Big Black Dog

 My stitching mojo wandered off this week, but I did get the big black dog on Carmen stitched.

There has been some discussion about the markings on the dog. I thought they might be the way the stitcher highlighted some areas, or gave the dogger some spots. Someone else who lives in this household has started calling the dog "that mangey mutt." I have no other comment to make about that.

I do want to mention whatever it is that is extending from the dog's mouth. His tongue or is he blowing a raspberry? Or is this a devil dog spitting flames into the universe? Inquiring minds want to know.

And while I'm asking questions, does anyone remember a mystery/suspense book that involves a black dog? It's not the Hound of the Baskervilles--I looked that up and it describes the dog as being "luminous" but not black. Maybe an Agatha Christie? BDE says there's a legend in Irish lore that describes a black dog as showing up either as a portent of death or a minion of Satan, but that's not it. At least, I don't think it is.

Something else to wonder about in the middle of the night, along with wondering why in the world I have lost all desire to stitch for awhile. I have plenty of projects, have even added more to the stash, but at the moment, I don't feel like doing any of them.

Let's hope it's just the Dog Days of Summer.

Maybe that's why I only worked on a black dog for the past week.

Shiny, oh so shiny!

 I decided to work on Carmen again--she hasn't seen any love in several weeks. And, oh, how I wish the sheen of the filament silk came through online!

I've started working on the big center section of the sampler. I think I'll work across the top part, then start the lettering that fits in the middle of the center section. I'll work the borders as I go

I used to be one of those stitchers who did all the border before I got to the insides, then I realized I had a lot of samplers that had about half a border done and nothing else. Obviously that order of work didn't result in a lovely finished project--so now I do borders as I go.

But now I believe I will rest my eyes--46 count linen is very different from the 36 count linen I'm using for the Queen Sampler and I'm having to adjust.

World Embroidery Day

Here it is, World Embroidery Day, and I haven't threaded a needle . . . yet.

But I have been looking through the massive book, Tennessee Samplers: Female Education and Domestic Arts, 1800 - 1900.

If you're a sampler lover, you may just want to invest in this one. If you want to read the histories of the girls who made the samplers, you would enjoy it. If you want to support the study of samplers and help to make it a relevant research subject for historians, you should most definitely buy a copy.

Plus, it's pure eye candy. There are amazing, clear photographs of the samplers discovered over the past twenty years.

But, I hate to admit, the thing that absolutely entranced me were some of the photos of the reverse side of the samplers.

Some of those little girls were messy stitchers.

 If you look closely--wow! Threads going every which way and ends sticking out all over the place and yet the fronts of the samplers look absolutely lovely.

I tend to be obsessive about having a neat back on my work, but, you know, maybe I could cut myself a little bit of slack once in awhile.

One Goal Met!

I have finished the first month's assignment on the Queen Sampler.

Today I absolutely have to clear off my worktable, which has become the repository for all sorts of odds and ends. I want to actually work at the table today instead of stacking things on it I can't decide what to do with. 

Mainly, I feel the need to do some finish-finishing before I start anything else. I keep thinking the elves are going to show up in the middle of the night and put all this stuff together, but that does not seem to be happening.

It's probably too hot for elves. After all, they live at the North Pole, right?

 

Pitiful, Just Pitiful

 Have you ever had one of those weeks when you have lots of ideas about what you want to do and then you don't get any of it done?

Welcome to my world.

This pitiful bit of stitching is all I've been able to accomplish this whole week. I mean, this is pitiful!

I have to say, though, there are more stitches on this than you would think since I decided to use reversible cross stitch, as Darlene O'Steen intended for her Queen Sampler.

I am beginning to regret some of my life choices.

Other Stuff

Yesterday I worked on other things while participating in a couple of Zoom meetings.

During our EGA Region's monthly stitch-in, I worked on Darlene O'Steen's Queen sampler:

 I decided to stitch it reversibly.

I had forgotten just how long it takes to work an alphabet reversibly, but now I'm committed. I may be committed by the time I finish working the sampler reversibly.

Then, during the EGA Special Interest Group in surface embroidery, I pulled out my long-neglected crewel piece, one of the vintage Elsa Williams kits in my stash.

Yes, I'm working my way through all the green stuff first.

Part of it has to do with working things in the back first, then working forward, but that's not the main reason. Green is not my most favorite color, and there's a lot of it in this design. It's a tree, of course there's a lot of green, but I was afraid if I didn't get all the leaves done, I'd never, ever come back to the piece once I stitched the pretty, colorful flowers and buds and butterfly.

So, I am trudging through the green.

So many leaves.

So much green.

Sigh . . .

Back to Stitching

I did not mean to go dark for a week. 

We bought a car.

This entailed a whole lot more time and energy than I was interested in spending. I am not a car person. Anyway, I think we're going to like it, even through it may be smarter than we are. And I hope it will be the last car I buy in this lifetime.

There was some stitching this week.

The humongous and complicated band is done. The very sweet and much less complicated floral band below it is also done. The next section has a lot of spot motifs and an alphabet and more border. I think I'm going to enjoy working on it, but I may take a day or so off to work on something else, just to shake things up a little and to keep the creative flow flowing.

I also started a new project, Darlene O'Steen's Queen Sampler. The Mayflower Sampler Guild is doing this as a SAL. However, I started it last night and there isn't enough to show at this point.

Then the mail came today and brought me the kit for the next class with Zina Kasben. 

Everything is so pretty when it comes out of the mailing box that you just don't want to mess it up by opening everything.

But then you do and there are all kinds of goodies inside, also beautifully packaged.

And Zina also sends a little gift, beautifully handstitched. Can you believe it's a button?

Such incredibly fine work!!

Anyway, I have to wait until September to start, which means I could potentially get the two classes I started earlier this year finished before I start this.

I believe I had better stitch tonight.

War Stories

First of all, obligatory stitching since this is a stitching blog:

 Soooooooo close to finishing this band and turning the scroll bars!

And now for more stories:

The first message in my email yesterday morning arrived from an English friend who sent a photo of her husband, attired in his boxers and dead-heading the flowers in their garden. Their garden has a head-high wall around it, so he believes no one can see him. However, all the houses around theirs have more than one floor, so someone could look down into their garden from the houses on either side. After all, my friend said, she can easily see her neighbors' gardens from her bedroom window, and all the houses in their area have the same type of head-high wall around their back gardens.

Her garden is absolutely glorious, by the way.

Then I had an email from another friend whose husband also promenades outside to check things when there's heavy rain, also in his boxers.

And then there was the call from another long-time friend, who was laughing so hysterically she could hardly speak. Her husband used to charge outside in his boxers to pick up the morning newspaper (in the days when you actually received a physical newspaper that was thrown somewhere in the vicinity of the front of your house in the early hours of the morning). One morning, while she was away helping her daughter with a new baby, he went strolling out as usual--and the door closed and locked behind him. 

Well the next door neighbor had a key to their house. The next door neighbor was a retired professor of English Literature. She had never married and was pushing ninety. This does not mean that she had never seen a man in boxer shorts, but the stereotype would indicate that perhaps she hadn't. Anyway, after circling his house to see if there was any way to get in--there wasn't--he went next door.

The neighbor invited him in while she got the key, asked him if he'd like a towel or blanket or something to cover himself more . . . 

And then swatted him on the behind when he went out the door.

This is just a sampling of the tales I heard yesterday. I find it interesting that all the gentlemen in the tales were in their 70's.

Is there something deep in the recesses of the male genome that precipitates outdoor boxer-wearing behavior at this age? Or do they just go feral?

Just a little on a Monday

 I started on the fill-in on the current band on Carmen.

I don't think I'm going to get in my three hours today. We had an abbreviated night  and my eyes keep crossing.

My area of North Carolina got about 7 inches of rain in just a couple of hours last night--nothing like the tragedy in Texas, but enough to cause flash flooding and weather alerts. Our corner of the building is close to a "wet-weather creek" which means that there is a trickle of water at the bottom of a ditch unless we have wet weather. Then we have a creek. Last night we had a torrent or water rushing over the banks of the ditch and covering the little footbridge that extends over the creek.

Now, how do I know about this? Dearly Beloved was going to go out on the covered part of the deck to see if there was water coming up our sidewalk. I noticed he put his raincoat on as he went outside but figured he was just going to make sure he didn't get wet since, after all, he was already ready for bed. Wearing his usual t-shirt and boxers.

What I didn't realize was that he decided to reconnoiter the parking lot and the creek. So here he is, wandering around the neighborhood in a raincoat and his boxers. Does this sound like a flasher to anyone else?

The man needs a keeper.

And, in answer to the brownie question--No, I didn't bake brownies. To make the mint glaze, I would need to find a box of thin mint wafers, which may no longer be made. They're like a York Peppermint Patty but about a fourth the thickness. To glaze the brownies, you spread those wafers on top of the brownies when they come out of the oven, The chocolate coating melts and they become spreadable.

I have tried doing this with Andes Mints, but they're too thick to melt quickly enough.

And besides, we really don't need to eat a whole pan of brownies, possibly at one sitting. They're that good.

Day of Rest

I took today off and read a book and watched Brenda and Laura on Flosstube. I also watched the rain come down--we're in the area getting storms spun off by Tropical Storm Chantal, and it has been pouring most of the afternoon and evening.

However, I did want to come online to mention that the peppermint extract seemed to work. I did not have any new mosquito bites this morning.

Of course, Dearly Beloved mentioned that he thought it would be a wonderful idea if I baked the brownies with the mint icing that I used to make at Christmas when we had ravenous children in the house who would eat them. He said he had no idea why he suddenly had a hankering for them.

 

Framework Finished

At long last, the framework for this band is done!!

I still have the flowers to do, but I'll work on that tomorrow.

Hopefully, I will be stitching earlier tomorrow than I was today. I got a late start.

I was late getting up because I have been the victim of a vicious attack. Apparently, there is a mosquito in the house. She has been waiting until I go to bed, and then she gets me, because every morning I wake up with a new welt. And the collection  I've accumulated itches.

I can avoid scratching when I'm awake. It isn't easy, but I can do it. However, when I'm asleep, if something itches, I scratch. And, as we all know who have suffered from mosquito bites, the more you scratch the more you itch.

And that mans the itching has been waking me up.

Why is it that pangs and pains are always worse when it's the middle of the night?

Anyway, I've dabbed antihistamine cream on the bites, which helps for a limited period of time. Then I read that a mild oral antihistamine could also help with the itch. So I took a Benadryl before I went to bed last night.

I didn't itch. I also didn't wake up until half the day was over.

Tonight I'm going to dab myself with peppermint extract. Apparently mosquitoes don't like that flavor. Hopefully it will work.

Or I can just say I was having Christmas in July.

Going Fourth

 We've had our traditional viewing of an old History Channel documentary, The Revolution, today, which I believe that we're now going to follow up with Les Mis. Somehow that seems fitting this year.

And I did my three hours on Carmen--with plenty of breaks. That got me to this point:

Hopefully I can finish this partial bit and that will leave me only one more section of framework. Then I can add the flowers and be done with this band.

Meanwhile, my friend Susan found out what Tomato Blood is. It's regular Heinz catsup with a special label for Halloween since a lot of people use catsup to look like blood on their Halloween costumes. Now I can't figure out if it was on sale because they're doing an early Halloween special--or because they found a couple of cases left over from Halloween in the warehouse.

Needless to say, I do not plan to purchase any.

On the Third

 I got the last large framework on Carmen stitched today--that just leaves two partial frames and a corner to set up before I add the flowers.

Hmmmm, somehow that came out upside down, but since it's symmetrical, that shouldn't make any difference. 

I was thinking as I stitched today. I believe I'm going to try to work on Carmen for three to four hours every day, and then, if my wrist allows, move on to something else after resting my hands for a bit. I've wanted to work on the Cherished Letter Case and go back to Queen Catherine's Sweet Bag and do some  finish-finishing--and there's still No Place Like Home to complete. 

I could almost set up a rotation, but if you've been following my blog for any length of time, you'll remember that I don't do well with scheduled stitching. That's why I'm not sure if I can stick to mornings with Carmen, but I do want to get her off the scroll frame by the end of the year. Three hours a day would be about ninety hours a month and that should mean an end is in sight.

Queen Catherine has another reason to get back in my hands. This arrived today.

More goodies to go with the book/box, the fob, and the sweet bag. So very pretty ...

And, in another area of my life, today was grocery day. As usual, I was looking at the store's weekly specials to see if there was anything we wanted to add to the list. I ran across a product I have not seen before. Apparently Heinz catsup was on sale this week, and one of the products they listed as "Tomato Blood."

Tomato Blood?

What the blankety-blank-blank is tomato blood?

As Dearly Beloved does the hunting and gathering portion of our life, I was in hopes that he would investigate and report back. (He does the grocery shopping because I don't enjoy touring each and every aisle of the store so that I can look at everything on every shelf. He does.)

He forgot to look.

Does anyone reading this know what tomato blood could be?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Trudging Along

I got a little more done on Carmen.

 I had hoped to get the last full framework done, but I have realized that this band is going to take more time than any of the others. Yes, it is satin stitch, but when it's satin over two threads, and there are a lot of those stitches, it's going to take the time it takes. Add to that is the count of the linen--46 count--and the shade of the thread--which is a pale neutral on a pale neutral background--and it's just going to be a drawn-out process.

That's my rationalization and I'm sticking to it.

Someone suggested just skipping this band and coming back to it later. I'm afraid I would never go back. I'd just have a sampler with a big blank in it, It was also suggested that I do something else for awhile. I did something else for awhile--just about a whole year--and it didn't make things any easier. I just need to get it done, and then lie down with a cold compress on my head.

It was also brought to my attention that the year is half over. I didn't need to know that.

So, onward and upward!

Thinking and more thinking

 I spent three hours on the phone this morning dealing with various and sundry financial things. There are times when you have to do that--today was one of those times. After that, I needed to sit in the corner and rock and drool for a bit. When I recovered, the only thing I was capable of stitching was tent stitch over one on No Place Like Home.

I still have more to do, but at least I don't have to work around numbers.

And I spent some time thinking about stitching in general and blogging about stitching.

What I concluded is that I want to continue stitching and blogging, but I have to figure out how I want to do both. If I don't stitch I don't blog. At the same time, when I'm working on only one project at a time, the blog can become very boring

I came to no conclusions, so I thought I would ask for suggestions. And I may try a few things to see if any of them work.

(Please keep in mind that I have decided I need to finish some things because the number of projects I want to stitch keeps increasing while the number of finishes seems to be decreasing. Sigh . . . )

Slowly, slowly, slo-o-o-owly

 I'm stitching a bit, very slowly and with lots of breaks.

It's making a little bit crazy. But at least I'm stitching.

Here's where we are on Carmen:

That bit at the bottom of the motif on the right is going to have to come out because I can't count. What can I say, it's been a Monday all day.

This band has been a problem for awhile. I stopped on it when I discovered I was a horizontal thread off and couldn't find it. It's one of the bigger bands, and it's one of the least interesting to stitch, IMHO. And now I have to rip.

I'd be tempted to put it in time out, but I'm afraid I might never go back. So I will persevere, painful though it may be, in more ways than one.

The current alternative project is also moving slowly, mainly because it's tent stitch over one and there's a lot of it.

This is the bottom of one of the pockets on No Place Like Home. This isn't the most interesting thing to stitch, either, but it has to be done.

I think I need to just put my head down and get all of this done so I can get back to the more enjoyable bits and pieces of these projects. I have too many UFO's and WIPs because I got bored or frustrated or both, but I still want the finished projects.

So, along with patience, I need to learn perseverance in my old age.

Super Duper Mail Day

It was a joy to go to the mailbox today.

The Queen's Needlework Tool Kit--the most recent entry in Amy Mitten's Queen's Attire series--landed in my mailbox this morning.

The kit is packed with simply delicious goodies--velvet and brocade and metal threads and little bits and pieces of lovely stuff. I feel simply regal looking through the contents of the package.

And the current issue of Inspirations arrived.

I would really, really love to stitch my way from cover to cover in this issue.

Actually, I would really, really love to stitch, but my wrist is still acting up. I am on anti-inflammatories and hopefully that will help because I am starting to climb the walls. And Dearly Beloved has started tiptoeing around me. 

I must be patient, I must be patient, I MUST BE PATIENT!!!

It's not a pretty picture around here.

 

Rounding a Corner

I decided I'm going to start having Sampler Sundays again, mainly because Carmen has been glaring at me for months and months.

After spending some time readjusting to working on 46 count linen--the last couple of projects I've worked on have used 32 count, and believe me, there is an adjustment these aged eyes need to make--I filled in a corner on the band I was last working on.

 I'm still off one horizontal thread somewhere. I cannot find it. It is a mystery. However, I've decided I no longer care about perfection--at least on this band--and I am moving on. I will compensate as best I can. And if anyone can spot the oopsie--well, at this point, I no longer want to know.

This means, of course, that I will have forty-leven people pointing out exactly where I went wrong.

49 Years Plus 1 Day

Dearly Beloved and I celebrated our 49th wedding anniversary yesterday. We had a low-key celebration--take-out Chinese and a technicolor performance by Mother Nature, who brought a thunderstorm with high winds. Actually, we have a large limb leaning against the privacy fence around the deck, and smaller limbs and lots of pine cones on the deck itself.

I am drawing no comparisons with our marriage, although there are some who might.

Meanwhile, I have been resting my wrist for most of the week. Despite that, there has been some stitching done. Very little stitching, but some.

One thread at a time, and the lettering for No Place Like Home is finished. I do like the little brown fox. And, yes, the spiral trellis has yet to be done. I'm going to wait to add those until I cut the pieces apart and can work that in hand.

I had planned to do a lot of finish-finishing this week, but sadly, the only thing that is assembled is the sausage pincushion for Carmen's Etui. And we did most of that in class.

BDE says it looks like a corn dog in fancy dress. I am withholding comment.

Before it gets any hotter, I'm going to pick up branches and sling pine cones off the deck, then sweep up what's left. Quite frankly, staying married for 49 years was excitement enough for yesterday.
 

Should Have Put It Down

Last week I was taking a blackwork class from Carolyn Standing Webb. I mentioned that I could not put the piece down.

I should have.

I inflamed the tendon in my wrist that caused all the problems last year, so most of this week has been spent icing and elevating and compressing and resting my hand.

However, there has been a little bit of stitching. A very little bit, but some stitching.

 I started the hillock that the birds are standing on. This is where I was when I realized that I hadn't left room for the gold chips that are also supposed to be included.

Obviously, I will not be ripping out.  I decided that I could find a beading needle  which would fit between the French knots, and a hemostat I can use to pull the needle through, and use them to add some gold chips to the surface. I am rationalizing that a little bit of bling goes a long way.

And I've been doing a strand of thread on the lettering on No Place Like Home every day, which is about as much lettering as I want to do anyway.

My wrist does feel better today, so I may try to do a little more lettering. The more I do, the faster I'll be through with this part.

Or I could take a nap, which actually sounds very enticing.

Cannot Put It Down

 Second day of class and I literally could not put the piece down.

So here's the upper left corner of the front cover of the box/book from the set. And it was addictive.

I don't know if it's the fact that this is a new project or whether it's the design or just the fact that I love Tudor/Stuart embroideries and this is definitely inspired by that period, but I may be addicted. As in, I would love to stitch all night and all day on this.

However, my wrist is beginning to hurt and I have learned the hard way that's a sure sign I need to do something else.

So I'm going to do something else and try to avoid temptation.

Ch-Ch-Chains

(If you get the song reference in the title, you're like me--old as dirt!)

I am taking a wonderful class online through EGA with Carolyn Standing Webb. It is called Queen Catherine's  Book, Sweet Bag, and Pyn Pillow, and it's an exploration of blackwork designs like those popular in Tudor times.

I started the Pyn Pillow:

Carolyn, who is a fantastic teacher and the most patient person in the world, suggested we start with the flower in the middle. I am contrary. I've also dealt with the interwoven loops, or chain pattern, that make up the border. I decided to get the pain over with as soon as possible. So I did, and it is reversible and worked in double running and I think I lost only about 23% of my brain cells in the doing of it.

If you aren't familiar with Carolyn and her work, please go to carolynstandingwebb.blogspot.com. It is total eye candy.

I mean, total eye candy!

Still plugging away

In the evenings, when my brain doesn't need to think but my hands need to be busy, I've been working on more Nun stitch for No Place Like Home

 So the second piece is now outlined. I have to work a vine adorned by spiral trellis berries, then a whole lot of letters to finish this section.

Instead of doing that, I will probably iron the linen for the virtual class I'm taking for the next three days. Then I need to sew the linen to scroll bars.

I think I'd rather stitch letters.

Lovebirds?

I have spent a very long time today stitching wee tiny birds with filament silk.

I am assuming that they're supposed to be lovebirds since they're on the Cherished Letter Case. Actually, I think they look like pheasants; So I thought I would look up pheasants to see if they are monogamous birds who mate for life.

Mr. Google says nope, not monogamous--the males are more like roosters and go after all the females in the flock indiscriminately.

So then I wondered if there is a bird actually called a love bird, and there is. It's a little, brightly colored parrot.

And then I went, OMG, I am old. I keep reading articles that talk about retirees taking up birdwatching like it's almost a developmental stage of aging and here I am googling bird pictures and descriptions. If I go out and buy binoculars and a birding guide, you'll know I'm doomed.

Spangles and more spangles

 I realized last night that it's been almost a month since I worked on one of my Zina projects, so I set everything up before I went to bed. That meant that the minute I got downstairs, I could read over the directions for the next step and do it.

Spangles and beads make a sparkly flower, and I have four of them now.

I wish you could pick up sparklies with a camera. Somehow it just doesn't come through. I have to say that I am very, very happy with the way these flowers look.

The next step is stitching the lovebirds in the center of the design. I'll start them tomorrow morning.

I have another class coming up at the end of this week. I think I may unpack the box this afternoon and get the linen mounted so that will be ready to roll on Thursday. I'll show that in the next day or so.

So many stitches!

Done and Done

 I finished assembling the two Thistle Threads ornaments yesterday.

Now I have to straighten out the worktable and put up the leftover threads and decide where to stash these until it's time to put up the tree. Actually, I think I need to start a new ornament box because the box where my hand-stitched ornaments live is full to the brim. That may be a good Sunday afternoon project.

Or maybe I'll take my book out on the deck and read because the sun is finally shining--in short, it's not raining today!

Doing Things I Don't Like To Do

 When asked about needlework, I always reply that I've never met a threaded needle I didn't like.

Apparently I've been lying through my teeth all these years.

I decided to do some finish-finishing this morning. Assembling isn't my favorite way to ply my needle, but I have a couple of ornaments that should be easy to put together. I'm to the last stage on the first one, which requires sewing loops of tape in a decorative pattern around the ornament.

So far, on this little section I've done, I've managed to stab myself twice, lost the needle (and found it) once, and tangled the thread with just about every stitch.

I thought it was time to do something else. No Place Like Home just needs its innards stitched and then it will be ready for the finishing basket.

But that requires a lot of Nun stitch.

Nun stitch may be the only stitch I despise. It's boring to do and it takes forever.

Question: Is it boring because it takes forever or does it take forever because it's boring?

The one positive thing I can think of is that it gives a flat finish that isn't bulky. However, as I discovered from a class with Marion Scoular a number of years ago, it isn't the most stable stitch. You can easily pull it away from the fabric, and it's pretty much impossible to fix once that happens.

And, of course, almost every single pocket and attachment for the sewing case requires Nun stitch as an edging.

And letters. I have to stitch letters. I don't like to stitch letters.

Maybe I'll read or take a nap this afternoon.

Classes, classes, classes

 Yes, I stalk Jackie du Plessis. Yes, I should take a year just to catch up on all the class pieces I've taken from her.

That is a thought . . . 

Anyway, Dearly Beloved and I hauled ourselves up the mountain to Weaverville, right outside Asheville, so I could take more classes from Jackie.

And I did.

The main attraction on this trip was Black Swans 2, and an absolutely gobsmacking Mexican sampler:

Just look at all those amazing colors. I wish you could see the sheen--the threads just glow. Most of it is Soie Ovale, which requires very careful handling because it is filament silk and it will snag on air--which means I'll likely have to sand off my fingerprints to make sure I don't have any rough spots on my fingers when I start to work on this.

And then we had the surprise class of the session before Black Swans.

On the left, you'll see the beautifully painted basket framework for Berry-licious. In the box, you'll see berries on sticks????!!???

We made glittery berries. It was fun, and it was messy, and it was not like any class I've taken in years and years. I did find that some of my berries had bald spots that need more glitter, so I am going to set up a work station on the deck at some point in the relatively near future, and fling glitter about.

I am not going to do that in the house because, well, glitter. I don't need to find it in every nook and cranny for the rest of my life, so it's going to be applied outside. And Dearly Beloved may meet me at the door and vacuum me off before I come back inside.

We had a classic class, The Gift:

I took this class umpty-bazillion years ago at the old Christmas in Williamsburg. I gave the finished piece to my mother. Somehow, it "vanished" when the family of one of her roommates packed up the roommate's possessions after her death in the extended care facility where Mother lives. I decided I wanted to do it again because it remains one of my very favorite designs from Jackie. Actually, it may have started my obsession with her designs. 

There was stash enhancement at Sassy Jack's. As I am trying desperately to work from stash, I basically added linen and threads for charts I have. And I found a prize for one of the projects that has been aging in my stash for decades.

The charts called for a Wichelt linen that has been discontinued for years and years. I was thinking about Aztec Red, but then I saw this PTP linen, Phoenix. And wow-ey, zow-ey, it is going to be amazing! I think that these strawberries would make adorable Christmas ornament, actually.

And somewhere in my stash, I have Tricia's charts for pears . . . 

In addition, I got a chance to visit with a dear friend who lives in the area--we talked stitching and stitching events--we still miss Callaway, which sadly ended years ago--and had some lovely meals out--a lot of the restaurants in the Asheville area have reopened so we helped that recovery. Best of all, I had a chance to see friends I've made over the years at Sassy Jack's and Salty Yarns.

Can't wait for the next event!

Construction Zone

It has been a very busy couple of weeks since I last posted. Basically, I got ready to go to Sassy Jack's for classes with Jackie, including Black Swans 2, then I went to Sassy Jack's, and now we're home again.

And while I was there, I actually finished a project!!!!!

I took an encore class for the Artisan's Workbox stitching roll. I took the class last year at Salty Yarns, but when I pulled it out to work on awhile back, I realized that my notes for the final step in the finishing (creating the rolled compartment) looked like I had written them in a foreign tongue. Actually, maybe not even a language found on Earth, and I had no idea what I was trying to tell myself to do.

So, the week before we left, I got everything finished to the point where I couldn't interpret my scribbles, and while I was in class, I got 'er done.

And it fits quite nicely in the lovely box Mr. Miller made for the project.

That wasn't the only construction project that happened.

The house on No Place Like Home has been built.

There are some flowers and flourishes that need to be added to this panel, and then I can start working on the innards of the sewing book. Which means that I may have something else in the finishing basket before long.

There's a lot for show & tell from my week at Sassy Jack's, and I do have some stash enhancement from the shop, but if I write about all that, it will take as long as War & Peace to read, so I will save it for another day. Meanwhile, there is laundry to do and a grocery list to compile.

Back to reality . . . 

A Mayflower finish

Since we moved, I've joined a bunch of sampler guilds that have Zoom meetings for distance members. There isn't a local sampler guild in this area, so it's been lovely to be able to connect with others who share this particular needlework passion.

Today was the Mayflower Sampler guild's meeting, and it was a tea party for Mother's Day. The program was designed to show us how to make pin cushions from tea cups.

We had a similar meeting a number of years ago with my hometown sampler guild, the Carolinas Sampler Guild, so I didn't think I needed another teacup pin cushion. However, I remembered that I had a kit for a little teacup ornament stitched with ribbon embroidery. I have to admit, silk ribbon embroidery really isn't in my wheelhouse--I've done a couple of small pieces, usually as part of EGA programs. It's pretty, but (gasp) it isn't something I've pursued.

It is quick, though. I was done with the whole thing in an hour.

Actually, considering that the saucer is only about 3" across, it probably shouldn't have taken that long to make. I begin to see the allure of silk ribbon embroidery.

I've also stitched a bit more on No Place Like Home. The side wall on the house has been erected, and we have the door and most of the windows constructed on the front.

And I added some overstitching in silk to the spangles that I sewed on a day or so ago on the letter case project.

Those little stems are so small that I'm not sure you can tell much difference between the last progress picture and this one.

Actually, I'm beginning to get just a wee bit restless, and I have a feeling that I'm going to add something else to my active projects--just to keep that creative flow flowing, you understand. It has nothing to do with the fact that I have the attention span of a gnat when it comes to my needlework pursuits.

Yeah, right.

Sloooooooow Stitching

 I keep reading about the concept of slow stitching, and my reaction has always been, "when has stitching not been slow?" Yvette Stanton wrote a post about the very thing in the last week or so--all stitching is slow.

Only thing I can determine is that slow stitchers are perhaps doing hand stitching for the first time when they normally use sewing machines.

I've been thinking about it because I have been doing some very slow stitching.

Do you see that very thin green line around the outside of the design? That is stem stitch, using filament silk. Filament silk tends to be very thin anyway, plus the stitches are supposed to be only 3 mm long. 3mm isn't very long to begin with, but when you're working stem stitch, you're only moving half that length forward with each stitch. That means each stitch advances the line only 1.5 mm.

1.5 mm is about the width of a needle!! A little needle!!

So that took longer than I expected.

And then there are the spangles. I have about as much trouble with spangles as I do with beads. No more needs to be said.

I can only work with very tiny stuff for a few hours before I start twitching, so I pulled No Place Like Home out of time out and started working on the house again. This time it's in the correct place.

I haven't worked on 32 count linen very much in the last few years, so stitching with two strands of thread has reminded me why I moved to higher counts. At least this slow stitching moves a little faster on 32 count linen!