SAL: East West Sampler Update #7

At our last post my East West Sampler looked like this

I had added the star block and the row of tiny stitches. I had placed the star from the pattern in the wrong position and the tiny row seemed so, well, just wrong. I decided to leave the star but removed the tiny row. Taking crafters liberty and sampler creating of old, I have gone rogue, but in a good way. Here is where I am now.

I am not quite done yet. Still planning on adding the date and perhaps a 1, 2, 3 or A, B, C. Then the moment comes to play a game of truth or dare with this. Should I leave it as is ? or tea or coffee dye to age this creation? Any suggestions on that?

Thank you so much for stopping to visit with me today. I’d love it if you would join me in visiting the others in this SAL by clicking on the links below.

Avis, Claire, Gun, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Jackie, Sunny, Megan, Deborah, Sharon,

Daisy, Cathie, Linda, MaryMargaret, Cindy

About the SAL

Please note this SAL is not accepting any more new members until further notice but this is what it’s all about anyway. This SAL (Stitch Along) is slightly different to other SALs in that we don’t all stitch the same design at the same rate. We choose ONE unfinished project, or ONE new one, and show progress of its completion over a series of three weekly updates. There are no deadlines and no set amount to stitch. The result is that the space in our drawers full of WIPs (works in progress) is gradually being freed up to store lots of new crafty goodness. It’s surprising how much motivation I’ve gained from being in this SAL.

SAL: East West Sampler Update #6

Update time once again and I don’t have too much to report on. It has been a busy last three weeks for me. Some beautiful weather calling me to the garden, a mini trip from Washington State to North Carolina to see my daughter and family, and adopting a new fur baby but….. I did get a bit of X stitch in on my East West sampler.

At our last posting I shared this picture. I had added the mini hearts, green zig zag and blue line.

Here is what I accomplished this time.

I am hoping during this next 3 week period I will be making some better progress. I have the proportions of that tiny started row wrong and I will be reevaluating and possibly frogging it. Honestly I have the placement of the red and blue star wrong as well. I was thinking, in the days of primitive sampler creators, they didn’t have written directions to follow so I am keeping it there and will move across the bottom with it. I am also planning on aging this when completed, either by tea or coffee dying it. It’s a WIP and I am having fun!

Thank you so much for visiting with me today. Now I am off to begin checking in with the others in this SAL. Won’t you join me by clicking on the links below

Avis, Claire, Gun, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Jackie, Sunny, Megan, Deborah, 

Sharon, Daisy, Cathie, Linda, MaryMargaret, Cindy

About the SAL

Please note this SAL is not accepting any more new members until further notice but this is what it’s all about anyway. This SAL (Stitch Along) is slightly different to other SALs in that we don’t all stitch the same design at the same rate. We choose ONE unfinished project, or ONE new one, and show progress of its completion over a series of three weekly updates. There are no deadlines and no set amount to stitch. The result is that the space in our drawers full of WIPs (works in progress) is gradually being freed up to store lots of new crafty goodness. It’s surprising how much motivation I’ve gained from being in this SAL.

SAL: East West Sampler Update # 5

Welcome back to this SAL update for my East West Sampler

At our last posting the sampler looked like this. I had completed the border.

My time has been split between a few quilting and junk journaling projects but I am real pleased with the progress I’ve made in these past 3 weeks. I have added the blue star medallions and the sweet border below the Home Is Best. Actually in looking at the directions the placement of the heart border is misplaced. A crease in the paper looked like the dividing line under the home is best but it should have been centered between the two blue lines. I am going to keep this for now and maybe add something into the blank spaces later. I’ll wait to see as the project progresses.

Thank you for stopping by and visiting with me today. If you have some time you can join me in visiting with the others in the SAL. There are some amazing projects in the works.

Avis, Claire, Gun, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Jackie, Sunny, Megan, Deborah, 

Sharon, Daisy, Cathie, Linda, MaryMargaret, Cindy

Our next updates will be posted on the 19th May 2024.

About the SAL

Please note this SAL is not accepting any more new members until further notice but this is what it’s all about anyway. This SAL (Stitch Along) is slightly different to other SALs in that we don’t all stitch the same design at the same rate. We choose ONE unfinished project, or ONE new one, and show progress of its completion over a series of three weekly updates. There are no deadlines and no set amount to stitch. The result is that the space in our drawers full of WIPs (works in progress) is gradually being freed up to store lots of new crafty goodness. It’s surprising how much motivation I’ve gained from being in this SAL.

SAL: East West Sampler Update 2

At our last posting I had begun the Better Homes and Gardens 1983 East West Sampler. I ran into trouble right off the bat. For some reason my brain could not understand the instructions of 1 stitch = 2 squares. Funny now, way too simple. Luckily many of you came to my rescue and almost immediately I realized what I had to do.

I wasted no time and removed all the stitching however I decided to leave the squaty blue line and then started over. Here is where I am now

She looks so much better done correctly 🙂 and the heart and little house fits correctly ~

They say it takes a village and in my case it really did to get me back on track. Thank you to everyone for your help. I’m actually having a lot of fun working this pattern now.

And thank you for visiting with me today. Now I am off to visit with the others in this SAL. You can join me by clicking on the links below.

Avis, Claire, Gun, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, 

Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Megan, Deborah, Sharon, 

Daisy, Cathie, Linda, Helen, MaryMargaret, Cindy

SAL: East West Sampler

A new project for the SAL

I am working this vintage Crafts Kits designed for Better Homes and Gardens 1983. I paid $10 for it off of eBay. I was looking for something with a more primitive look this go round and this fit the bill with a great price too. There are 3 colors, red, green and blue.

I’ve got a start. It’s a little tricky as 1 stitch equals 2 squares. For some reason this is giving me a problem. I need to frog the green square as I have mis counted and made it too large. I had put the heart inside which alerted me to my error, so the heart has been removed already.

Looking at this now, I can see the H in home is misplaced as well. Do I remove and redo ? Will it matter when all is done? I am thinking I am going to make quite a few of the errors with this project. This one is going to be a slow and steady project.

Thank you for stopping by and visiting with me. Now I am off to visit with the others in this SAL. You can join me by clicking on the links below.

Avis, Claire, Gun, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Megan,

Deborah, Sharon, Daisy, Cathie, Linda, Helen, MaryMargaret, Cindy

SAL: Current Christmas Card Update

I have been working on the last card in the series. At our last posting I shared my progress which looked like this below. I was disappointed with the blue outlining the mints and knew I would be frogging that. I had hoped I would have finished for this posting, but sadly I did not.

Honestly ~ I have been dragging my feet so to speak, opting for working on a quilting project for Christmas. Here is where I’ve gotten to. Mr Mouse is really quite sweet looking and I love his curled toes.

I did want to show you all the cards in the 2 sets that are done and getting ready for gifting.

Going thru my stash I found one lone card I had forgotten all about. I love these cards, they are so much fun to stitch up and make such perfect special gift cards, that I am thinking I should find some more, start much earlier with them and go on to year three of crafting these cuties. Here is the forgotten card.

Our next posting will be in 2024 ~ yikes ~ and I will be starting a new project. I do have something in mind. I’d like to do something on the more ‘primitive sampler’ line. I have been doing some searching for something I like. Thrifting las week I did find a completed 1985 sampler. I posted it on my instagram (if you’d like you can find me at nwpaintedlady Sharon Civitano and follow me, I’d love to follow you.) It was so well done and pristine, I just couldn’t pass it up. That’s the direction I am heading for 2024

I wanted to say welcome back to Cindy and thank you to Avis for hosting this SAL.

Thank you for stopping by ~ happy crafting and safe and healthy holiday season and coming year. Below you will find the links to the others in this SAL. If you have the time please take a peek at the others. There are some wonderful projects in the works.

Avis, Claire, Gun, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Megan,

Deborah, Sharon, Daisy, Cathie, Linda, Helen, MaryMargaret, Cindy

Happy December from the northern hemisphere

SAL: Current Christmas Card Update

I am working on a set of four Current Critters Counted Cross-stitch Cards. It’s a 1980’s set with a finished size of 5 x 7 set in an embossed card.

At our last posting I had started the mouse in a candy jar. I hadn’t gotten very far. It looked like this

(Below) As I continued to work on it, I put in 2 more candies and outlined as I went. I didn’t like the blue so I decided to move on to the mouse to let my thoughts settle. I didn’t get too far and in fact I put it aside. I was trying to decide if I liked it – meaning the blue around the candy. The picture next to my start is not my finished project but from the cover photo from the packaging. Seeing this, I saw the colors were quite different from what the kit called for. There are 2 different grays being used but they don’t give enough contrast like the blues used in the cover photo. Still, I’ll probably keep the gray but I think I need to change out that blue outlining as it should be the gray for the background of the jar.

Unhappy with this start I moved on the last of the four in this series.

Remember that bunny I didn’t think was very Christmasy? I had some great suggestions on how to ‘holiday’ her up. Adding the word Merry, which I used before, was just what it needed.

Thank you for stopping by ~ happy crafting! Below you will find the links to the others in this SAL. If you have the time please take a peek at the others. There are some wonderful projects in the works.

Avis, Claire, Gun, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Megan,

Deborah, Sharon, Daisy, Cathie, Linda, Helen, MaryMargaret

I know we are all over the world and not everyone is celebrating Thanksgiving (U.S.) but the sentiment is timely and so true ~ I am so thankful for all of you! Thank you to Avis for hosting this SAL and keeping is all on tract 🙂