Tuesday, October 25, 2016

Betsy is sharing her finish of Serenity Harbor


The piece was stitched by Betsy Minor who is a client and stitcher at Country Cupboard in Orland Park, IL. She changed the colors of the flowers and large house to yellow which complements the piece nicely. The "finishing" was done by Karen Jablonski of "Averyclaire NeedleArts" . She added a matching cotton backing, handmade cording and hand painted dowel and finials. 
And I have to say it looks beautiful....I love the changes and the finish with a dowel hanger is wonderful....Thank you Betsy & Karen for sharing.




Monday, October 10, 2016

Lori has finished!! Yeah and thank you for sharing

Lori is sharing her finished work on Serenity Harbor. She stitched it on 28ct Lugana over (1).
Beautiful framing also......THANK YOU so much Lori for sharing with us.....Great job!!

Monday, January 11, 2016

Thank you

Today I received my needle books pieces, thank you Donna! It's so darn cute

Tuesday, January 5, 2016

Barbara's FINISH!!

Barbara wanted to share her finished piece with us.   She added her initials and the year.... Just BEAUTIFUL.....she is waiting for her framer to get back and then it will be totally finished.....Thank you Barbara for sharing with us.....wonderful job!!

Monday, December 21, 2015

All done

In time for Christmas I finally took the last stitches an my sampler is finished. I´m so happy that I took the chance to be part of this embroideryadventure.
Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year to all of you.

Thursday, December 17, 2015

Roses are all done


Well, the roses are all done - I'm delighted!  I think that the line outline is going to be Tudor Silk Deep Blue Sea - - - or Green? - - or Aubergine?

Sunday, December 6, 2015

Decisions decisions






Well, that was difficult!  I think that all the finishing options are lovely - so the choice was a tough one.  I have opted for the roses because I think they make a lovely splash of rich reds at the bottom.  Have not added the flowers/grass detail as I may change the colours for that when I finish the roses.  I also decided that she preferred mauve for her dress - and will add some french knots to the hem of the dress.
The last decision left is what to use for the border back stitch line - - -

Sunday, November 22, 2015

Photo share form Barbara

Barbara's Progress

Barbara's Progress
Barbara has shared her progress and it is beautiful. She has some changes and made it truly her own Sampler.  Thank you Barbara for sharing with us :)
donna 

Monday, November 2, 2015

Serenity Update from me.....

We are getting close to the end of our sampler and my intention was to have the revised section 11 available on the blogs for the free download. This was made for the people that have been fabric short :(. These are the alternate bottoms that can be used by everyone if you like. 
I will post the free sections 11 and 12 at the same time in December on the Serenity Harbor Blogs. I hope you understand that I do have them designed but I have to make adjustments with the symbols and then print and download. I am so busy at the moment with the kits….but I promise these alternative bottoms will be available in December….hopefully on the 2nd 
Thank you and have a great week of stitching
Donna

Saturday, October 31, 2015






Panel 10 is all done - and I have managed to catch up on the trim, so fences, leaves and flower beds are up to date too.  Looking forward to Panel 11 and starting to think about which option I will choose for Panel 12 - big decision!

Thursday, October 1, 2015

Panel 9 - phew!!








Goodness - - finished just by the skin of my teeth this month!  I made a HUGE mistake with the big house, the two leaves and the river - - had to take it all out (over-1 stitching - - ghastly!!!) - brush all the linen to get the silk fibre bits off and start it all over again.  I haven't had the chance to add the final details to the leaves and fences - but hopefully I'll get the chance to do them during next month IF I don't make another mistake.  Now off to have a good stiff drink and recover!

Monday, September 7, 2015

The short fabric fix is here

Good Day
Here is my note detailing the short fabric dilemma
This is a note for all, we have had a problem for some stitchers……. their fabric might not be long enough for the finished design. It was mentioned on Facebook that I gave the cutting dimensions for the fabric to be cut and I did not…….I did agree though that a piece of 32ct linen cut with a length of 40.5 inches  being stitched over (2)  should be enough fabric with 5.7 inches extra and that is just short of 3 inches.
I did give the design area dimensions for all stitch counts on the floss supply list that you received when you started the project. It was up to the person cutting your fabric to decide on a cut size.
The problem seems to be with fabric that was from Fabric Flair but this could happen to other fabrics also. With this said the only conclusion I have come to is that the fabric might state 32 threads to the inch when in fact it does not have 32 threads in an inch …..Even only 1 thread short for every inch would make the fabric size off with such a large design.
I did contact Fabric Flair Aug 21st and was told they would get back to me and I have not received anything as of today.
So I am making sure that whoever this has happened to will still be able to finish the design and not have to start again….that would be terrible……..so I have redesigned the bottom of the sampler.
Here is the first alternative
This one has 24 stitches less than the original (original ct is 557)
Stitch Count: 533……..  
·        take 557 (original)div by 16 if using 32ct fabric =34.8 inches
·         Take 533 (new #1) div by 16…………….…………….=33.3 inches
·         You will save 1.5 inches





This is the second Alternative
This one has 41 stitches less that the original. (Original ct is 557)
Stitch count: 516……..
·         take 516 div by 16 if using 32ct fabric =32.25 inches
·         You will  save 2.55 inches (from the original)



Since I have designed these to fix a fabric mistake and since more people would like to stitch an alternative other than just the people that have short fabric…..I will not be collecting names but offering them to everyone, ..... they will be available as a PDF ………….I will not be printing them.
I will have a link on the Serenity Harbor Blogs for the files when the time arrives for their release.

If you are a shop owner and your customers are interested please refer them to the blog/blogs for the files that they can print, 
There will still be sec 11 and 12 for the first alternative and for the second alternative there will only be a section #11.
Even though creating two new design alternatives has involved several additional design hours and pulling my hair out (hopefully just the grey ones) there is no additional charge should you decide to print a PDF alternative section. The project price will remain at $72.00, even if you choose to print off section 11 and 12 you are still responsible for the original price. 
I hope this will address any issues that may exist. Bless you all!! And Happy Labor Day
Warmly

Donna 

Thursday, September 3, 2015

8th part is done

I finished the 8th part just in time. Now the 9th part is waiting to be started.

Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Progress from Lori and Selda

Here are some photos from Lori and Selda, just beautiful, thank you for sharing.....any one else want me to share for you....please email me with a photo.....I would love to do this for you
have a great day
Stitching by SELDA

28 count Lugana over 1 with called for fibers
stitching by LORI

Monday, August 31, 2015

PLEASE READ, Section 8 and 9 large leaves



Just a heads up :)
For the large tree in section 8 and 9 the leaves are not showing the full straight stitches. I have made a copy of these sections together for you. See photo below.....if you would like to print this for yourself you can either click on the picture below, save it to your computer and print or click on the words  PDF FILE and you will be directed to a larger picture so you can print it for yourself from there. 


Thought I would share this before you got to the straight stitching sections on the trees :)
No stress ....... just relaxing and enjoy your stitching
donna 

Thursday, August 27, 2015

Panel 8 is done






I've just finished Panel 8 - except for the flowers, the fence trim and the veins in the leaves, but still deciding on which thread to use for them.  More importantly I took the bottom off the Millenium frame and have basted down the left hand side to double check that I have enough space for either the original plan or the alternative plan and still plenty of border space too - yay!!

Finally, a Part 6 Finish!

  For some reason, it seems like this part took FOREVER!  And I feel like I am entitled to a happy dance now that it is finished!!


I wasn't sure about adding the back-stitching yet but I felt I had to since my sheep looked really funny without it!! I did change the color of the pasture to Sampler Threads Endive to give it a little oomph.
  Moving on to something else for a while but I love this stitch and can't see it put aside for too long!

Laura
http://llknbillburg.blogspot.com/

Monday, August 24, 2015

Alternate bottoms will be included for everyone :)

No need to start sending me names and addresses, I have just decided to include the alternate bottom designs for everyone, :), for shop customers and my PDF customers too

Friday, August 21, 2015

Concern for fabric that might be to short :(

I have some people that are using the Serenity Harbor 32ct linen Fabric from Fabric Flair. The cut of 40.5 inches is looking Ike it might be to short. There should have been 5.7 inches left over from the length which would be a little short of 3 inches extra for the top and bottom....but is still not working out correctly...I believe there might not  actually be 32 threads per inch in the fabric and people are starting to notice they will be coming up short at the end. ..so I have made an alternate design for this issue.....we don't want to stitch all over again :(
Here is a photo of the alternate design that I have decreased by 24 stitches.....the original design has a stitch count of 557 and the alternate has a stitch count of 533......which if you are using 32ct this will give you an extra 1.5 inches.....If anyone thinks they might need this alternate please email me and I will gather names and email addresses. I am going to work on one more alternate.....that could take of more length....I just need more time. We will work all things out for good....no worries :)

Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Block 5 is Finished

Finally finished block 5 yesterday on Serenity Harbor. Lots of solid stitching but it is enjoyable to do on a very hot day inside with the A/C going. I love Serenity Harbor. I have blocks 6 7 and 8 so I won't be running out on this one anytime soon. We broke a record here with the 106 F heat so staying inside and stitching was incentive to finish stitching on the water in block 5.    My dh says this looks like where he lived in Camden, Maine and I just need to get him to go there with me for a visit now.  I have never been to the New England area and would love to go.  If not for the winters there, I would love to live there.