Olympic Stitching

Like many of you, I decided to start a new project for the Olympics.  I wanted to stitch on something patriotic so I chose "One Nation" by ByGone Stitches.  I changed the threads and my local shop had a beautiful piece of 40 ct. R&R 18th Century Blackbird.  The only problem?  The piece would only fit if I stitched it over one.  So, that's what I decided to do! 

One Nation, stitched on 40 ct. 18th Century Blackbird Linen, over one

I just love how the colors look on this linen and the advantage of over one on this size is only needing half a cross!  Yay!  I had a friend over for the opening ceremonies so I cooked a Portabello, Bacon and Spinach risotto and we stitched and I started this.  I had to use the magnifier on my Dazor.  It was dusty, I haven't had to use it in years...  Oh well, it's going to be pretty when I finish it! 

I had hoped to at least get the outline of the stripes done during the games but I'm finding that it's tough to stitch on something this tiny and switch between stitching and watching TV.  So, I've set it aside and my new Olympic stitching project is Ann Sandles!

Ann Sandles, stitched on 36 ct. Lakeside Vintage Meadow Rue

Ah, much better!  And, now that I have a little color in her she's proving to be so much fun to stitch!  I think she'll go pretty quickly (except for the 24 strawberries inthe border).  I don't know that I'll finish her during the games but I'll sure enjoy stitching on her! 

I'm getting ready to do some framing, my frame for Mary Roe should arrive next week and I still need to lace up my Paradise Lost plus I'm sending a few things out for their frames including Mary Ann Blackburn and Grace Bridges.  So, I decided to press everything and it is fun to see all my recent stitching piled up on the bed together.  My Mom has already offered to take some of it off my hands if I have too much!  LOL, nice try Mom!!  (In the picture below, Paradise Lost is upside down, just in case you're wondering why it looks a bit funny here.)

Frames for Paradise Lost

Recently I sent my Paradise Lost to my Mom to help me pick out a frame.  She took it in to Lynn's to pick out frames and sent me some options.  I narrowed them down and then she went in and picked one based on my narrower choices.  I'll tell you in my next post which I picked but here are the choices.  And, if you look closely you can see that I added my initials over one in a silk color to match the linen in the lower left hand corner.  I did the same with the date in the lower right corner.  I love how this turned out as my personalization is there but doesn't detract from the piece. 

Option 1:

Option 2:

Option 3:

Option 4:

Option 5:

Which option do you like?  I'll tell you in my next post what I chose and it was a hard choice!  I love Lynn's for framing, they have so many neat frames!  I'm sure that if you need a piece framed they can do something similar for you.  Just click the link to get to their website and call or email them to get started.