Plugging Away

I continue working on the Quaker alphabet sampler.

Somehow I got out a stitch in a couple of places but the motifs are spaced so far apart it has been easy to 'fudge' it. As long as the alphabet goes around in a square and the motifs are more or less where they're supposed to be, it'll work out.

I have been fussy cutting the threads, taking the bright red out. I don't mind some gradations and am being careful to start the next thread with the same gradient as what I left off with so there aren't any sudden colour changes mid-motif. I'm not sure how I will FFO this piece; whether I frame it, make a pillow out of it, or sew it into a project bag or some other useful item.

Today is the first day of autumn - my favourite season. I like the sunny, bright days and cool, crisp nights. I have a few decorations up and a bunch to dig out and display around the house.

I have a couple of autumnal stitched pieces that I could finish stitching and FFO as well. I just don't seem to have a lot of motivation to do much of anything. It could be that the isolation has really turned me into a hermit and has sucked the energy out of me. Last Friday we did enjoy the stitching day at Jeanette's last Friday and hope we can do that again soon.

Day after tomorrow Skip and I will do a Costco run and perhaps later take a scenic drive north of the ridges to see some fall colours. I'm so itching to get away for a couple of days but Skip is really nervous about staying anywhere but at home,

In the meantime, I heard back from Teresa about some pattern changes and will pick up the stealth sampler again and get more done on it. 

I've been watching a lot of farm videos on YouTube lately. It's harvest time so everyone is really busy prepping and maintaining the equipment so there are no breakdowns during the harvest. I'm sure it's very satisfying to get the crops in whether they're to feed livestock for the next year or to sell at market. The videos I watch by a shepherd, Sandi Brock, in SW Ontario have been lots of fun as lambing was last week and another bunch of ewes will lamb starting in a few days. The little lambs are so cute! This time of year, Sandi is also helping her husband, Mark, with harvest so it's a really busy time at Shepherd Creek Farms. 

I have also been watching FlossTube videos by Brenda and the Serial Starter, Teresa Kogut, Stitching in the Barn, Saltbox Stitcher, and Jean Farish. Jean just started publishing videos last month and puts one out every Sunday. They're quite informative about specific stitching techniques.

This morning, I browsed through my digital issues of The Gift of Stitching, printing several of the projects I'd like to start some day. The Australian magazine was always digital and was published monthly from 2006 to 2012.  The editor shut it down due to Internet piracy. I was familiar with the magazine way back when and had purchased a couple of issues, then was really bummed out when it disappeared and until recently was unable to purchase back issues. Now they're available for download. That's where I found the pattern for the Quaker alphabet mentioned above.