Macro setting on my camera!

On my last trip to Phoenix I found this sweet child's sewing basket and look what was inside! Isn't that thimble the tiniest you've ever seen?



And this morning I ran around taking photos of my samplers on the walls because I finally figured out the Macro setting on my camera! It makes close up photos so much easier, even in the dark wall of my staircase. So I went a little overboard but thought it was fun and wasn't sure what to do with the photos so this is always a good spot to put them, lol.






The above photo is a little sneak peek of a sampler I'll be releasing soon...

A couple new designs

Since I stitch all my own designs I can point out my mistakes. It wasn't until I picked up a batch of framing, (this above "Angel Sampler" included)that I realized I'd not stitched the "o" on the word "oh" in the verse. Oh well, makes it that much more mine. I was very pleased with this pale pink frame that I got on clearance at Marshall's for $3.99. I've had it sitting around about a year and finally, something fit in it!



This one is called "Remembrance". A woman emailed me several months ago and gave me the verse which she had found on an Irish headstone. I hope she'll re-email me as I'd love to send her a copy. In the computer confusion that has been happening with me since June (including a trip to the computer tune-up place) that email has been lost. I just want to say thank you very much as I love the verse and hope it brings comfort to those who read it.

Maggie's Yokohama Adventure

My 17-year old daughter Maggie just returned from a homestay/high school exchange to Yokohama, Japan. Last year she was in Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka and she compares Tokyo to New York City and Yokohama to San Francisco. Here she is with her class on her last day there:



And a close up:


A shot of the empty classroom. High school students stay in the same classroom and the teachers will rotate to them vs. the opposite with the American system.


Her good-bye message to her class, don't ask me what it says, I can only read 3 of the words!


With her little "brothers" from her host family:


In Yokohama's Chinatown, which is the largest Chinatown in Japan:


more with classmates:


She was able to buy a summer kimono and attend a festival. Here she is trying to catch goldfish which I guess was not easy to do:


Photo of how her obi is tied so we can hopefully replicate it at home:


Some things are universal:


One of the things she loves about Japan is how they love "cute". She said these pigs are fish paste and very tasty:


Another example of "cute" with an everyday object:


The Yokohama Costco, just as overwhelming in any country:


One difference is there is kanji on the cakes:

Finished! My neighborhood round robin...

I decided four years was too long to let this piece sit unfinished. I had to do the borders and a few additions to the inside of the piece so I started up a couple weeks ago and finished it this afternoon. I just love this piece and the friendships I made while stitching it. It's next up on my framing list and then I'll repost a photo of it when that is done.

In Memory

I just came in from the mailbox and was so excited to see one of my designs in the July/August 2008 issue of Just Cross Stitch. This is called "In Memory" and I stitched it for my grandmother who died in 1980. I had wanted to do a sampler for her in 1999, sort of a 100th year tribute to her but never could find a design I wanted to do. I'm so happy with how this turned out. It uses Belle Soie silks from Crescent Colours and I loved stitching with them. I see JCS is offering a kit with the supplies. I hope you like this piece as much as I enjoyed creating it.

2 new designs

This is "Bloom"


And this is "Patriotic Summer"

A 10 year old UFO finished!

This is Summer Sampler from Butternut Road. I think I started it in 1998, yikes! Finally finished it last week. I did the version which was 18 count fabric with Watercolours threads. Turns out I didn't enjoy using either the fabric or the threads and that is why it sat unfinished for soooooo long! One change was taking out the backstitch alphabet (mine always look so messy) and inserting a verse instead.

Two New Designs

This is Immortal Bloom


This is Be Ye Kind

In Memory

I designed this little case for a retreat but it was different. It was supposed to commemorate a get together at the ocean in California. When my friend died, I re-did it in her memory. It was finished by Deb Hunter and can hold photos or small items.

Virtue

Needlework samplers were popular in the 19th century and some of the most common verses on samplers had to do with Virtue. Virtues are character traits valued as being "good". The Catholic church taught the seven deadly sins which are: Pride, Greed, Lust, Wrath, Gluttony, Envy and Sloth. The corresponding virtues are Humility,Charity,Chastity,Temperance,Kindness and Diligence



A typical sampler verse about virtue:

"Virtue's the chiefest Beauty of the Mind
The noblest ornament of human kind
Virtue's our safeguard and our guiding star
That stirs up Reason when our sense err"




Women in the 19th Century were regarded as very different in character from men. Men were perceived to be dominant, assertive and materialistic. Women were thought to be religious, submissive and domestic.



Another typical sampler verse:

"The rose is a flower that fadeth away but
a virtuous woman will never decay"



19th Century women were expected to be the "Handmaids of the Gospel" and to help direct the course of sinning men. Women were thought to naturally possess traits of goodness, simplicity and piety.



" A good conscience is both the testimony
and reward of a good life.
Virtue is the foundation of honour and esteem
and the source of an order and happiness in nature"



Purity was expected before marriage and women had the role of maintaining her purity against the assault of the dominant and aggressive male. A book entitled "The Young Lady's Friend" (1837) advised women to "Sit not with another in a place that is too narrow; read not out of the same book; let not your eagerness to see anything induce you to place your head close to another person's."



On Virtue
"Would you the bloom of youth should last
Tis virtue that must bind it fast
A pleasing carriage wholly free
From proud reserve or levity
Goodness & sense, an open heart
And looks unskilled in vice or art
These are the charms which ne'er decay
Though youth & beauty fade away"




Stitching verses about virtue were designed to help young girls learn what was important in their society and what was their role and duty in life.

On Virtue:
"Go on dear child and still what e'er you do,
With steadfast steps fair Virtue's path pursue,
In each event her still small voice attend,
And let her be thy first thy dearest friend,
Follow her steps,and she will tread the road,
That leads thro Nature up to Natures God"



"Learn by the Bee from each event to find
Some hint of use or profit to your mind
Nothing so small but you may draw from thence
Improvement for your Virtue or your Sense
Honey like this life's evils will assuage
And yield you sweets in your declining age".

Lovebirds!!

Here is a sweet little pillow from Patty


I can't believe how many people have actually stitched and finished "Lovebird" Here is a gorgeous piece from Katrina in NZ



This beautiful pinkeep was made by Florence



This amazing hornbook is from Yuko
This is from Petra




Thank you everyone who has sent me a photo, I love seeing all the different things that are being done with this freebie.

She Gave Me alphabet

It has been brought to my attention that JCS did not print the alphabet for She Gave Me, so I am posting it here in case anyone needs it. So sorry for any inconvenience this may cause!

She Gave Me

I was so excited to see my design yesterday in the April 2008 issue of Just Cross Stitch

Lovebirds!

From Carla, love the finishing!


From Mercy