Picnic Framed

It's been a few months since I finished my Dropcloth Picnic Sampler in the Picnic Stitch Along. Such a fun one! Sadly, though, it was just added to my growing stack of finished samplers.

But! Somewhere randomly on Insta, I learned about a frame, specially made for the Picnic Sampler. It was made by Kate of Modern Hoopla, and I thought it the perfect solution for 'finishing' my sampler. There were options, and I chose the "picnic green" version vs. the whitewash.

The frame measures approximately 9” wide and 9.5” tall, with a center opening 6.5” wide by 7” tall to fit the Picnic Sampler. It's made of 3/4” thick furniture grade birch plywood. Hubby to the rescue again, helping me staple the edges of the sampler to the edges of the mounting board that came included.

Little cardboard tabs were also enclosed to keep the stitchery-covered board wedged into place. All in all, it took just moments to bring this sampler to a beautiful finish. Now to decide where to hang it!

Picnic

Oh this was a fun one! My ninth Dropcloth sampler, I know when I finished my last one, Paisley, I said I thought that would be it for a while; and in a way, considering it was three months ago, it was. I had no idea the Picnic Stitch Along was in my future, but it came at a perfect time. 

Begun on August 22, Picnic took just about three weeks to stitch, with a little stitching done nearly every evening. It even went on a couple of day trips, and it felt good to take my stitching out and about for a change. It had been a long time since I'd done that.

Unlike any of my previous samplers, I used a pre-chosen selection of #8 Wonderfil perle cotton, a delightful collection chosen by Rebecca Ringquist herself. That in itself was a fun change of pace. They were all variegated threads, which I have come to love. The design itself was about 8" square, and just four key stitches were used - the backstitch, straight stitch, French knots; and finally, some couching to finish it off. 

Oh and here's a picture of the back, for those that like such things. Can't say I worried much about that... ha.

Anyway, thoroughly enjoyed stitching Picnic! Kinda sad it's done, and seeing that Rebecca has some new sampler designs coming out this fall, I highly doubt it will be my last.

Picnic Stitch Along

It had been nearly three months since I finished my last Dropcloth Sampler when I saw their creator, Rebecca Ringquist, post that not only was there a new sampler coming, but a stitch along to boot. I confess I wasn't 100% sure about the Picnic sampler having a painted background, but I was game to try.

To top things off, Rebecca offered a specially curated collection of Wonderfil Specialty Threads, that at first I resisted. But when I went shopping for a few new threads to round out my stash of perle cotton, I had trouble finding what I wanted available in the timeframe I hoped for. So I splurged on my first 
collection ever.

For my own future reference, I'm going to list the threads included in the collection:

EZM1059-Citrus  ~  EZM1021-Meditation  ~  EZM1039-Space Station

EZM1061-Rose Bush  ~  EZM1083-Banksia  ~  EZM1099-Deep Jungle

EZM1022-City Lights  ~  EZM1034-Canopy  ~  EZM1055-Ball Pit

So I'm just getting started stitching on my Picnic Sampler, trying that "Ball Pit" thread first. Rebecca offered a suggestion of threading several needles with different colors of thread before starting to stitch. I've always just threaded my needle as I've chosen my next color, but I'm considering trying that. I'm also going to try some needles that she suggested. Not that the size 7 Bohin embroidery needles I've been using haven't been working just fine, but it's always worth checking out a recommendation, right? And the stitching on this sampler is going to get pretty dense, so I figured they're worth a try. I'm kind of excited to sit down to stitch!