BAP FINISHED!!!

Folks, I'm about as happy as one person can get right now!  As of 1:47pm today I put the very last stitch in my BAP on my lunch hour!!!  I can not believe I've finished it but I have! May I present my finished BAP!

Design: 2012 Antique Sampler
Designer:  Ellen Maurer-Stroh
Fabric: 40 ct. cream linen
Floss: DMC as charted
Stitching Started: 1/9/12

Stitching Finished: 12/5/12

I am in awe just looking at it.  This is my very first large sampler finish ever!  I can assure you this will not be the last either.  I couldn't be more pleased.  I've already got plans for the next one percolating.

December's "Assignment"

Started: 12/1/12

Finished: 12/5/12

This part was my "assignment" for December.  I worked ahead on the borders so I wouldn't have as much to do.  I knew this time of year would be busy and I'm so glad I did it.  It really helped!

I look at this sampler and I have so many memories stitched into each section.  I stitched the peacock at the Keepsakes Retreat in January.  Everyone who saw me stitching it went crazy over it!  I even inspired a couple people to want to stitch it too just by seeing my start!

In April I was so sick when I stitched the yellow bird.  My stitching helped me feel "normal" as much as I could feeling so bad.  I was so pleased to see that section done because it meant I was a third of the way done!

The easiest motif to stitch was the mushrooms in spite of having to switch out the colors in order for them to show up. I'm still pleased with my choices.   I can't imagine this sampler without them either.  I love them!  I also love to eat them but that's another story for another time.  LOL!

The most challenging parts were the top and bottom borders. I love how the top and bottom change direction. There are also a lot of color changes in those flowers and leaves.  There are four to five different greens in each leaf and five different colors in each flower!  Not conting the two different browns in the stems.  So that means there are 21 different colors in each repeat! 

Oh and the day I finished the dog, was a happy day too.  I remember when I started we didn't have our sweet girl, Shelby.  I chose this sampler because of the dog.  Maybe it was fate that we got our Shelby because I was subconsciously wishing for it.  I'll never know.

Then there were the butterflies that attracted me to this sampler too.  I remember stitching the first butterfly while on vacation with my honey for your anniversary in Newburg, New York!  I even stitched butterflies in the car as we traveled back home.  Oh yes, I did!

 I remember stitching the big cabbage roses and thinking they were just a big pink blob until I stood back from them. Wow, did that shading really work its magic on those roses!  They remind me of the roses that used to bloom near the porch of my childhood home.  Sweet, sweet memories!

There's just so much I love about this sampler!  I've said it from the beginning and I'll say it now, I've loved each and every stitch of the sampler.  Every. Single. One!

I'm also so glad I chose to stitch this on 40ct.  I wouldn't have wanted to stitch it on any other count.  I wouldn't have gotten the same effect if I had.  It really pops the colors and intensifies the stitches.  I've received so much positive feedback on that very choice too.

Since you know I love numbers, here are a few to chew on.  I worked on this sampler a total of approximately 81 days or so.  Some months I didn't work on it every day so that number might be off in reality.  The average amount of days it took to complete an assignment was 7.  It took longer to work on it in the months of June, October, and November.  I did a fair amount of traveling those months and didn't take the sampler with me.  Not too shabby, I'd say!

I really enjoyed the way this SAL was structured.  It really was freeing to be able to expect my "assignment" on the 1st of each month and then know that when I finished it up I could move onto other things without guilt.  It really worked for me.  It also motivated me too!

Thank you so much Ellen Maurer-Stroh for designing such a wonderful sampler and most of all for making it free too!

Thank you to all of you, my dear readers, for your constant encouragement and visits.  Also thanks to my peeps for being my cheerleaders too.  You all rock!

  IT'S DONE!!!!!

Doing the Snoopy dance,

The Inspired Stitcher