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Summer Finishes and a New Start

This summer was not one for a lot of stitching.  Summers for me are usually a little light on the stitching time but this summer my time was taken up by this cutie.

 

This is my little man Jett. Jett is a Border Collie pup born back in April.  He came home with me at the very end of June.  The morning that I went to go pick him up I spent some time finishing up Peggy Shorrock by Plum Street Samplers. 

 

It may be hard to tell, but I changed the two dogs on the bottom to look like my dogs, Jett on the left and Sage on the right.  After I finished this I went up to go pick up the real Jett and thus ended my stitching for the summer.  I did manage a couple smalls that I had done the outlining on and that just needed fill in.  It was nice between potty/crate/leash training to be able to pick up a needle and thread from time to time and do a little mindless stitching work.  As Jett has gotten older I've been able to do a little more. 

 

I started Elizabeth Milner back in January and slowly worked my way through the stitching and recently began to have bits of stitching time again so decided to get her out and finish stitching.  I loved the eyelet alphabet but I changed her quite a bit.  I made color changes, centered the band with the big basket of flowers and added my initials using the eyelet stitch in the spot where I thought the sampler needed something.  So, my Elizabeth is truly my own.  Here she is all finished up and ready to go to the framer. 

With the St. Charles Market that happened in August I decided that I didn't need a ton of new samplers, smalls or other stitching projects.  I have so much in my stash and so little time to stitch right now.  But, like all stitching stash is concerned I couldn't help but adding just a few things to my must stitch list.  On Labor Day I started Forget-Me-Knot by With thy Needle & Thread.  When I saw the design I knew it was a must stitch for me!  Once Elizabeth Milner was out of the WIP pile it seems logical to start this little cutie next. 

 

I'm still working on figuring out Blogger and still trying to get my old posts to import here.  So, stay tuned while I work on all of that, I hope to be fully moved over here sometime this month. 

 

Jen

 



 

 

Welcome to my new blog, Black & Blue Borders!  Borders because I like to stitch and usually finish the border first but also because my new pup, Jett, is a Border Collie.  My adult dog, Sage is an Aussie, she's blue and he's black... hence my new blog name!  Here they are on August 1 playing with Jett's sister Parker.  Welcome to my blog! 

April TUSAL

Well, I'm woefully behind on posting but I have been stitching a bunch as you can see by my April TUSAL jar, it's practially overflowing.  Time to squish those threads down and keep filling!  I'll be back soon with more of what I've been stitching lately!

Borders and TUSALS

I'm a few days late for my TUSAL post but had good intentions to post over the weekend, just got busy with a few dog events (including a long hike, watching an agility trial and a fun Mardi Gras party) and our Sampler Guild.  So, here's my February TUSAL picture. 

If you would like to play along with the TUSAL game you can jump right in and join us, just click on this link to Daffycat's blog to sign up and play! 

I'm also playing along with Nicola's Scarlet Letter year challenge which has been a lot of fun so far!  This is what I'm stitching my Ruth Bacheler sampler for and I'm loving stitching on her!  I had planned to stitch on Dorothy Walpole for this challenge but Ruth was just calling to me so I decided to start on her instead.  I am very, very tempted to start on Dorothy but not until I finish some of these other samplers first!  I have three going right now and have decided to set them all aside to finish the stitching for the box top for our year long project for the Sampler Guild of the Rockies before going back.  Once I finish one or two of the samplers on my list I'll start Dorothy, or maybe Lucy Redd or maybe something new from market.  I sure have an issue with there being too many things to stitch and not nearly enough time.  I think many of you can relate. 

So, here are my three samplers and my current progress on them, or progress as of a couple days ago when I took these photos.  Ruth Bacheler by the Scarlett Letter.

Ruth Bacheler

Elizabeth Milner by Shakespeare's Peddler.  I am loving the algerian eyelet lettering and once I finish the vine border I just have started there will be three more lines of it.  Maybe I won't love it then but right now I do!

 

Elizabeth Milner

And, I started Ann Bowers as part of the Attic's stitch along on this pretty sampler.  I'm not caught up yet but hopefully will get there, she's such a pretty stitch!  I'm stitching her in silk on 36 ct. Vintage Lentil linen. 

Ann Bowers

That's all for today (as if it's not enough already).  Thanks for stopping by to visit my blog and happy stitching!

January Starts and Finishes

Well, I had planned to post some progress pics over the last couple of weeks but just never got around to it.  Part of that is that I've been busy, but then again I'm always busy.  I think most of it is that I'd rather be stitching, playing with the dog, stamping, etc. than updating the blog.  So, forgive me if my posts are a bit hit and miss.  Since I haven't had an update in awhile I have two finishes for the month of January to show you.  After the holidays were over I turned my attention back to Christmas Garden by Blackbird Designs for my first January finish. 

Christmas Garden by BBD

Then, I picked up Frances Pool again by With Thy Needle and Thread.  She was such a fun stitch and I just love those colors!  She was my other January finish.  

Frances Pool by With Thy Needle and Thread

Having finished two samplers, it felt like time to go back to my Ruth Bacheler by the Scarlet Letter, a piece that I started stitching for Nicola's stitch along.  I was able to finish the top row of irish stitch pennants and then got frustrated with her again so set her aside once again.  Here's my progress to date.   

Ruth Bacheler by the Scarlet Letter

When I set Ruth aside again I needed something else to stitch.  I signed up for the Ann Bowers stitch along through the Attic but haven't finished playing with my thread colors for that yet.  So, I started Elizabeth Milner by Shakespeare's Peddler.  This was the piece that you could get in sections last year by ordering from SP.  I ordered in each of the six months and have the completed chart (I hear that Theresa is going to release it this year so if you like it you can buy the chart soon).  The silks I had ordered for this were pretty brown and I didn't want an all brown sampler so I've made some changes based on the photo on the SP site.  Here's my start on Elizabeth, this is actually the first month's chart complete.  Yay! 

Elizabeth Milner by Shakespeare's Peddler

Thanks for dropping by!  Happy stitching!

January TUSAL

Here's my TUSAL start for January.  Not much to show (yet).  I dumped out my TUSAL jar on the first of the year and decided to use the same jar so I can compare the number of ORT's (old ratty threads) that I rack up each month compared to last year.  Will I actually compare?  Who knows but I wouldn't bet on it. 

Anyone can play along with the TUSAL game, just go to Daffycat's blog to sign up and then save up your ORT's and post a picture on or about the new moon each month.  You also need to post a link onto Daffycat's montly TUSAL post and you can be entered to win.  I signed up last year mostly because I figured I was tossing all those little threads so maybe it would be more fun to save them in a jar and see the pretty results at year's end. 

Before I found the TUSAL challenge and started playing along I used to do this on my own.  Since I tend to be a one at a time stitcher I'd gather up the threads from a project and then at the end of the project I'd empty out my little jar into a plastic baggie.  Somewhere I have that baggie filled with ORT's from when I stitched ATS, hardanger projects and more.  I had intented to put them out for the birds to use to build nests with but then heard that was bad.  I don't know if that's true but I sure don't need a baggie of old ratty threads cluttering up the house.  So, when I come across it again I'll either put them out for spring nest building, stuff something with them or toss them out! 

I've made some more progress on my Christmas Garden since my last post.  Here's my latest progress, all I have left is the the pinks on the last two motifs and all the initials and dates. 

It's been such a fun sampler to stitch!  I'm really enjoying the stitching and also using these silks!  The conversion I came up with is a combination of Belle Soie and Gloriana and I'm really happy with it on this light colored linen!  And, more reds/pinks for a potential red wall, especially since I stitched it with the alphabet so it could be hung year round.  Yay!! 

I thought I'd also leave you with a quick snap of my progress on Frances Pool. 

This is where I was on Frances when I last set her down, I missed a stitch somewhere in the border but was able to compensate so nobody will be the wiser.  I am loving the colors in this sampler, they are just so soft and I love the motifs in this sampler, I think the one motif I have done would be so fun as a pincushon.  It was really hard to set it aside to go back to Christmas Garden but this is what is waiting for me a few days from now when I am able to finish CG.  Talk about a fun carrot to look forward to!!

Thanks for dropping by to visit my blog!