The Sweetheart Tree Holly and Hearts Sampler

This is as far as I had gotten on the sampler while at the Stitcher's Hideaway in Mystic, Ct.

I got up early today and put in a good three hours of stitching on this 2008 Mystic Stitcher's Hideaway project... the backstitching alone took up two hours. Even so, the backstitching went more quickly than it did at the actual class with Sandy ... probably because I was copying the right side of the design from the already-stitched mirror image on the left rather than from the chart. Instead of constantly looking from scroll frame to chart and back again and finding my place on each, I was able to keep my eyes on the scroll frame and simply stitch ... so very much more effective! So with the exception of the Rhodes Heart and the Multicolor Half-Diamond and half the beading in Row 2, I have completed Rows 1-6 ... only some 25 or so rows to go. So here is what the sampler looks like now:

I have decided to do the beading as I go and roll the piece up with a bit of flannel and some quilt batting ... it's that old immediate gratification thing again. I really need to see the finished look to keep motivated. The more I stitch on this piece, the more I like it ... although, initially, I thought it much too fussy for my tastes and planned to use it as a gift ... now, I believe I shall frame it and keep it for myself. I figure I should be able to stitch the Rhodes heart and the Half-Diamond on my dinner break leaving only the beading to finish before bedtime. I still haven't the heart to tackle the companion piece: a large flat heart-shaped ornament with loads and loads of vines to back-stitched ... mainly because I'll need to frog a good bit of what I stitched in Mystic. Somewhere along the line I made a mistake that threw off the symmetry ... and since the symmetrical tracery is what makes the piece so charming, frogging is an absolute necessity. Oh, well, I hope to have both sampler and ornament done before Christmas.