Time for this stitcher’s name!

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All of the regular stitching is done on this, including the white borders that were so hard to do except in sunny daylight. All that is left is the stitcher’s name and date. I looked through my family tree on ancestry.com and found several women who could have made a sampler like this, and then just had to decide which one to use. In the end, I decided on Margaret Winzenried, my second great grandmother on my mother’s side. I had wanted to use Elizabeth Feaster, also a second great grandmother, but she was born in Virginia. I looked at antique samplers from the time period in that area of the country, and they were quite different from this design. On the other hand, Margaret (Maggie) was born in Ohio and samplers from there often had simple alphabets like this one. If I find a suitable sampler with a large brown house on it, perhaps I can stitch that one for Elizabeth. (Google antique samplers Virginia and you will see what I mean.)

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This sampler looks like it is already well worn, but it is actually just due to taking the picture late at night! The shadows aren’t there in the actual piece. When I am done I will have some distressing to do to it. Unfortunately, the fabric was so badly wrinkled that when I wet it to iron it, most of the “staining” came out. This would have been the perfect already-distressed fabric if that had not happened. I was given the fabric from an acquaintance, so I don’t know what it cost her. I do know, however, that R&R Reproductions fabrics don’t come cheap. When I use the rest of it, I will have to remember not to wet it when ironing.

XXX
Carrie


Making Progress

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sampler5I have finally been able to get some work done on this sampler. We have had such a long winter, and even today – April 27 – we still have snow. But the last few days have actually seen some sun, and it has made working on this project easier. The white stitches on the beige fabric were really testing my eyesight in the dark days we had previously. I still have not figured out what name I will put on the sampler, so I have started working up from the center and I will leave the bottom portion with the name for last.

XXX
Carrie



Too many ABCs

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My 4 year old informed me that I was stitching this all wrong. When I asked what she meant, she said “you already stitched all of the ABCs”. True, I had already stitched the entire alphabet once. Why was I doing it again? She will probably be shocked to see how many alphabets this thing ends up with when it is finished.

I haven’t been able to do much stitching lately. We went on a wonderful trip to Disney World during the kids’ Spring Break, and when we got home there was the usual unpacking to do plus lots of catching up work-wise. I am still not completely done, and we have been home for 6 days. But the trip was so worth it. We have been to Disney before, but this time we stayed an extra 2 days longer than usual. We are already talking about when we will get to go back. Whenever it is, it won’t be soon enough for me.

Today marks the start of the weekend and I am hoping I can get some major Spring Cleaning done in the next couple of days. My daughter doesn’t have preschool on Fridays, so she was home today. This meant that I couldn’t get any work done, so cleaning was about all I could do. I washed the kitchen floor and the cleaned the cabinets, and got caught up on laundry, vacuuming, dusting, and dishes. Tomorrow I tackle the bathrooms. The windows will have to wait, since we still have snow and they are calling for another 8 inches in a couple of days. Yes, I realize that it is the middle of April. That doesn’t mean much in Michigan. And the day the snow is all gone, we will have to turn on the A/C! That day can’t come quickly enough…

XXX
Carrie



Starting Out

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I am really enjoying this 1884 sampler. It is fun and relaxing to stitch, just as a project should be. I know it looks like I made a mistake, but I didn’t. It is kind of weird to see a sampler from the 1880s without a J, though. Usually samplers before 1800 were the ones made using the old alphabet. I’m not sure exactly why this one has omitted it, but I love older samplers and will be changing the stitcher’s name and date anyway. I’m thinking of sometime in the early 1800s, but I have to scour my family tree on ancestry.com to see who this sampler should be named after. I think she will have to have had a short name, in order for it to fit into Flora’s design!

XXX
Carrie