There and Back Again

BDE and I went to Salty Yarns last week for classes with Jackie du Plessis.

And this is what I took:

 I've loved all of these Case Studies, and this one may be the most dramatic of them all. And it opens up and there are some really unique pockets inside. This is on the top of my list to start.

Unless this one comes to the top of the list:

This one is so cool! It has a drawer that pulls out for storing treasures. Maybe it's on the top of the list.

And here's the third class I took:

Bedazzled fruit (actually glittered cotton forms) in their own embroidered basket--actually, this is not on the top of my list at the moment. I painted the cotton forms in class but didn't want to glitter until I got home. And I think, rather than a basket of fruit, I may turn these into Christmas tree ornaments. Any glittering, however, is going to happen when I have on old clothes and can set myself up a workstation on the deck. That way I can sweep the excess glitter through the boards of the deck and not have it all over the house.

Glitter can take over the world.

We drove back yesterday--it was a beautiful day for a long drive--but we got in too late for me to work on my Sunday Sampler. Today I'm unpacking and unloading and reorganizing and deciding on a stitching schedule of sorts because I have so many pretties that I want to do right now!!!

And on to another topic which has been irritating me: Once again, I can't respond to comments on my own blog. Please know that I read and appreciate every single one of you who takes the time to read and react to my babbling.

Spring Green

 It's getting green outside my door, and it's pretty green in my stitching corner at the moment.

Yesterday I filled in the leaves and stems on the Spot Sampler:

Most of the motifs on this sampler are worked in tent stitch over one--and that's why it's probably gonna take me a couple of years to stitch. That doesn't include the detached elements for some of the motifs. 

Can we say labor-intensive?

Today I finished the outline for the twining vine on the Queen Sampler:

The inner sections of the vine will be filled in, but I think I'm going to work the big flowers on either side of the center first.

They're worked in Queen stitch. I do not believe I have worked a Queen stitch since I finished RST last year.

Hopefully I have recovered from that trauma by now!

Happy Easter on Sampler Sunday

 Happy Easter! Everything here is blooming and pollinating--and another cold front is moving in. 

But on to happier topics.

My Sampler Sunday project is going to be the Spot Sampler, reproduced by Margriet Hogue of The Essamplaire.

It's got to be almost 20 years ago (YIKES!) that I took this class from Margriet when Jeannine held her sampler workshops in Williamsburg. At the time, I was doing a lot of proof stitching and model stitching with deadlines and so I put it aside--and then I got distracted by something else--and it sank into the stash.

But just because it was out of sight didn't mean it was out of mind. I kept thinking about it, time and time again over the years, but something else always seemed to take precedence.

I've been taking stock lately. I realized that I have been spending way too much time doomscrolling on my phone. I've also realized that I have way more to stitch than could be attained in five lifetimes. I have four online classes that began at the beginning of this year that I have yet to start, plus half a dozen from last year and the year before that I should finish. And I am not getting any younger. If anything, time seems to be speeding up.

So, I have made a bucket list of stitching projects that should take priority. I've also decided to set my phone on the other side of the room from me so I'm not tempted to pick it up. I'm keeping several stitching projects close at hand so I'll be tempted to thread a needle instead.

I should probably not mention that I'm heading to Salty Yarns on Wednesday to take three more classes from Jackie du Plessis. I can only stand so much discipline, and then I crack, so I'm giving myself permission to take advantage of things that will be available only for a limited time.

But, back to this sampler. I figure it's going to take me a couple of years of Sundays to complete it, so I'd best get started.

Another Finish and Circling Back

I'm a little behind on my Ornament-of-the-Month idea, but I finally assembled my choice for February. Betsy Morgan design Christmas Treats for Inspirations magazine. I stitched the design last year, and finally put them together today.

Since I finished Elizabeth Hall 1771, I needed another evening project. So Darlene O'Steen's Queen Sampler came out of her pillowcase.

I've started the double running for the Queen's band. 

Peony is not completely out of the picture, I will probably go back to that project Monday. Meanwhile, I believe I may work on a different sampler on Sundays. I just have to decide which one. I was sort of saving Carmen for summer stitching, and I'm tempted by another project entirely for Sundays.

We'll see what happens when I sit down to stitch tomorrow.

And a Finish!

 Nope, not the Peony, which is in time-out after being totally uncooperative. Instead, Elizabeth Hall 1771 is done!!

She's a tiny little sampler, only about 6" x 7".  I think I may have a frame that would fit somewhere in the stash. I've pressed her once, but it looks like she needs another go with the iron.

Meanwhile, I think I'm going to work on getting a few more things out of the finishing basket and I may dig into the WIP basket while Peony is considering her misbehavior. 

But first, I need to make a grocery list so Dearly Beloved can do his hunting and gathering thing. As I have mentioned before, he loves to tour the grocery store. And it gets him out of the house!

Gilding the Peony, Part One

I've started putting the gold threads on the Peony. This is colored couching:

 Colored couching is exactly what it says--you hold down pairs of metal threads with colored thread.

And I have discovered I can only do a limited number of hours focusing on shiny metal thread before my eyes cross. So, I'm planning to work on this slowly and deliberately and do a little every day.

Which means I have more time to work on Elizabeth, who isn't shiny at all. I've started working on the lettering:

This is the adaptation part of the sampler--cross stitch instead of eyelets and tent stitch instead of over-one crosses--and I don't think Elizabeth Hall would object at all.

It may be a long week

I think I'm going to need a root canal, but can't see my dentist for another week. I'm  a wee bit uncomfortable and my sleep is disturbed. However, I am armed with Ambesol and Aleeve and hoping better living through chemistry will get me through.

This also means that my stitching has been affected, especially the goldwork that requires focus and concentration. I'm trying mind over matter. It would be wonderful if my mind would cooperate with this.

There has been some small progress on both projects, despite the aggravation.

Gilt leather has been applied. No blood was shed, but the air turned a little blue.

The big center motif and all the little bits and pieces are complete on Elizabeth Hall. The verse is the next step--and there is yet another adaptation.

The capital letters in the verse and the attribution are supposed to be worked in eyelet stitches. Over one thread in each direction. 

Have you ever tried to cram 8 stitches into the middle of a fairly tightly woven 40 count linen? I crammed four in and the linen was already bulging--so those were carefully and very slowly frogged. I thought about doing Smyrna crosses, then decided that a plain old cross over two would do just as well. So, second adaptation. I won't tell--well, actually I already have--but as it can't be seen from the back of a galloping horse, I don't care.

I am going wild and crazy in my old age.