A finish.

I picked up Little House Needlework's 'Be Merry-Belle Pepper' on the spur of the moment while between 'A Year In Chalk' pieces.

I worked on it a little here and there then decided to finish it this past weekend.

This is where I started the weekend....

...and this is where I ended.

I replaced the name at the bottom of the sampler with the word 'Christmas' as charted in the pattern as an alternative.  The name 'Belle Pepper' just seemed weird.

I did leave the year of 1823 since I have no artistic skill or vision and couldn't decide on an alternative.

In the end I like how all the colors came together and look forward to getting it framed.

Happy Stitching.

Pam

As promised.

Boy, is today a bad day for photography.  Dark and rainy.

But, here goes.

Every now and again I pick up something small then it takes me ages to finish it because I set it aside again.  However it happens...the first two are just random pieces I had in the works that I've finished in recent days.

Reindeer Snow Globe by Bent Creek.  I still need to add a button and some beads.

Pie is a Lizzie Kate Boxer Jr kit.

And FINALLY!!

12 A Year in Chalk pieces DONE.

I have printed the instructions to finish these so they can be displayed on their plaque and be swapped out monthly.  No guarantee as to how long that will take me!


Pam

I have finishes...but first a book.

A couple years ago I discovered an author that I really liked.  Jennifer Haigh.  I read Faith when it first came out in 2011.  I learned of it from one of my favorite book blogs...Bloggin' 'bout Books'  (Thanks Susan.)  So, imagine my surprise when I discovered I'd read two of her previous books:  Baker Towers and Mrs. Kimble.

To my further surprise...I actually owned Baker Towers! I rarely buy or keep books.  Well, that's not totally true...I buy them but only keep the ones I really like.  But what I remembered of Baker Towers was that it was a story that didn't go anywhere exciting.  It followed the lives of one family in a mining town in central Pennsylvania.  Could I have been shallow enough to have kept it because I love the cover?  I suspect that I really kept it because I loaned it to two different people so it was off my shelves for some time.

(Photo from Amazon.  The book has a new cover but this audio version has the same cover as mine.)

Anyway, knowing now that I loved Haigh's writing (I have since read The Condition) I thought maybe I'd re-read Baker Towers.  Apparently this is the year of re-reading books because I've re-read 5 so far this year.

On my second reading I discovered an entirely different story.  Yes, the family saga was interesting enough but a little dull all on its own.  What I found this time was the story of the boom and bust of the town of Bakerton.  These few sentences made me stop dead in my tracks:  

     The town wore away like a bar of soap.  Each year, smaller and less distinct, the letters of its name fading.  The thing it had been became harder to discern.

     Whole neighborhoods went up for sale.

What I have come to realize is that I am fascinated by how easily a town can go from a boom town to a bust.  In preparing for a presentation on the subject a number of years ago I watched Walmart: The High Cost of Low Prices  and Crawfort with fascination.  Both stories are sad, sad, sad.

I am not recommending Baker Towers because it is sad because I really did not find the story sad.  I am recommending, if you haven't already read Jennifer Haigh, that you seek out a book or two and settle in for a wonderfully written story.


And, honestly, I HAVE FINISHES.  I just have to run an errand before the furnace repair man arrives.  And then I will photograph several little stitching projects.

Happy rainy day reading.

Pam


   
 

Framed.

Sweet Land of Liberty by Sue Hillis has been framed.

In fact, it's been double framed.

Such a nice touch.

I haven't found a good spot for it yet.  The framer said I had to promise to keep it up year round.  I'm not so sure I can find it a year-round home, though.  I can hang it in my sewing room so it won't be completely hidden away.  In the summer I can find it a more prominent spot to showcase it.

My last Year in Chalk is almost finished.  I just need an hour or so then I can start considering how to finish all 12 so they can be changed monthly on their plaque.

Pam

So close.

I am so close to being finished with A Year In Chalk.  I have about half of the November piece to stitch.

Although it's out of sequence....

December is done.  The only change I've made to any of these patterns is to remove the white outline from the holly berries and I made the wreath on the door green.

Another rainy afternoon or two and I'll have November finished.

Pam