Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Busy, busy, busy ...

Hi everyone!

This time of year is always busy, busy, busy for me. In some ways it's busier than the Christmas holidays! But it is all "good busy"... just a little bit of a challenge to keep everything on schedule and moving in the right direction!

Kelly, the younger of my two daughters, is in the final weeks of her senior year in high school. Oh my...as many of you are experiencing or have experienced yourselves...how is this happening already?! I'm working hard to keep my emotions in check and enjoy the moments with her. Prom, senior class retreat, finalizing college plans, graduation,  ... all fun and exciting!

With all the extra activities in our house, I got a little behind on my "Ann Dale" homework for this month. And I was feeling a little anxious about it because I'm afraid if I don't stay on schedule with this SAL poor Ann will get lost in the WIP basket and I am determined to not let that happen! So I put everything else aside and stitched diligently on her to get caught up.

Here's the section that was this month's homework ...


"Ann" is stitched on Lakeside Linen Vintage Pear which is a linen that I love, but I'm having a difficult time photographing it accurately. Ann's colors are also much prettier than they photographed here. I'll work on getting a better picture for next time!

There is a change I decided to make. The color of the stems and leaves in the center border is almost the same shade as my piece of linen and they are blending into the fabric too much. So when I started stitching this month's homework, I decided to change the stems and leaves to the same color as  the border.

You can see the border as charted on the left and with the change on the right.


So little by little as I'm stitching I'll change what I originally stitched **phooey** but I think overall I'll be happier with the darker stems and leaves. Which leads me to a question ...  "do you ever make changes to the charted design or do you think you should stay true to the original sampler?"    hmmmm ... I think we'll leave that discussion for another day!

I'll end with a photo of my progress to date ...

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Shakespeare's Peddler "Ann Dale:1827"
Lakeside Linens 40ct. Vintage Pear
Needlepoint Silks, Gloriana Silk Floss, Belle Soie Silks by Cresent Colors

So I think that's all for today friends ... thanks for stopping by ... hope you stop back again.

Until next time ... enjoy your stitching!

8 comments:

  1. Your Ann Dale is beautiful!!! I totally agree with your color changes -- looks so much better. If a change is necessary such as what you're doing, I do it for sure! You also are in the throes of senior year, huh? Isn't it exciting and scary both? We have both the senior in hs and a senior in college. Yikes! lol! It's going to be crazy for the next few months!

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  2. Looks like you made the right decision on the stems and leaves. I change everything all the time. If I don't, every time I see it I'll be sorry that I didn't! You're making good progress.

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  3. Great progress on Ann Dale, it is beautiful! I think your photos look great, the colors are very vivid.

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  4. Ann is just jaw dropping gorgeous! Your pictures are fantastic! I think changing colors is a matter of preference especially if the colors called for don't stand out on your fabric. I've done that on a few occasions and have been much happier with my changes.

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  5. Love your Ann and I think your colour changes work wonderfully. I am not a confident colour changer, I tend to start to obsess over whether it's right or not and get myself all tied up in knots over whether it works or not!!!!

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  6. Ann is just beautiful! I do think you should change the colors if you're not happy with them. And this is such a big sampler, you want to be happy after putting in all of that work. :) I'm a little like Lois in that I'm not a very confident color changer, so most of the time I don't make any changes. Sounds like exciting times with your daughter's graduation being just around the corner!

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  7. Oh, I remember those crazy-busy last couple months of high school... I'm sure you'll relish all of the "lasts" that are coming your way. This is the first summer I haven't had one of my sons come home after college. They are all grown and out on their own--a bit bittersweet. Enjoy your special times with Kelly, Lanie :)

    Ann is so, so pretty--the colors are wonderful. I often change colors and sometimes feel a bit guilty, but so much depends on the fabric or the overdyed threads that you end up with. Can't wait to follow along on your progress :)

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