Week 3 - Soar SAL

I'm excited to share with you more progress and 3 finishes! We welcome two newcombers this week, Carolyn & Nicolle.
Newcomber Carolyn already has a finish. Carolyn says she has hopelessly fallen in love with the Decorah eagle family and thoroughly enjoyed putting in each and every stitch of her sampler. She will now have a lovely momento to remember these little ones after they fledge the nest.

Below is Carolyns lovely finish. She used a 32 count Lakeside Linen (color - Vintage Sienna Night, double dyed). She did her own conversion to Crescent Colors, Belle Soie and Thread Gatherers Silk'n Colors. Carolyn enjoys working with silks and has a good amount in her thread stash. Carolyn has a blog, please visit her here.

While we are on week 3, below you will find Sharon's week 2 of her progress. She joined in last week. She is stitching with 1 strand, using the recommended DMC flosses over two threads on 36 count linen. The one strand gives the piece a nice delicate appearance.And below you will find newcomber Nicole's start. She just started her piece this week. Nicole's linen of choice is 32 count Black Belfast. She is using the recommended DMC flosses thus far. It's been fun to see where each member of the Soar SAL starts their piece. Some start around the edge, as Nicole and then their are others who start in the center. Then there is me, who has stitchers attention deficit and is all over the place...a little here & a little there! Nicole has a blog with lots of stitching lovlies on it...be sure to stop by and visit her here.
Below is Harriet's wip. She didn't stitch as much as she would have liked, but plans to work hard on her sampler this coming week. Do you suppose we'll see a finish from Harriet next week? Harriet wanted to share that she loves the fact that this Soar SAL reflects something actually taking place at this very moment in our culture... I would have to agree with you Harriet. I don't know if I've ever stitched something that represented something that I was spending hours of each day enjoying...
Judy is another one who commented that she didn't get much accomplished this week. But lucky Judy is heading to the mountains today for the weekend and plans to just relax and stitch. Do you suppose she'll take us with? She is hopeful for a finish for next week!
Pat's week of progress is below. I love her comment! She says it doesn't seem like she made much progress, considering the amount of time she spent stitching this week...I think we all can relate to this...it can be slow going! Take notice that Pat worked her initials into the stream...a nice personal touch to her sampler, don't you think?
And another finish! Here we get to see our first Soar Sampler finish on a light background. Looks lovlely Connie, congrats on your finish! She plans on having her dear husband make her a frame from old barnwood. I think the rustic-ness of barn wood will be a lovely compliment to this piece. She commented she has enjoyed this sampler and choosing her own colors as she went along. The Decorah eagle cam has given Connie a better perspective of an eagles "home" life. She now has a better understanding of what is happening in the tree top of their local eagle family, that resides, in Arkansas.
And lastly,
I put my last few stitches in my sampler this morning, as I sat and enjoyed my morning cup of coffee. The sun was shining brightly over my shoulder and I enjoyed the natural lighting as the final stitches of the fence posts were stitched. I then gave my finished piece a little spritz of Distress It spray and popped it into a low temperature oven to dry. I went a little heavier on the spray around the green border and on the stream/fish portion. I just like how this product takes that bright edge off of the floss, giving it a warm time-worn look. ( Note - I only do this step if the flosses are color-fast.)

Now it's onto making the decision on frame of choice. I'm leaning towards a hand-grained frame from the wonderfal gals at Valley House Primitives. I'm thinking a medium tone color, nothing too dark and nothing too light. Below is a corner sample of the Dark Ale...thinking I like it...not too dark and not too light and it really makes the letters of the alphabet pop.
I'd like to say a BIG "thank you" to everyone who submitted photos of their work this week. I enjoy being able to share your work with my readers. It's also been such a pleasure to see your progress and hear about your enjoyment that the sampler and the eagle family have brought to you and your household.

Next Friday will complete the weekly postings for the SAL. Nothing like putting any added pressure on you, right? Let's see how many finishes we can have by next week, shall we?

We are still sending out patterns daily, so there are many who are just starting and I hate to leave anyone out. So here is my next plan... My Fourth of July posting will be of finished/framed samplers. This gives you all some time to get your pieces finished at your leisure. Send me your photos of your finished piece by July 2nd to be included in my 4th of July posting. More reminders to follow.The eaglets will be very near or already fledged the nest by the 4th of July...then how are we going to spend our time??

It's a beautiful spring morning in NW Iowa. My later variety tulips are in full bloom, the apricot tree is blooming, with the red buds and crab apples soon to follow. It's such a pretty time of year and it is even more special that it happens to be like this for Mother's Day...Mother Nature's gift for all us Moms.

Have a wonderful Mother's Day weekend to you all,

Brenda