Saturday, August 29, 2015

The end is near!!

on Manifesto!!  Hooray!!  This is definitely the most humongous sampler I have ever stitched!!  I did do Dutch Beauty, which is as large, but not solidly stitched like Manifesto.  I am in awe of how Marsha Parker of Scarlet Letter ever designed this sampler.  I still have about a week of filling in to do, as you can see.  Then I'll have to wash it, after being handled for two years, I'm sure it's very dirty and full of cat hair!


This picture is an 18th century needlework that I believe was probably the inspiration for Manifesto.


For size comparison, here is Dutch Beauty.


The next time you see Manifesto, it will be framed and hanging on the wall.  Here is an old, cheap frame from the junk store that is practically the perfect size.  I just have to add a couple of rows of background to make it fit.  Maybe I'll paint it antique gold, what do you think?  Or grain-painting?
I'm so happy I found this frame, it was only a couple of dollars.  That's basil perpetual behind it.

So, summer's almost over.  This has been a cool and rainy summer.  Unlike most people, I think it was wonderful!  I hate the heat!!  I haven't had to water the gardens the entire summer, until now, since we are finally having a dry spell.  Most of the potted annuals were just drowned out and have been pulled up, but here is Supertonic Bubble Gum Pink, as recommended by Marly of  http://samplers-and-santas.blogspot.com.  They are going strong and have been lovely all year.  I will definitely buy these next year!!


The new header at the top is a band from my new sampler, Mary Ann Mitton, available on the sidebar.

Tomorrow we'll be celebrating my dear Mother's 89th birthday!  She had been really sick for the past month with a nasty case of bronchitis, and is still weak, but on the mend!

Melinda
xxx

9 comments:

  1. Happy birthday to your mom! Hope she regains her strength and gets to feeling well soon! Your samplers......oh my. My Bubblegum was almost dead from the rain and then took off like a rocket. BIG!!

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  2. Wow, Manifesto is nearly finished. And you already have a frame for it.

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  3. Woohoo for you, both samplers are beautiful and lots of work. Happy birthday to your mom and hope she's feeling better

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  4. Melinda ~
    First of all, happy, happy birthday to your mom. I hope she feels better and better.
    Manifesto. What can I say? Breathtaking comes to mind. So does unbelievable, gorgeous, fantastic...
    How lucky to have found that frame!!!
    Beautiful flowers, too.
    Hugs :)
    Lauren

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  5. Happy birthday MOM, hope your feeling better in time for birthday cake it always makes me feel much better! Melinda your Manifesto is amazing and done all while charting and stitching your own reproductions, it must be all the extra time you saved by not having to water the gardens this summer well done!!!! I vote on grain painting the frame, but maybe leave that worn gold edge on it for a touch of worn elegance.

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  6. Happy birthday to your mother! wow Melinda... your work is always so incredible and Manifesto takes the cake! (but hopefully not the birthday cake. : ) I am so impressed and this motivates me also that maybe I can do Manifesto (if it took you two years it will take me four but still so worth it : )

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  7. Happy Belated Birthday to your mother! Hope she enjoyed her day! Holy cow that's a lot of stitches on Manifesto! Bravo...it's magnificent!
    Robyn

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  8. That is fabulous! I recommend a grained frame. My mom is also 89, bless them both!

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  9. Your Manifesto is amazing! May I ask you how you washed and dried it? And were you worried about the colors running at all? Wishing your mother a belated birthday! Mom's are so precious - hope she is feeling much better!

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