Good Progress on Mary Baker

I finished up the first half in red and green, and then started the verse.

A good name is rather
to be chosen than great
riches and a loving Father
than silver and Gold

Next I need to finish the bottom motifs and stitch the declaration.
Hopefully, it will be completed soon.

Hope everyone has a nice weekend. Too much work to do here! Where is my staff (a la Downton Abbey)? Now that's what I need around here!

Introducing the Mary Baker Sampler, and my TUSAL

For some time now, I have been into genealogy, exploring my family history.
My great grandmother was Mary Jane Baker, born in Liverpool, England in 1870, of Irish parents.
She came to New York with her parents and brothers when she was 3 years old.

When I saw The Mary Baker Sampler, I knew I had to stitch it! Of course, this Mary Baker is not a relative of mine, but I thought it would be fun to have her name on my wall.

Mary Baker Sampler - The Scarlet Letter

Here is the photo I took of my progress the other day:

I am using DMC on 30 count linen. The piece of linen didn't seem to be that big, so I chose to start in the center and work my way up.
Most of the sampler is stitched in green and red, with a touch of pink. The verse is stitched in black.

This seems to be a very quick stitch. I have already made more progress. I will be back in a few days with another photo.


I almost forgot the TUSAL! This month went so very quickly!

All the red and green on the top is from Mary Baker.

Mary Hart is Finished!

This post is terribly overdue! I finished her up about 10 days ago. I just haven't had a chance to blog about it. Here she is in all her glory.



Mary Hart Sampler - The Scarlet Letter
Stitched on 32 count linen using Au ver a soie.

The photo could be better. I don't know why, but I had trouble capturing it. I love the graceful borders, as well as the funky cat!

Things here have been quite nerve-wracking lately, and I have had some trouble focusing on any one project. I have flitted about a bit.

I worked a little on American Sampler Quilt, a long standing WIP. This is a cross stitch lap quilt. The design is stamped on, so it is perfect for what I like to call, my "brain-dead" stitching! I have completed about 1-1/2 of the 4our motifs .I finished the star, and I am about halfway through with the Dresden plate motif. Here is where I left off.

Also, I found an unfinished Lee needlepoint Arts & Crafts design. I love the arts & Crafts era, and I just hate to see things go unfinished!
It was mostly completed (not by me), but needed a little bit more fill in with the cream color. Of course, the yarn was long ago lost. I set out to try to find a match. I tried all of my wool yarns, to no avail. Finally, I realized that it had a bit of a sheen to it. It was probably acrylic, and meant that I would never find a match. I decided to try to match it with a DMC color. I used all six strands.

Here is the whole design:



Art Nouveau canvas -Lee Designs

Here is one of the sections I filled in:

 The match wasn't exact, but I was lucky in that the missing areas were separated from the block (central heart-shaped) area of the cream, so I think it worked out pretty well. It is a little bit too white, and a little too thin, but otherwise, it would not have been finished at all.
Sometimes you have to cheat a little to get the job done!
I am hoping to find some dark green velveteen, and finish it as a pillow.

That's all for now. Hope all of you are well!
Will be back soon!

TUSAL and a little more progress on Mary Hart

I know! I'm very late with this photo!
I promise, I really have been filling up this little jar!
Here is my April TUSAL:

 

Also, last time I was here, I spoke too soon. I thought I had finished the borders, only to find out that I left out an entire motif on each side!

Well after some frogging and re-stitching, I am pleased to announce that I have now finally finished the borders!

I also made a start on the weirdly colored cat.
Next time, I will be back with the finish, I hope.

Hope everyone is enjoying their spring wherever you are!

A Slow Go with Mary Hart

I really thought I would be finished with Mary by now. It is certainly not the fault of the sampler, because it is a very easy, pleasant stitch.

For any number of reasons this has been a very turbulent and distracting time around here. There were several evenings that I just was too tired or distracted to stitch.
I took this photo two days ago.

Since then, I have finished the border on the right side, and last night, I made a start on the cat.
It seems like I am back in the groove, so hopefully it won't be too much longer for a finish.

On the home front, we did not have good luck with our eggs.I think we had a problem with our incubator. Out of twenty two eggs, only 2 hatched. One was very weak, and only lived one day. The other one was a French Black Copper Maran. He (or she, I hope), was very weak for the first week. We fed her by hand, a mixture of vitamin water and honey.

Suddenly one day she was alert and hopping about. We didn't want her to be alone, so we drove upstate to buy a few chicks to keep her company. They are all thriving now.

Here is a photo of the little one at two weeks old.

 

We really hope it's a female, because Black Copper Marans lay the most beautiful chocolate brown eggs!

 

We had a little setback with Walter too. He had finally been integrated with the hens (or so we thought), and spent 2 nights with them. We came out to find him huddled in one of the laying boxes. Apparently he had fallen off the perch, and was pecked mercilessly by the hens. When we found him he was walking with a bad limp. We had to separate him again. His leg is much better now. He is walking normally again, but now we have to start the integration process all over again.

Poor Walter!

 

We are still looking for Spring around here. I did have some crocuses come up, but still no sign of a blooming daffodil! That is very unusual for this area! Seems like it has been winter for 6 months!

 

That's all I have for now. I will be back in a few days, hopefully with a finish!



Progress on Mary Hart, TUSAL, and more

I have made some progress on Mary Hart.

The Mary Hart Sampler - 32 ct linen with AVAS

I just love the bright bold color. I have always been partial to red!

The verse is tiny, tiny, tiny, all one over one. I just started a bit of it to see what it would look like.

I have to bring the border down both sides a bit more before I work on the verse.

It's also time again for the TUSAL!
You can see all the red from Mary.

Furry loves to supervise!

Still no peep from the peeps!

The first batch has one more week to go. This time next week, we will be on peep watch.

I really hope something hatches, or I will be very disappointed!

Unfortunately we are not making much progress with Walter. The hens still peck him mercilessly!
I have heard of this happening with other roosters, but I really though he would be able to handle the hens by now. Walter clearly prefers people and cats to other chickens!

Here he is with Keith.

I don't know what we are going to do with him! He should be old enough to be mixed in with the other chickens, but I guess we have to give him more time.

Enjoy your day everyone!
I'll be back soon!

The Harriot Boardman Sampler is finished!

Yay!

I tried to follow the pattern of the flowers and the grass as closely as I could, but there were a few places where the hilly grass seemed to get away from me! Oh well! I am pretending the wind was blowing it!

Generally I am pleased with how she turned out.

I did have a hard time taking a photo!
Why is it, as soon as you lay something out to take a picture, this happens!

Not just one of them, but two of them had to get into the action!

Ollie scooted off, but Furry was not about to leave!

Finally!


The Harriot Boardman Sampler - The Scarlet Letter
Stitched with DMC on Green linen

I really enjoyed stitching this one, and I loved the special green/blue linen!


For my next project, I picked the Mary Hart Sampler.

 

Here is a better look:

I am a cat lover, and simply cannot resist a sampler with a cat on it!

Mary is from the M.H. de Young Memorial Museum in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. CA.

The colors on the cat are truly weird but it is suggested that perhaps exposure to ultra violet light over the years has changed the original color of the dyes.
The verse is quite morbid, and a second verse is given for those who want to change it.
No problem for me! I love the morbid ones!

This is the verse:

This little Piece my Friends may have,

When I am dead and in my Grave

When greedy Worms shall feed on me.

My name hereunder you may see

 

Ha! Love it!

I am going to stitch it on 32 count linen in Antique White, using Au ver a soie, my favorite silk. Luckily for me, I had all the necessary colors.

 

 

(Notice the furry foot at the top of the page ? - Different day, same Furrytail foot)!

 

On the home front, Walter, our reluctant rooster has been growing like a weed! The problem is, he doesn't know he is big. He is quite a bit taller than the hens now, but still hasn't filled out. He is a little older than 3 months now, and is at that awkward adolescent stage. He is still terrified of the hens and keeps well clear of them.

 

Walter

 

We were looking to replace our hens that were killed by the hawks, and we decided to try to hatch our own.

 

We love our Gertie's blue-green eggs, so we ordered some Ameraucana eggs. We also ordered some of the dark brown, Black Copper Maran eggs.

 

 

Here they are in the incubator:

 

 

We have been told to expect 50% to hatch at best. I am hoping we will get lucky with the odds and get more hens than roosters! We also have 6 more eggs on their way. That will give us 20 eggs. If 10 hatch, hopefully we will get 5 or more hens!

Time will tell.

Our first hatch date is March 18th!

 

I will keep you posted.

Harriot's Goofy Deer are finished

Finally!

This was not without problems however.

Sometime after starting the second deer, I noticed that the dye lot was different. The deer on the right is actually a lot brighter than the one on the left.
I am hoping that it is not too noticeable.

I can't help but think these look like cartoon deer! I don't think they had cartoons back in Harriot's day, but these guys certainly have a Disney-esque quality to them! I think it's the eyes.

One of them turned out to be a bit larger than the other. Not sure how that happened.
Oh well. I am certainly not going to do them over again!

I started working on the flowers. They are also done freestyle. I am not having any easier time with these, but atleast, the vines and leaves aren't quite as obvious when you mess up!

Here is how it looks so far all together

I have a ways to go. I have the center floral motif, and then the left motif to do yet. After that, I will go on to do the grass.


On the home front, things have been a bit gloomy here.

We lost another chicken.

We have had a terrible problem with hawks!
We have had a total of 5 attacks. Three chickens were killed, one managed to get away, and one seems to be traumatized. She will not come out of the shed, and has stopped laying eggs. This last attack was by a pair of giant red-tailed hawks!

Poor Sally! She was such a happy little thing!

I can't think of anything more terrifying than some unknown peril dropping out of the sky to kill you!

We are hoping to get a few more chicks this spring, but they will not be laying eggs for some time.
We are four hens down now, so it has cut into our egg production.

We need some SPRING here, and soon! I normally don't mind the winter, but this year, here in NY, it has just been relentlessly cold and windy! Brrrrr!

Hopefully Spring will not be too far away!

More Harriot and my February TUSAL

I finished the attribution on The Harriot Boardman sampler, and then started the flower pot, which was the last of the cross stitch.
Now to begin the free-style stitch! I started with the deer on the left. First, I outlined the deer shape with a stem stitch which is then covered over with the first band of satin stitching.

I must say this is harder than it looks! Somehow my deer wound up a little further from the border than it should have. Not sure how that happened. I have just started the second band on the bottom. It is hard to plan for how much space it will take up. What you see here is the result of 4 evenings work.

 

It is very slow-going.

I am just hoping it turns out ok. It is very hard to maintain consistency.

Here is the whole thing:

 I am a little anxious to see how it turns out.
I guess I need to engage my inner child, that kid who scribbled with abandon, but who always had to have the right color ! LOL!

Here is my February TUSAL, (hosted by Sharon @ It's  Daffycat ).

You can see all the gold threads from the deer in Harrriot.

Back soon!

Update on Harriot

Hi everyone!

I meant to give this update last week. Not sure why I didn't send it.

Since last time, I completed the alphabet in the eyelet stitch.
Next came the gold dividing band.
The next alphabet was done in a satin stitch.

Then came the strawberry vine. This was done in cross stitch first and then returning to complete the little leaves in a freehand style satin stitch. I must say I found it difficult to keep the leaves consistent. I hope they came out all right. It was a persnickety kind of thing!

Then it was on the the attribution, which is being stitched in a rust color. I am almost finished with it. I just need to complete the date.

Next will be to complete the right hand border and do the freehand scene on the bottom. That should take a while!
Here it is so far:

On the home front, let me introduce you to the newest member of our family.

Meet Walter:

Walter at 2 months

Walter is a 10-week old Buff Orpington cockerel.
He is actually a lot bigger now. This photo was taken almost 2 weeks ago.
We got him in the hopes that he would protect our flock from hawks. We picked out a Buff Orpington because they are know for having gentle, sweet, and calm personality.

Unfortunately Walter might just be a little too sweet. He is terrified of the hens!
Poor little guy! He has bonded with us, and tries to hide behind us so the other chickens won't see him. (LOL)!
I hope he gets a little more courageous as he gets older!

Back soon with more progress.

My Beloved is Finished! Harriot is next!

I worked on it all last week and finally finished up on Saturday.

The part that took the longest of course was the green lawn background, which was filled in with a horizontal stem stitch.

I love the little dog and bunny on the lawn!

The white veranda is stitched in a horizontal and slanted satin stitch.
The little flowers at the bottom were added after the lawn was completed.

The whole thing measures 3-1/2" X 2-1/2".

Here is the finished sampler.



My Beloved - The Scarlet Letter 

For my next project, I decided to take on The Harriot Boardman Sampler.



The Harriot Boardman Sampler - 1804

I am using DMC, stitching on 25-count green linen. I must say I am intrigued with this linen. It is dyed with different colors in the warp and weft, as the original was. It is a unique combination of blue and green threads.

This is a WIP. Here is where I left off:

A closer look:

The sampler comes from Dover, Massachusetts.

The stitches used include cross, satin, eyelet, stem, counted thread and freehand.

This type of ground has been found on samplers made from 1788 through the 1820's, from Canada and Maine to Washington D.C., but is most  frequently found on samplers from the north shore, Essex County Massachusetts and eastern New Hampshire.

The deer, flower pot, and grass at the bottom are all freehand. That should be interesting!

My eyes are bleeding!

I thought My Beloved, a miniature sampler, would be a quick little stitch. Well it is little but not quick!

Here is what I have so far:

I still haven't figured out what to do with the date that should go between the initials.

The stitches are tiny, tiny, tiny!

I just finished Freelove Hazard, which was stitched one over one, however, it was on 25 count linen.
There is a big difference between one over one on 25 ct and one over one on 35ct!
Not having a lot of fun here!

The little brick house measures all of 3/4" X 2/3", smaller than a postage stamp!
Stitching the mortar between the bricks nearly killed me!

Frankly, I am a little surprised that this is suggested for a beginner. The directions are sketchy, and somewhat incomplete. To stitch it as it is shown in the photo, the chart does not work. I finally held the little photo up to the magnifier and counted. A minimum of 4 extra rows have to be added under the initials, to make it work. I think there is probably an error in printing the chart.

I guess that is why it says to only do the top and the left of the border until you know if it fits.

Also, there are 8 different colors, but the descriptive name didn't really match the colors, so it was difficult to tell what was what. I would think a beginner would find the tiny stitches very difficult. You can't do much in the way of frogging here when the stitching is so tight.

I am already looking forward to my next project which will definitely not be one over one!

Freelove Hazard, my first finish of 2013

Here she is:

Freelove Hazard 1792

She was stitched one over one, and one over two, on 25 count linen, using silk threads.

Of course, it was not without some drama. Just as I was finishing up the outer border, I realized that I had cut my cuticle, and had bled onto the linen and one of the silk flowers!
Aghh! Grr! Is there anything worse than trying to get blood out of silk and linen.
I wound up re-stitching the border of one of the flowers. I did the best I could cleaning the linen. It wasn't too bad. I finally had to stop because I was afraid I would make it worse.
There is still a tiny spot on one or two threads, but I don't think anyone would notice it.

I guess it could have been a lot worse!

My next project is My Beloved from The Scarlet Letter.

I have just started this. I will be back with an update shortly.

First TUSAL of 2013

On December 31, 2012, I emptied my orts into a plastic bag. I always try to scatter them on the first day of spring on my bushes and trees to help the birds with their nests.
I don't know if they actually take them, but I like to think they might.

Here is 11 days worth of stitching for this month.

I have been working with one strand of silk, so there isn't too much to show.

The Traveling Pattern is on the Move!

Before I announce the winner, please let me apologize to all those who did not get picked. I wish I could send the pattern to all of you, unfortunately there can only be one name chosen. I know how you feel because I chased it all over the globe for over a year.

The next person to stitch The Traveling Pattern will be Mary of Stitches and More.

I hope you will all follow it to Mary's blog for a chance to stitch it next.

Mary, if you will get it touch with me with your address, i will get it right out to you.

Happy New Year Everyone!

We will be having a quiet night here. We have never been big celebrators on New Year's Eve.
Although we live just 25 miles from NYC, we will not be going to Times Square!

Times Square is one of those thing you have to do once in your life, preferably when you are young and more oblivious to the cold!
Keith and I still remember the year we went there. We were 18, just dating a few months, all those decades ago! I wish we had taken pictures.
Now, I prefer to stay home by the fire and watch a good old movie!

On the stitching front, I have made some progress with Freelove Hazard.

Here she is so far:

 She is coming along well, and hopefully I will have my first finish of 2013 before long.

2012 was a good year for finishes, 14 in all.

They were:
1. And They Sinned
2. The Tulip Patch
3. Easter Parade
4. L'Automne
5. The Sarah Whitely Sampler
6. The Most Wasted Day
7. Deep Peace
8. Prairie Schooler Pumpkin ornament
9. Fecelanno (Sears) Sampler
10. Prairie Schooler Cornucopia ornament
11. Prairie Schooler Hen ornament
12. Seek Joy in All Things
13. Early Candle Pocket
14. Count Your Blessings

Here they are (not in order).

2012 Finishes

Don't forget to leave a comment if you would like an opportunity to stitch the Traveling Pattern (see last post). I will pick the winner on January 6th.

However you celebrate, I wish you all a very Happy and Healthy New Year!

I'll be back next year!

It's Time for The Traveling Pattern to move on!

Yes! She's finished!
I worked hard on this to make it my final finish of 2012.

For those of you who don't know, The Traveling Pattern was started by Sharon ( It's Daffycat ), back in Feb of 2011.
The design is Count Your Blessings, from Shakespeare's Peddler.

Here are the rules as posted on Sharon's original post:

1. Comment on this post, saying you would like to be part of the Stitcherhood.

2. By leaving this comment, you agree (if you are chosen) to stitch the design and send it along to the next person in a timely manner. If this means dropping everything in your rotation to concentrate on this project...so be it. If you can't bring yourself to do this ~ don't sign up.

3. You must have an active blog to participate. If you have a blog but never post to it ~ you won't be chosen to be the next stitcher.

4. This is a giveaway-type Traveling Pattern. That means you must follow it from blogger to blogger to enter each time it is ready to send along. Commenting on this post doesn't make you a guaranteed part of the Stitcherhood.

Here is mine.

Count Your Blessings - Shakespeare's Peddler

I changed the colors in mine to make it look more like my own gray cedar-shingled house.

It is stitched on palest green 40 ct linen, using Sampler Threads.

So there you have it. If you would like a chance to stitch this well-traveled pattern, leave a comment on this post, and I will pick the winner on January 6th 2013.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

It is Christmas eve, but not all has been peaceful here.

Over the last two days, we have lost a chicken on each day to a hawk. First we found Lulu, the little red hen, then yesterday it was Dotty, the little Silver Spangled Hamburg. We ran out but it was too late!

Today, I watched them very carefully, and everything seemed ok. No signs of hawks. I went us to the attic to get some ribbon, and I heard the screams. I ran down to find the chickens scurrying everywhere. One by one, they came out of hiding and returned to the coop. That is, all of them except Bev, a very friendly Black Australorp. We looked everywhere for her. By now it was dark. Keith got a flash light and we continued searching. We finally gave up and came inside. It is bitterly cold here tonight. We were getting ready to eat when I asked Keith if he wouldn't look one more time.

Out behind the tool shed is an old wood chipper with a tarp thrown over it. He shined the light under it, and saw her red crop. He thought the worst, but pulled her out. Next thing he knew, her eyes opened! He brought her inside to check her out. She seemed ok, but very stunned, and very cold. She had a very close call! After a few minutes he re-united her with her chicken buddies in the coop.

It sure made my Christmas!

I just wish we could have saved Lulu and Dotty, but atleast we saved Bev. I do not think she would have made it through the night there. The raccoons would have gotten her for sure. I hope she is just dazed and will be ok. Tomorrow will tell.

I know! People eat these little creatures, but when you raise them from 1 day old, handle them, hand feed them, and name them, you become very attached. I have gotten very used to them running up on my deck to beg for food. They will not like it, but we will not be letting them out for a while, not until this hawk moves on.
Tomorrow they will stay in their pen.

The light you see behind the wreath is from a light bulb.

So, not the most peaceful of Christmas eves, but a Christmas miracle of sorts !

Hope all of you have a very Happy, and Peaceful Holiday!