More of Jane

 Miss Jane is moving along again at great speed.  I really can't believe how fast she is coming along.  It must mean that I'm enjoying working on her.

As you can see I have nearly finished another section.  I just have to finish off the flower that I'm currently working on.  One I get the shape of the flowers worked out I shall fill them in and then I'm down to the last section.

As you know I have also worked on Rebecca Cullin which is another sampler that is very similar to Jane except Rebecca has a bird instead of Jane and her sheep.  I'm so looking forward to finishing Jane and getting a frame for her and hanging the two of them together.

It's quite amazing when you look at the photo of Jane on the chart.  You really don't realize how beautiful she is.

Thank you for stopping by and checking Jane.  Both she and I thank you :).  The end is getting closer and closer.  Probably two more posts and then she will be done.

More of Jane

Thought that you might like to see a little bit more of Miss Jane.  I really can't believe how quickly she is moving along.  Since the last time I posted I have finished the tree that surrounds Miss Jane and a few little things on that level.

Miss Jane and her lamb were great fun to work.  I loved working on the lamb.

Over the last few days I have been working on the next level.  Yesterday I filled in the strawberries with Bullion Stitch. Love doing those :) and at the moment I'm working on the leaf that will complete this section.  The leaf is stem stitch.  I guess the other bit could be some kind of seed pod.  It's all satin stitch and then has a lattice grid on top.  Th tendril on top is back stitch.  Tonight I should start working on the beautiful fan Carnation that is in the next section.

I find that when I have to outline pieces such as this that it's a lot easier to work it all in back stitch.  I discovered a long time ago that for instance the tree trunk that is in the photo above  that if when I'm working it all out that if I work it out in back stitch that it is easier and I don't get bambozzled following the sketch on the chart.  When I get the motif right or as right as I can get it, then I fill it all in with stem stitch.  The back stitch and stem stitch blend into each other.

We have had so much rain over the last month here in The Mountains.  It's really lovely to be able to see the sun again.  Today is the first day of Spring in Australia and I'm looking forward to some lovely warmer weather.

You might think if you live in the Northern Hemisphere that I have lost the plot and that I'm a bit early saying this.  But in Australia, the season's start every 3 months at the beginning of the month.  It goes back to the time that The First Fleet came to Australia.  It was when the soldiers changed from their Summer uniforms to their Winter Uniform.  1st of September is also Wattle Day.  Wattle is the National Flower of Australia.  It's lovely to see it's cheery face when driving down The Mountain.

Thank you for stopping by and visiting me.

Mary Had A Little Lamb Or Should That Be Miss Jane

 Some more photos of Miss Jane and her Lamb.  I love doing specialty stitches and have done the lamb in bullion stitch.  Love doing them :).  The crook is chain stitch and I toyed with the idea of doing the blue section of Miss Jane in stem stitch, but decided to go with cross stitch as I thought that a few different stitches would look better.

The bottom of her dress is a combination of satin stitch, herringbone stitch, zig zag satin stitch and stem stitch.

Once I have finished Miss Jane's hat, arms etc. I will finish off the tree that has branches everywhere.  I also changed Miss Jane's face and neck.  I decided that I would do it all in tent stitch over one as I thought that it make her face a bit finer. Discovered this many years ago when I used to do a lot of Needlepoint Tapestries.

Bit more of Miss Jane Ballard

 As you can see I have been concentrating on Miss Jane Ballard by Porcupine Collection.  I can't get over how quickly she is coming together.

This is the left hand side of where Miss Jane will be with her sheep.  The tulip is worked in stem stitch.  I was going to do the leaves in satin stitch, but ended up pulling it out as I didn't particularly like the look of it.  I love the bird.  There is another one on the other side.  He sort of reminds me of a vulture lol.

This is the right hand side.  I love the flower on this side.  The petals are done in satin stitch and here is the vulture lol.  At the moment I'm working on the border that surrounds where Miss Jane will be with her sheep.  I'm thinking of working the sheep in a combination of bullion stitch and french knots.  I always enjoy doing those for some reason.

Thank you for stopping by.

Jane Ballard Jumped Into My Hands

Thought that you might like to see Miss Jane Ballard by Porcupine Collection.  Jane is a companion piece to Rebecca Cullin.  She was done in 1799 and Rebecca was done in 1801.  There are a few of both these samplers in Museums etc done by other girls.  I have always loved both Rebecca and Jane.

I have been working on The Rose Wreath Sampler which I really love, but Miss Jane started jumping up and down demanding that I put The Rose Wreath down and work on her.  So what could I do except pick her up and work on her so that I could get some peace and quiet lol.  I always enjoy working on complicated samplers although Miss Jane isn't that complicated.

I am working Jane with specialty stitches so that she will match Rebecca.  I plan on hanging them side by side when she is done.  As you can see the Squirrel has been done in stem stitch etc.

As has the butterfly, but I think that it's more of a moth.

Miss Jane is more of a softer sampler than Miss Rebecca.  I love the use of the red in Jane.  When I have done some more on her I will post more photos.  Looking forward to the next stage of her.

I'm A Bad Blogger

 I'm sorry that I have become such a terrible blogger of late.  My life has sort of changed a little bit and I find that I don't have time to sit down and blog as much as I used to.

But I'm still stitching.  I thought that you might like to see my last finished piece by Gigi R Designs.  It's The Lady In Red Spinning Wool.  It has sheep in it.  What more can a girl ask who loves samplers with sheep in them.

Unfortunately I haven't been able to frame my Hestera Harmer.  The frame that The Lady In Red is in is actually the frame that I paid a lot for to put Hestera in.  Sadly, the woman who measured Hestera forgot to allow for stretching so it ended up being not big enough for her.  To save all of the hassle of going back and complaining I decided that I might be able to use the frame on another sampler and LIR fits in perfectly.  Guess where I won't be going when I need another frame.

This is my progress on my current piece.  It's another Gigi R Design (she has the most wonderful collection of samplers in her collection).  It's her new one called The Rose Wreath Sampler.  Really love this one.  I love the roses and the birds down the bottom.  Plus the name on the sampler is C Matthews.  I have a Son called Matthew.

I'm also taking part in the SAL for my friend Tanya's beautiful Seven Sheep.  I have started it, but have only added one colour so far.  Will show more when I have done more of it.

Thank you for stopping by.  I will try to do better at blogging :).

T

Cousin Hestera is Finished

 I thought that you might like to see Cousin Hestera as I call her.  I finished her a couple of days ago but haven't had a chance to take any photos of her.

Her name is Hestera Harmer and she is a Queenstown Samplers Design and is really beautiful.  She is stitched on 40ct antique white linen and using the DMC threads called for.  I fell in love with her many years ago when I first saw her on The Attic's Newsletter.  She was their Sampler of The Month.

I must say sections of the basket of flowers had me pulling my hair out lol.  So glad when I had that little bit  finished.  She is a really beautiful girl and I had hoped to frame her this weekend.  I did have a frame that I had bought for my Marquoir de Justine, but it was a tad small.  Turns out the same thing has happened with Hestera so I will have to buy another one.

As I have previously said, I think that I'm related to Hestera Harmer somewhere along the line.  I have a Ann Harmer who was about 90 years older than Hestera in my Mother's family tree.  They both came from the same area in Sussex and lived not that far away.  My Ann was one of 14 children and had a brother called John.  John is also Hestera's Father's name, but John Harmer is a very common name in the Harmer family.

This is another Scarlet Letter Sampler called Frances B  Jones.  She has been in my stash for a few years.  A very dear friend sent the chart, the linen and the AVAS threads to me a few years ago for my birthday and Christmas.  They aren't that far apart.  She is being stitched on 36ct cream linen.

Sorry that this photo is on the side, for some reason it decided to turn turtle.  I call this my "go anywhere sampler".  I keep her in a cloth bag that I have made along with the charts, threads and hoop etc.  I have occasions where I have to go and sit for awhile at appointments so when I know one of these is coming up I take Frances with me.  Have always loved this sampler and I'm looking forward to getting more done on her.

Thank you for stopping by.  I'm sorry if I seem to take long periods between posts.  It's just that I have a lot going on in my life these days.

Hestera Harmer

 My goodness it is a very long time since I posted.  But I have had a lot of things going on in my life.

I thought that you might like to see my progress on as I call her Cousin Hestera.  I think that I'm related to her.  Not 100% sure but I think so.  Like a lot of relatives Cousin Hestera and I have had a few issues that hopefully we have resolved.  I discovered that the beautiful rose on the left hand side was 2 threads out when I had nearly finished doing it and then had to frog it all out as it would have made a difference.  Then I kept getting lost in the basket that is in the large motif down the bottom.  A lot of mumbling and grumbling went on with that motif I can tell you.  I gave a huge sigh of relief when I finished doing that bit.

I just have to finish off the border which I always love (not), do the verse which is over one and then the mirror image of the other 4 motifs on the other side.  Hopefully it won't be long before Hestera is done and hanging on my walls.

Talking of samplers hanging on walls.  Just before Christmas 2 of my Sons painted my lounge/dining room etc. for me.  When they were done my DH thought that it would be nice if we hung some of my samplers in the lounge room.                                                                                                                                         

So on this wall we have Rebecca Cullin, The Tablet Sampler and Harriet Burry.  There is a bit of a gap between The Tablet and Harriet, but I intend to do Jane Ballard very soon.  Jane Ballard is very similar to Rebecca Cullin.  I think that they came from the same area in England.                                                     

Please excuse the TV.  Men and their TV's :).  Maria Foster now hangs on this wall along with Dutch Beauty and Margaret Gibson by Scarlet Letter.

The weather has been really lovely here in the Mountains.  We are very fortunate that because we are surrounded by a National Park that we always have the most beautiful collection of birds here.  Most of the time they are very shy and fly off as soon as you go out side.  But this morning I was able to take a couple of photos of a couple of the birds.  She is very hard to see, but if you look in the middle of the photo you can see the most beautiful orange colour.  This is one of the most beautiful birds and she is a King Parrot.  The males have the orange colour on their heads.  The females heads are green.

We have also been getting a lot of the as we call them The Hooligans of the Bird World.  I'm sure that most of you know these birds.  This is a Sulpher Crested Cockatoo.  So noisy lol.  Yesterday we have about 40 of them out the front at the same time.  When they take off the rooms becomes dark for a few seconds.

Thank you for dropping by and I will try not to leave it to long before I post again.