49 Years Plus 1 Day

Dearly Beloved and I celebrated our 49th wedding anniversary yesterday. We had a low-key celebration--take-out Chinese and a technicolor performance by Mother Nature, who brought a thunderstorm with high winds. Actually, we have a large limb leaning against the privacy fence around the deck, and smaller limbs and lots of pine cones on the deck itself.

I am drawing no comparisons with our marriage, although there are some who might.

Meanwhile, I have been resting my wrist for most of the week. Despite that, there has been some stitching done. Very little stitching, but some.

One thread at a time, and the lettering for No Place Like Home is finished. I do like the little brown fox. And, yes, the spiral trellis has yet to be done. I'm going to wait to add those until I cut the pieces apart and can work that in hand.

I had planned to do a lot of finish-finishing this week, but sadly, the only thing that is assembled is the sausage pincushion for Carmen's Etui. And we did most of that in class.

BDE says it looks like a corn dog in fancy dress. I am withholding comment.

Before it gets any hotter, I'm going to pick up branches and sling pine cones off the deck, then sweep up what's left. Quite frankly, staying married for 49 years was excitement enough for yesterday.
 

Should Have Put It Down

Last week I was taking a blackwork class from Carolyn Standing Webb. I mentioned that I could not put the piece down.

I should have.

I inflamed the tendon in my wrist that caused all the problems last year, so most of this week has been spent icing and elevating and compressing and resting my hand.

However, there has been a little bit of stitching. A very little bit, but some stitching.

 I started the hillock that the birds are standing on. This is where I was when I realized that I hadn't left room for the gold chips that are also supposed to be included.

Obviously, I will not be ripping out.  I decided that I could find a beading needle  which would fit between the French knots, and a hemostat I can use to pull the needle through, and use them to add some gold chips to the surface. I am rationalizing that a little bit of bling goes a long way.

And I've been doing a strand of thread on the lettering on No Place Like Home every day, which is about as much lettering as I want to do anyway.

My wrist does feel better today, so I may try to do a little more lettering. The more I do, the faster I'll be through with this part.

Or I could take a nap, which actually sounds very enticing.

Cannot Put It Down

 Second day of class and I literally could not put the piece down.

So here's the upper left corner of the front cover of the box/book from the set. And it was addictive.

I don't know if it's the fact that this is a new project or whether it's the design or just the fact that I love Tudor/Stuart embroideries and this is definitely inspired by that period, but I may be addicted. As in, I would love to stitch all night and all day on this.

However, my wrist is beginning to hurt and I have learned the hard way that's a sure sign I need to do something else.

So I'm going to do something else and try to avoid temptation.

Ch-Ch-Chains

(If you get the song reference in the title, you're like me--old as dirt!)

I am taking a wonderful class online through EGA with Carolyn Standing Webb. It is called Queen Catherine's  Book, Sweet Bag, and Pyn Pillow, and it's an exploration of blackwork designs like those popular in Tudor times.

I started the Pyn Pillow:

Carolyn, who is a fantastic teacher and the most patient person in the world, suggested we start with the flower in the middle. I am contrary. I've also dealt with the interwoven loops, or chain pattern, that make up the border. I decided to get the pain over with as soon as possible. So I did, and it is reversible and worked in double running and I think I lost only about 23% of my brain cells in the doing of it.

If you aren't familiar with Carolyn and her work, please go to carolynstandingwebb.blogspot.com. It is total eye candy.

I mean, total eye candy!

Still plugging away

In the evenings, when my brain doesn't need to think but my hands need to be busy, I've been working on more Nun stitch for No Place Like Home

 So the second piece is now outlined. I have to work a vine adorned by spiral trellis berries, then a whole lot of letters to finish this section.

Instead of doing that, I will probably iron the linen for the virtual class I'm taking for the next three days. Then I need to sew the linen to scroll bars.

I think I'd rather stitch letters.

Lovebirds?

I have spent a very long time today stitching wee tiny birds with filament silk.

I am assuming that they're supposed to be lovebirds since they're on the Cherished Letter Case. Actually, I think they look like pheasants; So I thought I would look up pheasants to see if they are monogamous birds who mate for life.

Mr. Google says nope, not monogamous--the males are more like roosters and go after all the females in the flock indiscriminately.

So then I wondered if there is a bird actually called a love bird, and there is. It's a little, brightly colored parrot.

And then I went, OMG, I am old. I keep reading articles that talk about retirees taking up birdwatching like it's almost a developmental stage of aging and here I am googling bird pictures and descriptions. If I go out and buy binoculars and a birding guide, you'll know I'm doomed.

Spangles and more spangles

 I realized last night that it's been almost a month since I worked on one of my Zina projects, so I set everything up before I went to bed. That meant that the minute I got downstairs, I could read over the directions for the next step and do it.

Spangles and beads make a sparkly flower, and I have four of them now.

I wish you could pick up sparklies with a camera. Somehow it just doesn't come through. I have to say that I am very, very happy with the way these flowers look.

The next step is stitching the lovebirds in the center of the design. I'll start them tomorrow morning.

I have another class coming up at the end of this week. I think I may unpack the box this afternoon and get the linen mounted so that will be ready to roll on Thursday. I'll show that in the next day or so.

So many stitches!

Done and Done

 I finished assembling the two Thistle Threads ornaments yesterday.

Now I have to straighten out the worktable and put up the leftover threads and decide where to stash these until it's time to put up the tree. Actually, I think I need to start a new ornament box because the box where my hand-stitched ornaments live is full to the brim. That may be a good Sunday afternoon project.

Or maybe I'll take my book out on the deck and read because the sun is finally shining--in short, it's not raining today!

Doing Things I Don't Like To Do

 When asked about needlework, I always reply that I've never met a threaded needle I didn't like.

Apparently I've been lying through my teeth all these years.

I decided to do some finish-finishing this morning. Assembling isn't my favorite way to ply my needle, but I have a couple of ornaments that should be easy to put together. I'm to the last stage on the first one, which requires sewing loops of tape in a decorative pattern around the ornament.

So far, on this little section I've done, I've managed to stab myself twice, lost the needle (and found it) once, and tangled the thread with just about every stitch.

I thought it was time to do something else. No Place Like Home just needs its innards stitched and then it will be ready for the finishing basket.

But that requires a lot of Nun stitch.

Nun stitch may be the only stitch I despise. It's boring to do and it takes forever.

Question: Is it boring because it takes forever or does it take forever because it's boring?

The one positive thing I can think of is that it gives a flat finish that isn't bulky. However, as I discovered from a class with Marion Scoular a number of years ago, it isn't the most stable stitch. You can easily pull it away from the fabric, and it's pretty much impossible to fix once that happens.

And, of course, almost every single pocket and attachment for the sewing case requires Nun stitch as an edging.

And letters. I have to stitch letters. I don't like to stitch letters.

Maybe I'll read or take a nap this afternoon.

Classes, classes, classes

 Yes, I stalk Jackie du Plessis. Yes, I should take a year just to catch up on all the class pieces I've taken from her.

That is a thought . . . 

Anyway, Dearly Beloved and I hauled ourselves up the mountain to Weaverville, right outside Asheville, so I could take more classes from Jackie.

And I did.

The main attraction on this trip was Black Swans 2, and an absolutely gobsmacking Mexican sampler:

Just look at all those amazing colors. I wish you could see the sheen--the threads just glow. Most of it is Soie Ovale, which requires very careful handling because it is filament silk and it will snag on air--which means I'll likely have to sand off my fingerprints to make sure I don't have any rough spots on my fingers when I start to work on this.

And then we had the surprise class of the session before Black Swans.

On the left, you'll see the beautifully painted basket framework for Berry-licious. In the box, you'll see berries on sticks????!!???

We made glittery berries. It was fun, and it was messy, and it was not like any class I've taken in years and years. I did find that some of my berries had bald spots that need more glitter, so I am going to set up a work station on the deck at some point in the relatively near future, and fling glitter about.

I am not going to do that in the house because, well, glitter. I don't need to find it in every nook and cranny for the rest of my life, so it's going to be applied outside. And Dearly Beloved may meet me at the door and vacuum me off before I come back inside.

We had a classic class, The Gift:

I took this class umpty-bazillion years ago at the old Christmas in Williamsburg. I gave the finished piece to my mother. Somehow, it "vanished" when the family of one of her roommates packed up the roommate's possessions after her death in the extended care facility where Mother lives. I decided I wanted to do it again because it remains one of my very favorite designs from Jackie. Actually, it may have started my obsession with her designs. 

There was stash enhancement at Sassy Jack's. As I am trying desperately to work from stash, I basically added linen and threads for charts I have. And I found a prize for one of the projects that has been aging in my stash for decades.

The charts called for a Wichelt linen that has been discontinued for years and years. I was thinking about Aztec Red, but then I saw this PTP linen, Phoenix. And wow-ey, zow-ey, it is going to be amazing! I think that these strawberries would make adorable Christmas ornament, actually.

And somewhere in my stash, I have Tricia's charts for pears . . . 

In addition, I got a chance to visit with a dear friend who lives in the area--we talked stitching and stitching events--we still miss Callaway, which sadly ended years ago--and had some lovely meals out--a lot of the restaurants in the Asheville area have reopened so we helped that recovery. Best of all, I had a chance to see friends I've made over the years at Sassy Jack's and Salty Yarns.

Can't wait for the next event!

Construction Zone

It has been a very busy couple of weeks since I last posted. Basically, I got ready to go to Sassy Jack's for classes with Jackie, including Black Swans 2, then I went to Sassy Jack's, and now we're home again.

And while I was there, I actually finished a project!!!!!

I took an encore class for the Artisan's Workbox stitching roll. I took the class last year at Salty Yarns, but when I pulled it out to work on awhile back, I realized that my notes for the final step in the finishing (creating the rolled compartment) looked like I had written them in a foreign tongue. Actually, maybe not even a language found on Earth, and I had no idea what I was trying to tell myself to do.

So, the week before we left, I got everything finished to the point where I couldn't interpret my scribbles, and while I was in class, I got 'er done.

And it fits quite nicely in the lovely box Mr. Miller made for the project.

That wasn't the only construction project that happened.

The house on No Place Like Home has been built.

There are some flowers and flourishes that need to be added to this panel, and then I can start working on the innards of the sewing book. Which means that I may have something else in the finishing basket before long.

There's a lot for show & tell from my week at Sassy Jack's, and I do have some stash enhancement from the shop, but if I write about all that, it will take as long as War & Peace to read, so I will save it for another day. Meanwhile, there is laundry to do and a grocery list to compile.

Back to reality . . . 

A Mayflower finish

Since we moved, I've joined a bunch of sampler guilds that have Zoom meetings for distance members. There isn't a local sampler guild in this area, so it's been lovely to be able to connect with others who share this particular needlework passion.

Today was the Mayflower Sampler guild's meeting, and it was a tea party for Mother's Day. The program was designed to show us how to make pin cushions from tea cups.

We had a similar meeting a number of years ago with my hometown sampler guild, the Carolinas Sampler Guild, so I didn't think I needed another teacup pin cushion. However, I remembered that I had a kit for a little teacup ornament stitched with ribbon embroidery. I have to admit, silk ribbon embroidery really isn't in my wheelhouse--I've done a couple of small pieces, usually as part of EGA programs. It's pretty, but (gasp) it isn't something I've pursued.

It is quick, though. I was done with the whole thing in an hour.

Actually, considering that the saucer is only about 3" across, it probably shouldn't have taken that long to make. I begin to see the allure of silk ribbon embroidery.

I've also stitched a bit more on No Place Like Home. The side wall on the house has been erected, and we have the door and most of the windows constructed on the front.

And I added some overstitching in silk to the spangles that I sewed on a day or so ago on the letter case project.

Those little stems are so small that I'm not sure you can tell much difference between the last progress picture and this one.

Actually, I'm beginning to get just a wee bit restless, and I have a feeling that I'm going to add something else to my active projects--just to keep that creative flow flowing, you understand. It has nothing to do with the fact that I have the attention span of a gnat when it comes to my needlework pursuits.

Yeah, right.

Sloooooooow Stitching

 I keep reading about the concept of slow stitching, and my reaction has always been, "when has stitching not been slow?" Yvette Stanton wrote a post about the very thing in the last week or so--all stitching is slow.

Only thing I can determine is that slow stitchers are perhaps doing hand stitching for the first time when they normally use sewing machines.

I've been thinking about it because I have been doing some very slow stitching.

Do you see that very thin green line around the outside of the design? That is stem stitch, using filament silk. Filament silk tends to be very thin anyway, plus the stitches are supposed to be only 3 mm long. 3mm isn't very long to begin with, but when you're working stem stitch, you're only moving half that length forward with each stitch. That means each stitch advances the line only 1.5 mm.

1.5 mm is about the width of a needle!! A little needle!!

So that took longer than I expected.

And then there are the spangles. I have about as much trouble with spangles as I do with beads. No more needs to be said.

I can only work with very tiny stuff for a few hours before I start twitching, so I pulled No Place Like Home out of time out and started working on the house again. This time it's in the correct place.

I haven't worked on 32 count linen very much in the last few years, so stitching with two strands of thread has reminded me why I moved to higher counts. At least this slow stitching moves a little faster on 32 count linen!

Christmas in May?

 I was planning to continue working on the Cherished Envelope today, but I need my mellor. (A mellor is a handy-dandy tool used in goldwork.) My mellor is missing.

I have cleaned off my worktable, dumped out all my tote bags in the area, looked in project bags and boxes, moved furniture around--in short, spent the morning and a chunk of the afternoon looking for one little piece of metal.

It's been awhile since I used it, and I can't remember the last time I did--so I have a terrible feeling that I may have misplaced it on one of my trips.

So, I'm going to order a replacement, which means that it will turn up n the most obvious place as soon as the new one arrives.

Meanwhile, I trimmed a tree.

This was the 2024 Thistle Threads ornament which was supposed to go on the tree last year. RST showed up instead, so I didn't get it finished by Christmas 2024. I'm leaving the date on it anyway, since it was designed for last year. That way, in case there's a 2025 ornament, I won't be confused by having two 2025 ornaments at some point in the future.

Apparently we're going to binge the new Reacher series this afternoon, so I need to find something idiot-proof to stitch. Maybe I'll knit a dishcloth instead of stitching today.

So small, so long to stitch

 I did a little work on the Cherished Letter Case this morning.

There are eight green leaves around the framework of the design, and O.M.G,  it took all morning to stitch them.

I admit, the electric needle has run out of juice, but I did not imagine it would take that long to wrangle filament silk and a laying tool.

I think this is the definition of REALLY slow stitching!

Maynia

In the middle of the night earlier this week, I started thinking about Maynia.

It had to be ten or fifteen years ago when I first heard of this particular form of needlework madness. At the time, people would pick out 31 new projects and start one each day in May. All I could think of was that I would go bugnutz crazy if I started that many projects and had that many WIPs  hanging over my head.

Then it evolved to working on a different project every day, new or old, or starting a new sampler every week in May and working on that particular sampler for that week, and then, in recent years, there have been other challenges--like doing 62 projects in a birthday year or fifty-two projects in a year, one a week, and so on.

And I thought to myself as I stared at the ceiling, I could easily work on the 18 projects I piled up after finishing RST plus the dozen Christmas ornaments I wanted to do this year and that would give me 30 projects for Maynia.

Then I rolled over and went back to sleep.

When I woke up, I realized that I would still go bugnutz crazy if I had that many WIPs going at one time, so I shelved that idea.

But Maynia was still circulating in my pointy little head. 

Last night I decided I would stitch every day in May instead of worrying about which projects or how many projects I would do. Since I try to stitch everyday anyway, this would not be a problem at all.

In fact, I decided I would go ahead and set up a project to work on today, and I pulled out one of the embroidered letter cases I took in an online class from Zina Kazban. I even pulled out the velvet board to corral sequins and metal bits, threaded the needle with the thread I was going to use, and was ready to go as soon as I tottered downstairs.

And when I tottered downstairs, I didn't feel the love.

I picked up No Place Like Home instead.

The willow tree is all leafed out and a bird has perched on a branch. That went fairly well, so I started the house that will grace the front cover.

You will notice there is no house on the front cover.

That is because I miscounted and started the house too high.

So I ripped it out and put everything in time-out for a bit.

I still plan to stitch every day in May. I hope I don't rip every day in May.

Weeping Willow

 I may have mentioned before--maybe a thousand times or so--that I don't do random.

Right now, I'm doing random.

The leaves on the willow tree should be random. Catherine's model doesn't have as many leaves, but apparently I feel the need to have a whole lot of leaves on mine. 

At least the bottom branches have leafed out and I just have the top branches to do. Then I can go back to counting.

Come to think of it, sometimes my counting becomes a little random, too.

SABLE and then some

 I had already passed the point of Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy some time ago.

And I made it worse.

What can I say? I can avoid anything except stitching temptations.

First, a beautiful silk and metal embroidery from Deborah Wilding. It has silk embroidery! It has metal threads! It has jewels and beads! It's shiny and glitzy and makes my heart go pitty-pat!

I absolutely have to finish my Zina pieces before I start this because I only have two 10" hoops and I need one for this. There's just something about a new shiny toy that makes you want to dive right in.

And then . . . while I was working on RST, I kept thinking that there are times when I just need a project that I can stitch without doing anything more than counting or filling in a shape--like crewel or needlepoint or plain cross stitch. And wouldn't you just know it, a Facebook Friend was downsizing her stash and offering kits for three schoolgirl samplers. And, again, I succumbed.

And finally, the Western Reserve Sampler Guild offered a class with Needlework Press. I hope to kit this up when I go to Sassy Jack's in a couple of weeks.

It is now time for me to thread my needle and get to work. The laundry is done, Dearly Beloved is cooking dinner tonight, and I can spend the rest of the day stitching. I know, it's a hard life, but someone has to do it.

Why I Don't Stitch in Class

It's because I screw up.

Apparently I can't stitch and pay attention to the teacher at the same time without either miscounting or missing some vital instruction that will make or break the project.

I also cannot measure and cut accurately when there are other people around. Actually, there are times when I cannot measure and cut accurately when there is no one besides me around, but at home I have Mylar and Skirtex and interfacing and comic board in my stash so I can replace whatever I mess up.

So . . . when I take a class I take lots of notes and lots of pictures and the rest of the time I sit in my corner and try to be quiet.

That's what I did at the last trip to Salty Yarns.

BDE and I trooped up the Eastern Shore for three classes with Jackie du Plessis, and this is what we took:

 This is an amazing sewing bag inspired by the 17th century sampler that belongs to Crystal, who also comes to a lot of Jackie's classes. (We're trying to talk Jackie into reproducing the entire sampler because it is to die for.)

And I lied. I did stitch in class. I started a little bit to prove I could remember how to do a stitch that isn't a Queen stitch. I could do a Smyrna cross.

I am not exaggerating to say that I have been waiting for this since before Covid--at least six years. It was supposed to be a class at Christmas in Williamsburg, then Covid hit and that event was cancelled. And finally, it is in my hot little hands.

BDE is already working on this one. The band sampler that fits in the little drawer is a perfect thing to stitch during meetings or while watching TV or just before bedtime, and she is zooming right along. And, yes, it was in my pile of 18 projects and I may get back to it very soon.

And this is where I took loads and loads of notes and pictures and otherwise stayed in my corner and out of trouble. Jackie showed us how to put all the interior structure together and wanted us do it. There were people in class who stayed up to the wee hours to get theirs done.

I knew better. When I messed up trying to stitch a very simple motif that makes one of the handles--or, as BDE said when she looked at my mistake, "You're hosed."--I knew I had reached my limit.

So what am I working on today?

A different Jackie project for a class that I'm auditing at Sassy Jack's in May. I want to get to a certain point before the class so I can put it together after the class. 

It occurred to me that maybe I should just take a year to do all my Jackie projects. Maybe I should take two years.

So many stitches . . . so much fun . . . good thing I'm retired!

Long Time, No See

 I have been remiss in both stitching and blogging, but I think I'm back!

In the last three weeks, I have rested my hands and wrists because they were starting to give me problems again. BDE and I went to Salty Yarns for three classes with Jackie du Plessis. 

And I finished RST 1779.

TA DA!!!!!! Hot off the scroll bars!!!!

reproduction by Gentle Pursuits

worked on 40 count Wichelt linen with AVAS 

all Queen stitch, all the time (except for the date and attribution)

close-up of the last few flowers

what may be my favorite motif (because it was the last one)

And what have I done since I finished this? Actually, the minute it was pressed and photographed, I started running around* like a puppy with the zoomies, pulling out projects from bins and piles and tote bags and saying, "I want to stitch you, and I want to stitch you, and I want to stitch YOU!"

*(When I say I was running around, I mean I actually heaved my large and lovely self out of the wing chair and lurched and tottered around until I had a scary stack of stuff on my worktable.)

I had 18 projects stacked up in a precarious pile. This does not include the dozen Christmas ornaments I originally planned to stitch before the holidays or the stuff in one of the finishing baskets.  Before RST came into my life, I had sorta thought that I would do an ornament a month in 2025, and I'd see the bottom of at least one of the finishing baskets by the end of the year.

And I had also signed up for five online classes that all started in the first quarter of the year.

With RST, none of that happened. The problem is that when I have obligation stitching or something on a deadline, I feel guilty if I work on anything else. It probably goes back to that first-born girl child business of eating all your veggies before you can have dessert or doing all of your homework before you can play.

This isn't to say I'll never stitch another model for anyone, but there will be limits and parameters, and I won't take anything on if I have plans I want to accomplish. I'm getting older and the stash isn't getting smaller and I have to be realistic about how much I can do.

And those 18 projects?

No, I'm not going to work on all of them immediately. I want to get back to Carmen. I'd like to finish the two letter cases from the classes Zina Kazban taught, along with Liz Tapper's goldwork motif. And I want to do some finishing. And I'm going to bounce from one to another as the mood strikes--that creative flow thing, you know.

And, hopefully you'll see more blogging and hear less whinging and whining.

Creative Flow

 I may have mentioned this before. If I did, I'm sorry, but I'm going to mention it again.

I ran across an article a month or so ago in which the author (whose name I have totally forgotten, and I apologize for not giving credit where credit is due) talked about creative flow. Basically, she recommended having multiple projects in the works at any given time so if you get stuck on one, you can easily move to another. Thus you keep creativity flowing, and you may find that you get unstuck more rapidly than you would have if you had just kept on plugging away.

Sadly, RST 1779 has dammed up my creative flow.

This is the point I reached when I realized I absolutely could not stitch another Queen stitch. Not even if my life depended on it.

If you've been reading my blog for any length of time, you'll notice that I do finish things, but I am anything but a monogamous stitcher. About the only thing I've ever succeeded at being monogamous at is being married to Dearly Beloved, and neither one of us is sure if that's just not a case of inertia.

So, I'm going to work on other projects for a bit. I'll circle around to RST again in the fairly near future--for one thing, I'm so close to a finish it's ridiculous--but I need a vacation from her.

And I am never, ever going to stitch anything with a deadline again.

Slow but Steady

 I'm making slow but steady progress on the last of the geometric motifs.

Painfully slow . . .

And in other news, I've finally figured out how to respond to comments on the blog itself--so if you've commented, you should see a response here within a couple of days. One more  tiny bit of technology I've managed to learn.

Who says old dogs can't learn new tricks?

Pretty Thing

 I have something else to stitch once RST 1779 is history.

Look what came in the mail!

Amy Mitten's Needleworkers Reticule arrived! This is actually all BDE's fault because she saw it first and told me I had to get it. She is going to do it, too. We've decided this might be a good SAL for the two of us.

Along with the two classes we're taking at Salty Yarns next week. (Actually, I'm taking three classes.)

Like daughter, like mother, I guess. Interesting when the roles start to reverse . . . 

Eating my veggies and dishpan hands

 I decided to eat my veggies and do those two big geometric designs that were fully filled in.

That whopper of a design--which we have been calling the conjoined twins motif--took way more time to fill in that I anticipated. I was beginning to think that the gremlins were pulling stitches out after I went to bed. But it's done--and I can move on to some smaller geometrics and the last pretty floral designs.

My time was also taken up by washing dishes. For the second time in our marriage, we have had to endure a dishwasher that was out of order. For a week. O.M.G.

Now, I don't mind washing my fine china by hand, but the everyday stuff . . . it's a big enough pain having to figure out what to eat three meals a day, When you add washing dishes three times a day on top of it, well, domesticity loses all allure. And, yes, we did resort to paper plates when it was practical, but there are some things that really need solid dishes. 

And working with silk with dishpan hands . . . I think I have used up half a tub of CeraVe hand cream in the last week.

However, we now have a working dishwasher again. Happy Days, especially since we have ribs in the crock pot and a large bowl of marinated veggies and plans to bake cornbread for dinner tonight. By the time I scrubbed all those pots and pans out, I'd have to finish the other half of the tub of CeraVe!

Another corner

I finally made it down to the lower left corner of RST 1779.

 I was beginning to think that Dearly Beloved was going to have to bury this with me, because I was sure I was going to die of extreme old age before I got these repeating motifs stitched.

And, I have to admit, I found them a wee bit boring to stitch. I don't do well with the same thing over and over again, and there was a lot of that.

Now I have a decision to make. There are two honkin' big repeating motifs on the other side of the sampler. Do I go ahead and knock them out, then reward myself with flowers and little geometric designs that don't have all that repetition?

Basically, do I eat my dessert before I have my veggies?

A little of this, a little of that

 I had to take a day off from stitching to let my wrists rest, and then I was very careful and stopped as soon as things started to twinge.

But I have the beginning of another tiny motif on RST:

And I had the first class on the Napoleonic Goldwork motif from Liz Tapper.

We started by stitching the cording and string down for some of the padding. Then we did a wee bit of stitching with passing thread--all seven leaves have to be stitched, although we only have to have one done before next week's class.

But meanwhile, I need to put on my Domestic Diva attire and get some laundry done, and corral the dust bunnies, and think about meals for the next day or so.

I'd rather be stitching.

Strawberries or Rosebuds?

 What are these?

I can't decide if they're strawberries or rosebuds.

I think RST is going to become my Sampler Sunday project. I need to stitch something besides Queen stitches for a bit, and I definitely have a lot of things that have fallen by the wayside while trying to finish this sampler. 

As it is, I am Zooming all over the place for the rest of the week. I have my Zina Kazban class this afternoon, then a chapter meeting with Dayton EGA tonight. Tomorrow I have a new class with Liz Tepper and a group correspondence group meeting tomorrow night. Finally, on Saturday, I have a region stitch-in in the morning and a surface embroidery interest group meeting in the afternoon.

I just may have overbooked myself.

Going Sideways

 Well, after many mental gymnastics, I got the sideways bud on this particular posy stitched.

There's another field of flowers below this wonky flower, and this is one of those times when I'd like to speak firmly to the child who stitched this sampler originally. Like, why in the world would you put those random lone stitches where they are? I know they could be considered place holders for complete flowers, but couldn't you figure that out from the wholly stitched flowers that come later? And then, she couldn't decide exactly on how she wanted to shade the buds in this particular field, so some are done one way, some another.

I would work on this longer tonight, but I'm suffering my usual discombobulation with the time change. Simply put, my brain and body function better on Standard Time, and it will take me a couple of weeks to get even partially adjusted to the shift. Yes, I know I'm retired so it shouldn't make so much difference. The problem is that the whole world isn't retired, and those are the schedules I have to adapt to.

I fear Miss Crankypants will be in ascendence for a bit.

More Posies

 This is the place I reached when my eyes, my hands, and my brain simultaneously said they had had enough.

That little flower on the right changes direction after the stem is stitched, and the second bud is all worked sideways. That is definitely something I want to work on when I'm rested.

We'll see if that's what happens tomorrow. I have decided I am not going to deal with deadlines or plans or anything else when it comes to stitching. This is supposed to be a relaxing pastime, and I want to get back to that. I also want to get back to more regular blogging, since that's the way I keep track of what I've done and when I did it.

For example, I found something in the finishing basket that I stitched ten years ago. I think this means it's aged quite long enough and needs assembly. 

Maybe tomorrow . . . 

Raspberry Creme

 I started another motif on RST 1779.

These are not the colors I would use for a flower, but I have a feeling that this is what the original shades faded to.

Something about it seemed a little familiar to me, though--something about the pink and brown--and then it hit me.

When I was a wee tiny child, one of our neighbors presented beautiful cookie trays to everyone for Christmas. One of her specialties was a sandwich cookie that consisted of two thin chocolate cookies held together with a layer of pastry creme and a layer of raspberry jam. The whole thing was then dipped into a chocolate glaze that crackled when you bit into it.

Close family members were known to come to blows over the last one of these cookies left on the tray. I speak of the boys who lived next door to The Saint and me. We, of course, were perfect angels.

We were perfect because Mother hid the cookie tray and doled them out, one by one.

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jog

 I have returned from my week away.

It was wonderful. I got to see old friends, made new ones, had wonderful meals out, spent quality time with BDE, took an online class from Kate Barlow while I was there, took advantage of the opportunity to attend two stimulating and intriguing lectures--and stitched a little!

RST's center cartouche is finally finished.

Bless her heart, just when I thought I was making some progress, she threw in another tendril or bud or decided to outline a motif or do something out of the ordinary. But she is done.

I had planned to come home and stitch from morning to night--I was just that energized--but I also came home with a virus of some sort. I was afraid it was the flu at first, but it seems to be going away (it was not Covid, I checked), leaving me feeling as old as water and twice as weak. 

So I'm going to continue to relax and recuperate and start counting the days until the next expedition.

BAM! SPLAT!!

 That was the sound I made when I hit the wall earlier this week.

There's a lot going on in the world at the moment, and it wore me down to the point that I couldn't even find solace in my needlework. So, I took a few days off. I greatly reduced my social media contacts so no doom scrolling. I haven't watched anything beyond the weather reports on the news.

What have I done? A lot of reading--I'm rereading Laurie R King's Russell/Holmes mysteries. I've been watching Time Team  and Flosstube episodes on YouTube. I've been packing for the annual trip BDE and I take to spend time with friends every year. I just sat and watched the snow fall for a couple of days.

There will be stitching again, probably tomorrow when I hit the stitching room at the gathering. But I did want to let my readers know I haven't dropped off the face of the earth--just taking a couple of days away from it.

Another pretty posy

I have another pretty little flower stitched into RST1779.

And I've decided that maybe this was done by a schoolgirl after all.

I was beginning to suspect when I found errors in color placement in a few motifs, things that just didn't make sense and didn't fit the pattern. Then I stitched this flower, which is jammed right up against another motif. I don't think a professional using this for a display of her work would space things so closely.

Then I ran across a mention of "French schools" that existed in The Netherlands in the 1700's. Among other things, they taught embroidery "in the French style" to their pupils.

So RST may have been a student, a very skilled student. And now I have another rabbit hole to go down--French schools in The Netherlands--hmmmmm . . . .