Thursday, February 25, 2010

Yep, There's a Whole Lotta Stitching Going On!

So after many, many days of cold and rain, remember this is North West Florida, not the North East, the temperature started getting back into a somewhat bearable range and the sun came out. I took that as an opportunity to take my current WIP out to the porch for some sun, some natural vitamin D absorption, and just to basically prove to the neighbors that I was not in fact a vampire who couldn't leave her house for fear of turning to ash, although I'm pretty sure the three sons have been wishing for a house to fall on me, it's been one of those months, if you know what I mean.

I scored the wooden bowl as part of a set at a local thrift shop that is standing room only almost every single day. It's really crazy. I figured they must be selling crack to old folks but turns out they have an interesting inventory and occaisionally I find something kind of off the beaten path. These bowls have a colorful rooster painted in them and there's a bigger bowl too. I'll take a picture in the next day or two because I got the large bowl and four small ones for $2. Can't beat that! They work really well for holding bobbins of floss for projects that don't use more than say ten colors.


Does every sampler stitcher let out a deep sigh when they reach the section of border where you hope and pray the stitches meet up properly? I was so happy when I got to the final stitch of vine border and everything all came together just like it was supposed to.


Do you see that? A border that's properly stitched. We will not speak of Rachael Holmes as I have a problem in one of the bands and am trying to decide if I can live with the miscount or do I frog. I'm figuring Miss Rachael was probably too busy too do too much frogging so I'm thinking she would give me her blessing to leave the mistake in and know that absolutely no one would notice it, just me and my obsession that everyone in the world notices every single thing I do wrong. But this border, perfection if I do say so myself, and I do! It's so rare I can say that.

Laura Parker
Rose Tree Samplers
32ct Clay linen(from the stash)
DMC-2x2
Here is Laura all finished and sweet. While I like Adam & Eve samplers and have a pile of them to stitch eventually for a wall of sin of the likes no one has ever seen I must admit that my motivation to track down this chart and stitch this sampler, is the fact that it's the Laura Parker Sampler. I'm on a mission to stitch samplers with our family, my family, my ancestors names on them and imagine my excitement(not too hard to imagine since I'm an uber dork) when I saw the Laura Parker Sampler by Rose Tree Samplers. It was a very quick stitch and was my alternate Olympic Challenge SAL project. It's really more an NCIS sampler since I worked on it when I wasn't watching the Olympics and when I would watch NCIS.



Here's a close up of Adam & Eve.





I like that Eve appears to be feeding the serpent. Wasn't she supposed to feed Adam?


My friend Pam gifted me with my most favorite cooking pot. That's potato soup you see simmering there:



I call this Seven Year Itch Potato Soup. Why that odd name? Well when I was a kid, my dad would you know get an itch and leave for a few months, until my mom or my Papaw found him and brought him back home. I have quite a few tales about that time in my family's life but I won't bore you all with that. Can you say therapy? But whenever my dad would leave making sure my little brother had supper became my responsibility and one of the very first recipes I learned to cook, out of desperation more than anything was potato soup. We loved the potato soup on Shoney's soup and salad bar so every day I would come home from school and try to figure out the recipe. My mom didn't care what was for supper, just that she didn't have to deal with it so we ate whatever came out of the pot. Over the years my attempts got better and while my soup would never win any awards it's still pretty tasty.
The other day I realized I never ever make potato soup and it's really sad because I love it and could honestly eat it all the time. I never made it for my kids, not once, and back to the therapy thing, I do believe that I never make it because it's so connected to very low times in my life back when I was just a kid forced to be an adult because of two parents who had their own problems.






Lunch and you know what else I discovered? There's no way to photograph potato soup and make it look like anything other than a bowl of ick....but it really did taste good!






30 comments:

Margaret said...

Oh I really like your Laura Parker! I'd never seen that one before! The border is so sweet -- I love the little white flowers! Nice wooden bowl too -- I love that picture with Laura and the bowl! I think your potato soup looks good too. :D Nice pot!

Ana's World said...

I love the sampler! And I love potato Soup!!! But all of those tough times made you the wonderful person you are! If you want a rainbow you gotta expect a little rain, Dolly Parton

Andrea said...

Your A&E is too cute. I like how there are so many different versions of A&E, each one with their own little personality.

I love potato soup but have yet to find a good recipe for homemade.
I can relate to your connectiing it with the not so great memories from childhood...there are a few things I feel that way about myself....


Always good to see you posting :-)
xoxo

Lana said...

"Laura Parker" is beautiful!! Thanks for sharing your meaningful story of Potatoe soup...I LOVE potato soup also!! It's one of my Favorites!!

Chocolates4Breakfast (Terri ~ Boog) said...

Laura Parker turned out great! I know exactly what you mean about borders matching up. I am not one to frog if I don't absolutely have to. If they don't match, and I can fudge it, I do. But, it is a wonderful thing when they do meet up just the way they're supposed to!

Great little bowl you have all your stitching goodies in.

I love soup and grilled cheese sandwiches in the winter especially and I think your meal looks great. Maybe if you make it for the boys, and they enjoy it, it can become associated with happier memories and you can then have it more often!

Laurie in Iowa said...

Your Laura Parker looks fabulous Melissa. Congrats on your finish.

Nancy M said...

I know exactly what you mean about a border matching, it's such great satisfaction!! Your A&E samplers look nice. Several blogs I follow have a love of them. Being from cold MI, I'd love a good potato soup recipe, if you'd like to share.

Melissa said...

I'm like that too with borders - holding my breath, keeping my fingers crossed that the corners will meet! As much as I try to count and count and count, well, it's easy to slip!

Love your A&E! Eve has a hula skirt on!

Deb said...

I just love Laura Parker and I think I need to look for it. I love A&E's and haven't seen this one before!!

That potato soup looks so good right now!!

And I hear you on the borders matching up - it can really be a source of anxiety until you get to the last few stitches.

Glenna said...

Laura Parker is a blast--and now we have a PINK A&E! Wonderful stitching, and I know what you mean about the border meeting up. As for the other "errors"--nah--leave them in. I only see one glaring thing actually: you forgot to put clams in your chowder!

Tanya said...

Laura Parker is a sweet design. Your stitching looks fantastic. I love potato soup.

aprilmecheelesdulllife said...

Laura looks wonderful !!! Soup looks great and I know taste great !! My mom is that way with Tuna. She took care of her 2 younger siblings with her mom working 2 jobs to support their famly of 5 kids and herself. Single parent in the 50's.

Meadows08 said...

I know exactly what you mean about the big sigh of relief when the border matches up. Even on small stitches!

Great stitching and thanks for the laughs; "neighbors think I'm a vampire" and "selling crack to old folks" made me laugh out loud. Hehe.

Brigitte said...

Ohhhh, Laura Parker is so beautiful. And yes, I'm always a bit anxious about borders and if they will meet in hte end? I don't love to stitch them because of the endless repetitions and always stitch them as I go. So far I was lucky and they have always met in the end, but I think I wouldn't frog them but do something tricky to make them meet, lol.

Caroline said...

I love the belly buttons on A and E... !!LOL - too cute!

Therapy because of family? Yep. Been there too. Could write a book. Hopefully, though I'm more aware and care more, so my kids won't need it...... Enjoy the potato soup -it does look delicious!

Missy Ann said...

Eve's got some pretty aggressive nipples there. lol

Love the pot. I think I have the same exact one. And I made Ham & Potato soup in mine this week.

Michelle said...

Laura Parker is lovely! Congrats on another finish! You are just rocking along!!! I love potato soup - it's one of my favorite things. And pair it with a grilled cheese sandwich? Heaven.

staci said...

I love potato soup and could eat it all the time too...but I hardly ever make it!

And I hold my breath over borders too...even the small ones!!!

Rachel S-H said...

Laura Parker looks wonderful!

Susan said...

Love the Laura Parker!
How come no recipe for the soup? I love potato soup as it was a staple growing up Catholic with meatless Friday.
Happy Stitching!

Katrina said...

Laura Parker is so, so pretty. Congrats on the finish.

Soup looks yummy.

Siobhán said...

WOO HOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! I saw your blog update and knew you had a finish but never actually got over to say WOO HOOOOOOOO! You rock!! I love the A&E, and Adam is just too funny, isn't he?! I made potato soup once or twice... it was good. We don't make a lot of soup in my house because DH would never consider it a full meal. It looks good, though!

The Scarlett House said...

Yea, another A&E bites the dust for you. I love how you search out samplers that are significant to you through names and so on.
I love potato soup, and is that a grilled cheese keeping it company?
That's my kind of meal.

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