Winter into spring - Scott, Tennyson, violets, roses, and shamrocks.

Although it's mostly spring here now, I know there are other parts of the country where snow's still falling - and I won't discount the possibility of spring snowstorms here, either.  We're actually hoping for moisture of some kind, as the ranchers and farmers could certainly use more, and even our town gardens and lawns need extra after a winter that's been drier than usual.  So I decided that posting my latest finish, a winter one, would still be OK.  This is a contemporary piece designed by Brenda Gervais (Country Stitches/With Thy Needle and Thread) - "Heap on the Wood".  The verse is taken from Sir Walter Scott's lengthy narrative poem Marmion.  I'll finish it either as a framed piece or as a  wall-hanging and hope to have it in place by December for Christmas. It's fairly large, and I'll probably hang it over the mantel of our fireplace. 

In a more spring-like vein, I don't think I've ever posted yet a photo of my completed  "Violet Sampler" from The Drawn Thread,  stitched with silks on one of the most beautiful pieces of coloured linen I've ever had in my hands.   Not the best of images, but it gives you some idea (I'll be taking it in for framing this month).  It has a several glass pale amethyst hearts, as well as a gold-toned dragonfly charm (we're hoping that it won't be too long before we see dragonflies outside again....)  

The verse, from Alfred Lord Tennyson's In Memoriam, reads:  "Now fades the last of winter's snow, And thick by ashen roots the violets grow." 

The "quick stitch of the month" is  My Pink Rose, from Blackbird Designs - a small piece (probably for a pin-cushion or pillow) that was fun to do on a polka-dot linen:  

I'm back to more of my reproduction/historic-influenced sampler stitching now, but I'll wait till next time to show progress on a schoolgirl sampler from rural Ontario as well as Janet Burnet, an elegant Scottish sampler from the early 19th century.  
In the meantime, enjoy a cup of tea - perhaps some Irish Breakfast in a shamrock teacup.  And as usual, I love to hear from readers, either in the comments section or by email.  Till later ..... 

Dianne in Canada