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Good Sunday morning everyone!  I had decided that my next post would come when Ann Grimshaw was back from the framer, but  didn't think it would happen so soon!  Jim and I were just getting ready to go out yesterday morning for our usual groceries and errands when the phone rang.  Guess how it was?  Plans were quickly adjusted to include a first stop for this:
e

What a thrill to have her back home and hung.  Turns out we chose the exact same molding for her that was also selected for And They Sinned, the difference being that Ann's has a silver edge along the stitching, while ATS is more of a burnished gold. Guess I like the look!

The plan is to hang her together with Sarah Tatum, who's next in the line-up for framing.....

 

.....but until Sarah is framed, we've hung her in our hallway gallery with my Bishop Hill prints.

So it feels really good to check Ann off the goals list and move on to finishing Frances Eden and Hannah Pepper.  Thanks for stopping by!

Travels with Frances

Hiya! True to the promise I made on last week's post, I'm back at updating the blog on a more regular basis.  So let me start by saying thank you again to all who stopped by for a look at Ann Grimshaw, especially those who took the time to leave a comment. Love it!

This has been a very busy week, with traveling for both work and pleasure.  My job requires a trip to the state legislature each March, so I spent a few nights in Tallahassee at the beginning of the week. Frances Eden, my ever-reliable traveling companion, made the trip too.

She made the same trip with me last year, where I passed the off hours putting in this little basket of blooms near the brick house.

I've stitched sporadically on Frances (mostly while traveling) through the year, not giving her too much thought in between trips.  But once her name assignation was done, I began to dislike the colors I'd used on those flowers.  With such a bright, extensive palette to use for her, the ones I'd stitched them with just looked too much like the same threads in the brick house. So I spent any stitching time I had in this year's Tallahassee visit taking last year's version out and restitching them in a brighter combination of purple iris, gold leaf and burnt orange.  Much nicer I think, don't you?

  
Tonight's stitching will involve getting the basket under the left side blooms stitched in and then moving on.  I've made myself a promise that Frances won't be put aside any longer  - she's earned some respect!  But that didn't stop me for gathering up all the necessary silks, linen and chart for an eventual start on my next SL extravaganza, Jane Atkinson

I'm very curious as to the linen choices made by those of you who've actually finished Jane?  I have a lovely piece of Legacy Oaten Scone in my stash that I thought really suited the silks perfectly, but it was unfortunately too short for Jane's dimensions.  The next option was a piece of vintage Light Exemplar, which is what the silks are sitting on in the picture.  After seeing all the colors on the Oaten Scone, this one looks a little bit peachy to my eye.  What do you think - be honest!  It's not too late to order something if necessary, as Jane won't be underway until Frances gets some justice.

Now, on to the "traveling for pleasure" part of my week....here's where it ended, at the north end of the Canaveral National Seashore.

The water temperatures were still too chilly for swimming,

but there was plenty of time for an early morning ramble  up the coastline.....

 

around the driftwood on the dunes....

....and back again.  Miles of protected shoreline with unspoiled sand, sky and surf, and very little else.

We didn't abandon civilization completely though!  After that long trek, it was off to JB's Fish Camp. our favorite Canaveral raw bar, for the Turtle Mound Sampler and a slice of Key Lime pie.  All this served up with cold beer and great live music.  My kind  of day!

Sure wish all my weeks could wrap up this way.  As always, thanks again for stopping by.  Here's wishing for another busy, beautiful week ahead.

Done

Big news at last!!  After a mere 14 months of work, 5 skeins of silk, 4 needles 2 Super Bowls, the Winter Olympics and about a million hours of HGTV programming, Ann Grimshaw is.....

DONE!!!!!

 

The final stitches went in on her late Thursday night.

 

 

Mercifully, I made it through Ann's assignation with out too much trouble or angst.  Still though, there was a huge sigh of relief when that last tiny stitch went in.  My eyesight for itty-bitty letters just isn't what it used to be,

 

 

I did give myself a little bit of credit by adding my initials at the bottom left and the year on the bottom right.  That probably isn't the best protocol with a reproduction, but when all was said and done, it only seemed fair.  Hope Ann would agree with that.

 

 

Last night and this morning, I found myself in this sort of funky post-finish haze.   It really felt odd after so much work, to suddenly no longer have Ann to go to, no more rows and rows of alphabet letters in different sizes to keep turning out.... 

 

 

I gathered up my scroll rods, the dog-eared remains of the original pattern and the last little bit of the Finnegan's Fog and tucked them all back into their spots in the stitching closet.  It was like cleaning up after a parade....

 

 

But it didn't take long to move on.  Ann is now safely delivered to my framer's and will be back home in a few weeks. That feels great!

 

So what's up next?  Those of you who read my New Year's post know I swore to not start anything new until Ann, Francis Eden and Hannah Pepper are all wrapped up.  Well, 1 out of 3 is on the books now, so I suppose I should move briskly along to the ever-patient Frances Eden.  Ironically, Frances will be travelling with me to Tallahassee for a few nights this week, where I plan to restitch the exact same motifs I put in on her last year when I was there.  But I started thinking that if I want to remain active on the Scarlet Letter Years blog, I'd better have at least a little something from same-said SL in the works.  Which brings me to a choice...should it be Jane Atkinson, or the Knox Family Sampler?  Please advise!

 

Anyway, with Ann over and done with, I'm hoping to post on a more frequent basis. Thanks so much for hanging in there with me this past month while I labored away on Ann;s swan song  Let's just say that all's well that end's well!