many colors to choose from :)

In the future I promise to talk a little more about stitching and a little less about my air conditioner. It has dominated my life this past week and I fear that will not end anytime soon but nothing can keep me from needle and thread for too long :)

xoxo

Jennie Lynn

Hollow Wreath Free Pattern

I do know that in fact the wreath is not hollow :)

But it was when I designed it. I only added the year after I had finished stitching the wreath. I had a little of the linen left over from Blest Art and designed this in order to practice my stem stitch. I wanted to know if I could stitch a circle. Perhaps a little more practice . . . but I'm happy with it. I could not have managed to place that one leaf over the stain in the linen if I had tried and to have had it been stitched with that little bit of brown in the thread. It looks just as if the thread has bled over time.

It was stitched over two on 30ct R & R Reproductions American Chestnut using Gentle Arts Espresso Bean. When choosing a black for Blest Art I considered almost every black colored thread I owned. There are more than one might have thought. Dark Chocolate, Tin Bucket, Blackbird, Onyx, Kohl, Mascara . . . and Espresso Bean which was my second choice for Blest Art. I decided to use it here intead and it had the perfect amount of brown for this particular cut of the linen. The free pattern shows a backstitch where I put a stem stitch. A backstitch would look lovely too as would initials in place of a date. You can find the free pattern here or use the link on my sidebar.

Only two days until Emma and Jem return from New York and only two weeks now until school starts again. I think I have enough #2 pencils, lined paper, composition notebooks, binders and school glue to start my own stationary store. Of course I'll have completely run out by December. There is something equally sad and exciting about the end of Summer . . . but I have to admit I am eagerly anticipating the arrival of Autumn.

I hope all of you enjoy this month's free pattern and remember I love to see everyone's finishes. Before the children return I am hoping to have finished stitching the border on Blest Art and I'll post a picture as soon as I do.

xoxo

Jennie Lynn

Shades of Halloween

Apparently, I have All Hallows Eve on my mind. I chose these colors for my Blest Art Sampler and don't they just make you think of Halloween? That shade of green is wonderful. I'm not sure about the white, though. I might replace it with an acorn brown or perhaps a sunflower yellow? Sometimes I just have to stitch a little with a thread before I can make a final decision.

The linen is lovely too with all of these little black specks on it. The ladies at my LNS show think me odd because I'm the one asking for the most aged and mottled pieces of linen they have. Every time, the lady who cuts the linen for me sighs and shakes her head and wonders why I would want the "dirty" piece. It's a "prim" thing, isn't it? Please tell me I'm not alone :)

Recently I've been working on quite a few samplers. There's something soothing about stitching an alphabet. Borders drive me batty though. They don't have to actually meet in the corners do they? I had difficulty in this sampler getting the border to do just that. It's quite an unruley vine so rather than fight it I just let it grow it's own way. I like the way it turned out though and even though it's not a Halloween design I think the colors are just perfect. In a day or so I should have some progress to show you. Hopefully that wild vine will be easier to stitch than it was to design.

xoxo

Jennie Lynn

Euphemia Myles Sampler

Fair warning, this post has quite a few photos in it. Even with today's "point and shoot" cameras I am a wretched photographer. Stitched on 30 ct this sampler is also larger than I'm used to stitching and photographing. It certainly wasn't easy to "stitch in hand" which is my preferred way to stitch. It's also very sunny today which surprisingly isn't the best condition for taking photos. Some colors in the sampler are also very light shades which blend into the linen.

This is basically my way of saying these photos aren't particularly good and trust me the sampler looks better in person. I've included a lot of photos in hopes that at least one ends up looking like the sampler I stitched.

The sampler isn't terribly large, only 160 stitches square, but I chose to stitch it on 30 ct so it's almost 12 inches square finished. The linen is R & R Reproductions French Vanilla, a beautiful color and perfectly aged as is. All of the threads are Gentle Arts and most of the colors are very subtle. The Gentle Arts Garden Gate stands out nicely. The Gentle Arts Roasted Marshmallow blends beautifully with the linen. It's hard to make out in the photos. I told you I was no good at taking pictures :)

I've always loved the aged look of antique samplers and part of that (I think) comes from the fading in the threads. I think over time the colors just all begin to blend into one another which is hard to replicate. I've been wanting to try for awhile and I'm happy with the results.

There are three alphabets, some numbers as well as a signature and date. The name is fictional. I've always felt a little odd just making up a name but on this sampler it felt right.

I had originally designed the sampler intending to leave an unstitched area at the bottom. I think leaving the sampler "incomplete" also lends to a more aged look. At the last minute (this morning) I decided to add some feather stitching. There wasn't a lot of planning with this sampler. It came together on its own. What was particularly fun was "choosing" where to use what colors. I knew the border would be black/grey and I knew I wanted most of the stitching to be blue. I used very little of the lighter shade of gold because it is very subtle. Other than that I just began stitching with one color and when I finished a letter and didn't have enough thread to finish the next I went onto another color.

It was a lot of fun to stitch. Very relaxing. But of course whenever I get close to finishing one design I begin putting together the next. I'm going to show a sneak peak of the colors for that one soon.

xoxo

Jennie Lynn

Budding Wreath Free Pattern

I have to say this one took a lot longer than I had expected to finish. It's not even finished yet. I still haven't decided what to put in the center of the wreath. A date? Initials? A verse? It took so long to stitch the wreath I have to put it aside for awhile. Normally with the smaller patterns I stitch without a chart. With borders, however, I am never able to get them to match up without charting first. Silly me to think that would make it easier. This one was charted first and I still had to frog my stitches three times before I could get the wreath to match up. To look at it you wouldn't think it was that challenging a stitch. But a word of advice for those of you (like me) who are stitching in the middle of the night with less than ideal lighting and perhaps are a little tired . . . stitch the ring first then go back and add in all the little stems.

The colors are WDW Molasses and GA Summer Shower and was stitched on a piece of 30ct scap linen. Once I've gotten it completed I'm thinking of using it to cover the lid of a paper mache box. That's a finish I have yet to try. If you'd like the free pattern you can find it here. Feel free to put whatever you would like inside the wreath and share with me. Perhaps what you choose to stitch will inspire me. I'm desperate to get back to the sampler I was working on. It's been calling to me in the evenings, I just couldn't pick it up again until I had finished this darn wreath. Now that it's finished I have to admit that I am happy with how it came out (so far) and proud of myself for sticking with it until it was done! There was a time that after pulling out stitches for the second time I would have simply given up. This time I just couldn't let that pattern get the best of me :)

I hope you enjoy the pattern and remember I love to see your finishes!

xoxo

Jennie Lynn

June Blooms Free Pattern

I do enjoy designing and stitching these truly primitive designs. It's not a conscious choice but I always tend towards them this time of year. While my life takes a decided shift towards complete and utter insanity during Summer Vacation the simplicity of these designs are a welcome respite. I'm still waiting on the fabric to sew this into a little pinkeep. Click here to see it. Isn't it lovely?

I can't keep a garden for anything. A few years ago I stopped at a garden center and asked for the most resilient, hardest to kill plants they had. I bought a few and only one lasted longer than a month. I joke the only think I can grow is children. The closest I'll ever get to a garden of my own is a stitched one, which is fine by me.

The flower stems are done in a stem stitch that I freehanded; a simple backstitch would work well too. The colors are GA Garden Gate, GA Copper and CC Khaki Mocha and the linen was a R & R 30ct from my stash. If you would like to stitch it for yourself the pattern can be found here. Let me know what you think . . .

xoxo

Jennie Lynn