A New Sampler almost finished

The past 4 weeks have flown by.  Taylor started 1st grade and her schedule is taking a bit to get used to.  I'm up at 6 a.m. now and for a night owl it's pretty brutal.  By 9:30 p.m. I have my pj's on and crawling into bed.....so lame.  Thankfully she loves school and is excited to get up before the sun to get ready.  But I do like the quiet mornings and on our walk to the bus stop we see hummingbirds and rabbits. I'm not a good early morning stitcher but I hope to get better.

And my husband has been home for almost 6 weeks recovering from arm surgery.  Ugh...I love him but he's totally messing up my schedule. Thankfully he just went back to work and the remote control is mine again. (Hopefully he doesn't read my blog : )

The Basketcases class in Illinois last month was a blast.  Taylor and I drove up to my sisters for the weekend and we all had a great time.  My sister joined us for the first day of class and she even made us some treats.  

The weekend after the Basketcases class I was on my way to Notforgotten Farm in Virginia.  The drive was beautiful and Lori's farm is so sweet.  I couldn't wait to meet her and the critters.  As soon as I pulled in I was greeted by dogs.....and I couldn't have been happier.  We have a small zoo of dogs here so I felt right at home.  And  the donkeys and chickens were just too cute.  I even got to meet the famous Iggy.  He's the sweetest little thing I've ever seen.....but he definitely has a little devilish side : )  I had such a great time at Lori's that it inspired a sampler.  Here is a sneak peek

Lori's farmhouse is so fantastic so I added that to the top.....her's is a wonderful white but white just wasn't going to show up on the linen I chose.  When I met the donkeys we fed them persimmons so I added plump persimmons that vine up the sides.  My first evening on the farm we saw the most beautiful full moon that glowed orange.....it was truly amazing.  I added a moon but it's a crescent so it didn't blend in with the persimmons.  Leading into Lori's shop is a garden surrounded by a fence a gate and an arbor.  And in that garden is the coolest old cauldron.  So, I absolutely had to have the cauldron (a witch is nothing without her cauldron : ) and I added an arbor too.  The scissors are a symbol of our friendship in stitching and both our initials are at the top around the house. 

And on my drive out to the farm I came across a sign for Black Hollow.  I thought that sounded pretty cool so I called this sampler Blackwater Hollow.

And I framed the sampler in the most fantastic frame that Lori's husband made.  It's amazing and a perfect fit for this sampler.

The sampler is now finished and framed and I'm putting the patterns together now.  Check back tomorrow to see pics of the finished sampler.  

The weekend after my trip to Notforgotten Farm my husband and I spent the weekend in downtown Chicago.  We had dinner with my sister and her husband and a group of friends.  We had a great time.  And before we left town we had lunch at Pizza Uno's (my hubbies fav) and I found the best little shop called POSH.  I bought 3 vintage maps of Paris (oh how I want to go!!!!)  I can't wait to frame them and put them in my bedroom so I can dream about Paris.  We also found a champagne bar called POP.  We were there on Sunday early afternoon so they weren't open yet.....too bad.  I'm going to gather up a few girlfriends and we're going back.

And we're not done yet.....next weekend we're going to the show at Malabar Farm......In the Spirit of Friends.  My husband is coming to help out and we're bringing Taylor along too.  She's pretty excited.  She likes to shop as much as I do : )  I just finished up the exclusive pattern for this years show.  But no sneak peeks.....I want it to be a surprise for those of you that will be at the show.  

Happy stitching my friends

Smiles, Stacy