Sunday, April 15, 2012

Another bunny for Sampler Sunday

Today I have a sampler that has a special place in my heart and my home, The Enchanted Alphabet from Told in a Garden.


This is a large piece - about 25" X 10"- framed. I stitched it at least 17 years ago and used a pale blue evenweave as the background for the DMC flosses. It was a sampler I fell in love with as soon as I saw it. The child with the head of blond curls reminded me of my youngest child when he was a toddler. As odd as it may seem, my son, who's ethnic background is Italian, German, Catalan and Chinese, had blond curls until he was around 5.


And this same son brought me to tears over this sampler. Of course it was a long term project and I was so happy when I finally got it framed. The leash from the child to the bunny is a tiny satin ribbon and is attached at the child's hand and the bunny's neck. My son who has Asperger's syndrome has always been inquisitive and had great fine motor skills. The sampler was sitting on the table in the dining room. Somehow he climbed up and untied the ribbon from the bunny. When I saw it I had no idea how I would fix this without completely taking the piece out of the frame and I was quite upset. After a day I decided to attempt to thread the ribbon and try to poke it back through. It took quite a few tries but I got it attached and had just enough slack to tie the bow. I quickly hung it in my bedroom over my bed and out of his reach and I get to enjoy it every day.


On Thursday and Friday I attended the International Quilt Festival in my fair city, Cincinnati, Ohio. It is a wonderful show and I got a little of this and a little of that. In addition to all the quilting paraphernalia there were 2 vendors selling cross stitch - Keepsakes, a shop in Sharonville a suburb of Cincinnati where I live, and Rosewood Manor. I'll take some pics of the 3 pieces I bought and post them later this week. I left a chunk of change at the show and even picked up a little something for a giveaway,as my blog anniversary is coming up in May. I was too busy shopping and looking and talking to take any pictures but if you search the web I've seen several blogs with some lovely photographs.

Well it is a lovely day here today and I'm planning a nice Italian dinner for my boys, along with catching up on the laundry. Hopefully I can reward myself this evening with some stitching. Have a great week!

Happy stitching-
carol fun

17 comments:

  1. I remember that piece so well from years ago. I think that I have it in my stash! It's so pretty! That's good that you managed to get that ribbon back in without having to unframe it.

    Quilt festival sounds found - especially leaving a chunk of change. With I could have attended. We never have something like that come up my way.

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  2. I've always loved this piece and I especially love the stories behind samplers. So glad you were able to fix the ribbon--it looks just beautiful :)

    Have a great dinner with your boys--mine will be over for Sunday dinner, too, later on. We're having Italian also :)

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  3. Carol - What a almost tragic / and yet comic story you have to go with your lovely sampler!

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  4. Oh, I stitched this piece so many years ago because it reminded me of my daughter, Kris. Wonderful memories!!!

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  5. Another beautiful sampler. Their designs always were stunning.

    I have a few pieces of needle work that always remind me of my boys too.

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  6. What a beautiful sampler! What memories it has. I'm so glad you were able to retie the ribbon though. What a fright!

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  7. I have loved this sampler for many years. I think I stitched mine about 20 years ago and It hangs above my bed as well.

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  8. Wonderful piece Carol. Each piece that we stitch when we look at it again it makes of us think of the time we stitched it.
    It sounds like the quilt show was fun!
    Have a great week.

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  9. A beautiful needlework treasure! My daughter looked like that when she was young too.

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  10. This is so pretty - Everything about it calls to me. Hopefully I'll be able to find this up for sale somewhere on the internet - YES I LOVE IT THAT MUCH. The colours are amazing and your stitching is wonderful. Excellent work :)

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  11. What a pretty sampler! I can only imagine the feeling of finding the ribbon taken out - but you did a great job of fixing it. :)

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  12. What an absolutely beautiful piece! I love the way it looks over your bed with the striped wallpaper. I love those projects that hold such precious memories the most and the stories behind them.

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  13. Love this! So glad you were able to fix the ribbon. I wonder if he was trying to set the bunny free ;)

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