I am Praysing the Needle!

After admiring the Needle’s Prayse designs for years and actually kitting up one, I kitted up another (for a good reason) and got it going. Virtue Outshines the Stars has a copyright of 1984, which was in the early days of the current reproduction sampler movement. I’ve completed the top border of Queen Stitch flowers and the upper alphabet of Algerian Eyelet letters and numbers (including an ampersand!). There is a Queen Stitch in the middle of each grape. The colors are so soft and pretty. I’m stitching it on Zweigart cream 32-count Belfast linen and it’s taking up the full fat quarter of fabric.
And it’s one of the 100 Legendary Samplers made up some years ago, though I really think that list should be updated.


                   

Because of the age of my pattern, there was one funny little quirky problem. Do you see it?

     

Yes, the original pattern was published in black and white. Notice the symbols on the flower. The inter stitches are all the same color. What about the outer stitches on the flower. What color are THEY supposed to be? Because they are right next to each other on the Color Code, I decided the designer meant 758 (the orientation on the next flower pulls that into play) and it looks good. But truthfully, we can change anything we like on our own pieces. 

And why didn’t I start the pattern I’d already kitted up? It’s the Cranberry Sampler (also on the legendary sampler list above) kitted in silks, which means it has to go on scroll rods. I wanted a project I could do on a hoop, which means it has to be washed and ironed and that means cotton floss. A trip to Joann’s with a coupon and linen out of my stash and I was ready to start! I did have a recent conversation with a teacher recently about the washing silk thing and she told me that many silks will survive washing. She suggested that I test it by stitching some of each silk onto a piece of my fabric, wash and iron it as I normally do, and check for bleeding. She does that herself. This makes silk thread more attractive to me since I feel quite strongly about being able to wash my piece when I’m finished. Hmm....