Farm Livin' is the Life for Me!

Farm livin' might be the life for me if I didn't have to work so dang hard! I swear, who would have thought building and planting a farm was so much bloody work?

Yes, of course, I know that running a REAL farm is TONS of work and that our farmers should be given saint hood for all the back breaking work they do!

But, this is the sampler farm I'm speaking of. Anyway, I managed to get the main house up and built, the first grove of trees planted (it's hard to plant full grown trees, you know), a split rail fence built, the lower crops planted and by then I was EXHAUSTED. I thought when I began building the big, red barn that my Amish neighbors would be over to assist and that sucker would be up in a day. But, NO! They didn't show - not one single man did I see coming over the hill with tools in hand, ready for a hard days work. So, it's just me. Who knows when that barn'll get built now? Now, for all you sampler reproduction purists, don't cringe but, I am either going to finish the alphabet that is vacant in the last section or, I will add a verse about farm living, reaping and sowing or something like that in that blank section. I am also going to add some numbers after the & symbol in the second set of alphabets. I wonder why our young stitcher never finished? I'm always changing things up to make them mine and I don't know why this should be any different.

I HOPE to have The Farm Sampler completed in the next week.

I LOVE how small the house and farm lands are in comparison to the rest of the sampler!

But, here's where I have a confession to make. The house, the trees and the barn are all stitched in a full cross stitch (over one). But.... the crops and the fence are done in a half cross (also over one). Or, if you prefer the hoity-toity term for a half cross, I did the fence and fields in a tent stitch.

I don't think it makes one bit of difference, do you?

I just couldn't bear to do all that grass (I'm not even near the 1/2 way point) in a full cross stitch over one, so I cheated. There, I said it. I'm a farm cheater.

Don't hate me. ;-)

This weekend is Rob's birthday. He'll be 48 (yep, I'm the older woman!) and I know he'll just be thrilled to receive this:

I stitched this in honor of his mother and her family since most of the samplers around our house have my family info on them. I added the year of his mom's birth and death and then put Rob's Dad's initials in all caps followed by the children they had in birth order at the bottom. The buttons are placed on the glass to protect the innocent (his mom's maiden name). I think it turned out really great and I hope he'll like it. Don't worry - I did get him a gift card to a hockey store so he could buy new hockey skates, which he desperately needs (I know he'll like THAT)! This is Maude Eloise on 36 count something or other stitched with the called for threads. This was the SAL project for our Guild (The KSSG) this year and I'm so glad I've finished!

Finally, I am ready to go on Marianne Wenn. I sent the Navy Bean back to Lois at the Elegant Stitch (I just couldn't take the chance of ruining it by dunking it in coffee) and I received the Vintage Exempler today. LOVE it! I've also gotten quite a few emails asking for my color conversion so I'm going to list it here. If you post it anywhere else, it'd be nice if you let people know I gave it to you (send 'em to my blog - I love new readers!).

This is not to say that I may not change/add/delete as I begin working on this sampler but to me, these looked more like the colors in the picture of the sampler I saw on my computer screen (which is what drew me to it in the first place). I have gotten a lot of emails from folks saying they've ordered and plan to stitch this beauty, in addition to asking for my conversion. It will be fun to see everyone's interpretation of this because I haven't heard from one person that liked the DMC list that was provided. It was really bad, if you ask me. So, without further ado, Terri's Marianne Wenn Conversion:

Called for DMC Revised

906 GAST Chives 7074

725 WDW Curry 2220

312 GAST Midnight 0240

3818 GAST Baby Spinach 7050

433 GAST Dark Chocolate 1170

844 CC Blackbird

744 GAST Ohio Lemon Pie 7010

304 GAST Schoolhouse Red 7052

890 GAST Blue Spruce 0140

3761 CC Shamrock (you'd think it'd be green, but it's a light blue!)

3863 CC Country Lane

3713 WDW Hibiscus 2278

3706 CC Ladybug

842 WDW Pecan 1228

Please keep in mind that GAST threads (especially) tend to have extremely different colored dye lots so colors could be quite a bit different from lot to lot.

Hope this helps!

So, as soon as the farm is done, I will start on Marianne. I best not get waylaid from all the backbreaking farm work I have yet to do or I may never go back to it once sweet Marianne starts keeping me company!

By the way, anyone know why my pics are no longer clickable? I can't for the life of me, figure it out. For a while, I was posting by writing in word (that's where I got the cute font, Margaret) and then copying to blogger. Deb thought maybe that was why but today, I've don't my post the same old way I always have and still, pics won't blow up. I'm sorry, I know you really wanted to examine the over one full and half cross stitching!! Bummerr.....

Have a great weekend, everyone! Thanks for stopping by, for all your comments (I do so love getting them!) and for your friendship, too!

Blessings to all of you!

Peace,

Terri

Tyler, Marianne and The Farm

I don’t know how it’s possible that I can have a child that is 18 years old! Tyler turned 18 today and we are waiting for him to get home so we can celebrate his birthday. He and a bunch of buddies went to the Detroit Auto Show today (1/2 day of school) and, because of some unexpected snow, frozen roads and SLOW driving conditions, he was late getting home.

I remember the night he was born – it was Bill Clinton’s inaugural party and just before Tyler was born at 11:30 PM, we were watching Bill and Hillary, Al and Tipper dancing in celebration. I mostly remember thinking that Al looked pretty goofy dancing but then the contractions started and the laughter was pretty much over.

Fortunately, Tyler has given us much joy over the years and has made us laugh (and cry too, on occasion) a lot the last 18 years. One of my favorite memories of him is when he was about 6 years old. We went to VA Beach and he and Matt found a bottle in the ocean that had a treasure map inside. They grabbed the bottle, hiding it from all in sight and ran back to the beach to show their dad and grandparents. We immediately began searching for the buried treasure, obviously left by pirates long ago. The boys were digging frantically in the sand, beachcombers were gathering around to see what was going on and suddenly, the boys pulled out a chest full of glittering treasure! It was loaded with silver dollars, gold coins, pearls, chains and other treasures! The gathering crowd was astounded and the boys were jumping up and down with glee and Tyler exclaimed, “This is the best day of my ENTIRE life!” Pure joy.

This is not a look of pure joy:

Happy 18th Birthday, Tyler!

The bottle he found is, as you can likely tell, a salad dressing bottle that I had managed to hide in the back of my bathing suit as I walked into the ocean with the boys. I set it afloat and of course, Tyler found it. The map we had made the night before out of a paper bag we had crumpled and torn and stuffed inside the bottle. The chest was stuffed with coins, jewelry and other treasures from my parents. We still have all the “treasure” and Tyler still has the map and bottle in his room – a sweet reminder of summertime fun!

A message in a bottle.....

The Map:

I am still chomping at the bit to get started on Marianne. But, there was something bugging me about it. I was absolutely in love with the image I saw on the screen when I first saw that sampler pop up. But when I pulled the DMC threads, I just wasn’t feeling it. Could the colors possibly be that far off? They were not the rich, jewel tones that I love and that I felt like I had seen on the screen. I tried to make them work by pulling similarly colored threads using Weeks and GAST (see previous post), thinking the variation would help but frankly, I still didn’t like it. So, back to the drawing board I went. And, after about 1 ½ hours of playing with fibers, I THINK I have it right. What do you think?

If you’re planning on stitching this, let me know - I’d love to know how many of you, like me, just couldn’t stand it and had to stitch her. I’d also love to know how many of you pulled the DMC colors and thought YUCK!!!

One more note about Marianne: I’m waffling on the fabric – it is LL Navy Bean and while I like it; I’m not loving it. I think I may dump it in a vat of coffee and see what happens. Is that crazy? The fibers actually look really good on it but I don’t know if I really like the green/gray cast it has. I know I wanted something more vintagey looking and this isn't it. If I start stitching, it will be too late to do anything ‘cause the fibers will run if I try and stain it. I don’t know…. Someone tell me what to do! Maybe I should just order something else..... any suggestions? I hate not having a store nearby to look at fabrics.

Finally, I’ve made some miniscule progress on The Farm Sampler. Do you see the mistake? Yep, two E’s. Because I HATE frogging, I thought about leaving it but because there’s not that much to remove, I’ll frog it and be happier in the end, I’m sure. I thought the black letters were getting boring - just wait till I get to that over one grass!

Thank you so much for stopping by. I have a few comment questions to get to and I’ll try to do that this weekend. Thanks so much for leaving me a note – it really does make putting your thoughts out for all the world to see, worthwhile. Thanks!

Peace, Terri

Baby, It's Cold Outside!

Brrrr…. We are having a major cold spell. Yesterday it got up to a whopping 18 degrees (farenheit) and today is not much better. Rob and I went out and about for a bit and went for a walk on the water icey lake in Anchor Bay. Rob wanted to take the car for a spin but I was only willing to walk on water – did not want to drive on it. Although I have to admit, I have done that. It wasn’t one of my brighter moments especially since the boys were very young and in the car with us. I can just hear my mother: “If everyone jumped off the mile high bridge would you just blindly follow?” Apparently, I would. The world needs Indians too you know; not just chiefs. After all, I did always enjoy a good game of follow the leader!

See the cars and the ice shanty's way out there? I might have ventured out there had it not been so bloody cold. I think with the wind chill it was something like 2 degrees. Brrrrr……

The only thing I can think of that might be fun about this kind of an outing, is sitting in the shanty with a fire and lots of alcohol to drink. You guess the guys out there are trying to escape? From what????? What could be so bad that you’d actually go out and sit in a wood shanty, on the ice, in absolutely frigid weather? Granted, most of the shanty’s are heated but still. Okay, I think most of the guys out there are drinking (a LOT), too. That MIGHT make it tolerable, for a little while. Then again, nah. Yeah, I did try ice fishing once. Never again. My feet froze, I didn’t catch anything and the spiked hot chocolate just wasn’t enough to keep me interested.

Just for fun - 'Yeah, I know this post isn't all that fun but let's pretend - just for fun, here's another shot Rob took of me looking back toward the dock (which got cut off) and the natural grass line of the lake:

And, just in case you think this might not really be a lake check out the Swim at your own Risk sign. This is the dock that's supposed to be in the picture above. sigh.....

We had lunch at a great little restaurant in town and I'd show you a pic of what I ate but I'm kind of embarrassed about it. Okay, I'll show you but I don't want to hear a thing about the dangers of fried food, of all those carbs or anything else! I warn you, this isn't pretty (it was delicious, though):

Mmmmmm.... look at all that deep fried goodness!

Yep, 3 giant pieces of beer battered catfish with mini potato pancakes (and yes, that's sour cream on one of them). YUM. Oh, and right before this little heart attack on a plate, I had a bowl of chicken and dumpling soup. Embarrassing.

Uh, yeah. I ate it all.

God help me.

While we were enjoying our meal, looking across the water at our Canadian neighbors, the U.S. Coast Guard ice cutter came by. The ice was impressive but the cutter, even more so. Check it out:

And here, is a shot, looking across the water, at our Canadian friends. See the Maple Leaf flag, or L’Unifole’ blowing proudly in the wind? Pretty, eh?

I do have some stitching to show you!

I am making decent (for me) progress on my Farm Sampler. The alphabet is almost done - two more lines of big, rice stitch letters, then the border on the right and finally, down to all the over one at the bottom. I am really enjoying this piece although I'm a bit sick of the black letters.

Ooops, a few berries still need to be filled in, I see.

I have Marianne (see previous post) all ready to go. Almost. I don't have scroll rods long enough so had to order some from Kay's Creations. I can't stitch with that much fabric without rods. I have converted the DMC colors to a combination of WDW, GAST and CC's and think the varigation in the threads will be pretty. I will be stitching her on Lakeside Linen's Navy Bean. The colors by themselves, look kind of funky but the overall effect is going to be awesome (I hope).

Here are the DMC called for colors and the substitutions I made. I think they match up pretty well and will give the piece a little more interest.

Called for DMC:

My conversions from what I had in my stash plus 3 of the DMC's for which I didn't have a suitable match. I'll find something next time I go to the NSLLNS.

I Can't wait to get started but now I have to wait for scroll rods and truth be told, I'd rather finish my Farm Sampler before getting started on this. I don't like too many projects going at once. I will, I'm sure, have to throw something small in just to get the satisfaction of a completion every now and again while working on this. A few of you eagle eyed gals noticed my size calculations had to be wrong in the previous post. You are correct! I took the measurements right off the paper and I guess they did measure this on 28 count fabric over one. I'll not be stitching it over one. Mine will be over two on 34 count fabric so it's going to be another big one when finished. Yeah!

Thanks so much for stopping by and for all of your sweet comments and emails. I love hearing from you and I read and appreciate each and every one. It's a good thing knowing that you're out there and reading.

I hope I haven't bored you too much with all the outdoor and food pics but like the header says, this isn't just a blog about stitching!

Peace,

Terri

Hyperventilating!

Have you all seen THIS?

Pics may be clickable - may not be ~ no clue....

Anyway, isn’t this GORGEOUS?! I was absolutely gobsmacked when I saw it. Had to have it immediately and couldn’t look up my paypal info fast enough. Absolutely couldn’t wait to send my money to the UK! You know how it is when you see something you absolutely MUST HAVE (this is not a want, this is a must HAVE); waiting is not an option. Ever. So, I ordered, and when I got home today, there it was, all 13 pages of sampler pattern just waiting for me. It is not nearly as big as it appears. The stitch count is only 237 x 232 and it measures 8.46 “ by 8.29” when stitched on 28 count fabric, which they recommend. I’ll be stitching Marianne on 32 count something, just as soon as I finish my little Farmhouse.

Marianne is brought to you by the lovely folks at Needleprint (click on Needleprint). For a mere $15 US, you can own the pattern to this beauty! The great part is that the proceeds from the sale will go to Carrow House Museum, Norwich where this is housed. Yeah! How great is that!? If you've not been to their beautiful blog, head on over - it's full of beautiful eye candy and loads of information, too!

There have only been two other samplers that when I saw them I thought “I HAVE to have that”. The first was "And They Sinnned", which Deb (click on Deb) introduced me to. The minute I laid eyes on it I knew I had to have it. I began stitching this in Feb 2006 and finished it in September of the same year. Although it was fraught with all kinds of frustrations, I enjoyed stitching it and was thrilled when I actually completed it. I stitched it on 32 count fabric so it’s a tall piece. Including the frame it measures 16 ¾” wide by 57 ½” tall.

The other one that really hit me like a ton of bricks was Mary Allen, The Village Square Sampler. I fell in love with this one immediately and ordered it about as fast as I did Marianne! This is also a biggie (again, done on 32 count) and measures (with the frame) 26 ½ “ long by 26” wide.

I can’t wait to get started on beautiful Miss Marianne and will be ordering fabric ASAP but in the meantime, I will finish my Farmhouse Sampler. Here’s the progress so far:

Truth be told, I’ve frogged more than I’ve stitched, I think and you know I don’t frog if I don’t have to! I did the left border at the KSSG Guild meeting yesterday and apparently I can’t count and chat at the same time. Like that’s news??? Had to frog the left side and start over. Then, if that weren’t bad enough, I stitched the border around the alphabet (in the middle of the sampler) across the top and down the side in the wrong color. That had to be frogged ‘cause the color was ick. I swear, I thought it was icky when I was working on it but do you think I double checked? Nope. D’uh! Oh well, I love this piece and can’t wait to start on the over one. I had thought about doing this on a higher count fabric (for me) but only had 32 count in my stash that was large enough. This happens to be 32 count Vintage Light Exemplar by Lakeside Linens. I love this fabric and think the colors will be beautiful on it when it’s all done. Of course, if I have to keep frogging…..

What caught your eye that you absolutely hyperventilated over couldn’t wait to order and start!?

Tell me!

Tell all of us!

Perhaps it'll set someone else's heart aflutter, too!

Peace,

Terri