Remember last post, I told you that I had won the 50 pound gift certificate from Needle Needs on Nicola's Scarlet Letter Year. I was so excited about winning this as it came at a time when I needed a huge pick me up.
Well, it arrived late on Thursday afternoon and I was so excited. It is something that is simply superb. The craftsmanship is unbelievable. I have always had a "thing" for hand made things especially when made of wood. I asked what the frames were made from and was told that they were made from sustainable English Beech.
The things that fascinated me with the frames was the screws. I wondered if they were made from plastic, but they everything on the frame is wood.
I found that the frame was very easy to put together and the claims that you can get your work as tight as a drum are totally true.
The bars that I picked are 30 inch ones.
I found though that because they were so long that I had a lot of trouble trying to work with them on my leather chair. I ended up feeling like the Hunchback of Notre Dame. Not good at my age. I ended up with a pain in the neck and had a lot of trouble with my knees which aren't the best.
So after a day of serious thinking on what to do as I think because the bars are so long that a stand is definitely a must. But at the moment, they aren't available because Needle Needs are awaiting parts. So I'm waiting for one to come in.
So after a lot of thinking, I wondered if my Hoop Lap Frame would work. Guess what, it does, yay. I found that if I put my Lap Frame with the middle hoop on it as if I'm going to use it, but with the hoop down, that it will support my Millennium Frame, so that I can work on Rebecca using two hands. I must say that I'm a very happy camper. I have also come up with a way where I can use my Magnifying Glass that clipped onto my hoop before. I have one of those LoRan metal magnetic boards that you can attach your charts to. I made a slip bag out of white felt and I can slip the board in and out with the Magnifying Glass attached to it and the metal isn't touching my sampler.
This is the current state of Rebecca. My goodness, she is such a stunning girl. I have some really stunning samplers in my collection, but this one is a real stunner.
I thought that you would like to see the berries. I have finished the leaves by the way. The berries are all filled in with grub stitch. For some reason, I have always enjoyed doing this stitch lol.
This bit is waiting for the flowers to be done, but I thought that I would go a bit further up and do the section where the berries are.
This is where I'm currently working. I just have to put the "wings" on the flower and then I can fill all of this section in with Satin Stitch.
Thank you for all your good wishes towards my DH. He is getting better thank goodness, but he still has good days and bad days. He still gets the occasional chest pain which is a worry, but they are still working out his medication. My family and I are just thankful that this problem occurred when it did and not when things could be to late to do anything.
I just want to say a big Thank You for stopping by. It is nice to know that I have friends interested in me and my love of samplers :).
