Big Black Dog

 My stitching mojo wandered off this week, but I did get the big black dog on Carmen stitched.

There has been some discussion about the markings on the dog. I thought they might be the way the stitcher highlighted some areas, or gave the dogger some spots. Someone else who lives in this household has started calling the dog "that mangey mutt." I have no other comment to make about that.

I do want to mention whatever it is that is extending from the dog's mouth. His tongue or is he blowing a raspberry? Or is this a devil dog spitting flames into the universe? Inquiring minds want to know.

And while I'm asking questions, does anyone remember a mystery/suspense book that involves a black dog? It's not the Hound of the Baskervilles--I looked that up and it describes the dog as being "luminous" but not black. Maybe an Agatha Christie? BDE says there's a legend in Irish lore that describes a black dog as showing up either as a portent of death or a minion of Satan, but that's not it. At least, I don't think it is.

Something else to wonder about in the middle of the night, along with wondering why in the world I have lost all desire to stitch for awhile. I have plenty of projects, have even added more to the stash, but at the moment, I don't feel like doing any of them.

Let's hope it's just the Dog Days of Summer.

Maybe that's why I only worked on a black dog for the past week.

Shiny, oh so shiny!

 I decided to work on Carmen again--she hasn't seen any love in several weeks. And, oh, how I wish the sheen of the filament silk came through online!

I've started working on the big center section of the sampler. I think I'll work across the top part, then start the lettering that fits in the middle of the center section. I'll work the borders as I go

I used to be one of those stitchers who did all the border before I got to the insides, then I realized I had a lot of samplers that had about half a border done and nothing else. Obviously that order of work didn't result in a lovely finished project--so now I do borders as I go.

But now I believe I will rest my eyes--46 count linen is very different from the 36 count linen I'm using for the Queen Sampler and I'm having to adjust.

World Embroidery Day

Here it is, World Embroidery Day, and I haven't threaded a needle . . . yet.

But I have been looking through the massive book, Tennessee Samplers: Female Education and Domestic Arts, 1800 - 1900.

If you're a sampler lover, you may just want to invest in this one. If you want to read the histories of the girls who made the samplers, you would enjoy it. If you want to support the study of samplers and help to make it a relevant research subject for historians, you should most definitely buy a copy.

Plus, it's pure eye candy. There are amazing, clear photographs of the samplers discovered over the past twenty years.

But, I hate to admit, the thing that absolutely entranced me were some of the photos of the reverse side of the samplers.

Some of those little girls were messy stitchers.

 If you look closely--wow! Threads going every which way and ends sticking out all over the place and yet the fronts of the samplers look absolutely lovely.

I tend to be obsessive about having a neat back on my work, but, you know, maybe I could cut myself a little bit of slack once in awhile.

One Goal Met!

I have finished the first month's assignment on the Queen Sampler.

Today I absolutely have to clear off my worktable, which has become the repository for all sorts of odds and ends. I want to actually work at the table today instead of stacking things on it I can't decide what to do with. 

Mainly, I feel the need to do some finish-finishing before I start anything else. I keep thinking the elves are going to show up in the middle of the night and put all this stuff together, but that does not seem to be happening.

It's probably too hot for elves. After all, they live at the North Pole, right?

 

Pitiful, Just Pitiful

 Have you ever had one of those weeks when you have lots of ideas about what you want to do and then you don't get any of it done?

Welcome to my world.

This pitiful bit of stitching is all I've been able to accomplish this whole week. I mean, this is pitiful!

I have to say, though, there are more stitches on this than you would think since I decided to use reversible cross stitch, as Darlene O'Steen intended for her Queen Sampler.

I am beginning to regret some of my life choices.

Other Stuff

Yesterday I worked on other things while participating in a couple of Zoom meetings.

During our EGA Region's monthly stitch-in, I worked on Darlene O'Steen's Queen sampler:

 I decided to stitch it reversibly.

I had forgotten just how long it takes to work an alphabet reversibly, but now I'm committed. I may be committed by the time I finish working the sampler reversibly.

Then, during the EGA Special Interest Group in surface embroidery, I pulled out my long-neglected crewel piece, one of the vintage Elsa Williams kits in my stash.

Yes, I'm working my way through all the green stuff first.

Part of it has to do with working things in the back first, then working forward, but that's not the main reason. Green is not my most favorite color, and there's a lot of it in this design. It's a tree, of course there's a lot of green, but I was afraid if I didn't get all the leaves done, I'd never, ever come back to the piece once I stitched the pretty, colorful flowers and buds and butterfly.

So, I am trudging through the green.

So many leaves.

So much green.

Sigh . . .

Back to Stitching

I did not mean to go dark for a week. 

We bought a car.

This entailed a whole lot more time and energy than I was interested in spending. I am not a car person. Anyway, I think we're going to like it, even through it may be smarter than we are. And I hope it will be the last car I buy in this lifetime.

There was some stitching this week.

The humongous and complicated band is done. The very sweet and much less complicated floral band below it is also done. The next section has a lot of spot motifs and an alphabet and more border. I think I'm going to enjoy working on it, but I may take a day or so off to work on something else, just to shake things up a little and to keep the creative flow flowing.

I also started a new project, Darlene O'Steen's Queen Sampler. The Mayflower Sampler Guild is doing this as a SAL. However, I started it last night and there isn't enough to show at this point.

Then the mail came today and brought me the kit for the next class with Zina Kasben. 

Everything is so pretty when it comes out of the mailing box that you just don't want to mess it up by opening everything.

But then you do and there are all kinds of goodies inside, also beautifully packaged.

And Zina also sends a little gift, beautifully handstitched. Can you believe it's a button?

Such incredibly fine work!!

Anyway, I have to wait until September to start, which means I could potentially get the two classes I started earlier this year finished before I start this.

I believe I had better stitch tonight.