Hello all, I said I would finish it on Australia Day and I managed it! Huzzah!

The Prairie Schooler Garden Gate Sampler

I’m very pleased with how it turned out.  🙂

And, with that finish, I recommitted to working on my blue band sampler and have a little progress to show off…

Coat of Arms Band Sampler - Stickideen von der Wiehenburg

As you might be able to see I ran into a little problem stitching on the large light blue band pictured in the centre- I ran out of thread with 127 stitches to go! Can’t see it? – The last plant pot thingy is missing a flourish, lucky for me a lady on the HDF board offered me some thread from the same dyelot. Stitchers are the loveliest people!

I picked a nice variegated thread for the next band – which I have now started along with the band below it (just wanted to see how the colours read together).  I’m not completely in love the variegate right now but I’ve put it on probation and will see how it pans out.  I really like the darker colour below so that is staying.

Regarding the Theme-a-licious SAL – Jardin January was a big success for me – I began and finished The Garden Gate Sampler.  Next month is Fangirl February – this is according to Heather,  an opportunity to:

Send a Valentine to your favorite designer…or at least work on his or her designs for the month!

I took the list I posted in January of all my current WIPs and totaled up the count for each designer.  Chatelaine was no 1 in the list followed by Mirabilia, Stickideen von der Wiehenburg, Bent Creek, Theresa Wenzler and Lizzie Kate.  Isn’t it funny but my heart sank at the idea of spending too much time with my Chatelaine WIPs. However, I will do it!! I will pick up Sampler Mystery Two from where-ever I stashed it away – it may take some finding! In order to perhaps see a finish in February, I will also be picking up Flora McSample by Lizzie Kate this is a very small piece, that I just keep putting down because it is on 28ct fabric – which means I have to use two strands of thread (something to which I have become a bit adverse) – the same could be said of the Chatelaine, but it has the advantage of being mostly silks (ahhhh, silks) and on a slightly tighter 32 count fabric and it has peacocks!

Dr K has pointed out of course that totaling up my WIP designers was probably not the best way to identify my favourite designer as really, it is at best a indicator of the designers capable of inducing me to start but not finish a piece (a conclusion I was rapidly approaching on my own).  I should re-catalogue my charts and kits to get a better sense of who my real favourite is (not a chance – there’s more than a thousand at the last count and that is time I could be spending stitching!) OR I could count my finished pieces that I have stashed around the house – this is actually more do-able as most are in a basket un-framed (I have a bit of a phobia of getting the framing choices wrong – this is utterly silly, I know). I might do this during February just for fun.

Well everyone, this has turned out to be rather a long post, sorry about that! When I fired up the wordpress editor I didn’t think I had that much to say!!  Wishing you all a very productive February.

PS: I actually have 3 Chatelaine finishes – Strawberry Shaker Box (and the fob, haven’t done the rest of the “toys”), Japanese Octagon Box and the Grape Threadkeeper – somehow I felt it was necessary to point out that out.

PPS: Dr K is in the kitchen cooking dinner and burbling on about metrics for measuring my exact favourite – one possible measure – the number of stitches completed to number of charts held (I’m afraid I’ve already forgotten his other suggestions).  I do love being married to a man of science.