Begins with S

Another long Sunday afternoon and we're fast arriving at the end of summer. How has yours been? I have several words to describe mine, bu they all seem to begin with the letter S - what's up with that? Anyway, let me fire them off - here goes: Sauna. Steamy. Soggy. Storming. Slippery Sidewalks (oops, that's two!) Swampy........

Or how about Short and Surprising? Maybe that's a better place to start. Surprising, because at the beginning of summer, I really had no intention of getting Miss Sarah Tuel back in action, much less wrapped up and done before the end of the year. and yet here's how she's looking headed into September.

After swearing up and down that I wasn't going to do all the over one stitching the original seemed to indicate, I had to eat at least some of my words. After adapting my way through the townsfolk without incident, it quickly became apparent there would be no fudging whatsoever If I wanted to get that scrolly little alphabet in place. So I put on my big girl panties, tightened up those scroll rods to the snapping point, loaded my needle with the darkest floss shade in the kit and plunged in.

The directions and charting in this kit, while lengthy, are less than stellar. There's been quite a bit of make-do along the way. Note the funky stamens and leaves below.

 

Anyway, I'm pleased with how Miss Sarah is coming along and hope to have further progress to share next post.

One of the best parts of my summer was to spend time with my sisters and mother as she packed up to begin her new life in Texas. Another highlight was attending my nephew Scott's wedding with them then. Before the ceremony and at the reception , I had the chance to get some quick pictures of them, so please indulge me while I give them a shout out . I love you girls!

 

 

This is my sister Judy and her daughter Annika, all grown up and starting college this week....

 

 

Here is my sister Jane, with her girls Josie and Abby. No doubt they'll be starting college in a blink of an eye.

 

 

This is Teresa, with her best boy, grandson Will. Notice their coordinating colors?

 

 

And this is the grandmother of the groom, my mother. Ladies, you rock!

No doubt, the next time I post at least some of you will be getting a first hint of fall. Not so much down here for quite some time still, but in the meantime go to the beach every chance I get and keep pushing away on the surprising Miss Sarah. Have a good week!









 

 

 

Old Things

Good morning everyone - another Monday is on the rise, which means a quick post before dashing off to the start of another work week.

I've spent the last two weeks rearranging my tiny little house to make room for all the family treasures that were brought in recently.  It's been fun making room for everything, but I'm glad we didn't bring back anything more than we did.  There's a fine line between a home with heirlooms and a scary maze.  Don't want to go there!

One piece is my favorite of all, I think.  This little sewing basket was made by Jim's dad for his own mother when he was in high school during the early '30's. 

Jim's parents kept it in their own home all these years because it was something his dad made.  But since there really weren't any needleworkers in the family, I'm not sure anyone really appreciated its utility beyond being a place to stash scissors and miscellaneous spools of thread.  I've discovered it's the perfect thing for storing my WIP's - the projects I'm not actively working on, but don't yet want to put back into limbo in the stitching closet.  Best of all, it fits perfectly in with the other things in my stitching spot!

 

And speaking of being buried in limbo in the stitching closet....another cool piece of family furniture has inspired the resurrection of Sarah Tuel. Yes, she's not on my list of finishing goals for the end of the year, but that's only because I just couldn't face the possibility of what lay ahead with her.  The story goes like this....

We brought home a large dresser that is a companion to the rest of our bedroom set.  It's definitely not heirloom calibre, but since we were desperately in need of it and could squeeze it into the bedroom, it came back to Florida with the rest of the haul.  However, once we had it in place, I took a closer look at the floral design on the drawers.  It reminded me of something? Forgive the blurry picture - Molly was helping with this one.

 

    
I just knew I'd seen a similar flowing basket on at least one sampler somewhere.  So I hunted through the Scarlet Letter website and turned up Elizabeth Sheffield . Notice that great flowing basket at her bottom? But the coolest thing of all is that Elizabeth is nearly identical to Sarah Tuel, and Sarah has been malingering in my stash heap for years.  This is what she looked like last time she saw the light of day.

What happened at this point is a classic example of "mind strong, body weak" stitching.  I fell in love with Sarahs' tangly, overgrown borders and wild life,,,,

 

But didn't pay any attention at all  to what it surrounded.  Imagine my horror when I realized that everything...no really, everything  - was stitched over one in tent stitch.  Neither tent stitch or over one is my thing in the least, so I made a valiant effort to adapt the inside bands to regular cross stitchng.  Not too shabby I have to say?

 

  .

But by the time I reached the townsfolk, I was ready to put Sarah out to pasture.  I just couldn't face more of the same.  Now fast forward up to last week, when I noticed the basket on the dresser, tracked down Elizabeth Sheffield and felt the love come back for Miss Sarah.  Voila - townsfolk done in a mere seven days!

 

So I think I'll ride with Miss Sarah for awhile, at least until some other piece of furniture speaks to me.

I realized it's been awhile since I posted a picture of my two girlies, so here they are.  Can anyone resist those sweet eyes?  I love you too, Ruby-Doo!

As always, thanks for stopping by.  Hope you week is off to a good start!