Mary Baker Sampler finished!

As promised I have a Sampler finish to share. This is Mary Baker from The Scarlet Letter.  A simple Sampler but one I very much enjoyed stitching.  Notice the little r crammed in at the end of Father in the verse?  I had a little chuckle when I stitched that, no way was Mary going to frog!  Very charming.

I am back to working on Snooty Parrots, hope to have a progress picture soon.

Amanda Chen

Hooray a finish!

Always feels good to have a finish especially when you are struggling on a piece. 

This is my first over one thread finish and I had a little trouble with the thread twisting on me and not laying straight so the stitching is not as neat as I would like it to be however I have since learnt some tips which may help me on my next over one project, we shall see. 

Love this fruitful series from The Hearts Content, hope you do too as I have a few more to stitch, lol!

The Heart's Content - Fruitful IV - stitched over one thread on 28 count. 

I have another Sampler I have almost finished, this one a reproduction Sampler from The Scarlet Letter, hope to show you soon. 

Amanda Chen

It's been a while since I last blogged ...

In fact it's been a very long while since I last blogged!  Lot's to catch up on!
The year has been tough on me, living in a foreign country without friends or family and trying to look after a family on my own finally caught up to me and I had a series of mental breakdowns.  Luckily I have a Mother and Husband who love me very much, that combined with an utter determination to focus on the positive and keep moving forward making small changes here and there I am slowly becoming my old self again but stronger and wiser.
So!  As I said, lot's to catch up on!
I think in this post I am just going to show some finishes I've had so far this year, because of my ups and downs earlier in the year I many starts which I will show as I work on them.
But hey at least I have finishes, so a big Hooray for that!

Pumpkin Brew by With thy Needle and Thread

35 count Old Mill Java Linen - Overdyed cotton threads

 Mary Ann Farmer by The Scarlett House

 40 count Antique White Linen - NPI Silks - 2 threads over 2!

(go on take a closer look, this was a lot of work!)

Swan Valley Revisited by Carriage House Samplings

40 count Parchment Linen - NPI Silks

Spring Issue of SANQ Magazine

25 count Cream evenweave (those red lines will wash out)

3 strands DMC

Sub Rosa freebie pattern

http://e-subrosa.blogspot.tw/2012/02/happy-day-free.html

The Bremen Town Musicians by The Prairie Schooler

28 count Natural Linen - DMC threads

Alphabet Rhyme by Little House of Needleworks

28 count Vintage Examplar - Crescent Colours threads

Heritage Crafts John Clayton Miniature

Woodland Path (kit 27 count dmc threads)

Hope there was something here that you enjoyed looking at.  Now I am off to work on a Hardanger piece by the Nostalgic Needle, it's very small so hopefully I will have a finish soon and then I will post my finish and perhaps also share a few starts.

Take Care,

Amanda Chen

Awesome start to a New Year!

Brrr it's cold tonight!  I had all intention of showing my Mary Ann Farmer tonight but I had a rather intense frogging session so I am rather not impressed with her, she's been causing me trouble right from the first x I put into her and have now run out of thread, so will have to go in tomorrow and pick up some more - now these two samplers have been well behaved even though one of them had a run in with a dog as you can see the tear in my Sweet Humility sampler by Carriage House Samplings in the first photo - I had to fray check the tear and hopefully I can leave it like this without further damage incurring - I have one more page of writing to do and then on to some flowers down the bottom and my Sweet Humility will be finished.

 this next sampler is my Christmas Band Sampler by Heartstring Samplery, again run out of thread will hopefully pick up some more tomorrow ..

I hope everyone had a great start to the year - I celebrated with my husband and friends - thought I'd share some photos of my night - why didn't I get a photo of my dress?  I had a fabulous dress on, a missed opportunity as I may never fit into it again!  Anyway these photos are taken here in Taipei City, Taiwan right next to Taipei 101 which for one very short period of time was the tallest building in the world - from the beginning to the end it was a pretty awesome night - 

Have a good one and let's all have an awesome year of stitching! ... and maybe a few nights of partying ... if I can find a babysitter that is :)
Amanda
P.S. Have been hanging out on Facebook quite a bit lately following the stitching scene there, anyone else doing the same?