Mostly cross-stitch

Once I finished the May block of the Sew along

, it was back to this piece. A LongDog Sampler – Quaker style. I’ve really enjoyed making this my own by doing it in all kinds of bright colors. I did chance some of the small motifs. She had some butterflies using the back stitch. I decided I didn’t want any back-stitch. So I filled in with other motifs.

One small corner of the work. I then took it to a framer. I hope it comes out well, cuz framing ain’t cheap! Unfortunately, in my area there are two needlepoint shops and they look down their noses at cross-stitch. One of them does finishing, but I won’t give them that kind of business, also, they are backlogged a few months. I couldn’t find any recommendation online about framing needlework. So I drove around, some of the stores had mirrors outside – that just wasn’t appealing to me. Found a large framer, and in I went. the woman who helped me was very impressed with my work – that is a good sign. So now I wait.

I had bought the pattern Tom Foolery, it works well with pattern keeper! being a multi colored project I can now really appreciate pattern keeper. As I click on a color to work with, it highlights everything on the page with that color. So as I work an area, I can fill in as much as I can of that color.

This is completely different from Fruits of Plenty. A lot of color, a lot of crazy designs. Whoever the girl was who made the original many years ago, she had a very vivid imagination as well as had a lot of fun. There are some traditional elements, like a house, Adam and Eve and all kinds of flowers and animals. It is fun!

Another good thing about the craziness, yes, I have made a mistake or two, but it doesn’t throw everything off, because its’ a lovely mess as it is.

I was playing with my macro lens, so you get to see the stitches the way I see them through the magnifiers.

That crown abutted the border in the pattern, that wasn’t a mistake. The other thing is that the border does not match on the right side. I’m leaving it as is.

Who is this gal with a top-hat standing on the chimney of the house?

How about a rainbow tulip? Yes, I am having a lot of fun. Junes’ segment of Fruits of Plenty is arriving and this will be put away again. Although, this time, I only have one month to do, and it won’t take long, so I’ll be back to this soon enough.

On Memorial Day we had friends over, yes there was bbq, more important – these festive boards. This is the new way to serve appetizers. It was also fun to pull out the runner I bought in Belize.

I honor both American and Israeli fallen soldiers.

A word about Memorial Day. I remember in the 90s, it was the start of summer, sales, bbqs, a long weekend. Then came the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the Right started pushing the notion that its’ about the fallen. Not wrong. But these days, anyone who had a relative who died years after serving is now jumping on the bandwagon. For them we have Veterans Day.

And now people shame other people for having fun – remember this is about the fallen! not your BBQ. Can we find a nice middle, where we remember those who fell in battle as well as have fun and enjoy the long weekend?

Leah

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