Round Up of the Round Robin

Can you hear the Happy Sound of Happy Feet Happy Dancing?

I have finally finished Sophia's Band Sampler!!  In 2011 Sophia sent round an amazing Teresa Wentzler piece.  It was the first time I'd stitched in a Round Robin and I was really extra careful to make sure my contribution was as good as I could make it.  Extra hand-washing, every stitch railroaded, any frogged thread discarded and not re-stitched with etc.

In 2012 Sophia promised us something easier than TW and came up with a Celtic Knot design in  rainbow colours.  I was the last person to stitch on it and unfortunately we did not gel.  Maybe it was the fractionals, maybe the yellow, maybe the repetitiveness, maybe it was Archangel Michael calling to me from his bag but whatever it was it took me some time.  I received the piece in February a week before it was due to be mailed back to Sophia and here we are two months later!  So technically I'm only 3 weeks late... Bad Stitcher, Naughty Stitcher, no Stitcher Treats for the the Late Stitcher.

Here is the lovely Celtic Design which Sophia will be receiving back soon with a grovelling letter of apology:

Sophia is planning to put all our names or initials in the space in the middle.  Probably with a black mark next to mine.

The other pieces in the group I did manage to stitch and mail on time.  Here they all are, first up was Angi's Sampler:

Angi sent the threads she wanted us to use, they were all beautiful to stitch with, like a miniature Needlework shop in an envelope!  The broader cross stitched bands are from the Antique Lace Band Sampler by Northern Expressions Needlework.  I changed the colours to suit Angi's palette.

The narrower speciality stitch bands are from Just Nan Summer Sampler.

Then Laura's:

This is part of a design called Celtic Leaves also from Northern Expressions Needlework.

I changed the colours.  Later on Karen backstitched it for me because everyone else had used backstitch and I asked her to make mine match.

Then Karen's:

This is from The Sweetheart Tree using Karen's choice of Summer colours.

I told a little story with my bands.  First you have the blue sky with white fluffy scotch stitch clouds.  Then a row of yellow sunshine above a pink hedge.  There is a floral garden with a green lawn in the middle and a little blue stream along the bottom of the bands on either side of my name.

Then Cat's:

This is Indigo Rose's Autumn.  Someone also will stitch the other half and the rest of the Seasons.

I chose Autumn because I'm an Autumn Baby and I love the colours in this one.

Then Kathy's:

Kathy chose the Sweetheart Tree Hearts.  Mine is the Mayflower Heart.

The gap in the centre is for Kathy to add a charm.

Then Linda's:

There is not a single cross stitch in these bands!  

They all came from an Indigo Rose sampler called Margaret.

Sophia's is up the top of the post so here is my piece:

Doesn't it look amazing?  The theme was Purple with an Accent.  The fabric is a piece from Sparklies called Purpleberry Spludge.  Each stitcher used mainly DMC 333 plus an accent colour of their choice and a metallic and beads if desired.  I'll put close-ups on my Happy Dance blog is you want to see the individual bands in more detail.  I'm thinking of adding some beads to my part at the top but I wanted to include the photo in this summary.

Thank You all for such an incredible piece, I really love it and can't wait to get it framed and on the wall.

Finally, if you want to see all the finished samplers in their full glory then pop over to the Yuku Board and the part just for our Band Sampler here.  There are also boards there for the Large Mirabilia RR I'm taking part in and the Joan Elliott RR about to start.  Happy Browsing!