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!