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Thursday, October 31, 2013

All Hallows

Taken from  from our backyard, just after sun-up on All Hallow's Eve.


Happy Halloween!

Sunday, October 20, 2013

Angels and Demons

Happy Sunday everyone!  I've already been for my walk this morning, which I was very glad to do at my favorite neighborhood park.  Thankfully, the season change is finally making its way this far south, allowing me to walk outside again without the risk of heat stroke, dehydration or swarms of mosquitoes.

So, first things first - an update on Ann Grimshaw

 


After our return from Key West, I was so excited about the idea of using the patterns and images from the trip for a new stitching project that I worked like a she-devil on Ann.  The good news is that I got these two beautiful motifs in in short order.

 


The bad new is that i just as quickly used up the last of my lighter skeins of Finnegan's Fog. With our trip and other things going on, I was late getting my order for more in and when I finally did, I was told it would take a month for it to be filled.  A full month - really??!  But with the order already submitted, I didn't really have much choice but to be patient and find something else to work on.  Hhmmmm....

Marly had already captured my attention lately with her Prairie Schooler Santas.  And could it have been more than a little coincidence that of all things to find  at Publix on a Saturday morning grocery shopping excursion was the 2013 JCS Christmas Ornament edition?  I haven't picked one of them up in several years and it's been even longer since I'd found it at the grocery store.  I decided it must have been there for a reason....time for me to shake off the ornament finishing demons that have followed me for waaaayyy too long.  Funny thing, I didn't find anything in this year's edition that was all that thrilling, but it did prompt me later that evening to get out all my old copies from previous years and have a long browse through them.  This Prairie Schooler contribution to the 2005 edition was the result.



I had enough room on the same piece of linen to also add this little guy.

 


I love his tiny size!  He came from this golden Prairie Schooler oldy:

 

Seeing how the ordered silk for a return to Ann isn't anywhere in sight yet, I think I'm going to keep working on more of the same for awhile.  The pear, pineapple, grapes and apple are on the radar next.  Seeing as I'll have a week off work around Thanksgiving, I'm planning to dedicate one of those days strictly to finishing - with some patience and skill this time - the end result.

But back to the images from Key West that were such an inspiration.  Here's another from our morning visit in the old cemetery - what an image of serenity.  Notice the detailing  in her collar, perfect for a stitched sampler motif....

 

Halley captured this one of Molly the other morning, looking not so angelic at all.  She's always up to something, the little devil!


So angels, or demons, I hope this finds you ready for the approaching seasons.  Thanks for stopping by!

Sunday, October 6, 2013

Inspiration

Good morning to you all!  Not too much real time stitching has happened since my last post, but so much inspiration for something new has been churning in my head that I just have to put it out there.  As always, the place that holds my heart is the source....


Last weekend's visit to Key West was different than most for a number of reasons, but I  came home with so much to consider.  Rather than spending time exploring the outlying islands and seascapes as we usually do, this trip was devoted to absorbing the details of the old town.  After spending so much of my stitching time lately on Ann Grimshaw, the textures, patterns and colors that fill the island were everywhere I looked.  For example, this motif from Ann was brought to mind...

 

... with this bit of porchfront whimsy:



It was hard not to spot these eyelet patterns.....
 
 


...in the brickwork of the old Customs Building near Mallory Square.

 


An early morning visit to the Key West Cemetery called to mind similar patterns....


....from Sarah Tatum.
 

The shadows on an old crypt....


suggested another stitched image.

 


It was easy to spot a pattern something like the border of this motif....

 

on the balcony of the Truman House.

 

...
I even saw this floral circle.....




...inside the lighthouse.



So with the help of Jim's magical photography and a lifetime's gathering of linens and floss, I may just try my hand at fashioning a sampler that borrows color and images from Key West, but design and arrangement from the Quaker school girl style.  No set timeline for completion, just another item to add to my stitching bucket list....