Do you remember my marshmallow house? It's been a while since this project has seen the light of day, but I was recently inspired to pull it out and get back to work on it. I think it was the grapes that were putting me off--they are made up of eyelet stitches, which are not something I enjoy doing very much. I'm not very pleased with how they are turning out, but I don't have the energy to unpick them and start over. Besides by the time the whole project is done I don't think anyone will be scrutinizing them too much in light of the finished piece. In case they are hard to see, the grapes are hanging over the roof of the house in a bunch--made up of purple and blue eyelets. There will be two more bunches of grapes over the roof to stitch and another one hanging over the house.
This is a "Mystery Sampler" designed by Blackbird Designs. It came out several years ago and the charts, I believe, are out of print. There will be five stitched sections that will be sewn together to make one larger sampler. This is part three, the largest section, and I am ready to finish it and move on to part four. You can see the first two stitched sections here. Aside from those eyelets I've been enjoying working on it again. I guess like books, I just have to be in the right mood for it.
I told myself I wouldn't share my "February Sampler" until it was finished. It's not. Yet. But here I am sharing the almost finished sampler anyway. All I have left is to fill in the middle section under the house with white stitches. I've started, though it's hard to tell from this photo. I'm not a fan of white floss and working around all the motifs and letters is tedious going, but if I can just make myself do a few rows every night I'll maybe finish by the time February really does roll around.
And what's this? A new design you ask? Well, yes and no. I've owned it for years, and I am ready to work on something new. Looking back at my stitching progress last year is a little depressing (so let's not) as I accomplished very little. Only a few small projects and work on a couple of larger samplers. Before I started blogging I stitched quite a lot and would finish twenty or more projects a year. There aren't enough hours in the day to do everything that I want to do and how to squeeze in everything is always a problem. So, this may be my project for 2012 and anything else will be a bonus. And, yes, even with other partially started projects a new year calls for a new design. It's a little boring always sharing progress reports on the same things.
The design is called "Strawberry Fields" by Hillside Samplings. It is a drawstring bag with accessories--needlebook, ruler and scissor sheaths, and pincushion. Isn't it lovely? It'll be done entirely by hand. It looks a little challenging, but I think I can manage it. I was browsing needlework blogs and another stitcher had completed this and it was gorgeous, so I was inspired to dig out my own chart and supplies.
And here is my very small start. It's the lattice work band at the top of the drawstring bag. Wish me luck on this one. Updates to follow.