Black Sampler November

Why can’t I say no to stitch alongs? I never finish on time . . most have never been finished at all! It is the planning that I like most of all. My next favorite thing is having the finished pieces on the wall but there is a great disconnect there because starting and not finishing does not result in framed pieces on the wall. But still . . life is short and starting a new project is so fun.

Last night while I was writing about my day, which is the last thing I do every night before going to bed, thoughts of Black Sampler November kept interfering with my thoughts about what I was writing. I stopped, put the pen down and had to laugh at myself. Is it part of being a realist . . sometimes . . or is it justifying bad behavior but I decided that when my time on earth is up, it isn’t going to matter if I leave behind 100 finished pieces or 10 finished pieces, they are all going to find themselves without a home and without anyone who will really care for most of them so why not do what makes me happy today.

Even after I went to bed I kept thinking about Black Sampler November so I got out of bed . . poor Vince . . if only he had a “normal” wife; I got online, and found and purchased a new chart that had been calling my name for a while. Then I went into the sewing room, and Boots and I chose the perfect black floss. I dug around a bit in the fabric tubs and found the perfect linen so now, it’s November 1 and I will begin stitching on this today.

Jacob from Modern Folk Embroidery came up with the idea for Black Sampler November either in 2020 or 2021. It doesn’t have to be one of his charts but so many of his charts are perfect for one color stitching. His charts, even though not exactly my style, are just gorgeous and I find myself so tempted to buy many of them but they are way too stitch heavy for me and I know I’d never finish them.

Jacob has a video about Black Sampler November and he shows several of his charts that would be great for stitching in November.

The chart I chose is Love Gains. It’s a pdf so it’s an instant download. It’s about $10 USD. I love the verse but you remember I said I have a hard time stitching angles. I do fine on straight horizontal or vertical stitches but when stitches have to be made at angles to each other, I struggle with that. I have two choices (1) avoid even the most gorgeous charts that have lots of angles or (2) stitch angles til they’re easy for me to stitch. I chose option 2 and this chart isn’t terribly stitch heavy and will give me lots of practice stitching angles and I think it’s one where I will know right off if my stitching isn’t correct. Most of the other angles I’ve stitched would be where I’d make some of it one color, some of it another color, some of it a third color and by the time I got to the third color and began building on the other stitches, I’d see a mistake and have to go all the way back to color #1. I think since these stitches all build on each other, I’ll notice mistakes sooner. At least that’s what I’m hoping.

These are the fabrics I pulled to make my final decision. I don’t even know why I take photos because the colors are rarely close to correct. The top photo is with a flash; the bottom photo is without a flash and probably closer to correct.

The fabrics are in the same order in both photos. Left to right: Golden Olive by XJu Designs, Hawaiian Nut by Dames of the Needle; Hawaiian Nut by Dames of the Needle. In real life, both the Hawaiian Nuts are very close with the far right being just a tad lighter. That’s actually a third Hawaiian Nut (yes, it’s a mustardy color that I love) and it has more mottling.

I chose the center fabric, Hawaiian Nut by Dames of the Needle.

The floss is Victoria Clayton’s Silk, the color is Charred Past.

Can I have this project finished by the end of November? Doubtful, but I can have fun trying.