At last!

I have finally gotten a "good start" on my Mary Wigham Sampler. I do not say that in jest. This is at least the fourth start I've done. The first was begun over-one on 32 ct Creme Irish Linen which I wasn't all that fond of but which is a nice fabric. But since after 50+ years of stitching I still can't count I botched the first motif so many times I thought I might actually quit. At some point when I had that motif totally frogged out and had set the design aside in frustration I was looking through my stash for something else and finally ran across the perfect fabric for Mary. I had really wanted a fabric that looked 'old' or had an 'old time' feel to it and I found a flea-market-find which reminded me of the tea dyed sheets I started stitching on when I was five years old. Again, I had to frog out the entire first motif at least twice. When I eventually got that first one right the next three motifs just went by in a breeze. So finally, here is my first bit of progress. I'm using Melissa's over-dyed conversion, but when I put in the "SH" initials using GAST Lambswool it did not show up at all, as you can see in the photo. That gives me little hope for GAST Shaker White and GAST Flax, so all three of those threads will probably be changed as soon as I can find replacements.

EDIT: Sorry, I forgot to tell you I'm using a backwards tent stitch, which Grandma called the "cheating stitch for small stitching stitch" for lazy stitchers like me. You just put in the second half of your cross stitch, that is so that it looks like the normal "top" of a cross stitch and if the fabric is high-count and you don't look too close it 'looks like' it's 'cross stitched'. Since I am lazy, I love this stich (LOL).

Yoyo Progress 1 -- Mary Wigham Sampler
40 ct Lakeside Linens Vintage Light Examplar
Over-dyed Conversion Threads (by Melissa)

Happy Stitching,