Worth Every Minute

Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present . . . Morning Has Broken!

If you've been reading along as I worked on this, you know that I have moaned and groaned, whined and wailed, stitched and bitched about the length of time it's taken me to complete this sampler.

Now that I'm standing back and looking at it, it has been worth every single, solitary second.

Every one.

And this isn't the only thing to see progress. Here are the results of my journey with Journey:

Not sure why it's so washed out--but you can see progress is being made. It's slower than I like--patience not being one of my virtues--like you hadn't already figured that one out--because each one of these sections is beaded. And since I flip about as many beads off the end of the beading needle as I manage to stitch onto the canvas, this is definitely taking time.

But it's getting close.

And then the mail carrier has been delightful this week:

I'm kind of thinking of dabbling with filament silk and sharp needles. I've tried lying down with a cold compress until the feeling passes, but it keeps coming back. Even if I don't go beyond reading about it, the books are gorgeous. And, by the way, these came courtesy of Ruth Kern Books. Ruth is a phenomenal resource and if you aren't aware of the extent of her offerings, go look at her blog: ruthkernbooks.blogspot.com.

And then there are the materials for the new class from Sherri Jones of Patricks Woods through Shining Needles. I've been collecting small kits with Mr. Butters for several years, and now we have a carrier and other goodies to stitch. I have to wait a couple of weeks for the class to start but the materials are here to fondle.

It's kind of nice that the evenings are getting longer--more time to stitch!