Early Bird Class (and some wretched excess)

Lovely Early Bird Class with Jackie du Plessis--a needleroll that will accompany tomorrow's Fair Maiden Etui.

And there are some extra goodies that go with the set:

Ok, I will admit that I really love prissy, pretty things. I tend to be very tailored and professional in attire in reality, but in my fantasy life I'm lounging on a chaise wearing ruffles and lace, sipping a mint julep, and drawling.

(If I ever tried that in reality, I'd sew one of the ruffles to the back of my needlework and spill the mint julep into my project bag. I'd still drawl, but that's due to living here all my life.)

Anyway this whole thing just jumps up and down and yoo-hoos at that prissy person, so I'm very happy.

Then there was shopping in the boutique, which was open only to seminar attendees this afternoon.

This is the wretched excess part of the title:

 and

These are the best pix I can get, considering dim hotel lighting and even dimmer, grayer skies outside. I was originally sort of sorry I had signed up for two classes since it means my schedule is too tight to go play in Williamsburg, but the weather is so dismal I think I'll be happier playing in silks and linens.

I do not believe I need to visit the boutique again. I believe I will probably do it anyway.

Christmas in Williamsburg

We're heeeeeeeere . . .

It's time for our annual trek to Williamsburg so I can attend classes offered through Christmas in Williamsburg. The events start tomorrow. I look forward to this all year and it flies by so fast, but at least I know I have the next four days to stitch my fingers to the bone.

I did bring something to work on in the room tonight before classes start tomorrow. It's the next to last ornament in the series I worked on during November.

And here you see the center, which is all that's going to happen tonight. We got up at five and walked out of the house at six and landed on the Jamestown side of the ferry ride at noon and have been walking and shopping and eating and touring ever since. Since I suffered from little-kid-on-the-night-before-Christmas syndrome last night (kept waking up to see if it was morning yet), I am about to go facedown on the keyboard.

I'd rather go facedown on the bed.  So I am.

Bordering on Insanity

I said I wanted to get the leaf-and-vine border for Catherine Theron's Morning Has Broken stitched while I had a four-day week-end.

And I did.

Much to my surprise, I managed to get the long-arm cross and saw tooth borders stitched in as well. By the way, the vine-and-leaf is not plain ole cross stitch--it's actually made up of Smyrna crosses.

Now I get to do the fun stuff in the middle!

However, for what's left of today, I'm going to deck some halls and fa-la-la.

I will say, I don't like it when Thanksgiving is this late--there's simply no time to enjoy the season when you have so few days between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I don't care if the malls and other public areas had Christmas decorations up before Halloween candy was off the shelves--we have a policy of decorating only after the Thanksgiving feast is digested.

A stitching Thanksgiving

I was thinking about today's blog and listing all the things I'm thankful for--like a warm home, food to eat, a job that supports my habit, modern conveniences like electricity and indoor plumbing--and most of all, Dearly Beloved, the Big Kid and his wife, Baby Girl, and the Flash--but then, I thought, we're all grateful for family and quality of life. And this is a stitching blog.

So here are the things in my little needlework world that I'm thankful for today:

• Progress, again, on Morning Has Broken. These are the two center cartouches in the vine and leaf border, plus a little of the sawtooth border which goes around the whole thing. If I plop myself in the wing chair for the next few days and really work at this, I can get the whole border done and then can spend my time filling in the fun parts.
• Enough stash to last several lifetimes, so boredom will not be an issue any time soon
• Inspirations to try techniques new to me, found online and in magazines and books. This is truly an amazing time to be an embroiderer.
• In-person guilds and online communities of embroiderers, all of whom have something to offer
• Brilliant teachers and designers who constantly challenge and encourage with exquisite projects and techniques
• Online classes that make it ever so easy to learn
• Blogging, which has reconnected me to an old friend and brought me a new one who is just as addicted to all this as I am!
• And my mail carrier, who delivers goodies that make my stitcher's heart go pitty-pat and my stitcher's fingers itch to pick up my needle.

Yesterday, my mail carrier brought me two wonderful new projects:

Peace on Earth, this year's ornament from Barbara Jackson. 

I stitched her "Merrily, Merrily" last year in time to get it on the tree. That's the goal for this year as well. Class starts tomorrow!

The materials for Jacobean Splendour, a cyber workshop from Alison Cole.

I've wiped more drool off the keyboard after viewing Alison Cole's website than I care to admit and I'm really excited to start this class as well. Periodically, I take my life in my hands and pick up a sharp needle, and this is one of those times. I will keep you apprised of my progress. I should perhaps buy stock in band-aids.

The needlepoint ornament series has not been forgotten. As we have already had our family feast, it's just Dearly Beloved and moi for Thanksgiving today, so I thought about setting up my assembly line on the kitchen table and starting.

The finishing directions call for use of a hot glue gun.

A klutz should never be allowed near a hot glue gun.

I rummaged around to find my Allene's thick tacky designer glue--the one in the pink bottle--since it holds as well as hot glue and doesn't run the risk of blistering my fingers or other parts--only to find that  I have a virtually empty bottle.

If you think I'm going to risk life and sanity diving into the post-Thanksgiving shopping frenzy for a bottle of glue, you need to rethink. Instead, I'm planning to stitch until it's time to sling the turkey breast into the oven. And then I plan to stitch after dinner. And then I plan to stitch tomorrow. And the next day. And the next . . .there's a LOT to be thankful for!

Trudging along . . .

I did not mean to neglect the blog for a week, but it's one of the busier times at work for me. After spending the whole day staring at a computer screen, the last thing I've been able to do is stare at one again when I'm (finally, at long last) home.

In fact there have been a couple of days when I've arrived home, done the dinner thing, plopped down in the wing chair, and stared into space--or at the TV, which may be the same thing--until bedtime. It's been a little disconcerting.

That doesn't mean I haven't stitched at all. I've done a little . . .very little . . .especially considering that I'm currently working on little Christmas ornaments.  This is what I managed to do since the last posting.

There are two more in the series, but I had to stop stitching yesterday. Tugging the heavy metallic thread through the canvas was making my fingers sore--I am such a fragile flower!

I'm beginning to feel that linen is calling me. After all, I've now spent a couple of months playing with canvas. Morning Has Broken has come back downstairs, and I dug around in the stash until I unearthed Ann Lawle from Scarlet Letter. I think I'm going to stitch on samplers through the long Thanksgiving week-end.

After braving the grocery store this morning to get our Thanksgiving Day provisions, I'm not going out in a crowd on Black Friday, for sure!

Sleigh Ride!

And another ornament--and again, it took only two evenings to stitch.

There are supposed to be snowflakes behind the sleighs. There used to be. I stitched them in and decided that my sleighs looked like they were dancing on dotted Swiss. It just looked a little too busy.

Why does it take longer to take stitches out than to stitch them in?

Anyway, this is going with the other one for a grand finish-finishing when I get a few more done.  The canvas for the next ornament is already on the stretcher bars and ready to go. And it's supposed to be a gray, gloomy week-end, so it will be perfect for stitching.

Gettin' my Fa-la-la on!

Two evenings--that's all this took--just two evenings!

After I got the center motif finished--and remembered how much I despise working with Frosty Rays--this was a delight to stitch.

I was thinking about going ahead and finish-finishing, but then I came to my senses. I have seven more ornaments in this series, and it makes a whole lot more sense to wait until I get a few more stitched. Then I could do an assembly line finish of a bunch of them at one time.

(And this is absolutely not a way to avoid finish-finishing. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.)