Well today is glorious and even the up hill walk to school hasn't dampened my mood. Waiting at the top were all these Ox Eyed Daisies. There were several big patches of them. They've clearly come out en masse over half term.
On Saturday I decided once I had finished the latest square of the ABC sal to give a very old WIP some love. So at 4am when I couldn't sleep I put my lap frame back together (as you do). My in laws brought me this kit for Christmas 2013 and I started it summer of 2014 I think. Many of my followers may not have even seen my meagre progress on this up to this point. It's that old.
So the kit...Traditional sampler by Anchor. It's stitched on 14ct aida and measures a whopping 12" x18". If I was starting the kit now I'd probably swap the aida for some linen or evenweave.
So this was where I had gotten to. I'm my mind I thought I'd done more but clearly not.
I decided I'd finish off the top band yesterday which was 532 stitches and today sees it here...
It still needs a bit of back stitch on the leaves. I'm in a bit of a dilemma as the chart shows back stitch around the flowers in red, but the kit picture doesn't show them backstitched. The chart only has 5 other very small motifs with backstitch. The 2 snails and the steps to the house do and that looks fine as it it seems to create a bit of a 3D look. The butterflies have a back stitched outline in red and look a bit odd. So after that long ramble...what you you all think?
I've decided to stitch this for a week then put it aside whilst I stitch a birthday present and then pick it back up for the whole of July. Justine is continuing the success of 'faithful April' and doing 'just one July' where she focuses on one project for the month. She's invited fellow bloggers to join her. I will cheat slightly and have 2 projects on the go as I shall do the sampler for my main project as it falls into GG and wipocalypse and have a small travelling project that will go in my handbag for the bus journeys and sitting at the park at that will be for the smalls sal. I'm actually really excited about seeing how much I can get done. I'd love to get the top half done. It's a huge challenge as it's just over 7000 stitches.
So I'll see you all for GG next week. Time for another GG - my favourite Gilmore Girls! Have a great week.
Your sampler is lovely. Isn't it interesting how one navigates toward linen after stitching on Aida? I like Aida....never knew about linen until I'd stitched for several years. I'll be interested to see your progress.
ReplyDeletexxx
That's a lovely project - looking forward to seeing it grow.
ReplyDeleteThat's a lovely project - looking forward to seeing it grow.
ReplyDeleteThat's a lovely WIP. Looking forward to seeing it grow.
ReplyDeleteIts hard to guess from the cover picture that the project is so big.
ReplyDeleteI think some back stitching on the flowers will look good.
Good progress so far.
I'm addicted to GG...spending too much watching it.
Your sampler is off to a great start... It will be fun stitching all those little motifs...
ReplyDeleteGilmore Girls is one of my favorites--I've watched many of the episodes twice already :)
Great start on the sampler. I would add the backstitch on the flowers if it's not too time consuming ;)
ReplyDeleteI will be joining the Just One July too as I have thoroughly enjoyed focussing on one piece only back in April.
It's nice to get an older piece out to work on. The nice thing about a Traditional Sampler is that it doesn't really date!
ReplyDeleteGreat stitching! It'll be great to see how much you can get done in July. I'd leave off the backstitching for now and see how it looks, maybe add it later if the motifs look strange without it.
ReplyDeleteSo glad you're joining me in Just One July! You will be surprised how much you can get done. Handbag projects are most definitely allowed too!
ReplyDeleteYou've chosen such a pretty project too. I agree with Sarah and would leave off the backstitch for now.
I can't believe your oldest WIP is only 2! Mine is almost 8 years old and hasn't been touched in that long. I have plans for it but not immediate ones...