A Sampler Nearly Finished

I have been working on my sampler again. Yes, this is the same one that has been going on for nearly 10 years! It it that long? Well, considering it started way back in 2006, the maths does add up!

Beginning as a Counted Thread Round Robin that travelled the world, this sampler has had a little hic-up along the way. The main one was the broken threads, but that can be read about here.

The broken threads have been fixed for a few years now, and every now and then I pull the sampler out and add another band to it. At the beginning of this year, I made a resolution to myself that it would be finished this year. Mmmmmm............ maybe not finished, but it will be close.

Over the last few months I have added a few new bands, some narrow, some wide, trying to add some interest as well as light and shade. I have kept with the original pink and green colour scheme as I think it looks fabulous.

So far I have added in a Wessex band to cover up the fixed broken threads, a fine back stitched border with contrasting four sided stitches, a counted zig-zag band with back stitched border, another row of  back stitch with contrasting intermittent cross stitches and half cross stitches, a row of coloured needle weaving, and finally another row of back stitch spaced with back stitch diamonds that have been filled with a contrasting four sided stitch.

I started yet another band on Saturday, only to find yet another broken thread! I wonder how many more I will find? This broken thread was nowhere near the last group, and so far seems to be the only one. It's been fixed now, an easier fix than the last group, so I can continue on with my stitching. This row will be the final one on the right, then I have a space of about 8cm to fill at the other end before it is finished. I have even found some fabric to line it with and turn it into the bag that it was always intended to be. So watch this space, this sampler will soon be finished!

A Wessex Band

Lately I have been moving on in my counted thread band sampler. This is the same one that has travelled more than me.

For this band I have chosen a Wessex band from the book "Wessex Stitchery" by Gay Eaton. I chose this band because it looked like little flowers, and was not quite as heavy as some of the others in the book. Using the pink as also helped to make it appear lighter, and it fits well with the other colours already in the sampler. Another reason I chose a Wessex band is to help cover up the "fix" I had to do. With lots of reweaving of broken threads. the tension of the weave has changed slightly. All these little flowers will help to hide them.

I have yet to finish the band, but is well on the way. I have one more row of flowers to finish, then I can outline them all and add in the green "trellis".

I love counted work, but this one had me stumped for a while. I found the counting a little difficult and hard to follow as a pattern, but I have now worked out my own  system of working so there are less mistakes. Hopefully this band will be finished soon and i can move on to the next one.

A Sampler Continues

This sampler began way back in late 2006 when I joined in on a round robin with an on-line stitching  group that I belong to. I have blogged about the beginnings, the trials, the fixes, & the additions before if you would all like to read the back story.

I have decided that 2015, (8 years since the beginning!) will be the year to finish this sampler and turn it into the carry bag that it was designed for. So I have pulled it out and am very slowly working on it.

Last year I added another very narrow band of needle-weaving. I had been working another sampler featuring needle-weaving borders, and thought I could work one on here. The ones that I had been working on the other sampler were a little wide to work in the space I had, so I just narrowed it down. I have worked it here in the same  hand dyed green that I used in my hardanger band.

Further up the sampler is my hardanger band, sitting alongside the gorgeous seahorses that were stitched by Margaret. I feel the two bands sitting side by side are a little heavy, and there is still quite a bit of white fabric between, so my aim is to fill the white space. I have always felt that the triangular spaces left by my hardanger needed to be filled, but with what? A spur of the moment decision led me to eyelets, so I added them in pink. Still a little heavy so I have started outlining them in green to help soften them. I will wait until I work them on the other side before I make a decision to add anything else. My mind is playing with ideas, including a very narrow straight band of some kind between my eyelets and Margaret's seahorses, and maybe something else light between the eyelets. Ideas from outside in the blogging world are welcome. Watch this space!

The Fix

Some of you might remember the counted thread band sampler round robin that I entered into way back in late 2006. Well, this was mine as it was returned to me. You can read my thoughts about this in this post.

 I have a motto that "everthing is fixable" (well almost everthing) and I have been deliberating on this one for a while. Now has come the time to share how I fixed my sampler.

Step 1. Identify the problem. In this case it was 4 broken threads in the fabric.

Step 2. Mark with thread where the broken threads are so they would be easilly found when required.

Step 3. Carefully remove the stitching. Appologies to the lady that did the stitching but it had to come out so I could get to those broken threads.I had to use my magnifier and  good light so I didn't do any more damage. The unpicking left a few holes from the stitching, but these will come out later either just with handling or by easing the threads back in place with a needle.

Step 4. Carefully un-weave (is there such a word?) the broken thread back to an anchor point. In this case the anchor point is the buttonhole stitch of the hardanger band. Care muxt be taken not to break the thread as it is removed as we need as much length  as possible. In this case I had only a few mm.

Step 5. Turn the work to the wrong side .

Step 6. Finish the end under some anchoring stitches. In this case the end was far too short to thread into a needle so I pulled it under with  a fine crochet hook. Ideally I would have liked to have done some double stitching in under that buttonhole stitching but the end was far to short for that. I'll settle with it just tucked underneath.

Step 7. The other end of the broken thread also has to be removed back to an anchor point. This was my initial delema as to where to take it back to. There was a  band of blackwork which wasn't really the best anchor point. I could have used it if I was desperate, but Mandy had kindly left me some space to work with so I worked a row of satin stitch to give me an anchor point. The row of satin stitch will be decorated at a later date.

Step 8. This time it was easy to to put that fabric thread into a needle & anchor it under the satin stitching.

Step 9.To replace that broken thread that I had removed, I took a thread from the side of the fabric. I'ts the same as what I just took out, only in one length, not broken.

Step 10. After threading that side thread into a needle, I anchored the end in underneath the buttonhole stitching.

Step 11. Then I very carefully wove it into the space that was vacated by the broken thread. Care had to be taken to go under and over in the right places to keep the weave correct.

Step 12. There was more anchoring to do at the other end once I had woven that thread back in.

This is that one broken thread all fixed. The weave is correct but my tension isn't the same as the original, it shows as a pulled thread. Hopefully over time with some handling, the fabric threads will work themselves around and it will be less noticeable. Having some stitching over the top will certainly help, but that is for another day. It is certainly better than no holes. In the process of fixing this one, I found another two, that makes six broken threads in all. Now to fix the other five (and any more that I find) and to think about what will go in the space.

At this point I would like to add that this fix is not suitable fo all mistakes. Each error has to be assessed in it's own surroundings to work out which is the best and least noticable way to.

Three cheers to my motto -  "Anything is Fixable" . Hip, hip hurrah.

A Sampler Re-Visited

I've been working slowly on my band sampler & have added another band. This is the sampler that was part of a round robin over the last 5 years, & came home with a problem.

The band I added is another blackwork one, one that I designed myself to go on another project. This time I only used part of the design, & played with alternating colours. The motifs have been placed in a row to form the band.

I think it has helped to bring the sampler together a little more & I am loving the overall look that is happening. You may have noticed that I have also removed some stitching ready to fix the delema I was left with when the sampler come home from it's world travels. The delema I was left with can be read about here. Now all that remains is to fix the broken threads & work out what I will place beside Mandy's fish. I do have a plan of how to fix it so watch this space & I will teach you how.

Round Robins - The Good & the Bad

Way back in late 2006 I signed up for a Counted thread round robin. In case no-one has noticed, counted thread work in it's many forms is one of my most favourite needlework types to do. At the time I was still doing a course which was taking all my time, so the group waited until the new year. That was the beginning of 2007, and there were 9 of us participating from all over the globe.

Today in the mail my sampler has finally arrived home, with only 5 people stitching on it including myself. The stitching is exquisite, and the introduction of the red colours are just amazing. They have made the sampler pop.

The stunning band on the left has been stitched by Norma, the gorgeous blackwork fish are by Mandy, and the fabulous seahorse & shells are by Margaret. Thank you so much girls for such beautiful & inspiring stitching. The hardanger panel is mine.

I have participated in RR's & swaps before & have learnt that you never know what you will end up with, so I decided right at the beginning that this was going to be made into a carry bag, that's why all the bands are going vertical. I would mount it to a backing, add some other fabric top & bottom, some handles & some lining, & I would have a usable article. Well, that was the plan, and hopefully it will still be the plan.

However, did anyone notice the two fine rows of blue & green? The lady who did these had so much trouble that she gave up , but it has left me with a problem.


With all the unpicking that went on, there are now three broken threads that I have to deal with. I have known about them for some time & said I would deal with it when the sampler came home. All the while I thought I would cut the fabric & add some faggotting, the type that joins two pieces of fabric together together. But I am faily certain I need to add a hem to do that, & the broken threads are way too close to my hardanger band.

I have thought about removing the offending broken threads & re-weaving others back in, but I need a place to start & finish. I think I can just cut them back to the hardanger buttonhole, then start a new one from under the buttonhole stitches, weave it in, & finish where? I can't take it all the way to the other end as there is such beautiful stitching in the path.

Anther idea I had is to scatter eyelets everywhere, but in reality I don't think they suit what I have.

A fourth thought was to cut each band apart and applique it seperately onto a backing fabric. Personally I don't think this would work either as there is very little room between my hardanger band & the damaged threads.

So I am appealing to all the stitchers out there as to how I can fix my problem. At this point in time it looks like it will be a case of removing the two lines of stitching, & designing a new band to allow for somewhere to end the old damaged threads & start a new one.

Any one got any other ideas? Feel free to add comments.

The Last RR Sampler

Look what arrived in the mail!. It is the last of the counted thread RR samplers for the Stitching Sisters Group that I have to work on. This one belongs to Margaret and I have ideas already for what I want to do. I have picked out colours of threads & sort of narrowed down a technique & a design, all I have to do now is graph it out & start stitching. So watch this space to see what eventuates.