Okay I'm very happy with that turquoise sawtooth star and the front door... I'm not as happy with the hill. First off you need more than one skein of Weeks Olive to stitch the hill... a lot more than one skein. I can't find any where in the instructions where it calls for purchasing more than one skein. Now I had part of another skein of Weeks Olive but since it is a hand dyed floss it was not an exact match. I realized I was going to run out before I started stitching the background on the last row of letters. I ended up alternating stitching on the right and the left with a little of my original skein... then I plied together one ply of the new skein with one ply of the old skein until I ran out of the new skein...and then I had to use just the old skein. I don't know if you can see it but the floss is definitely lighter right in the center where it changed to just the old skein I had. I think it looks okay... but I am annoyed that I had to futz around with this and that the chart didn't call for more than one skein.
Yes I am doing this on 32 count versus the 30 count the chart calls for but I don't think I'm using significantly more floss. I would think that the size of the stitches on 30 count would be a wash with the increase of the stitches on 32 count... on 30 count you would have 225 stitches in an inch... on 32 count you have 256 stitches ... okay now that I look at those numbers that is a 13% increase in stitch count... so maybe this is my problem and not the charts... anyway if you do stitch this sampler and I think it is sooooo pretty just considering buying 2 skeins of Weeks Olive at the same time. That's my public service message for today.
In looking at the border I may need more of the Gentle Arts Cornhusk and Classic Colorworks Avocado ...but I don't think it will be as noticeable as the leaves and the vine aren't the solid block of stitching that the hill was... and I do love the alphabet in the hill... also ... it is missing the letters J and U... which I didn't notice till I stitched it.
It has been a busier Sunday than last week too... I've already been out to breakfast and the grocery store and to IKEA... my younger son wanted a bigger, comfy-ier chair for his room... I had an IKEA Ecktorp chair in my sewing space in the basement that I was using primarily to dump stuff on. My handyman, Dan, was in the neighborhood today and he helped Nick move the chair up the two flights of steps. Nick loves it but didn't like the slipcover on it so we popped into IKEA and found a slipcover in red that is just what he wanted. I normally wouldn't go to IKEA on a weekend but I knew it would make him happy. Luckily I've been in IKEA a zillion times and knew just where to go to see the slipcover samples and where to get them in the warehouse... we were in and out in a jiffy. The place was packed with people buying stuff for kids to go back to college. I forget that this is a destination store for lots of people...I'm lucky it is just 15 minutes from my house... I LOVE IKEA!! Moving that chair upstairs leaves me room for another bookcase for fabric... so this is a win- win... I didn't get the bookcase today as Dan the handyman doesn't have time this weekend to assemble and fasten it to the wall... but in a week or so it will happen.
Can you tell I don't have any more to show you??? Yep, rambling again. Oh well, I'm linking up with Kathy's Quilts today and Super Mom - No Cape on Monday...hope your Sunday is lovely... we're doing carry out from Olive Garden for dinner so I still have time to stitch more this afternoon.
happy stitching-
carol fun
Okay, difference of opinion here as I really don't like IKEA. I have gotten a few items there, but I generally avoid the store. Your stitching looks great. So sorry about the floss.
ReplyDeleteDon't know what happened to my comment... will try again!
ReplyDeleteYou did a great job of combining the two skeins... it looks terrific!
I like the hill! I would not have noticed the different colours if you had not pointed them out. Keep on stitching!
ReplyDeleteI can see a slight color variation, but it's certainly not distracting. Not sure about the J, but you frequently see V used where we would use U in old inscriptions.
ReplyDeleteI checked out the link to your sampler - it's beautiful! You're off to a great start! Looking forward to seeing your progress!
ReplyDeleteLove the looks of this sampler. You did a great job with the Weeks Olive.
ReplyDeleteThe hill looks great-you did a good job of blending! I can't seem to remember why (darn this old brain) but I've read that the I and U were often left out of old samplers.
ReplyDeleteClever tactic of blending the skeins, if anything I think it makes it look better giving a bit of mixture in the colours. I haven't been to IKEA for ages, will have to get there :)
ReplyDeleteI checked the link. That is going to be one beautiful sampler. Now for the floss, I think it looks just fine but I do get frustrated when the amount given is not enough. Yours worked out fine but I have seem some instances where you just could not make it work. I do love the way you stitched the house yellow! Looks great!
ReplyDeleteI have 2 Ecktorp chairs in the craft room - love them!
ReplyDeleteI think once the piece is finished, that hill is going to look just as though you intended the slight color change all along. Most people aren't going to say... oh she changed thread color, they're just going to see a beautiful piece.
ReplyDeleteI've only been to IKEA a few times, when our kids wanted things for their apartments.
Thanks so much for linking up to last week's Stitchery Link Party and for linking back. Aloha hugs!