Another corner

I finally made it down to the lower left corner of RST 1779.

 I was beginning to think that Dearly Beloved was going to have to bury this with me, because I was sure I was going to die of extreme old age before I got these repeating motifs stitched.

And, I have to admit, I found them a wee bit boring to stitch. I don't do well with the same thing over and over again, and there was a lot of that.

Now I have a decision to make. There are two honkin' big repeating motifs on the other side of the sampler. Do I go ahead and knock them out, then reward myself with flowers and little geometric designs that don't have all that repetition?

Basically, do I eat my dessert before I have my veggies?

A little of this, a little of that

 I had to take a day off from stitching to let my wrists rest, and then I was very careful and stopped as soon as things started to twinge.

But I have the beginning of another tiny motif on RST:

And I had the first class on the Napoleonic Goldwork motif from Liz Tapper.

We started by stitching the cording and string down for some of the padding. Then we did a wee bit of stitching with passing thread--all seven leaves have to be stitched, although we only have to have one done before next week's class.

But meanwhile, I need to put on my Domestic Diva attire and get some laundry done, and corral the dust bunnies, and think about meals for the next day or so.

I'd rather be stitching.

Strawberries or Rosebuds?

 What are these?

I can't decide if they're strawberries or rosebuds.

I think RST is going to become my Sampler Sunday project. I need to stitch something besides Queen stitches for a bit, and I definitely have a lot of things that have fallen by the wayside while trying to finish this sampler. 

As it is, I am Zooming all over the place for the rest of the week. I have my Zina Kazban class this afternoon, then a chapter meeting with Dayton EGA tonight. Tomorrow I have a new class with Liz Tepper and a group correspondence group meeting tomorrow night. Finally, on Saturday, I have a region stitch-in in the morning and a surface embroidery interest group meeting in the afternoon.

I just may have overbooked myself.

Going Sideways

 Well, after many mental gymnastics, I got the sideways bud on this particular posy stitched.

There's another field of flowers below this wonky flower, and this is one of those times when I'd like to speak firmly to the child who stitched this sampler originally. Like, why in the world would you put those random lone stitches where they are? I know they could be considered place holders for complete flowers, but couldn't you figure that out from the wholly stitched flowers that come later? And then, she couldn't decide exactly on how she wanted to shade the buds in this particular field, so some are done one way, some another.

I would work on this longer tonight, but I'm suffering my usual discombobulation with the time change. Simply put, my brain and body function better on Standard Time, and it will take me a couple of weeks to get even partially adjusted to the shift. Yes, I know I'm retired so it shouldn't make so much difference. The problem is that the whole world isn't retired, and those are the schedules I have to adapt to.

I fear Miss Crankypants will be in ascendence for a bit.

More Posies

 This is the place I reached when my eyes, my hands, and my brain simultaneously said they had had enough.

That little flower on the right changes direction after the stem is stitched, and the second bud is all worked sideways. That is definitely something I want to work on when I'm rested.

We'll see if that's what happens tomorrow. I have decided I am not going to deal with deadlines or plans or anything else when it comes to stitching. This is supposed to be a relaxing pastime, and I want to get back to that. I also want to get back to more regular blogging, since that's the way I keep track of what I've done and when I did it.

For example, I found something in the finishing basket that I stitched ten years ago. I think this means it's aged quite long enough and needs assembly. 

Maybe tomorrow . . . 

Raspberry Creme

 I started another motif on RST 1779.

These are not the colors I would use for a flower, but I have a feeling that this is what the original shades faded to.

Something about it seemed a little familiar to me, though--something about the pink and brown--and then it hit me.

When I was a wee tiny child, one of our neighbors presented beautiful cookie trays to everyone for Christmas. One of her specialties was a sandwich cookie that consisted of two thin chocolate cookies held together with a layer of pastry creme and a layer of raspberry jam. The whole thing was then dipped into a chocolate glaze that crackled when you bit into it.

Close family members were known to come to blows over the last one of these cookies left on the tray. I speak of the boys who lived next door to The Saint and me. We, of course, were perfect angels.

We were perfect because Mother hid the cookie tray and doled them out, one by one.

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jog

 I have returned from my week away.

It was wonderful. I got to see old friends, made new ones, had wonderful meals out, spent quality time with BDE, took an online class from Kate Barlow while I was there, took advantage of the opportunity to attend two stimulating and intriguing lectures--and stitched a little!

RST's center cartouche is finally finished.

Bless her heart, just when I thought I was making some progress, she threw in another tendril or bud or decided to outline a motif or do something out of the ordinary. But she is done.

I had planned to come home and stitch from morning to night--I was just that energized--but I also came home with a virus of some sort. I was afraid it was the flu at first, but it seems to be going away (it was not Covid, I checked), leaving me feeling as old as water and twice as weak. 

So I'm going to continue to relax and recuperate and start counting the days until the next expedition.