In-progress cross stitch Elizabethan rose design

So yesterday I was playing with my new iron, some linen, and pattern tissue.  I took a break after lunch to run an errand to WalMart, intentionally going the one that is located two blocks from Hancock's Fabrics, with the goal of scoring all the rest of the $1 clearance cross stitch kits like the one I had already stitched up.  After completing the dreaded WM run, I headed into Hancock's, and was delighted to see a local unadvertised sale flyer as I walked in ... not many things make me happier than to see a better sale on the stuff I am going in to peruse!

While leaning over to inspect items on the bottom hang rack (barely a foot off the floor) I moved wrong and my back started hurting.  Oops.  I didn't even spend 20 minutes inside Hancock ... which was pointed out to me at the register.  Returning home, I hit the pain meds and waited for them to kick in ... and waited ...

As I mentioned in my previous cross stitch post, hand embroidery is something I can do when my back is acting up.  Since my meds didn't kick in enough to return to linen and pattern tissue, here is an in-progress pic of what I accomplished yesterday evening:

Elizabethan rose cross stitch design in progress

What you see is page 93 of the Elizabethan Cross Stitch book I checked out from my local library.  Since there is a limit to how many times I can renew it, and we are planning large nonsewing projects for the house instead of hobby purchases, I am going to attempt to work all the designs in this book that I like and keep them on hand as samplers ... the historic purpose of samplers.  I'll probably transform these small ones into a wall hanging, incorporating the decorative purpose of samplers into it ... but my goal is to have the patterns on hand to work from after the book of patterns is returned (and someone else grabs it up).  Meanwhile, to relatives and close friends reading this: This book is on my wishlist for the holiday and birthday season!

Along with pretty motifs, there are also border patterns that I will make into a traditional band sampler, and be able to use on future garb projects.  There's even some lovely Elizabethan blackwork patterns, which was used for fancy smocks and shirts.  Those are definitely "must-have" for when I get to a really fancy outfit like a court gown!  I haven't even begun to intentionally brainstorm on garb uses for these designs yet ... just trying to get ones I really like onto Aida cloth for future reference right now.

The good news is today my back is feeling good again, so it's back to playing with linen and patterns ... I'll post something on that project later on as I don't want to interrupt the mojo too much for this afternoon.  I'd like to achieve some progress, as it's been a while since I've posted a completed sewing project!