Mary Garry - A Milkpaint sampler

Well...this started off as Mary Garry's Milkpaint Sampler, but then, like Topsy 'it just growed'

I am sorry the pictures are so faint and pathetic. The original was not exactly Sunset Strip, but it was a bit brighter than this.

The original was one of a series called 'Remember the Ladies' and should have been stitched in Kreinik silk Mori milkpaint colours - but I didn't have any of those so I just picked from what I had - this is a mixture of GAST, WDW and HDF ( times were when a list of initials like this would have meant nothing to me, but hey - look at me now!)

Also the two designs - the alphabet and the Quaker bit were side by side to be finished as a thread / needle keep, but I sat them above each other.

And - there was a little lady stitching - but I missed her out and a house and a couple of trees - but I didn't do those either!

Instead I charted this cottage - which is so like the real one you wouldn't believe and is where the recipient of the sampler lives. It is an ancient cottage in a small North Yorkshire village next to a very pretty river. Lucky her!

It is the same friend of my mum's that I gave the little sampler to in the previous post. I have decided to stitch a small group for her to hang together in the hall of this lovely place.

I left a light on too. I like to do that.

Not such a marathon to read this time. 

My computer has recently upgraded and now works on steam power
rather than the small and easily tired animals running on a wheel which I had previously.

However there was no water in the boiler this morning and posting has taken an age and quite a lot of money has dropped into the swear box.

Love Irene xxx

Such generosity is astounding.

Sometimes I am honestly amazed at the generosity of cross stitch bloggers.
They do Random Acts of Kindness, Pay it Forwards, Give-aways, competitions.

And the support I have seen for people going through difficult times is second to none.
Hundreds of bloggers respond with kind words and hugs and prayers.

A couple of weeks ago, I put my name down on a couple of blogs that had give-aways.
In fact they were two blogs I had found in my meanderings and had liked and chosen to follow anyway.
You know how it is, you never expect to win, but you check back anyway.

Marly was offering some stash for the cost of postage.

I know!!!

She had 4 or 5 bundles of linen with extras.

And I won a bundle!!

I know!!!

How she managed to pack so much stuff into one small box is beyond me, but she did, she packed it to the gunnels and this is what arrived - across the mighty ocean- to me.

 Big, beautiful pieces of 28 count linen in lovely shades, ribbon, threads, beads and a Mill Hill kit with perforated paper and lovely strawberry buttons.

She did all that, gave all that away, to me - a total stranger.

Astounding!!

But go visit her a http://samplers-and-santas.blogspot.com.

Tell her how wonderful she is!

And then look at this little sweetie!!

Again another new-found blog.

Carmen (http://cardanantiquesneedlework.blogspot.com) was offering one of these luscious little velveteen carrots

( for a velveteen rabbit?)

and I won.

Well, actually, that might not be strictly true. Because Carmen, in her amazedness, decided that as only 10 people had entered, she would make carrots for everyone.

Again, she happily shipped here to me in the UK

I know!!!

You see - the generosity of people is truly astounding.

I thought I would share with you a bit stitching!

Do you remember the Ellen Chester needleroll from my last blog?

Well this is the inner piece.

It was a nightmare!

It involved counting.

Beyond 4.

Up to 33 sometimes!

The border is Nun's Stitch as it will be trimmed back to there.

The dividing lines are herringbone and over one cross stitch for the words.

And finally......

(well done if you got this far)

..........and finally

A small sampler for a friend of my mum's.

Those are her initials at the bottom.

I am going to stitch another couple of small samplers for her to hang as a group in her cottage.

This one I saw on Marlene's blog (the above Samplers and Santas)

and when I asked her about it she attached it to an e-mail for me.

As kind as ever.

It is, I think, a shop freebie, from Margaret and Margaret Inc.

I changed the verse to 'reap' and 'sow'

rather than 'rend' and 'sew'

Well - even I have had enough of this now!

Thank you so much again for your comments and hello to new followers.

I don't post often, but when I do I try to give you your money's worth!!

Love

Irene xxx