Scroll-o-rama

After a rather awful week and an exceptionally awful Easter weekend, this morning I finally found a bit of energy to take some pictures of various works in progress. Awfulness always leads to stitchiness in this household, so some serious progress has been made on all fronts (some progress should not have been made at all because it came in the form of NEW STARTS). First though, a group portrait of my extended family of scroll frames:

Since taking the above, work has been done on

This lovely lady has me worried. I enjoy her too much. Before I was given the kit as a present by my parents I had been drooling over the picture for about eight years and now I'm afraid that, if I ever get to finish her (and I honestly think I will some day, Harmien) I'm afraid that that will be the end of my stitching days. If the Blue Lady, the Pistols, Mrs. Slocombe ever gets to grace the spot on the bedroom wall that I have especially reserved for her, I think I will have achieved what I wanted out of stitching, and I will be happy to just stare at her loveliness forever, with my hands resting in my lap.

Moving on, I started not one, but two new projects. First (and I bet you saw that one coming) is Wife, Into Thy Garden by The Goode Huswife. Seriously? I think it's the name of the piece that does it for me, although the stitching is a joy too, despite the fact that it entails stitching on 36 count fabric (normally a no-no), stitching OVER ONE on 36 count fabric (that would be a no-no-no-no-no) and stitching with a palette of drab browns. Neh, would be my normal reaction to that. And still I love it :o) Note the tree in the picture. That is my current favourite prop.

Second new start is the Friendship Sampler by Carriage House Samplings. I know this one is usually done as a Round Robin piece, in which every Round Robiner stitches a heart and her own name, but I have a very Mark Darcy-esque approach to this Bridget Jones of a sampler: I like it just the way it is. I briefly played with the idea of changing the names to my favourite literary heroines, but it was then that I noticed that literary heroines have looooong names, and Kathy Barrick-Dieter's friends (or whoever the ladies are whose names are on this sampler) have conveniently short and snappy names. There is not enough room for Catherine Earnshaw. Elizabeth Bennet. Sue Bridehead. Tess Durbeyfield. Roxanna Slade. And what to think of the ladies who don't even have a first name and who would definitely need a place on this sampler? Mrs. Ramsay, for instance (from Virginia Woolf's To The Lighthouse). It would be an eclectic bunch too, because someone like Idgie Threadgoode (from Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe) would have to be mentioned as well. But wouldn't she look odd next to, say, Adela Quested (from A Passage to India)?

I really like the idea of the literary Friendship Sampler, but I'm not sure if I would ever complete or survive such an undertaking. Although you may have noticed that I haven't started any names yet...

Of course, I also made a bit of progress on Noah's Stocking, but I will save that picture for Thursday, the first official CHS Stocking SAL Update Day. More about that, and about our group, on Thursday.

As for the Lovelorn Sisters: I'm still waiting for one address. Natasha, if you read this, could you please e-mail me your snail mail address so we can get started?

Before I go, here's what happened less than one week after planting the pumpkin seeds:

If they keep growing like this, I'm going to have to build them their own shed. It's too cold at night to put them in the garden. Help!!!

Yours busily,
Annemarie.