A slight detour

The plan for today was to put the back of the Fair Maiden Etui together and to attach it to the front-and-side assembly.

That was the plan.

It didn't happen that way.

After going to bed later than I planned, and getting up earlier than I wanted (if you don't get to the Farmers' Market early, you don't get the best stuff--much less a parking space), and not sleeping well in between, I decided that perhaps I should not be allowed around sharp needles and the big shears.

So, I'm working on the needle roll that accompanies Fair Maiden. It was the Early Bird class the year I took Fair Maiden in Williamsburg.

I stayed up too late last night because I was determined to get the broad chain stitch outlines around both pieces before I went to bed. And I did. I am off two threads. I discovered this as I worked the outlines for the places where the needles will rest. I am not ripping out. I am compensating. There are times to rip and times to compensate. There are also times to go to bed when one is bleary-eyed, as I should be old enough to know.

Anyway, I'm going to continue to work on this tonight for awhile longer.

And go to bed a little earlier.

Workin' on the Chain Gang

The broad chain around the threadwinder case is finished, and I've started working it on the needle roll that will accompany Fair Maiden.

I should have pressed the linen for the needle roll before I started stitching, but I had thread in the needle and figured that where I was starting didn't need pressing. Now that I've finished that needle full,  I can slap it on the ironing board and get the creases out before I go on.

I'm using Gilt Silk Twist for this section, just as I did for the outlines on Fair Maiden. And I've pulled out one of my hand made Japanese embroidery needles to use as I work this stitch with this thread. The eye of the needle is round so it's super easy to thread with GST, which can be uncooperative with a regular needle. And the needle is so smooth that there is no fraying in the thread from a potential burr in the needle eye.

These needles do require more care than typical needles. They can rust very easily, so I run this one through my emery strawberry after every use, and store it in its little air-tight bottle when I'm not stitching with it. I do have a special needle pad designed just for these needles, but I've found the bottle works even better. I have lost a needle in the needle pad, and they're not easy to find once they bury themselves deep within. It took an Earth magnet to get it out.

If you've never done broad chain stitch, there is a great diagram on Tricia Nguyen's thistle-threads.com website, where it's listed as reverse chain stitch in the stitch diagrams section. Once you do a chain stitch this way, you'll never go back to the way most of us learned--that sequence of lazy daisy stitches linked together that are always hard to keep uniform.

It's a good thing I love doing broad chain. There's a lot of it on this project. More than I realized until I reread the instructions from the class I took almost two years ago.

I really need to start finishing projects right after I take the class rather than allowing them to age in the stash for awhile. Or I need to take notes that will make sense two or more years after the fact--I've been trying to decipher something that sounds like a hidden message behind the Iron Curtain during the Cold War.

And more flowers

Apparently I'm currently drawn to projects with flowers, because this evening I've stitched some more of them.

This bouquet will be on the front of the thread winder case, the "Christmas in Williamsburg" will be on the back. I need to continue stitching the chain stitch down the sides because the bottom of this strip of linen will create the lining for the case.

I believe I am going to work on the needle roll after this is stitched.  If I am very industrious, I could potentially use the long week-end of the Fourth to finish it. Assuming, that is, that I get the rest of the etui assembled this coming week-end.

Very industrious. Very.

Don't hold your breath.

Cute little things

The executive decision was made that I need large blocks of time when I'm doing finish-finishing, so that means I won't be working on assembling any other parts of Fair Maiden until the week-end. In the meantime, I am working on the accessory pieces that go with Fair Maiden.

Jackie designed five or six smalls to fit in Fair Maiden. Last night, I started with the smallest one, a case for the scrimshaw thread winder.

I sort of went back and forth on the date. 2013 is charted and that's the year the class was taught. Obviously, it's 2015, and the year I'm stitching.  When Annie's Attic bought the magazines and the event from Hoffmann Media, they changed the name. Since 2013 was the last year the event was called Christmas in Williamsburg, I decided to keep it as 2013.

There are flowers that match the ones on the Etui to be stitched, and that's what I plan to do next.

By the way, several people asked about reversible cross stitches when I was working on Mary Attwood (and she needs to come out of her pillowcase soon). SNS just announced they are offering a class on that very thing, taught by Catherine Jordan. Catherine is a phenomenally creative teacher, and she has designed a set of coasters which teach reversible cross stitch.

In the interest of full disclosure, this is one of the rare classes I am not taking from SNS. I'm getting enough practice with reversible cross stitch on Mary Atwood. My brain might explode if I added another project involving that particular skill set at this point in time!  However, if this is something you'd like to dabble in--and you decorate for Halloween--you may want to look into it.

If you're not on the Shining Needle Society (SNS) mailing list, all you have to do is drop Kate Gaunt a line at KateGaunt@aol.com. She'll sign you right up. Please don't worry--your mailbox will not be filled with junk. You'll only receive notifications when classes are offered.

Engineering, Phase III

I've managed to get the lining stitched to the back of the front piece of the etui, and connected the side piece with its inner chamber to the front piece.

I'm glad I did the connecting part with daylight--it made it much easier to see those tiny stitches!

The next stage requires attaching the pocket to the back piece of the etui, then sewing the lining to the back piece, and then (I think) attaching the back piece to the side piece. Then I need to assemble the other side pieces and the drawer that slides into the other side of the etui and the lid, and I have to twist some cords and make some tassels and get all of those bits and pieces attached to this assembly.

The thought of all of this makes me want to lie down with a cold compress on my head.

Engineering, Phase II

Way back in March, I started working on the assembly of the Fair Maiden Etui.  I did OK at first, then had a major measuring malfunction, and then allowed myself to be distracted by other things that would also need assembly.

Today I said to myself that I really need to get some of these lovely things put together so I could actually enjoy them.

The pieces for Fair Maiden were still strewn about my finishing table, and I decided it was time to pull up my Granny panties and get something done.

So here is today's accomplishment:

I'm trying to figure out how to ease that ripple in the silk out a bit, and I am not even halfway through with the finishing, but I think I'm going to find something small and easy to do to stitch on for a bit.  And it's going to be something I don't have to put together!

Off the Social Merry-go-round

We are officially back to our normal rut.

In betwixt and between the running about this week, I have stolen every moment possible to work on Briar Rose. I am delighted to announce the embroidery is complete!

What I wish the pictures would show--and won't, since I'm taking them late in the evening with artificial light--is how much the center stitches set off the pattern. They make the whole design come alive.

Nope, even a close-up doesn't do the centers justice.

Oh, well.

For those who may be curious, we survived the social whirl.

The Baby Boomer Health seminar basically recapped everything that's been published in the last five years on keeping ones faculties into ones doddering old age:  30 minutes of exercise a day, avoiding white flour and white sugar and white rice, constantly looking for new things to learn, maintaining social relationships, eating a Mediterranean diet, yadda, yadda, yadda.

Then we segued into the infomercial, in which the presenters attempted to sell us a variety of "supplements" to "enhance" the gains made by doing all the things above. We did not succumb to the snake oil sales pitch.

Last night I went to ANG. It was good to see people again since I've missed the last two meetings. 

And tonight we had a very early dinner with former neighbors. It was a delicious meal. Unfortunately we were regaled with an organ recital, the term two of my great-aunts used to refer to public discussion of ones health and the condition of ones innards.  Dearly Beloved said he now knows more about the wife's personal situation than he does about mine, and we've been married for 38 years and 364 days.

And, yes, we celebrate our 39th anniversary tomorrow. At present, the plans consist of pizza and cake. After this week, an evening at home sounds delightful.