Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, friends!

Day 1 of 2016 and so much to look forward to!  I hope the coming year is healthy and happy for you!

I have a lot to show you!

I got the Barbara Anna, Love Never Fails sampler back from the framer and gave it to Rob for our 25th anniversary, back in November.  

I know… what's a man want with a sampler?  

But this was significant for a few reasons.

First (and probably most important), I didn't wait until the last second to come up with a gift idea.  Second, I actually remembered to get something.

Three, it's a gift that took time.  

Here it is:

I've given the details previously but it's stitched on 35 count Tin Roof by WDW, with the called for fibers.  I made a few modifications to the pattern, to make it personal.  I love how it turned out and this may be one of my all time favorite stitches. I chose a more rustic, less feminine frame that has just a hint of blue in it.  

Rob liked it too.  I think.  What else could he say???

For Christmas, I got some amazing gifts:

A lovely, sweet, antique sampler, stitched in 1820 by Maria Beckett, gifted to me by Rob.  

There are a few holes in it but it is really lovely.  

The top left is the front of the sampler and the bottom right is the back.  

She was a neat stitcher, wasn't she? 

I believe this is stitched with silk threads as they have quite a sheen to them.  

A timely verse for the New Year, wouldn't you agree?

If Happiness be your pursuit

Plant Virtue and Content's the fruit.

I have to admit, I was a bit leery when I opened the package so I took it out of the frame to inspect.  

I was afraid Rob might have been hoodwinked.

As it turns out, it wasn't EXACTLY as described - it wasn't mounted using conservation framing and in fact, it was behind PLEXIGLAS otherwise known as plastic (yikes), WITHOUT spacers and was simply sitting on a similar colored piece of linen (that hadn't been ironed) so the holes weren't as visible as they might otherwise have been.  

I took it out of the frame, cleaned it up as gently as I could, and gently sewed it to another piece of linen making sure to not disturb or break any of the threads in the already sparse areas.

  I have a new frame ordered and it will be mounted properly when the frame arrives.

I'll show you when it's all complete.

Little pink houses and a sweet verse - what's not to love?

"Little pink houses for you and me."

Rob also got me this:

Yes!  Betty Ring's Girlhood Embroidery. 

 I have read about 1/4 of the first book.  

I'm trying to take in all the information and am trying to become as knowledgeable as I can about this

art form that we all love.

These books are inspiring, to say the least, and I've wanted them for a long time.

I know what you're thinking and yes, yes he is!

My final finish for 2015, on the evening of the 31st, was the Mystery Sampler by 

With Thy Needle and Thread.

I stitched this pretty, little piece with all the called for fibers but I did change the alphabet from 

beige to cranberry.

I had the entire alphabet stitched but it just didn't show up so I frogged and restitched.

If I'd known in advance I might do this, I would also have stitched the straight borders around the flowers in cranberry too but I'm not frogging and redoing all that.  You may want to do that should you decide to stitch this using the cranberry letters.

I had a couple of parties over the holidays and they were lots of fun.  

Getting ready for a party is always stressful, no matter what and these were no exception.  

I do bring a lot of it on myself, though.

For instance, I was having some of our guild members over on Saturday.

On Friday, while I was getting ready, Rob calls and says we should go get our flu shots.

It was a pretty day, unseasonably warm for Michigan, so I thought, hmmm, that seems like a good idea. It won't take long and I doubt too many folks will be lined up on this pretty day, so why not.

Here's why not: you might get distracted.

I went to get the shot but they weren't giving them that Friday.

As I was driving home, down a road with deep farm lots, I saw a pine tree with two BIG broken branches laying on the ground.  

I drove past and then thought hmmmm… those would make a great garland.

I turn around, look around and seeing not a soul, I broke off a few branches and tossed them in the trunk (or boot) of the car.

Whew!  Nobody saw me.  At least nobody pointed a rifle at me.

I got in the car, started to drive off and then, stupidly, I decided, 

what the heck.

Why not just load the branches (9 or so feet tall of them) into the car.  The trunk was already full with the big branches I'd broken off of these big suckers so I loaded them in the back of Rob's car.

Yes.  He was thrilled when he found out.  

Driving home, I was getting quite a few looks.  I'm sure they were thinking,

"That's the ugliest Christmas tree I've ever seen" or that's the dumbest lady, ever.  Not sure.

Matt had to help me get them out of the car.  It's a lot easier to jam them in than it is to pull them out.

Believe me.

But, I knew they would make a lovely garland for over the garage and would be worth the minimal effort it would take.

How hard could it be?

Harder than it looks, believe me.

How long could it take to make a garland long enough to cover the width of a 2 car garage?

Not long, right?

WRONG.

It takes hours.

Literally, hours.

It took hours that I should have spent cleaning the house, readying for the party.

Instead, I spent a ridiculous amount of time making the garland and hanging that darn thing.

I hope the folks that live in the house from where I got stole these, weren't planning to use them.

I feel kind of bad.  

Kind of.

Anyway, it turned out really pretty, the house was still in pretty good shape for our gathering, if you didn't look too closely, and I didn't get shot in the process so all was well.  

I don't recommend taking large branches from a yard but this did turn out really pretty.  

Plus, there was the added benefit of Rob's car still smelling like pine for a week.  

So… what's up for 2016?  I think I'm finally going to stitch Paulette's (Plum Street Samplers) "A Yuletide Welcome" which you can read about here:

A Yuletide Welcome

this is the pic from her blog.  It is a gorgeous piece.

I love everything about it!  The house, the santa and the sleigh with the sunflower and that reindeer!  

 I'm anxious to get started!

That'll be my big project and then I'll throw in a few smaller pieces that catch my fancy as I move throughout the year.  

Not exactly a structured plan but it is a flexible plan.

My little family has made their wishes for 2016 and I hope that you have made yours.  

I hope all of our dreams and wishes, and all of your dreams and wishes, come true this coming year.

Thank you so much for stopping by and taking the time to read my ramblings. 

Thank you too for the lovely comments from my last post.  

It's so sweet of you to take the time and it is appreciated more than you realize!

XOXO

Be well,

Peace,

Terri