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Monday, August 4, 2014

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!

7 comments:

Barb said...

Cute girls!Sarah is beautiful but over 1 , I could never do a lot of it! She will be a wonderful finish. That little sewing chest is so cute plus a bit of a family heirloom.

Jackie's Stitches said...

The sewing box is such a treasure! It's in great shape considering the age. I'd love to have something like that.

I can't imagine doing 75% of a sampler over 1. Yikes!

Krista said...

Love how you adapted the over one to over two! Looks awesome!! Your fur babies are so sweet. Have a great week, Mary!

Faye said...
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Melissa said...

Wow, Sarah looks beautiful. I have the chart but was daunted by the over one as well. So, did you adapt all the over one to regular cross stitch? Any hints on how to do that?

Oh, those sweet eyes! I just want to give her a hug too!

Jenny said...

Sarah looks just lovely! Love how you adapted to over two....Isn't it amazing how all of a sudden something brings to mind a sampler and bingo out it comes and the stitching begins...LOL....it has happened to me too :)Love, love, love the sewing box. That is a real treasure! So glad you can enjoy it! Happy Stitching!

Margaret said...

Wow! I'm so impressed that your DH's dad made that sewing chest. It's gorgeous! Wow! you are so lucky to have inherited that! And the chest of drawers that inspired you to pick up Sarah again -- I'm so glad it did. She is gorgeous! Love the colors! Your two girls are beautiful! Such sweet eyes!