Miss America was FRAMED!

please click on photo below for better viewing

"The Lady"

fabric: 28ct. Wichelt Watercress jobelyn

threads: Thread Gatherer and Spendlor silks

Oh how happy I am to have my Lady back from the framer just in time for 9-11. I do hope my friends will like her. I think they will.

Didn't I tell you that you'd love the frame? My framer, Miss Patti Jo of the Village Sampler, did me a solid when she doctored up the frame to look more like her corner sample. The frame came in with just a hint of the green verdigris that made it so perfect for the piece. So, she touched it up with a little extra green until it was "just right". Thanks again PJ!!! I owe you one. In my opinion, it's just perfect!

Miss America...off to the framer

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"Lady Liberty"

Wichelt Jobelin 28 ct. Watercress

Thread Gatherer and Splendor silk

I hope to be able to capture a better image of her when she's back from the framer.

I did go with metallic gold for the torch, but you can't really tell in these pics. With any luck, she'll be framed and ready for her new home by 9/11.

Hope you are enjoying your weekend, wherever you are!

Liberty progress

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It won't be long now.....but, sadly, it won't be this weekend. Big family birthday celebration for MIL, family visiting from out of state, another big birthday feast, plus other various and sundry obligations will keep me from stitching for another day or two. My hope is to have her to the framer by Monday, 8/31. The frame (which is already on order) is gorgeous! A combination of verdigris green and mottled bronze; you'll love it! I can't wait to see it all framed up.

Here's hoping you are getting all the stitching time you can stand this weekend!

A Stitcher's Fairy Tale

Once upon a time, in a land not so far away, there was a very weary stitcher who thought she would never finish One. Huge. Sleeve. There were big folds, little folds, long folds, short folds, and some of the folds had folds of their very own. It was just a very fold-y kind of sleeve. She stitched faithfully in the wee hours, but alas, time was not her friend. One night, the stitching fairies took pity on this faithful yet weary stitcher and completed all the pesky folds that vexed our heroine so horribly.



In appreciation for their merciful act, the stitcher made for the fairies a love offering of chocolate and coconut gooey goodness.
(Must. Keep. Fairies. Happy.)

Where does one find such a fairy pleasing epicurean delight? From the culinary Fairy Godmother, Paula Deen, of course. I converted the pie crust to chocolate on a hunch that it would be just the right compliment to the coconut.

I was right. Yum.

Liberty verse complete

Forgive the crap-tastic photo please, more rain here today makes for not good photo taking. The fabric is a soft overdyed patina green. It is really perfect for the project. I'm stitching with silks, one overdyed for the statue herself (Thread Gatherer, Green Leaves) and a solid for the verse (Splendor, s838). Yes, one line of the verse has a little overdyed in it. I got skippy with it one night and had stitched 5 words in the overdyed before I realized what I'd done. I didn't feel like ripping five words so Shoot me!

The point is..........the verse is done!!! Now, it is literally onward and upward, up her arm that is. I originally thought I would stitch the entire project in the green silk, but after seeing Susan's post about her recent visit to The Lady, I think I'll do the flame of the torch in gold metallic. It looks so pretty in her photos. If it is horrid on fabric, I can always frog it and do over. (I do know HOW to frog, I'm just not a big FAN of the frog.)

The Face of Liberty

Quick update before I'm off to the back-cracker. I finished Liberty's face Friday night. Wanted to work on the verse over the weekend, but it just didn't happen. Her face was a bit sterner in the pattern, so I decided to soften her a bit with a brow lift, a little rhinoplasty and some collogen injections to her lips (giggle). Seriously though, I did rearrange the alignment of her facial features just a tad, like 1/2 of a stitch higher here and 1/2 of a stitch to the right there. I think it looks pretty ok now - it did look off-center and stern, like scowl-y before. The girl's got some eyebrow's on her to rival Brooke Shields'!!!

Most all the rest of the work is in her arm, hand and torch which runs up the left side of the fabric. The verse shouldn't take very long, just 7 more fairly short lines. You are seeing the last line of verse above. With 9/11 only a month away, I think I'll have her finished but I'm not sure if I can get her framed by then. We shall see...

Lady Liberty WIP update

It's been pretty intense with the crown and halo (the 7 "spikes" coming away from the crown). They don't call it "counted" cross stitch from nuthin'. Lots of almost straight areas has made for some slow sledding, but I'm moving on the hair parts tonight with high hopes. I'm hopeful that I'll have her face done by Monday. Wouldn't that be exciting?!?!

New WIP

NEXT! I'm thrilled to be moving on to my next major UFO, make that WIP! Don't recall when I started this patriotic piece but it was sometime (several years) after 9/11/01. It is intended for some friends who lost their son that day in the Pentagon crash. The poem is entitled The Lady and reads:

"The fruit of your great wisdom,

A knowledge of mankind.

You had gathered from experience,

Yours was so much more than mine.

You taught me of the beauty

That life would give to me.

You spoke to me of loyalty,

Justice, love and Liberty."

Something about it just touched my heart when I read it. It sounds like it could be a child speaking to a parent. My goal is to finish it, frame it and present it to Sharon and Ken, Paul Ambrose's parents, before 9/11 this year.

The fabric is an overdyed/mottled bottle green. Looks a lot like the patina on the Statue of Liberty, her very self.

I'll close by saying, we should strive to never forget.

If you have anything negative to say about this post, please say it to someone other than me. :-)