Saturday 4 June 2011

Happy Birthday Your Majesty - and HCS Progress Report 11

Happy Birthday Queen Elizabeth

Monday 6 June is observed as the Queen's Birthday public holiday here, even though the actual day is in April.   So for that reason we have a lovely three day weekend.
Well lovely is perhaps not the right word.   This is the view from my window today!

Lots of rain and grey clouds. Just the right weather for stitching though and I want to show you my progress on the Historic Countries Sampler.  

England Pre 1700 is now finished.   The whole piece is getting big and a little unruly so, being afraid that the whitework panel would get grubby I covered it with a liece of white linen as a protector.   That's the white patch in the top right. All will be revealed later.

Here's a closer shot.   Those two half clad men are far from handsome but their clothes are done in tent stitch - one strand of floss over one thread of fabric.   It might not be much of a covering but there were a lot of stitches in those clothes!
Now I am starting Scotland and there is a big house in this one -  the outline of the left hand side of the house is just visible.   There are several specialty stitches in this one and a dilemma about initials.   Two sets are shown - for spouse and children the instructions say.   I have neither so what do I do???   Hopefully inspiration will come as I stitch the rest.  The two more countries to go before the grand finale.   I have just loved stitching this but now the end is nigh am dreaming of what I shall do next.   One thing is for sure - it will not be a framed piece as this sampler will be costly to frame so I will be staying with smaller finishes for a while to recover.

Hope you all have a good weekend

5 comments:

Lee said...

Down in Stratford is damp and very cold great for sitting by the fire stitching.

Karen said...

I hope you enjoy your long weekend! HCS is stunning! It is sooooo big!!! Did you think about making it into a wall hanging of some sort to avoid the framing costs? Although the protection of the glass from a frame would be nice too, especially after all of that work.

Phyllis said...

How about using your mom's initials? Maybe even your siblings. Just an idea. It is a beautiful sampler, and I look forward to seeing it when completed.

Ann at Beadlework. said...

Your sampler will look amazing when it's finished.

Denise said...

Margaret, your historic piece is just amazing! I have been watching your progress. Here's another idea: if you have a table the right size - put this on the table with a piece of glass on top.
You can use spacers to protect the stitching. It would be lovely framed - maybe you'll win the lottery!