A Nantucket Basket

I first learned needle crafts from my mom when I was in elementary school.  She had always been crafty with knitting and crochet but a friend had taught her cross stitch and this was far more interesting to me than knitting, I could make a picture with thread.   Over the years through EGA and local shop groups we learned many different techniques and gathered a stash that in all honesty we could have used as a starting point for our own shop.

When she passed in 2009 I brought home some of her piles of her stash, my aunt was living with her and she still stitched so I tried to take only my favorites.  My aunt passed in 2014 so I had to go through it all,  even more stash followed me home.  Among the 6 large suitcases of charts, fabric and supplies I hauled home  were a few of the last projects my mother worked on that I wanted to see through to completion.  Despite all the expletives spoken for the choice of stitch she made on the outside, I was finally able to sit down on the 4th of July and put the band on the basket.

The alphabet sampler side with some birds stitched over 1 thread. I won't lie, not sad that mom already had that part done and just left the finishing stitches.

And the reverse of the band.  If I could bring myself to actually use it, this would make a really fun basket to tote around a small project but I know that won't happen. I have a half dozen, well made bags for my projects and they're all in the closet while I use the ratty old bag I've had for years. 

Don't forget to check out the Etsy shop, link is on the side bar.   Many new items and some updated prices so even if you've looked before its worth another visit. Thanks for reading!