Ann Sandles 1846 Sampler

I picked up not one, but two pieces from the framer yesterday!

Let me show you my "Ann Sandles 1846 Sampler" by With Thy Needle and Thread.  I really love how it turned out.  The frame is not normally what I would choose to frame a reproduction sampler but I loved how the frame matched the linen and the fillet complimented the colors on the sampler.  What do you think?  The frame is from Larson Juhl and the framing was done at my local JoAnn's.  

The colors in this one are so pretty!!!

The second one is "Her Sampler" by Carriage House Samplings.  I also like how this one turned out.  I was able to find a frame that kind of complimented the birds in the sampler and a fillet that picked up the mossy greens.  

When I picked these up at JoAnn's, Rob (one of the guys in the frame department, not my DH) said, 

"We were talking about your work and wondered what you did with them all.  Do you give them away?  You must have had 40 or more framed here over the last few years."

 I told him that I have samplers all over my home and that I do give some away (mostly to my mom) but not many.  It is far too expensive a proposition to give them away to someone that doesn't understand the expense and time involved.  Just the cost of the pattern, linen and floss (especially if you use silk) are quite hefty, not to mention framing costs. 

YIKES!  

Do YOU give away many framed pieces?  

I told you I'd also show you my progress on Mary Gibson which you can order HERE, if you'd like.

She's coming along nicely.  But... do you see the mistake?

Look at the border on the right hand side.  Now do you see it?

The base of the strawberries only have one row of stitches leading to the base, 

not two!  So... all the green below the last strawberry on the right, must come out.

Dang!

That's what I get for trying to watch "Downton Abbey".  

I got season one and two so I could get caught up (it comes on too late for me to watch) and rather than watch what I was stitching, I was watching the characters.

GREAT Show - if you're not already hooked, give it a go.  

Fantastic!!!

So, I'm all caught up on Downton Abbey but I have a bit of frogging to do.

Phooey!

BTW, I still owe a couple of you an email with my conversion which I will try to write up this week.  I'm stalling because I haven't completely decided on a couple of the colors (the blue-gray for the houses) and I lost one of the NPI tags so don't know the color.

I will also post my conversion (not that it's all that great) here when I make a final decision on a couple of the colors.

Finally today, I'd like to show you some of the great quilts I found at estate sales recently.

The first three were found at the same place:

Sunbonnet Sue;

This one, with it's really soft colors is so pretty and the note attached to it said it was stitched in 1936.  I can't remember what this pattern is called but   

I love the cut out border.

And finally this doll or baby quilt which someone told me was called a cathedral window pattern but I'm not sure about that.

(that's my momma's baby doll in the wagon)

I think they gave me all three for $75!  Quite a bargain, if you ask me.

The white one was stitched in 1926 (see the note below).

This note was/is attached to this little quilt:

Isn't that great?  

I think this is one piece of white fabric all hand stitched with the added ruffle.

Here's a close up of the pretty stitching:

And finally, I found this one at another estate sale this last summer.  

I had seen it at the end of the  first day of the sale for $50.

But, I was too cheap frugal to buy it.  Yeah, that's it, I'm frugal!

Since it was still there late in the day, I thought I'd go back first thing the next day and try to get it for half price.

I was successful and it only cost me $25.

~ frugality paid off ~

I have no idea when this one was made but I love it and it's soft and worn and beautiful.

One more thing I must share with you.  My beautiful niece Brynne (sounds like Lynn) was Annie in her HS musical.  Please have a look and a listen:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqnFGN8Qm5Q

This is not the best video in the world but she's amazing and I'm so proud of her.
Way to go, Brynne!  I love you tons!

Wishing you all a lovely week ahead and thanks so much for dropping by and leaving me a note. 

BTW, I think all of our disgruntled posts regarding the new blogger two word format paid off. 

The two words are now MUCH easier to read therefore, I'm leaving it turned on.

I have a hard time trying to moderate my comments as they come in (and in responding right away to your lovely notes) because of working full time.  

Working really gets in the way of the things I'd really like to do all day long!!!   

 So, I hope you don't mind the verification thingy.  I KNOW you're not a robot!

Be well.

Peace!

Terri

Days Gone By

Sometimes, I am certain I was born in the wrong era.  

Although, truth be told, I don't like to sweat, so air conditioning is a must.  

I don't like to be cold, so central heating is a must.

I don't like to wash dishes, so a dishwasher is a must. 

I like clean clothes and wouldn't like washing EVERYTHING by hand so a washer and dryer are a must.

I don't generally like cleaning, but I do like a clean house, so vacuum cleaners and other tools to make household chores easier are a must. 

I'm not high maintenance though.  Really.  I'm not.

Okay.... maybe a little.

Anyway, I do love old fashioned things which is probably why I (we all) love samplers so much.

Speaking of samplers:

This is my progress to date on Mary Gibson:

I can't wait to get to the Adam & Eve under that tree. 

Now that I've moved passed those alphabets where every letter required a change in thread, I'm making a bit faster progress.

Would you like to see some of the treasures I've found?

Keep in mind, these have all been found over time, I just took forever to take pictures.

(There's more too, but I'll show you a few today).

Ready?  Let's go!

Here's a pretty, old fashioned thing, don't you think?  

My dear friend Sheila and I saw it at an estate sale during one of our lunchtime forays.

I was too cheap to buy it.  

She bought it and surprised me with it!

Thank you, Sheila!!!

Normallly, if I see something I like, and it's not cost prohibitive, I buy it.

I saw this sweet wedding sampler yesterday at an antique store.  

Took the pic with my iphone - sorry it's not better.

I loved it, but I didn't buy it (and it wasn't expensive).

I must have had an aneurism.

At any rate, now I'm kind of regretting not getting it.    

Isn't it pretty and sweet?  

It makes me sad to think that this once belonged to someone, that it was stitched with love and that now, nobody in the family wants it.

How can that be?  

click on the picture to (hopefully) see it in bigger detail.  

The stitches are really pretty.

Darn it.

Things don't have to be 100's of years old for me to love them.

I found this table cloth at an estate sale for $4.  

I'm sure it's not terribly old.

But that doesn't matter.

I love all the embroidered flowers and the time it took to embroider.

I think it would make a lovely bed coverlet.

I have an antique, white iron bed that I think it'll be beautiful on.

Of course, the bed is disassembled and stored away.  

But one day.... when I have a cottage with a sweet, little guest room; this 

will go on the bed.

This is a child's desk I found at an estate sale, this past summer.

I think I paid $40 for it (a lot for me to spend at an estate sale) but it was in perfect condition and I thought it was worth every penny.

I usually have a doll sitting on the bench - not sure where she ran off to.

A lot of the things I love would be considered more "vintage" than antiques but I love them, just the same.

I am, as I'm sure you've figured out, always on the hunt for sewing related items.

I don't really sew.  My mom is a great sewer.  Me, not so much.

But, I appreciate the art of the needle and all things related.

Here are a couple of tiny things I've found recently:

The felted, pale green thimble "box" and the thimble hat pinkeep were tucked into the heart shaped sewing box, all for $4.

Eagle eye Sheila spotted these.

I think I showed you a couple of the crochet pot holders I found this past summer but I've since added to my collection.  

What is it about these?

I would never have made these and then used them to hold pots.  

My pot holders get really gross in no time at all.

I found a couple of them and Deb gave me the three red and white ones on the left side, plus the round one in the center.

Don't you love them?  

I've got them lining the top wall of my craft room.

I think they're adorable.

Check out the cotton slips on the blue dresses.

This is a pretty, old Whitman's tin that used to belong to my Aunt.

She was moving to a new place and my mom knew I would love it.

When she asked her if I could have it, she said yes!

It is, for me, a treasure.

I love the soft worn colors of it.  She used it to store sewing items and so do I.

These thread winders are actually hand made, mother of pearl, fishing lures.

I spotted them at an antique market.  They were on the proprietor's head.

On his fishing hat. 

 I had to have them and was not to be denied.  

Finally, he agreed to sell them to me but I insisted he keep the hat!  

I was lucky enough to get quite a few of these beauties and they are all different. 

Some are quite small and some, like these, are a bit bigger.

I love them! 

I think that's about enough for today but I'll show you one more thing before I sign off.

I spotted this last object in an ad for an estate sale in Virginia, not far from where my mom and dad live.

I sent Mom the link and told her she should go to the sale because it looked like it might be a good one and I thought there might be some antiques SHE would like.

Wink. Wink.

When she got to the sale, she looked but couldn't find the object I had told her about.

Thankfully, she asked someone and they found it.

I have never seen one like it.

And, even though I'm more of a dog gal than a cat gal,

I loved it!

See how shiny the drawers are on the side?

The whole thing is tarnished but I can't decide whether to polish it or not.

So far, not polishing it has won.

It's not a big thing.  It is about 3" tall and 3" deep and I love it!

Finally, I'll leave you with a pic of Rob and me at a birthday party for a great niece we went to last week.

As you may notice, I have grown my hair out quite a bit since I first started blogging.

I've also changed the color.  

I have hair ADD.

I've been a blonde, a brunette, an auburn and now a red head.  

I initially started growing it so I could pull it back when I run.  

It is now long enough to do that and is probably long enough for a 50+ year old broad.

Not the best pic in the world (taken with my sister in laws phone) but you get the idea.

Have a great week and thanks so much for the warm welcome back.

You all make me so happy to be a part of this blogging/stitching community and I truly appreciate each and every comment that you leave me!

Speaking of which - WHY oh WHY did blogger go to the new, two word format?

I HATE IT.

BLECH!

If you don't want to leave a comment, I'll be sad but will understand!

Anyway, thanks for stopping by today and I hope you enjoyed seeing some of my finds  and I hope that you'll come back soon.  

Next post, I should have Ann Sandles back from the framer.  I can't wait to get her home!!

Peace!

Terri