Stuff

My homework load has become heavy enough that I've restricted myself to stitching on this while it still amuses me. I love it to bits, but I'm finding that it just eats fiber. I'm running out of some of the AVAS colors that I use most frequently--the tan for the house bricks, the most-used green in the border/grass and the medium pink, in particular--and I'm concerned about having enough of some of the other colors as well. My LNS is out of them, so I'll have to go online. AVAS can be difficult to get quickly, so I hope it doesn't hold me up. I'm doing it over two on 32 count with one strand, by the way, Michelle--your over-one commitment would sink me. It's working up to be a big sucker, which I'm thrilled about; I have lots of empty walls in this house.

The big picture:

You stitchers may already have seen this; it's "The Sailor's Wife," by Brenda Keyes of the Sampler Company, her newest design. I ordered it directly from her website, and it came from the UK in about 10 days. I can't say enough nice things about her wonderfully charted designs and the little extra touches that make her stuff so nice to work on: the full-color photo of the completed design instead of a blurry copy, and the extra piece of instructions with a little list you can put in your purse when you go buy fiber, and the large, large charts. This is her picture.

And here's an enlargement of part of the picture, so you can see it more clearly. It is charted for DMC, not my favorite fiber, so I may substitute GAST and Crescent Colours or NPI silks. It's also large; on 32 ct. cream Belfast linen, the design is 26.5 x 8 inches.

I've ordered a couple of traditional sampler charts from ebay, and I'm anxious to see what comes back from the Nashville show as well.

I've been spending a lot of time online at home lately, doing my homework. In order to take a mental break, I'll read your blogs, then when I run out of those, I go to "1stDibs.com," which is my new obsession. In particular, I like to visit on Saturday morning when they have their reduced-price "garage sale" listings. 1st Dibs specializes in the sale of some pretty spectacular mid-century modern furniture (dear to my heart), but it has a fair number of antiques of all types, including folk art, quilts and samplers. The listings are from a group of a large number of very nice antiques dealers. The prices are uniformly high, but the stuff's really nice--once-in-a-lifetime kind of stuff. I love this piece. It's a French silk weaving loom that has been repurposed into a table. Unfortunately, it's not even in the realm of possibility for me; it's $22,000. Do I think it's worth it? Yes, actually I do, in a way that a $22,000 assembly line car is not, whatever the car's utility. To me, it's that perfect object at the intersection of art and history. It's unique. (If you check the site out, use the number "1," not the word "first.") M. Finkel and Daughter is one of the 1st Dibs dealers, although there are not a lot of antique samplers represented there. There are at the M. Finkel site though!

Of course, refreshingly, even in the world of fine art and antiques, we have those pieces you just scratch your head over. This for example. It's "found art." Specifically it's Bud Light bottlecap art. It's $1750. Go figure. I'm not sure if the mouse comes with it or not. Edited to add: It doesn't have a name, this little scupture, so I'll think of it as "This Bun's for You."

Back to my homework, and to take a few minutes to whip the house into shape--gotta dash! Our friend at Houseful of Rabbits is laid up after having his rotater cuff repaired. Get well soon, RG!