Life gets in the way . . .

When all goes well in my little corner of the world, I get a couple of hours in the evening to stitch.

I haven't had that this week for a variety of very good reasons, and this progress report on the Ellie Plan is going to be pretty pathetic as a result.

Monday:

Here you see the barest beginning of the outline for the front panel of the Fair Maiden's Workbag. It's worked in Gilt Silk Twist, one of the threads that was developed as a result of the Plimoth Jacket project, and I do love the way it looks. There are those who dislike working with it. I am not one of them. The trick is to work slowly and to use a handmade Japanese embroidery needle. To do this, you have to locate the safe place you stored the Japanese embroidery needles. This can take time. And try your patience.

Tuesday:

And here is the beginning of the outline for the Jack-in-the-Box, one of the toys that will end up in Betsy Morgan's Toy Chest. I'm not sure why I didn't have time to stitch Tuesday night--it was one of those evenings that seems to have just vanished.

Wednesday:

You see what I managed to accomplish when I took Cashmir in a class at ANG National. I have yet to take another stitch in it. I do have a very good excuse--last night was the first meeting of the 2014-15 year for the Carolina Sampler Guild and that's where I was for the evening. Since I was presiding it would have been rude to stitch. Actually I don't think it would be possible to stitch and preside simultaneously.

Thursday:

Here is the sweet little bunny from Eve in the Garden. I would be stitching away on this, but I need to change the stretcher bars. One of the bars has cracked and the whole piece has gone wonky (technical term). This means I need to drag out the stretcher bar box--and it probably means that I will need to change out all four bars, because, of course, you can never replace just one stretcher bar. If you find the right length, the way it's notched will never match the other three.

Actually, I really need to decide what I want to stitch for the next couple of evenings. With the week-end coming up, I have free choice time. And, since I am abandoning Dearly Beloved to his own devices and heading to Baby Girl's home for the week-end, I should get packed and ready to leave. Baby Girl and I are going gallivanting Saturday. We're in dire need of a road trip.