SANQ Stuff

SANQ's The English Band Sampler got a bit more attention recently but will become the main focus for the rest of the month.  I started it in August 2012 so it seems appropriate to finish it in August 2014.  Here is a photo of the sampler when last seen.  I had just finished one of the first motifs of Band 7.  Since then I have managed a few more hours stitching in the soft light of early morning.  To stitch in a comfortable chair on the patio with a large mug of tea beside me is one of the simpler joys of life.  Listening to the birdsong of sparrows, cardinals, robins, chickadees and tufted tits is charming enough but lately we have been visited by a year old doe each morning.   She picks her way delicately through the trees and bushes above the retaining wall, nibbling on shoots put out by some the stumps of the trees we have recently had cut down.  She has the good taste to leave the Van Houten Spirea alone and is actually assisting us in our efforts to control the unwanted growth above the wall.    All in all, Mother Nature has provided me with a lovely setting for my stitching.  It seems appropriate as this band is all about motifs drawn from nature: flowers and acorns and vines.

Here is a photo showing recent progress.  I have run into a slight glitch.  I am pleased to own a complete set of DMC ... or so I thought.  I find I don't have DMC 3834, one of the purple shades needed for the flower on the bottom left.  This is annoying since it will require a 30 minute trip [one way] to the other end of the county to get a skein at Michael's .  It is particularly irritating since I don't have any other errands in the area to justify the gas and the time spent.  Other than the small glitch, I am enjoying this band immensely.  Each band in this sampler has had its own particular character and differs from all the previous ones.  Band 7 is not nearly so solidly stitched as some of the previous bands.  Another distinction is that there is no back stitching.  The shapes are defined by using 1/4 and 3/4 stitches at the edges of the motifs and wherever two colors meet along horizontal lines.  The profusion of acorns is a plus.  I love fall motifs and the colors of these are particularly pleasing.  I would never have thought of using a dark shell pink floss to stitch an acorn but I love the result.

And, finally, some relatively rare stash enhancement, and only my second purchase of the year: nearly everything I need to make the SANQ pin cushion doll from the latest issue. There's the linen, the finishing fabrics, the silk floss, the chatelaine charm and the lovely doll herself.  All I am missing is the over dyed ribbon but that should arrive in about three weeks time.  It's on back order.  This will be the third project I have stitched from this magazine which I subscribe to for the many historical articles.  The other projects were a very small scissor case using a pair of Tokens and Trifles triangular cards and the above-noted sampler.  There have been many other charts that called to me from the pages of SANQ, but not quite as insistently as these three.  The others shall have to wait till I am retired and have more time.  For the present, I was hoping to stir up some interest in a Pin Cushion Doll SAL starting in September or October and posted an invitation on the 123stitch message board but there wasn't any interest.