Blackbird Designs Spring Fling! And other stitching news ...
January 25, 2006 at 10:52 AM
by Ashleigh
Finally, a happy dance for me! I finished this sweet piece last night. It has been in my stitching basket for almost a year as when I started stitching the piece I had an allergic reaction to the linen! As some of you will know, Blackbird Designs love to use R&R linens. And R&R love to use old fashioned dye methods for their fabrics. This fabric is beautiful, but it also smells of coffee, and there is something in it that brought me out in the sneezes every time I started working on it! Luckily, after almost a year of being in my stitching basket it wore off and I was able to finish it last night. Its a lovely piece - the fabric is R&R 30 ct Glen Ellyn blend which is a mixture of taupe and grass green (weird sounding I know, but very springy), the threads are all Gentle Arts Sampler threads - wonderful colours like Pineapple Sherbet, Tea Rose, Avocado, Hycainth, Poinsettia and Buttermilk and the warmth-evoking Summer Meadow. The piece finishes at 6.5 x 6.5 inches.
A while ago Debba Rofheart of Debbaworks offered this beautiful chart on the Legacy Embroiderer's Group at ezboard. She designed the piece in remembrance of all the stitching ladies who came before us. Its kitted with Lakeside Linen in 36 ct Clay Pot and comes with Vikki Clayton silk threads. I'm going to enjoy stitching this! Debba recommends gridding (basting) every 10 stitches so I think I'll do that one evening when I'm not up for anything more hectic!
And finally, my progress on the French Alphabet Sampler by Blessings Counted. I am using one thread of Gloriana stranded silk in Holiday Blue on 30 ct Vanilla Gold Legacy linen. I love the combination. This linen is so easy to stitch on that its quickly becoming my favourite. I have completed the first page and intend to do one page a month during 2006. There are 12 pages in total. See how 'Brad' is already stitched on the bottom of the first page? It's fun finding all the names hidden amongst the alphabets.
I also joined the Not-So-Secret Stitcher program over at Shakespeare's Peddler and received my partner details (Hi Jenny!) Like Theresa says when she partners people - its very surprising how much some people have in common. I have to agree, my partner and I seem to have a lot in common! I'm looking forward to getting to know her better over the coming year.
Exchanges on the SBEBB and Aion boards are going along well. I sent my Valentine's Exchanges off and both reached their destination - one to Andrea in the UK and one to Tessa in Australia. Hopefully Tessa will open hers so I can share a pic! I had originally used the generic signup template for the Aion one to make the signup template for the SBEBB one and forgot to omit the sentence about not opening until Valentines Day. So, SBEBB Valentine's Day exchange participants - you can open yours when you get them!
I signed up for the Spring Exchange on the SBEBB which Jo is moderating. Looking forward to receiving my partner details for that too! I haven't a clue what I'll stitch yet!
On the weekend we are planning to hire a car and take a 1.5 hour drive up to Friesland to the Fries Museum in Leeuwaarden. Last year I wrote about the exhibition on sampler stitching which is taking place there, and now finally I get to go and see it. We'll be driving along the Afsluitdijk on the A7 from Amstelveen to Leeuwaarden so look out for some fabulous pictures. I'm hoping for a sunny day on Saturday! There are some other exhibitions too - photography etc, so hopefully Brad and the kids won't be bored. Afterwards we plan to find a nice place to eat. So, I get to drive a bit and combine sightseeing with 'stitching-seeing'. Should be fun!
This is what one website says about the Afsluitdijk:
The Afsluitdijk (Enclosing Dike) which closes off the IJsselmeer, 30km/18.5mi long by 90m/100yd across, links the provinces of Noord-Holland and Friesland. Built between 1927 and 1932, it converted the Zuiderzee into an inland lake, now known as the IJsselmeer. The Zuiderzee itself was an inland lake until Roman times; but during the early Middle Ages the level of the North Sea rose and gigantic storm tides broke through the land and made the Zuiderzee an inlet of the sea. Thereafter the government and people of the Netherlands wrestled with the problem of recovering the land drowned by the sea; but it was not until the 19th century that the technological resources for carrying through such a project became available. After severe food shortages in the Netherlands during the First World War and further heavy damage caused by a storm tide in 1916 the government approved a plan devised by a water engineer named Cornelis Lely, the object of which was twofold - to reclaim land for agriculture and to prevent further penetration by the sea. The construction of the Afsluitdijk had the effect of reducing the length of dikes in the IJsselmeer area by some 300km/185mi.
Comments
Congrats on your Blackbird Designs happy dance - looks great :) I also adore the French Alphabet Sampler - it's coming along beautifully - just gorgeous!
Yay! Your Spring Fling is beautiful!! Thanks for including so many pics in your post today - love the eye candy :)
Great pics today! Spring Fling looks so cheerful and I love the colours of FAS :)
Eyecandy stitchingwise and a trip, wow!
Congratulations on your HD!
Its Beautyful!
Please share lots of pics from your trip with us!
Congratulations Ash, Spring Fling is lovely!
Enjoy your trip :)
Wow, I miss reading your blog for a few days, and I miss EVERYTHING! I love these projects. They're gorgeous!
Have a great weekend, and do tell all about the trip!
What a beautiful finish! I'm glad the allergy wore off - it would have been a shame not to be able to carry on. And your French Alphabet Sampler is beautiful. I love the thread you've chosen. Next year I'm going to get one charted for me!
January 25, 2006 8:49 PM