A Little Stitching

First the stitching;  I have been concentrating on my fun election piece, Prairie Schooler's Primitive Americana and have finished the sampler panel.  worked the Uncle Sam panel of the flea market pillow.  As I  suspected, I needed to modify the alphabet to fit the space.  I eliminated one row of over sized letters and changed the format of the Sweet Land of Liberty line, stitching only the uppercase in cross stitch and the lowercase in straight stitch... Next, I worked the Uncle Sam panel of the flea market pillow.  I chose to stitch Uncle Sam in the vertical panel since I think Lady Liberty will make a better stand alone ornament.  Though to make it ornament sized, I expect I will have to stitch it on 32 or 36 ct linen.  Now all I have to do is order a pillow form since I already haxe an appropriate fabric.

A belated photo: I finished this Prairie Schooler Year Round for July last month but forgot to post a photo.  I decided to skip the August Year Round, a boring sun with a smiling face.  Next up will be a little red schoolhoudr for September.

I think my next start will be The Goblin Market.  It's been in my stash for a long time and lately it keeps popping into my head at random moments.  I'll take that as a hint that it belongs in the ever growing rotation.  Now, to find the right piece of linen for it,   I have a pale to light grey over dye and two different beige/light tan solids as well as a classic ivory.  A floss toss should decide the issue but I am leaning toward the ivory.   This design is inspired by a Christina Rosetti poem of the same name, a verse of which is incorporated into the piece.  It is pretty solidly stitched and has a very interesting frame/border making up the outline of the market booth.  It'll be a whole different kind of fun than the Prairie Schooler piece, a radical change of mood.  I am nothing if not eclectic in my taste.    I realize this piece would not be to everyone's liking.  In fact, many would call it downright ugly.  But as a former English teacher, I feel the pull of the literary allusion.

Speaking of literary references,  I also have charts for each of the houses from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice: Longbourn, Netherfield, Mr. Collin's Humble Abode, Rosings and Pemberley; as well as a sampler chart using a quotation from the same novel.  But they will require another radical mood change before I start stitching them.  Then there are several other literary charts in stash: Something Wicked This Way Comes, the Sleepy Hollow triptych, and another sampler featuring a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson.  And I have long toyed with the idea of designing a very elaborate scarlet letter of my own.  Did I mention that I have eclectic taste?  It's interesting how much our life experience is reflected in our stash.  I am betting that the avid gardener has a bunch of botanical charts, bird watchers have all sorts of detailed and realistic bird charts, the deeply spiritual probably have many charts referencing the sacred texts and symbols of their faith, etc.  I invite my readers to leave a comment below if  they agree and find themselves collecting charts that reflect their careers, hobbies, faith or philosophy.  Just a very informal and totally unscientific poll.