December 28, 2008

Sampler Houses

I noticed when I was shooting Christmas pictures last week how many houses in Fredericksburg would serve as perfect models for sampler houses. I'd love to see the inside of this place--it looks somewhat unimproved, in possibly a good way. Or at least unembellished. There is a simple wreath on the door--no bells and whistles or bows, which makes me think that whoever lives there is a minimalist. Note the really nice weather vane on the house next door. Also note that the unwhite-washed bricks are the "weather" side of the house--we get most of our weather from the west, and the whitewash on that side may have been scrubbed off. I have a sampler in my WIPs that has a house that has bricks like this.

It looks a little like the house in "Meeting House Hill" (Carriage House Samplings). There's an interesting aspect to this sampler: some (the grass, the sea and larger items) is charted over 2, and some (the houses, sailboats) is over 1. I'm doing it on 32 count so I can see it.

I took this out of my stash. I'm fond of the simplicity of it (and the fact that it's a fairly quick stitch). This is a Sheepish Designs chart (also done over 32 count). I'd like to do a series of these, and although the designer has retired, there are still a lot of them around. I'd like to do 8 or 10 and frame them all the same and hang them in a row along one of our hallways. I don't like the flatness of the DMC for the large-ish blocks of color, so I've substituted GAST from my stash. The colors are a bit different, but I think that's ok.


Here's some progress on Dorothy's Garden: I managed to stitch most of the big flowers in the urn motif during these last few days.

Here's Buckaroo napping alongside some of my kitted up projects. I did a lot of shopping from my own stash while getting organized. I cannibalized HOHRH to kit up two other projects. At $4 a skein or so, it doesn't make sense to have all that AVAS just sitting there in a bag. If I get around to finishing HOHRH, I'll buy it again, block by block if necessary; I'd like to think of it as a just-in-time-inventory system. Some of the designs I've kitted up this weekend include Janet Gibson (in the bag--NPI silks that I've gathered as I've gone along) and True Virtue (the loose skeins of AVAS). I also went to the library and got a half-dozen books I've been wanting to read. I work just 3 days this week and don't start new courses at school until the first week of February. You'll probably be relieved that there aren't so many pictures and I'm not so long-winded when I get back to "normal!"

"Don't you guys want to do something other than nap? I'm booooored."

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Love the picture of the home in Fredricksburg. Very lovely. Your rabbits are adorable! Sounds like you have a lot of fun planned for your time off. Enjoy!

Friend of the Animals said...

That is such a beautiful brick house. Wouldn't see anything like that here.

I can't believe your cat doesn't get into that string. Mine sure would. I'm able to leave some craft stuff out, but not string.

Daffycat said...

Oh, I love that house!

There used to be an old abandoned brick hotel in a town near me. I loved it and used to daydream about buying it and fixing it up as a house. Last year, they tore it down...I nearly cried!

RG said...

My kind of house ... VERY few windows to clean!

Oh Oh .. three rabbits together ... something bad this way comes!!!!!

Ann (bunnygirl) said...

I love older houses like that. It makes me nostalgic for New England.

Joy said...

I love that house! I didn't see it when I was in Fredericksburg in Oct. Where was it hiding? I guess I'll just have to go back! Did you happen to see Mary Washington's house?
You are not alone in your cannibalization of HoHRH for floss. I'm a great one for your JIT inventory system. What a hoot! (Brings back thoughts of managerial accounting class.)
Very nice Sheepish designs, too. She was one of my favorites.
In all, a wonderful post!

Tammy said...

Sweet buns! Yep, there's lots of homes that would be great sampler houses aren't there? Can you believe the weather here???

The Scarlett House said...

I'd like to live in that house. I hope you get farther along on Meeting House Hill than I did. I started it on 40ct. Dumb, dumb idea! Too much over one and I got frustrated. I need to start again on 32 or 34. "Dorothy" is looking great!

Kit said...

The brick house is beautiful, as are your selection of samplings. That is a wonderful idea to line the hallway, I can’t wait to see the result. I hope you and your family have a happy New Year

Anonymous said...

Happy new year to all of you from all of us here!!

I love your bonded trio.. very much envious, too :D I have hopes of bonding my pair to Hans.. but they are still very aggressive towards the poor little guy. Someday.. someday..

mainely stitching said...

Oh those are some really gorgeous houses. Love it when art imitates life so well.

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