Tuesday, December 20, 2005

Karen's Amazing Generosity

Several months ago, my friend Karen, who owns Dragonfly Dreams in the Blue Mountains of Australia, asked me if she could borrow some of the many Just Nan samplers I have stitched over the years. I have stitched many, but framed only two (sound familiar??). She was about to attend a needlework show and wanted to display some, as well as later use them as models in her shop. They were just sitting in a drawer in the bureau in one of our spare bedrooms, so I sure did not mind sending them to her. Today I got them back - framed! What an unbelievable job her DH, Bren, did with the framing on these samplers!!!!!!!! What amazing generosity! I did not care when I ever saw these again, as I trust Karen. I am over the moon over the results, and I want to share them with you. Now mind you, it is winter here so the photos were taken inside the house and the flash bounced off some of them, and in at least one of them you can see my Christmas tree's lights in the reflection. Oh well, sorry!! I am posting them in Blogger's smallest size to save space, but you can click on them to see them bigger.

Ebony Rose


Flowers of Joy


Lady Scarlet's Journey


With My Needle


Now comes the fun of deciding where to hang all of these lovely samplers in my home!! Each and every mat and frame Karen and Bren selected for me is just perfect!!! Wow! I am quite sure that Mike and I have two very, very good friends in Karen and Bren!

And... one little bit of stash today... Issue 150 of Mary Hickmott's New Stitches. I don't buy this magazine, as I have never been attracted to it. But I love the marquoir featured in this one. Now it seems I have to collect Issue 151 as well, as the marquoir is divided into two issues... fortunately, I believe Issue 151 is at Barnes & Noble right now, so next time I am out and about running errands in Manchester, I will pick it up...
And, here is my little installment this week on the Garden Spot Sampler. Blogger pics wasn't working when I tried to post it, so I used Photobucket - sorry you cannot enlarge this pic...

It is New DVD Release Tuesday again - and it was a big one! We got The Brothers Grimm (Just watched it, excellent), Must Love Dogs and Serenity.

Well, it appears tht Johnny Damon could really care less about Red Sox Nation and he is off to the dreaded Yankees next year (well, for four years, they say...) - sooooo... I am so mad my stomach flipped over. If anyone knows anyone... with or without baseball experience... who would like a job.... please ask them to call The Boston Red Sox... we could use all the help we can get. No shortstop, no center fielder... really, no General Manager either. You won't see many blog updates on the Red Sox from me this year - I hate the management right now.

Stitched on today: Garden Spot Sampler

14 comments:

Jenny said...

Those samplers are all really beautiful - excellent framing and stitching! I especially like "Ebony Rose". :)

Carina said...

These turned out gorgeous!!! Karen is such a neat person. When David and I go back to Aus in July to visit the family, I am going to make sure we head out to Katoomba again for a visit at her shop! (If you want to send anything over to Karen, I'll be happy to take it for you!) :)

Leslie aka zoeandcooper said...

What great friends you have, Carol. They did a beautiful job framing all of your pieces.

I am glad to hear that I was not the only one sucked in by that issue of New stitches. I saw that same piece and knew I had to have it!

BeckySC said...

WOW! Excellent framing jobs on all your lovely pieces!

Bastet said...

Wow! That was really nice of Karen and her husband to frame the pieces for you. I love Ebony Rose the best of them all.

Jenn said...

Oohhh Carol the samplers are beautiful! Do you know where you are going to hang them in the house? Serenity is on my list to get along with the box set of Firefly. I want watch the show then check out the movie (but I've heard you don't have to watch the show to see the movie).

I'm so sick over Johnny right now I just don't know what to do. I found out just before I went to bed last night. All I feel is sick...What's next Manny?? David & Jason will be all we will have left. Oohhh yeah and Trot can't forget him. *grin*

mainely stitching said...

Wowsie, wow! What a wonderfully generous gift from your friend! They all look so beautiful - what a lovely dilemma to have to decide where to hang them!

Unknown said...

Wow the framing is amazing on those pieces, what a great friend Karen is!

Sorry you're discouraged about the Red Sox, hopefully things will look better as the season approaches.

Schokti said...

Fantastic framing, Carol! Your friends did an incredible job. What a lucky girl you are! I bet you are chomping at the bit to get those hung - I know I would!

Kitty Couture said...

Wow Carol - those samplers are all stunning and their frames match their beauty!! Your friend Karen and her DH are wonderful friends indeed!

Unknown said...

Wow! What an amazing gift your friends gave you by framing each of those pieces with such care. All are beautiful.

Kiwi Jo said...

Awesome framing for awesome stitching. What a lovely thing for Karen and her hubby to do for you!

Dani - tkdchick said...

Carol what a treat to get all those pieces framed!!!

Bine said...

Oh Carol, your stitching and the framings are so wonderful. I love this samplers!
Do you hang all your stitched pieces at the same time or do you hang just a few and change them from time to time? ( I hope you understand what I mean ;-)) ) And do you hang your things all around in the house or just in one or two special rooms? Nosy me ;-)