Daisychain Sampler "Z"

Or rather "ZED" as we call it here in Canada ... to much irritation of some foreigners. ;)

Is it just me or is it kinda sad that my Sampler is done?

Well, I guess now I'm faced with deciding on how to finish it.

I know for sure it'll be a wall hanging of some sort.

But do I just stick it in a store-bought frame?

Or do I do some sort of patchwork frame around it?

'Cause remember, I based all my floss colors on these fabrics ...

and these ...

So, I've got a lot to work with.

Any suggestions?

Daisychain Sampler "Y"

This letter makes me smile.

Wanna know "Y"? 

(LOL!  Ah geez, sometimes I just crack myself up ... !)

It reminds me of Laura Ingalls from "Little House on the Prairie".  Laura had long brown braids.

I remember a scene from one of the books where Ma was in a hurry getting Laura and Mary ready for church and accidentally tied Laura's pink ribbons onto Mary's braids and Mary's blue ribbons onto Laura's. 

Laura noticed the mistake right away, but didn't say anything because she was so happy that she got to wear something different.  She stared at them all thru Mass.

I have absolutely NO idea WHY I remember that from some 35 years ago ... but I do.  And it makes me smile.

See?  Totally looks like braids.  That chain stitch is amazing ... one of the coolest stitches I know.

Daisychain Sampler "X"

Ok you guys, here we go.  For all of you who've been waiting for me and gently nagging me ... I'm finishing the Sampler this week!  Cross my heart. 

Get it?  Cross?  X? ... ;)

X marks the spot.

The third last spot to be specific.

Slight modification again due to my smaller scale ...

only did 3 rows around instead of 4.

If I'd added the 4th row the letter wouldn't be hollow.  I kinda like the hollow.  Plus omitting the 4th row = less stitching. ;)

I only have TWO MORE LETTERS!

Yay! 

No, wait, I mean ... Xcellent!

Daisychain Sampler "W"

Ok, so how cool is this leaf?

I made it with really small, tight fly stitches. 

This is not how the leaves are stitched in the original pattern ... I just felt like making mine this way.

They're fun to stitch and look pretty realistic, I'd say.  Sorta like a Boston fern, maybe?

And I had to do more alterations to this letter.  The flowers on the original design are really cute, but because I've reduced the size of my Sampler by 30%, those flowers became too small to look good.

So.

I came up with these tiny little pink bells.  I have a thing for bell/drop type flowers.  I just made 4 or 5 straight stitches for each flower.  Easy peasy.

I'm not sure these flowers exist in real life.  I think of them as stylized pink Lily-of-the-Valley.  I bought one once from a mail-order garden nursery.  It died.  I'm not a very good gardener. 

On the other hand, however, I'm a decent embroiderer ... happily these little pink bells will last forever!

Oh, and I added a little yellow knot - single strand only - to really emphasize the bell-ish-ness.

I think it worked out rather nicely.

Speaking of work, there are a TON of stitches in this little W ... (actual size is less than 1 1/2"!) ... and totally worth every single one.

Daisychain Sampler "V"

LOL!  V stands for VERY LONG TIME since I worked on this poor, neglected sampler! 

It was a bit of an archeological dig to even find it buried under layers of Quilt Market sewing fabric & mending & ... stuff ... you know how it goes. ;)

ANYHOW, here's where I left off ... 3 months ago?  Yikes!

I used the same brown as U. 

And that long/short stitch again that I love so much.  You just can't beat that texture!

The palest pink makes for a sweet little scallop trim.

And pale blue for the dots.

Reminds me of a nursery.

Which reminds me of my babies.

Which makes my ovaries ache.

Better move on to the next letter quick!

Daisychain Sampler "U"

Ok, this was kind of a weird one to do.

But also super cool (I think I've been using that phrase too much lately ... but I can't think of any other way to decribe it right now so ... super cool it is.)

I kept thinking feathers on an arrow, as in bow & arrow.  Can you see it too?  Or am I just going completely mental here?

I was also asked about my needle size yesterday so I thought I'd do a little show & tell on the subject.

My favorite brand - Jeana Kimball's Embroidery/Redwork needles.  Love them.

And my favorite size is 10.  HOWEVER, I ran out of 10s and have been resorting to an old pack of 9s lately ... which are longer.  Embroidery needle numbering is such that the larger the number, the smaller the needle.  Totally decided by a man, I'm sure! LOL!

But I don't like buying new needles if I have some that still work, even though they are a little cumbersome. 

Anyhow, a #9 embroidery needle is about 1 3/4" long. 

I think my needle looks so big in my photos because it's really hard to judge the size of my letters without accurate reference ... they are just over 1 1/4" tall.

Remember, I like little. ;)

And since it's the end of another row ... AND it's Friday ...

(Eeeeeeeeeep!!!!!!)

And one more thing ...

As to my plans for this Sampler when the embroidery is done, still no final decision.  But the floss was inspired - in part - by these fabrics ... Moda's Seaside Rose from about 7? - 8? years ago?

I may or may not use them for the finished piece.  All I know is that it will become a wallhanging of some sort.

All right, that was 2 weeks of Daisychain Sampler catch up and it sure felt good!  But my old tendonitis is starting to bark at me a little and my sister has gone home so I should take a little break.  Kay?

Oh wait, and just one MORE thing ... I've had a few questions lately about the floss I'm using. 

Here's a link to a previous post with all that info, including where to buy the pattern, the floss and what colors I'm using.  There's also a category called Daisychain Sampler under Tags on the right side of my blog where you can check out my progress to date.  ;)

Happy weekend everyone!

Daisychain Sampler "T"

You guys are just like totally awesome with all your pink S snake remedies!  From trumpets to tubas you had some fantastic alternative visuals.  But my favorite - and the most popular solution - was to fill in the curl at the end of the so-called tongue.  I'm gonna do that.

But the problem in my mind is already solved because for the rest of my life when I see that "S" I will think of you and how funny and kind and generous you all are. :)

Also thank you for letting me know I'm in good snake-phobia company. :)  I know it's irrational.  And I don't want my daughters to inherit my junk ... I've gotten over A LOT of some pretty major hangups since becoming a mom ... like catching diarrhea with my bare hands and pulling teeth out another human being's head (that is just.not.cool!  and that's what DAD'S are for!)  But this snake thing ... I dunno.

But now on to T.  This was a super fun one for me.

I loved how the colors in this letter turned out ...

... that what a happy coincidence Alicia's original Sampler has the reverse coloration and it works here for my Sampler too. 

LOL!  "Coloration!"  Look at me using such a fancy schmancy word ... guess I'm feelin' kinda cerebral today ...

AND I got to do the long-short stitch again.

Sooo simple.

And yet sooo fun and cool looking.

Hey?

Am I right or am I right?

Tee hee!  I knew it.  I'm right. ;)

Daisychain Sampler "S"

It's amazing how much embroidery I can get done when my sister is visiting.  I really wish I had more stitchy friends that lived near by.

Why is it so hard to find people who like to sit around, drink tea, maybe eat yummy snacks, chat about whatever and make pretty designs on fabric with a simple needle and lovely thread?

Oh, and a few people asked me last week what I'm going to do with this Sampler when it's done.  I do know it'll be hung on the wall.  I'm leaning towards some sort of patchwork piecing to frame it.  Maybe just in a frame.  Haven't decided for sure.  I'll have to play around a bit.  I'm open to suggestions ...

This letter is done with a backstitch fill.

Which was totally ok with me.

'Cause it doesn't really matter (at least to me) if the stitches aren't all the same length.

And it has such a neat texture.

[Insert panic here]

Oh crap!  NOW all of a sudden it looks like a pink snake - all poised like a hooded cobra, sticking out its tongue and ready to strike ... I HATE snakes!!! 

No, you don't understand!  I mean REALLY ... as in full blown phobia ... as in like Indiana Jones only add screaming like a girl running in the opposite direction with arms flailing in the air!!!  (I won't even go into the reptile house at the zoo ... )

[Insert reconsidering very irrational response to thought of a snake in my Sampler and attempting to regain SOME semblance of maturity here] 

But then again, maybe I don't like them because they don't come in pink ... maybe I could learn to like pink snakes ... hmmm, I'm gonna have to think about that one ...

Daisychain Sampler "R"

R is for I'm on a ROLL here!

And if you're Canadian, it's also for RRROLL up the RIM to win time, eh?!  LOL!  I actually went into a trash can yesterday because I forgot to roll up my rim before I threw out my cup ... didn't win anything though.

For those of you who have absolutely no flippin' idea what I'm talking about, lemme 'splain.  There's a famous national donut chain (yes, there is some merit to the stereotype about Canadians & their donuts) called Tim Hortons - locally known as Tim's, Timmie's, Hortons ... and probably other nicknames I haven't heard. 

Tim Horton was a hockey player turned entrepreneur.  And may I just throw down the gauntlet by saying that Tim Hortons beats Krispy Kreme (an American donut chain) every day of the week and twice on Sundays.   Other donut shops have gone head to head with Tim's, but none have lasted. 

Just sayin'.

So once or twice a year, Tim's has a nationwide contest where you have a chance to win a prize ranging from a free coffee or donut to a car.  The potential prize is hidden under the rolled edge of a paper cup, hence the term "roll up the rim" - and you have to roll the R like you're Scottish. 

I don't drink coffee.  Tim's does have a nice steeped tea, but I can get tea for free at home.  And then there's also the thing about me not having enough self control to walk into a donut shop and NOT order a donut ... so "just a cup of tea" ALWAYS turns into "a medium steeped tea, double double (that's how I order cream & sugar) and a 10 (or 20) pack of assorted Timbits".

However, yesterday I was at the swimming pool for an hour on a field trip with my daughter and I WASN'T allowed to bring any stitching because then I wouldn't be WATCHING her jump off the diving board like I promised.  And I also didn't have time to make a cup before I left home.  But there just so happened to be a Tim's drive-thru on the way to the pool ...

But I digress.

LOL!  I'm gonna make all you non-Canadians at least honorary citizens by virtue of meaningless trivia about this fine country if it KILLS me!!!  LOL!  You can thank me next time you're struggling for a topic of conversation and you find yourself talking about donuts and Snowy Owls at a cocktail party. ;)

All right, all right!  Keep your shirt on ... here comes the Sampler.

I wasn't sure if this dark brown & light pink would work together.

I was worried the dark would end up super loud ...

... and the delicate pink would disappear.

I don't think that happened.  I am totally diggin' how it turned out.

Daisychain Sampler "Q"

The first time I did a search for something on the internet was in June 2002 for my first daughter's first birthday.  I wanted to take a picture of her wearing a fairy crown made from the pink daisies growing under our kitchen window.  But I'd never made one before so I Googled "How to make a Fairy Crown." 

Here's how it turned out. 

That's my little cutie almost 10 years ago. 

(Sorry 'bout the quality - they're photos of photos ... remember, I took them back in "the olden days" before I had a digital camera!  LOL!)

A few years later, I made another one for my second daughter.  This time we were on a holiday (and she was almost 18 months ... you know how it goes with the second child ...)  No pink daisies to be found, but there were tons of white ones.

This is the little munchkin who made the anniversary embroidery I showed last week.

Is it normal that looking at these pictures of my babies makes my heart ache?  I miss that new baby smell & the squooshy squoosh & pudgy cheeks & baby giggles & tiny fingers & them sleeping in my arms. 

(Sigh.)  Anyhow. 

This is my long way of explaining WHY I wanted to make this "Daisychain Sampler" in the first place.  Seriously.  It was this post on Alicia's blog that sold me.

And now with this letter?  I would do the entire alphabet with this style of letter.  Really, I would!

I admit to almost wishing I'd used a darker background fabric so I could make the daisies white.

But I think this pale buttery yellow worked out so beautifully.

Normally, I'm a little (ok, a lot) fussy about my lazy daisy petals being exactly the same length and perfectly spaced around each flower.  But in this application, I felt the haphazard, "natural" approach would suit this letter best.

So I let go of my OCD perfectionist tendencies and just let the petals be where they wanted to be.  Some flowers with 5 petals and some with 6 ... and a few are just half flowers. 

Love it.

Something told me to go with my favorite blue as the flower centers.

Could you not just weep? 

Isn't it THE.most.unbelievably.pretty.letter.EVER?!