Since you asked: Hannah Thornbush update

In yesterday's post, I mentioned that I had been doing a bit of stitching on the Hannah Thornbush sampler from The Essamplaire. A couple of you asked about my progress.

I haven't made a whole lot of headway here. I did manage to finish band 3, and made a bit of a start on band 4.

Almost all of the stitching on these two bands thus far is a version of marking cross. This version of marking cross results in

X|X|X|X|X

on the front of the stitching (that is, crosses with vertical stitches between them). This can also be done in vertical rows with horizontal stitches between each cross, and my piece has both, depending on which is easier to stitch at any given portion fo the design.

The reverse (back) side of this version of marking cross looks like regular cross stitch.

Thanks for asking about Hannah's progress!

WIP: Hannah Thornbush (by The Essamplaire)

Today's featured WIP is the Hannah Thornbush sampler, reproduced by Margriet Hogue of The Essamplaire.

Technique/Materials: Various sampler stitches (double running, marking cross, satin stitch, detached buttonhole, and many more I haven't gotten to yet!) on 45ct linen (over 3) using Soie d'Alger and Soie d'Paris silks.

Background:  I started Hannah in June 2009 as part of an online class from The Essamplaire, after seeing a picture of the original sampler. What can I say? I'm a glutton for punishment.

Why it's not done: I managed to stitch the first monthly lesson (the first two bands) in just over a month. After that, lack of sleep (from Erin's adjusting to the cast) proved to be non-conducive to concentrating on stitching over-3 on 45ct!

What's left to do:  Um... did you see the picture of the original?

Hannah Thornbush progress

Last week I mentioned that band 2 of Hannah Thornbush was complete.Both band 1 and band 2 had satin stitched areas. The instructions stated that the outlining around these areas should be completed before filling in the areas with satin stitching. This isn't the first repro or historic-style sampler I've seen with these instructions.

Is it just me? I find it incredibly difficult to get nice, even satin stitches if I outline first. I'm always fussing about how the satin stitching butts up to the outline. I don't want to cover or pierce the outline, but neither do I want to leave a gap between the satin stitches and the outline.

So I cheat, if you can call it that. I do the satin stitches first. Yes, you have to count very carefully to do this (especially if the design is over three threads like Hannah is), but it seems to make more sense to me. I can put my satin stitches right into the holes along the outline, without having to worry about piercing the outline threads.

Have any of you taken a really good, close-up look at old samplers? Can you tell how they were stitched? I'd be interested to learn about the order of the stitches. I expect the outlines were done first, simply to eliminate the detailed counting of the satin stitches.

Good news and bad news

The good news is that I finished the first lesson (bands 1 & 2) of Hannah Thornbush. I'll share pictures sometime this weekend.

The bad news is that when the orthopedist looked at Erin's X-ray today, he found that her left hip had somehow slipped and is dislocated again. We're going back to the hospital tomorrow morning so they can fix it and recast her. Which means more anesthesia. Hopefully the anesthesiologist can do something different so she doesn't end up spending the night again.

Ugh. My poor baby doll. :-(

Tomorrow is the day

I can't believe it's here already. Erin goes in for her procedure tomorrow (Thursday), and then she'll be in a cast from chest to toes for 12 weeks. :-( She's NOT going to be happy, especially since she's just recently figured out how to roll over (although then she gets mad because she hates tummy time!). Oh well. I'll try to post tomorrow night to let you all know how things went.

On the stitching front, I've been making rather slow progress on Hannah Thornbush. I'm still on band 2, and I apologize for the lack of pictures. The lesson for bands 3 and 4 came out on Monday. Only the second lesson, and I'm behind already. Sheesh!

After several emails back and forth with Denise from Threadneedle Street in Washington state, the correct color of silk I needed for Floral Rondel showed up today. Thank you, Denise! Now I can finally finish this!

Band 1 and extra thread

I'm doing a mini happy dance because I've finished the first band of Hannah Thornbush. It doesn't look like much, but it's a victory because I actually remembered to consistently stitch over three threads of linen instead of the usual two. Hopefully having the first band done correctly will help make spacing the remaining bands easier.
The other news is that I received more of the light pink Soie Ovale needed for my Floral Rondel. It's not obvious in the picture, but this spool seems a tiny bit lighter than the previous spool. I may need to overstitch some of the existing satin stitches so this color will blend in rather than having an abrupt transition. I'll try it first to see if the difference is obvious.
We'll see if my hands function well enough for me to finish this piece over the weekend. I have an appointment with a neurologist on June 24th. At that time, I'll have a nerve conduction study done to see exactly where the nerves are being pinched. Then the doctor can determine how to treat the problem.