Should she stay or should she go . . .

Martha Edlin is all ready to jump into the tote bag.

I'm trying to be realistic.  Seriously.  I'm trying.

The fact is that I am taking three classes, the first of which starts Thursday.  And there is a boutique. I can avail myself of a variety of needlework experiences.

But I will be there tomorrow evening and Thursday morning before the first class starts. Granted, we do have dinner reservations and chances to go hither and thither beforehand, but there could possibly be ten or fifteen minutes somewhere during which I could ply my needle.

It is probably better that I take something.

(I could probably think more clearly about this whole thing if I hadn't been awake since 3:30 a.m. No reason to be awake, just woke up and could not go back to sleep.  And had to go to work today, where I was suddenly very sleepy at about 11. This was not a good thing. Dearly Beloved is checking behind me to make sure I have packed bloomers and my magnifier.)

Crazy

I am crazy.

Flat. Out. Bugnutz. Crazy.

Last June I was looking at Inspirations magazine. I had seen a preview of a book called "Home Sweet Home: An Embroidered Workbox" and I thought it was just about the sweetest thing I had seen in awhile. Right inside the front cover of Inspirations, there was an ad offering the kits for all the bits and pieces and the workbox. You could order them separately to be sent once a month or you could order one big kit at a somewhat significant savings.

I have no will power.

I ordered it.

Today it arrived. It took almost six months, but it finally made it.

I have not dumped everything out to see what's in it yet, mainly because the boxes that the Christmas decorations were in are still out along with the stuff Dearly Beloved is packing for our trip. In other words, currently we have no horizontal spaces large enough for me to play. Then, too, once I open everything, the surprise is over. I think I may wrap this up and put it under the Christmas tree.

Besides, if it's dumped out and sorted, then it's just more than a little tempting to stick a needle into it and I do not need to start something else at the moment. I'm going to Williamsburg and taking an early bird class and a morning class and an afternoon class and that's enough new projects for one week.

At least that's my thinking at the moment.

Subject to change . . .

A flower and a stitch along

Early this morning I finished the second flower.

I am very pleased with this one! It does look as though the birds are perched on both a twig and a leaf, which makes the other poor little bird who lives to the left of this motif looking dangerously unbalanced.

I also started Ann Scutt from Scarlet Letter:

This new start is all Nicola's fault!

Nicola (stitchingbyacornishseashore.blogspot.com) is sponsoring a Scarlet Letter stitch along to celebrate a milestone birthday this year. As I have quite a few SL projects in my stash and a list of additional projects from Marsha I want to add to that stash, this was a good reason to start. I also have a milestone birthday coming up in a few weeks (although mine is a bit farther along) so that's another reason to get moving on actually embroidering these treasures.

Nicola has the details on her blog. There is also an additional blog for those of us who participate to use to show progress and finishes.

2013 is shaping up to become another lovely stitching year!

However, the remainder of today I am decking the halls, running the Christmas dishes through the dishwasher so we can use them through December, and starting to get my supplies together to leave for Christmas in Williamsburg.  Dearly Beloved is already packing so he'll have time to remember the things that he's forgotten.

I don't question his logic, I just stay out of his way.

playing with paper

The shop for the Cabinet of Curiosities class opened a few days ago and I have ordered threads and fabrics. And now that I have been able to see the color families and the types of threads already available, I'm able to plan my caskets--yes, I said caskets--I want to do both types--a little better.

So I've been playing with templates and motifs and ideas most of the day, interspersed with errands (now that the Black Friday crowds have calmed down somewhat) and laundry and housekeeping. The problem is that I keep coming up with way more ideas than I have places to put them all.

 I have decided that there are also going to be some embroidered pictures in my future with 17th century figures stitched in 17th century style. It's either that or I'm going to have caskets all over the house on every available surface.

Dearly Beloved says it sounds like that's already the plan. I should stop allowing him to read over my shoulder when I'm writing.

Puttering around

This was a lovely, lazy day with very little to report.

We did not participate in Black Friday madness. We did pack up leftovers and send Baby Girl on her way home this morning.  Poor baby, she had to go into work for a few hours this afternoon. At least she had reruns of Thanksgiving dinner and didn't have to worry about feeding herself tonight.

Then I did . . .basically nothing the rest of the day. I had plans when I woke up, then tossed them out the window and enjoyed doing as little as possible.  I did finish a book and start another. I took a nap, which felt like the height of luxury!  And I stuck a needle into Martha Edlin for a little while.

Flower #2, in progress:

This one is filled with satin stitch. You can't see it in the photo, but the silk sparkles. The majority of this sampler is stitched with Soie de Paris and while it can be persnickety to stitch with (if there is a rough place on any part of ones body, including the top of ones head and the bottom of ones feet--in short, places that don't come close to the needlework--it will snag on it), the way it glows in both daylight and lamplight make it worth the pain.

Dearly Beloved and I have errands to be run in the morning and there is laundry to be dealt with (the neverending story) and the house to be kept tomorrow.  Tonight, though, I am taking myself off to bed with my book and read myself to sleep.  I could get into living like this!

Happy Thanksgiving

Best wishes to all for a Happy Thanksgiving!

We have feasted. We have collapsed on the couch. We have leftovers for the next few meals. We have perused the advertising and decided that there is nothing on earth worth staying up half the night or getting up at the crack of dawn to purchase.  Baby Girl and I, therefore, have spent some time stitching.

And, despite the carb coma, I now--and finally--have a flower on this band of Martha Edlin.

I have to admit that this almost caused a brain cramp. This flower is outlined and filled in with long arm cross that changes direction. The filling was not a problem but outlining all the spiky bits on the carnation and deciding when to change from working horizontal rows to vertical rows while attempting to keep it reversible . . .probably not the best thing to stitch when full of tryptophan from the turkey.

Speaking of which, there is a turkey sandwich calling my name . . .

Just call me a Domestic Diva

We were given a wonderful gift at work today--we were told we could leave at noon!

This meant I was able to

• run by the grocery store for one essential ingredient that had been forgotten in the three other grocery runs we've made
• Iron
• get three of the sides either completely done or done to the point that they will just need to be popped into the oven tomorrow
• find the turkey roasting pan--this is one of those things that home de-clutterers always tell you to get rid of when they go through kitchens, but I am always thrilled I have it for Thanksgiving
• get serving plates and utensils out
• and eat dinner and I still have time to stitch a few minutes tonight.

I do still need to clear off the kitchen table so I will have a "staging area" for tomorrow. If Nature abhors a vacuum, Dearly Beloved abhors a clear horizontal space--he feels it needs to be covered with something immediately. We call it his piling system. I have been dealing with this for over 35 years and it isn't getting any better so I may as well tolerate it--but it does mean that periodically it has to be dealt with.  And I am dealing with it tonight. Bwaa-ha-haaaaaa!

Actually, I think I'm going to stack everything in one of the boxes I snagged from the office for a Good Will trip and let him sort it out later.

Tomorrow is reserved for feasting and stitching. I can't wait!