Jenny Bean No More

My title sounds like I lost Jenny Bean's Christmas Sampler, but fortunately that is not the case (though I remember with a shudder my temporary loss of Sew Spooky). As I came into the home stretch on JB, I realized that I didn't want someone else's name on my work. Maybe this is why I haven't yet tried stitching a reproduction sampler, in spite of often gazing with envy at the beautiful work of others. I've never changed anything before, other than floss colors, but with a little bit of guilt, I charted my initials instead of the name, and added the little motifs on either side. While I was at it I made a few other alterations - I didn't like the eyelet B, so I made up another letter style, and I changed the block shapes on the front of the barn (I'm into symmetry, I guess). I dated the sampler with the current year. Oh, and I removed the extra W and X in the alphabet - I couldn't figure out why they were there other than to fill in space, but I think it looks okay without them. So here's my version of Jenny Bean's Christmas Sampler, sans the final border - I ran out of Rose Garden and had to order another skein - don't you hate when that happens?

I've done a few other little things lately - this is Blue Moon, a freebie by Brightneedle:

And here's August's owl:

Last but not least, I was lucky to get to sign up for the iStitch Mystery SAL, and just completed Part 1 this afternoon. It's my first project with 40 count linen, and I'm using HDF Beleaved - the greens are a little darker than they show up in the picture. I'm so excited to be participating in this, and am determined to keep up!

The only other thing I'm working on right now is Snow White, by Little House Needleworks, which I'm actually stitching in blue. But I just kitted up a project that will be my first foray into using black linen, which may make for some interesting challenges. I hope to get started on that one soon.