Off in a different direction

This week, we decked the halls and I finished the embroidery on the silk gauze piece from a class I took earlier in the year. I even pulled Frances Burwell out of her pillowcase for an evening.

And then I went off on a tangent.

Several weeks ago--I think I may have mentioned this--I was looking for something else, moved a box, and the bottom of the box split open, spilling a bunch of things I've had in the stash for years.

It was like finding buried treasure.

And one of the things I found was the completed embroidery for Tricia Nguyen's May Your Hands/Shady Bower set of smalls.

Here are a couple of parts:

There are a couple more bits, but the photo didn't come out.

If there was ever a project that illustrates the way I bounce from one thing to another and back again, this is it.

I ghosted the class before I started blogging. I'm not sure when.  The copyright on the instructions is 2002, but I think it was actually a year or two afterwards. I stitched parts, and then was distracted by some other lovely thing, and went off down a rabbit hole with whatever it was.

Some time later, Tricia offered this as an online class, so I audited it, and finished the stitching. I also had the opportunity to buy a painted box to store the items in, once they were completed.  I had the artist date the box 2015, thinking surely that would be motivation to put this together.

The problem was that I didn't remember exactly where the pieces were when I got ready to do that part.

And now they have appeared.

And since I date things with the date I finish them, I have stitched 2018 on those bits that were set up to have a date.

There isn't much of 2018 left. I had best get busy.

Williamsburg Adventure, Day Five

On the last day in Williamsburg, I actually finished something from a class I was taking!!!!!

The fob will go with Madam's Butterfly Etui.

I also made a flower.

 This will trim the etui.

Then Dearly Beloved and I checked out of the resort, had a nice brunch, and hit the road. We are home, laundry is swishing, and I go back to work in the morning.

sigh . . .

Meanwhile the dilemma is the usual one after a class. Do I work on the new project, or do I go back to what I was doing before I left?

Actually, at the moment, I'm really too tired to decide, much less stitch.

Williamsburg Adventure, Days Three and Four

For some reason, my photos won't load--so this is going to be words only.

Yesterday we started Madam Butterfly's Etui with Jackie du Plessis.

Today we made the paper mock-up to help with assembly.

Yesterday, Dearly Beloved and I tottered (literally--my right knee has been giving me fits!) to the Blue Talon for lunch. He had French onion soup and a ginormous meatloaf sandwich. I had cream of asparagus soup and chicken crepes. We walked around the Historic District for a little bit until my knee said it had had more than enough.

Today we had a buffet lunch as part of the event--and were treated to a lecture by Martha Washington herself!  The presenter was very good, and I could have listened to her all afternoon. We were going to the DeWitt Wallace this afternoon, but knee said no and Dearly Beloved said he needed a nap.

Since we're staying in, I might get the stitching done on my scissors fob, which is part of the kit for Madam Butterfly's Etui, which means I might get the finishing done tomorrow, which means I could go home with a completed project.

That has never happened before. Since this is the last time this event will be held, I should make sure it occurs.

There has been major stash enhancement. Major stash enhancement. Dearly Beloved does not need to know how much stash enhancement has been done, so I haven't pulled out everything once I get back to the room.  There has also been online stash enhancement, in that a piece that Alison Cole taught for the Crewel Works Company was on sale as of today along with three ornaments using motifs from the major piece.

I don't need to do any stash enhancement ever again.

I say that with every event.

Need has nothing to do with it. Want has everything to do with it.

And right now, I want to stitch.

So I am.

Williamsburg Adventure, Day Two

Today I had an early bird class with Jackie du Plessis.

And this is the lovely thing she introduced us to.

It's a scissors case for a special pair of scissors-and I have a very special pair to put inside it.

It was another enjoyable class, and tomorrow's looks just as good. I do love coming here to take classes every year, and some of my favorite projects have been started in Williamsburg every year.

No more.

Instead of this event, next year Annie's is going to sponsor a nine-day tour of Italy with Giulia Manfredini as teacher and guide.

Change is inevitable, but not always what you want.

Williamsburg Adventure, Day One

We did manage to heave ourselves out of bed and onto the road early--we pulled out at 5:05 a.m.--which enabled us to avoid some of the construction tangles and delays on I-85.

And that meant we drove off the Jamestown Ferry right at noon, headed to The Carrot Tree for lunch, picked up our annual passes at the Colonial Williamsburg Visitors' Center, wandered through their bookstore and gift shop, drove to Haus Tirol so I could start the stash enhancement portion of the festivities, then checked into the Kingsmill Resort where the seminar will be held through Sunday.

There is always a gingerbread creation in the lobby at Kingsmill:

Yes, it is that big.

It is Mr. Squeaky's Sweet Shop. Please note the No Cats Allowed symbol on the door.

But, you say, what about the stash enhancement?

Barbara Jackson creates an exclusive ornament for Haus Tirol every year. Here is this year's entry--and now I don't know whether to stitch this first or the SNS project.

I also found premie scissors to go into the scissors case I just finished from Merry Cox's Sweet Little Blossoms Etui.

And there is red linen for a project that I found in the closet a couple of weeks ago.

But what did I bring to work on in the room tonight--I've had inquiries--Joanne Harvey's needle case won out.

Do I have enough energy to stitch it?

I don't even have enough energy to go out to dinner after getting up at 3:45 a.m. We are having cheese and fruit in the room whenever Dearly Beloved wakes up--he's been snoring for the last hour--and I may be sound asleep shortly thereafter.

Decisions, decisions

We are leaving for Williamsburg before dawn tomorrow (if all goes well and we can manage to heave ourselves out of bed on a cold, cold, cold dark morning).

Clothes are packed.  Drinks and munchies are packed. Dearly Beloved keeps loading my pocketbook down with stuff. There will be a few last minute things added in the morning, but for the most part, we're ready to go.

Except for one thing.

I can't figure out what stitching project to take with me.

Not like I won't have anything to stitch. We're going by Haus Tirol tomorrow. I'm taking two classes. There will be a boutique and a teachers' showcase. I just have to make through about 24 hours between the time we hope to arrive and the first class.

There are several candidates.

This year's ornament from Barbara Jackson for SNS arrived yesterday.  "How Great Our Joy" would be perfect . . . but because some of the supplies were delayed, the first lesson won't be posted until Saturday.

I've done a lot of Barbara's designs and all of the ornaments, so I could muddle through with what I have. Inevitably, though, there will be a hint or a suggestion about color placement in the lessons that I will want to know.

There is also this:

This is from a past class in Williamsburg, a needle case reproduced by Joanne Harvey. I started it at the beginning of the year as my travel project--28 count linen and Queen Stitch and a pattern that repeats so it would be easy to work on in a hotel room--but I haven't been traveling nearly as much for work as I once did (thank heavens!). Most of my other trips this year have either involved family events that extended into the evening or stitching events where I quickly had something new to work on. It's been neglected and I do want to get it stitched, so it's a candidate.

Then there is the silk gauze piece from an earlier workshop. I've been poking at it for a couple of evenings to the point that I have only about an hour's worth of work more to do. Then again,  last night I ripped out six stitches for every seven stitches I worked.

And, you ask, what about Frances Burwell?

We have parted ways.

I burned out.

Again.

I'm hoping the drawers in the textile area at the museum will be open while we're there and I can look at the original. With luck, that will jumpstart my desire to finish her by the end of the year.

And, if not?

There's always next year.

And I still haven't decided what to take tomorrow.

Random stuff

And this is what's been going on the this week:

• We had our family Thanksgiving the Saturday before the actual day.
• I  decided there was enough pumpkin spice in the world when they came out with pumpkin spice potato chips, so we had an applesauce cake with orange glaze instead of pumpkin pie.
• This was unanimously approved, so this will now become the holiday tradition.
• We realized the only person who really loves pumpkin pie is Mother, and she isn't able to travel to the family Thanksgiving dinner any longer, so we can change tradition.
• Dearly Beloved and I have finally succumbed to general decrepitude.
• We bought an artificial tree instead of a real one.
• I don't like it.
• I plan to enroll Dearly Beloved in weight training classes so he can go back to wrestling a tree into and out of the house.
• The tree isn't decorated yet.
• We're going to try to do that this afternoon.
• Also along the lines of setting new traditions, we had the last of the turkey in a pot pie Wednesday night, and I made lasagna for Thanksgiving.
• That was weird.
• Otherwise, Thanksgiving was very quiet, so I did some finish-finishing--more on that in a minute.
• Friday, there was very good mail:
• Sorry about the blurry picture--this is the kit for the Gawthorpe Needlecase from Jenny Adin-Christie.
• It has been wrapped and will be placed under the Christmas tree.

• On Thursday and Friday, I did some finish-finishing:

• All the bits and pieces of Merry Cox's Sweet Little Blossoms have been assembled, except for the carrying bag, which requires setting up the sewing machine. 
• That will happen this week--early in the week since we're heading back to Williamsburg on Wednesday.
• Yesterday we went to visit Mother.
• She is adjusting--finally--to her new living situation. She laughed and talked yesterday.

So now you're all caught up with the week.

Meanwhile, I've been musing.

Poor blog has been neglected for the better part of a year. I've admitted this and have realized that it's very easy to get out of the habit--so easy--why aren't other habits as easy to abandon?

I'm going to try to get back to blogging more regularly. I know, I've said this before.

But . . . recently I read an entry from another more-or-less lapsed blogger about the state of blogging. She was coming back to blogging after realizing that so many of the blogs she loved have simply . . . vanished . . . with no explanation . . . and she missed reading about projects and lives and enabling. I do, too.

I miss Just String, who's been gone for at least six years--she and I have taken many of the same classes, and she has the same attitude I have--it's just string and you can make it work if you try.

I miss Plays with Needles, whose designs were always inspirational, even though I don't do the same type of embroidery. I think of her every time I pull a needle from the needle book she designed, and which I use almost every day.

I miss Thread in Hand, whose stash looks very much like mine--although, since she is retired, she gets to stitch every day, and I, who am still a wage slave, don't have the time to stick a needle into everything I want.

And there are many, many others who have stopped for one reason or another, simply drifting away to Facebook or Instagram or dropping out of view completely.

I know that there are compelling reasons for all of them to stop--whether family issues or unpleasant situations or simply losing interest in blogging.  I just miss them and I wish they'd return.

So, again, I'm going to try to stick with it and be more present--and stitch a little more than I have so I have something worth blogging about!