My Private Collection

I've had many discussions on various forum threads regarding the pieces I've stitched for myself that are currently hanging in my home. Some of these have taken me YEARS to complete, in between working on various other projects. Today I thought I would finally share them with you. None of these are for sale, as they all mean something to me. The price would definitely have to be right for me to ever part with them, and there aren't too many collectors that are willing to pay HUNDREDS of dollars for a framed cross stitch.

Please excuse the quality of the photos. Once a piece has been framed and is behind glass it becomes more difficult to photograph.

This first piece is one of the first full cross stitches I've ever completed and the first one to be framed. I'm sure everyone can tell that it was a birth sampler I stitched for my son. I started it when I was pregnant, and we just won't discuss the fact that it wasn't finished until 1996. It used to hang in my son's room until he was about 11 and then decided he was too old for it and took it down. As I have no place to hang it at my new house, I keep it safely boxed with other valuables to one day give back to him when he's married & has kids of his own.
This next piece is the first one I ever designed with my PC program for cross stitch design. As you can tell, it's very simple. I was just trying to learn how to use the program, etc. It may be simple, but the quote from Charles Dickens is one that I try to live by daily. This piece is also one of the patterns I have available for purchase in my Etsy shop. If you click on the picture, it will take you to the shop where you can see much better pics of this piece.
This next piece is one I thought was appropriate not only for my husband, but one I stitched on our vacations at a fishing lodge on the French River in Ontario, Canada. They writing on it says "Early to bed, early to rise. Fish all day and make up lies." Now tell me, what fisherman doesn't that saying not fit?!? One of the things I really liked about this piece is the wood looking frame I chose. It just reminds me of old driftwood you would find on a beach somewhere. Rather appropriate for a fishing theme.

Until this year, I had been a member of the Stan Hywet Needlework Guild. This piece was the 2nd piece I entered into their annual Stitchery Showcase. Needless to say, when I walked down the stairs into the auditorium and found that I had received a blue ribbon, I cried like a little baby! I was completely overwhelmed, as there was approximately 80 entries into my judging category, and I took first place. The title to this piece is Harmony & Tranquility and it currently hangs in my dining room.

When you talk about YEARS to stitch a piece, this is another great example. It took me over 10 years to finish this one. Granted I lost the original set of directions and eventually had to write to the company to get a replacement so I could finish it. I originally started stitching this piece to hang in my bedroom 2 houses ago. I had no clue when I finally got it done it would be the perfect piece to hang above my couch in the living room. When I was in The Guild, they liked for you to have a minimum of one entry per year. This was one of my entries. I was cutting it really close to deadline to have it to the framers. The last thing I had to stitch was some leaves that were done with the lazy daisy stitch, which I had never done before. I took an extra piece of fabric and did them over & over until I felt comfortable with them and they looked like the pictures I had seen. When it came time to do them on my actual piece, it was like I was back to square one and had never made them before. I got to the point I was so frustrated and was out of time, I just took the picture that came with the kit and back-stitched leaves on to look the same. This was one of those times that evidently the judges had never seen this pattern and didn't realize I should have used lazy daisy stitches because I earned a blue ribbon on this piece also!
My last piece I'm going to share with you is also one of the patterns I have available for sale in my shop. I love sunflowers! They are always so bright & happy looking and there is something about them that brings a smile to my face. This piece didn't receive ANY ribbons when I entered it into The Showcase, but that's OK. It hangs at the bottom of my stairs and I see it every morning when I get out of bed. What a way to start the day. If you click on this pic, it will take you to the item in my shop where better pics are also available.
I think this is probably the longest blog post I've ever done. I hope you've enjoyed getting a look at some of the pieces I've enjoyed stitching that hang in my home for me to share with my family & friends on a daily basis.