Framing Part 3 - Tywyn Sampler

I cannot, for the life of me, remember when I bought Tywyn Sampler.   I do know I was living in Austin, so sometime between 1996 and 1999, most likely.   I picked it up from Gingers, which at the time was a fantastic cross stitch shop, but has sadly closed.   They were on the bus route from UT, so I could visit without any problems.     I actually bought the chart with the threadpack, so it came with all of the fibres and silver dragon charm in it.

It was my first major silk piece, and it was also my very first cut work.  

I stitched it in 2001 and this piece was an utter joy to stitch from beginning to end.  I love the variegated silks and all of the fun specialty stitches, and the alphabet was fun, too (I used the Welsh instead of the English - though both were charted so you could choose).

I'm also thrilled that I could include my name in the piece as part of a band, rather than having to find some unobtrusive corner to stick my initials in.

Please excuse the overload, this is one of my favorite pieces of all time, and the frame job on it is even better than I thought it would be (not that I wasn't there when everything was picked out, but seeing it all together is just jaw droppingly gorgeous in my opinion)

The whole piece, on the wall... that paint shifts from that tan to a grey in the light and I love the piece on it.

The whole gorgeous, gorgeous piece.  Dark green mat bottom, followed by a taupey color that matches the threads, and the burgundy suede mat of awesome.

Another picture, which is colored oddly, but shows off the specialty stitches better

The beautiful wyvern top that initially drew me in. Beautiful silky dragon.

The top mat is more greeny ecru than green, but I like this shot of everything together. 

Another frame/stitching detail shot.

I'm so in love with this piece and framing job it's ridiculous.   The first thing I did was look for (and find!) a great place to hang it in my living room so I can gaze at it whenever the mood strikes (which right now is pretty much "always").