June Ort Report (and some other stitching stuff)

Here's my June TUSAL update:

I think the jar is a bit out of focus, but it's hot outside today, I'm late with this update, and I just didn't feel like taking the time to get it better.  The jar is filling up and I'm having to shake/tamp down the threads so that's there is room to add more.  I may have to empty this jar before the end of the year.  Maybe.  If you want to learn what the TUSAL is all about, click on the link up above.

The reason that my update is late this month is that Mom and I took off for Cherokee earlier this week.  We had a great time.  We each had a bit of free play at the casino, and I had a good time with the Blackjack video machines that I discovered on this trip.  Wish I had found them before this, because Cherokee's tables are too expensive for me, and I ALWAYS have lousy luck at them.  Disproportionately lousy luck.  Maybe that will change when they switch to a live card system, but I may never find out.  In addition to playing at the casino, we visited the Museum of the Cherokee Indian.  It was a really good museum, with a well laid out telling of the story of the Cherokee.  I would strongly encourage anyone heading to that area of NC to take the time to check it out.

On our way home from Cherokee yesterday, we stopped at a really nice quilt store in Maggie Valley.  I got a few pieces of fabric for backing some of my little pin pillows and ornaments.  Guess which one of these is NOT for backing a Halloween piece?

See that little white paw in the upper corner?  Scout was 'helping' me with the fabrics by pointing out a loose bit of thread coming off one of the pieces.  Little rascal.

In other stitchy news, I have another oldie that finally made its way into a frame.  This piece is from a kit by Maureen Appleton.  It's a reproduction of an antique sampler, and it is stitched over one.

I finished Sarah Bateman in 2005.   I like her, but if I were stitching this piece today, I would have substituted a darker, more noticable color for that pale white one that you can barely see (and in which her name is stitched).  In '05, I was not yet ready to think outside the box and use anything other than the called for colors of thread.  These days, I don't hesitate to change things around to suit my tastes.  What a difference a few years can make!

I pinned another sampler in preparation for framing.  I am a bit ashamed to say that I forgot to date this one, so I'm not sure exactly how long ago I finished it.  The piece is a Scottish reproduction sampler from The Essamplaire, and I got it in the very first class that I took at Jeanine's .  I finished it about a year and a half later.  Here's a photo of Elisabeth Ramsay propped in the frame, but she's not quite ready to be locked in place.  It seems that she's sagging a bit in the upper left hand corner, so I shall have to pull some of the pins free and re-stretch her.  Sigh.

I will leave you with two more photos.  The first is a snap of the three patriotic pieces I've been working on this past week.  I'll share more details about them as I finish them off.

The second photo is of another patriotic piece.  I don't know who the designer is, or what the name of the pattern was.  This is a piece that I sought out and stitched in the aftermath of 9/11.  Although I certainly did not finish it on that day, it was the only date that I cared to put on the piece, because, for me, the emotions and anguish of that day were what this piece was all about.  The text is the pledge of allegiance, and there are flags from different eras of the American government marching down the banner.  I love the fabric on this piece.

Until next time, I hope everyone stays safe and enjoys some creative time on these long, hot summer days!