In the Mountains

 We're in the mountains.

We drove up yesterday, and on the way we stopped to visit a friend and fellow stitcher who lives in the area.

And, OMG, I wish I had thought to take pictures of her work. Lee does the most incredible silk shading work, and contemporary stumpwork, and, actually, all of her needlework is simple perfection. Every stitch is precisely placed. She showed Dearly Beloved and me three of the Trish Burr birds she has stitched--they were so lifelike they could have fluttered off the ground fabric. The panels for her casket are breath-taking in color and design. How many ways can you say something is beautiful, or exquisite, or elegant before you run out of adjectives--and the words still aren't enough!

It was inspirational.

And so now I'm attending classes with Jackie with a renewed desire to improve my work as much as I possibly can--and I'm taking the class that will help with that.

The Schoolgirl Workbox has been on my list of unicorn classes for years. It was originally offered as part of EGA's Extended Study Program--but at the time, I was working full-time with only three weeks of vacation a year. I had to balance family obligations with other considerations--and it was a quite expensive destination. So I dreamed about it for years. and now I have it in my hot little hands.

And, I actually stitched in class today.

This is our doodle cloth, which will have a motif from each side of the workbox and which will turn into something when it's finished--the first time I've had a doodle that created anything more than a doodle. Granted, I worked only a few Queen stitches, but it's a start--and on the first day of class!

I also added another project to the growing pile--Mary Ann Turner, a sampler model I'm stitching for my friend Sharon of Thy Needle's Work. There will be updates both here and on Thy Needle's Work's Facebook page, so stayed tuned for progress reports.

All in all, I'm excited about stitching again. I was having a bit of a slump for awhile, but I think it's definitely ended. Just takes hanging out with other stitchers, I suppose . . .