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March 1, 2024
Pandemic Sampler from Wendy's Quilts and More

You probably thought you'd never see this day, but my Pandemic Sampler is fully finished and ready for framing!!



I had most of it finished in April 2022 (almost two years ago), but I still had all the back stitching to do, plus my initials - which were the real sticking point.  The back stitch took about a week of stitching just in the evenings.  The pattern is 20 pages of A4 paper so there was a fair bit to work through. 


My initials were an issue because "W"s are wide and I had to figure out how to ...

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April 29, 2022
Pandemic Sampler is 99.5% finished from Wendy's Quilts and More

Yes, I met my goal and finished all of the stitching on my Pandemic sampler by Long Dog Samplers at Easter.  I still have to do the back stitch, and possibly squeeze my initials in somehow, but I've finished every page in the pattern.  


I loved doing this sampler, but I'm also naturally pleased that it's finished.  

I don't think I'll do another large sampler for a very long time. It was interesting, and challenging, but there's a lot of other things I want to try too.  

I'm glad I opted for a ...

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March 11, 2022
Pandemic Sampler at 90% from Wendy's Quilts and More

Yes! I'm 90% finished my Pandemic Sampler.  



There's only 2 more pages to go, and one of them is the page with the least number of stitches in the whole design, so it should be quite quick.  But then there's all the backstitching to do.  

I have to admit that finishing this one is hard work.  I'm itching to start other things, but if I don't finish this now, it could languish for years to come.  

It feels quite appropriate to be working on it now as the COVID pandemic has finally reached New Zealand ...

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November 12, 2021
Pandemic Sampler from Wendy's Quilts and More

My Pandemic Sampler is not going to be finished in 2021 after all. I've only got 4 more pages to go, but each page takes me about two weeks when I'm working on it every night.


Everything was going fine when I last posted about it back in July, but then in August I started having real problems with my right hand.  My middle finger became really swollen, and then the tendon in my palm tightened up.  I couldn't do any hand work for about 10 weeks.  

Fortunately my hand is better now (thanks to 2 steroid ...

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July 9, 2021
Pandemic Sampler from Wendy's Quilts and More

It's a year since the Pandemic Sampler pattern was released by Long Dog Samplers, and I'm seeing more and more people post their finishes in the Facebook group.  

as at 9 July 2021

I'm still aiming for a 31 December 2021 finish (fingers crossed).  I've got 6 more pages to go, so I'm trying to keep doing a bit every week. 


I love watching the pattern emerge.  What you see on the pattern is often quite different to how it looks once it is stitched.  

Here's what I'm aiming for:





Now it's ...

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May 7, 2021
Pandemic Sampler from Wendy's Quilts and More

My Pandemic Sampler by Long Dog Samplers is coming along nicely. 


This is a BIG sampler.  The pattern is 20 pages! Back when I started in August I was stitching one page a fortnight (two weeks), but I'm now happy with just one page a month.  That allows me to stitch or knit other things too, and gives my hands a break from cross stitching.  


I'm really happy with my fabric and thread choices. So many people in the Facebook group question their choices, and opt to start again with different threads or fabric.  I love the simplicity ...

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January 22, 2021
Embroidery update from Wendy's Quilts and More

It's January, so that means long summer nights in New Zealand, and plenty of stitching.   

I'd normally be watching the Australian Open on TV right now, but the start date has been deferred to 8 February this year.   Instead I'm watching the fallout from some players having to endure 14 days in their hotel rooms (because someone on their flight tested positive for COVID once they reached Australia).  It's really going to impact on the tournament because some players can train for 5 hours a day, while others can't.  

Anyway, I've been working on ...

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November 20, 2020
Pandemic Sampler by Long Dog Samplers (3rd post) from Wendy's Quilts and More

It's been quite a while since I showed you my Pandemic Sampler.  

I'm very happy with my progress to date. 



I've managed to stitch my way down to the bottom left hand corner and complete the 2020 date.  I really wanted to stitch that bit before the end of 2020.  I know this sampler won't be finished before the end of the year, but it was important to me to stitch "2020" while we were still in 2020, and in the pandemic.  







I've taken care to cross reference my stitching double check that the placement ...

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August 21, 2020
Pandemic Sampler update from Wendy's Quilts and More

 It's been a few weeks since I showed you my Pandemic Sampler by Long Dog Samplers.  I've been working on it almost every night because it's very addictive.  My first post is here. 

I've finished 3 of the 20 pages now, so there's still a very long way to go, but I can see the beautiful designs emerging.  




I stitched pages 8, 7 and 6 with no problems, but then I travelled up to stitch page 1.  I felt it was quite risky stitching out in the open with not much to check against, so ...

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July 10, 2020
Pandemic Sampler by Long Dog Samplers from Wendy's Quilts and More

I've always admired very complex cross stitch samplers.  A couple of week ago Long Dog Samplers launched a Pandemic Sampler to mark the chaos that 2020 has been.  





The full view!!!

I loved the look of the sampler, so I jumped on board and I've started it already.  

I asked my local needlework shop, Nancy's Stitch Studio, to get me in a ginormous piece of 28 count linen in Flax colourway.  I've decided to stitch my sampler with 2 stands of Madeira silk thread. I know it's going to take a tonne of thread, but ...

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  • long dog sampler
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