Traveling Stitcher

Instead of working on LHN's Sea to Shining Sea, I decided to put it aside (I was so tired of that blasted border) until I had the last installment--oh, who am I kidding? When I saw Traveling Stitcher, I couldn't resist starting it. It is a gorgeous piece from market. I had to wait a few days to be able to afford the finish kit and nearly had the larger piece done before it arrived.

This came as a chart pack with the Crescent Colours necessary for completing it. It is stitched on 32 count Lambswool linen, one of my favorite linens. I enjoyed every minute working this piece. After getting the needlebook done, and both pieces sewn onto the finish kit, I decided that the "set" really needed a scissor fob.

For the fob, I took the letters for "scissors" off the larger piece (the capital 'S' from the personalization alphabet included) and charted all the letters on graph paper. I used the border from the needlebook making it smaller across and longer lengthwise. Inside, I graphed the left side house and the stitcher, along with some grass for the house to sit on. The back side (not shown) simply has the same border and the blackbird from the fence.

This is a great design and it was a lot of fun to stitch. Miss Diane once again has a winner. (of course, lol).

Side note, if any of you reader/stitchers sews at all, you'd do best to make your own finish kit. As pretty as the fabric is, the work put into the finish kit was not worth the money I paid. It could be that as I've been machine sewing since I was five (5) that I've become more of a perfectionist than normal. I was not impressed with the workmanship in the finish kit I received. The needlebook wasn't even "even" front to back. The envelope was simply two pieces of fabric with quilt batting sandwiched between, top stitched to form a 'pocket'--the needlebook was the same except that it folds in half and the top stitching catches a piece of felt for needles.

I'm sorry if I'm hurting anyone's feelings or offending anyone but I think that us stitchers need to stick together. In this day and age, where chart prices are rising, and hand-dyed linen is almost too expensive to use, we should be able to expect to get our money's worth. The price of the Little House Needlework chart pack with thread was very fair, simply the cost of her average chart and the cost of the threads. More than worth the cost to have all the threads right there to use.

Okay, off my soapbox now. It's been a terribly gloomy day here for all that it was warmer than normal. Rain instead of snow--woohoo! Back to working on my Sea To Shining Sea, as the last installment is due in my mailbox early next week--and I have so little of the border left to complete.

On a parting note, let me share a picture I took of our sweet kitties, the ones that share my lap with my needlework most nights. It took several months for them to make friends. For the first few months, if Shadow was sleeping in my lap, Spooky would jump up and lay right on top of her. Now they share lap space, lol. Spooky is the black cat and Shadow is the grey ring tailed cat. This picture shows them sitting on the back of my chair, watching the early birds.

Until next time, keep those needles flying.