Flowers

The flower band on the Tasmanian Needle Tidy is complete.

 All I have to do is stitch some snails in the open space below the flowers, and this panel will be complete.

Am I going to do that today? I'm not sure. At the moment, I feel like reclining on a chaise in a ruffled negligee, popping bonbons, and reading a trashy novel. Unfortunately, I do not own either a chaise or a ruffled negligee and I don't believe we have anything that could be considered bonbons in the pantry. I do have nachos and salsa, and I'm rereading one of the older John Sandford Prey novels (which I read so long ago that I don't remember the plot, so it's like a new book), so that may be the way I spend this stormy Sunday.

Any progress

 Any progress is better than none.

At least I got the first three of the six spiral trellis stitches done. Actually, I like doing spiral trellis, but it's the only stitch that I absolutely have to do in hand. And that meant that I had to take the side bars off the scroll frame so I could manipulate my way around.

Which meant that I was jabbed and bashed by the scrolls as I turned the linen. If you think I was going to take the scrolls off and then sew them back on again, you have a far higher opinion of my industriousness than I do.

It occurred to me later that I could have waited until the rest of the piece was stitched. Well, duh, but now that I've gone this far, I may as well finish as I began.

Ain't No Sunshine

 We have had what feels like weeks and weeks of cloudy skies and afternoon thunderstorms. I haven't had my morning sun for stitching in days and days.

Yesterday I decided I couldn't face sewing dark linen with dark thread again, so Betsy Morgan's Tasmanian Needle Tidy came out of its project bag. I was in the mood for bright and cheerful colors, and this has those clear pastels that appeal to me--especially on a gloomy day.

I might try to finish this panel today, or I might cut out Mylar for finishing, or I might grab something else from the stack of project bags.  I'll see what I'm in the mood for when I plop into the wing chair for stitching time.

Gold!

 Earlier this week, I think I mentioned that I'm going to take a Goldwork class online, starting in September.

Yesterday, the supplies arrived.

When I opened the package, there was a quite elegant box:

I untied the bow and opened the box to find:

And when I unsealed the sticker and folded back the tissue, I found:

Threads and needles and fabric, oh my!

I think each package corresponds to one of the three terms that the class will run. I didn't want to mix things up, so I closed the box. Regretfully, I closed the box. Actually, I reopened the box several times as the day wore on. Can you tell I'm looking forward to this?

Meanwhile, my lunch with my friend was cancelled when she tested positive for Covid--at least she tested before we met and not afterward! So I had the afternoon to work on Tribute.

 

And it took all afternoon to get the front panel sewn to the lining panel. I've realized that I can still see relatively high counts of linen, between the cyborg eyes and magnification and decent lighting. What I'm now having problems with is seeing dark thread on dark fabric--the lining panel is a dark plum, and so is the thread used to assemble this part. So, I had to work slowly and carefully--but it's done now. Today, I plan to work on the panels that will create the storage compartment.

Between episodes of opening the Goldwork box and drooling over the stuff inside, that is.

So it begins

 I've started putting Tribute together.

I thought I was going to have the front attached to the lining in no time at all. As usual, I was overly optimistic. And I'm not sure how much I'll get done today--I'm meeting a former neighbor for lunch, and we have a lot to catch up on.

So before lunchtime, I'm going to try to finish sewing this part together. And maybe I'll get the interfacing ironed to the box lining. And the ribbon sewn to the outer panels of the box. And the box lining attached to the main body of the etui--and did I say something about being overly optimistic?

Books!!!

 Well, I did bash a few dust bunnies and I did decide what I'm going to work on for the next few days, but then the mail came.

Umpty-leven years ago, when I went to EGA and ANG national seminars, I took a lot of Goldwork classes from Michele Roberts and enjoyed them immensely. Then I sort of wandered off into other things and Goldwork went dormant. Last year, when I took the Tudor Embroidery Class from Cynthia Jackson, my interest was rekindled, to the point I'm signed up for an almost year-long class, a deep dive into Goldwork, that will start in September.

I have a couple of Goldwork books in my stitching library--I love Alison Cole's Masterclass book especially--but you can never have too many books on a subject. (I am the child of a librarian, after all.) So I decided to beef up my collection.

I stumbled across Lizzie Pye's "Goldwork Embroidery" on sale. You can't turn down a book that's on sale.

It has excellent information on materials and tools and incredible photography of the things you need:

There is even a list of metal and metallic threads from shiniest to least shiny--that's helpful if you want to create a certain effect, or need to have contrast.

And there are step-by-step directions for six projects, from beginner to challenging. And when I say step-by-step, I mean step-by-step.

Materials list, design to trace--then clear photographs showing exactly where and how to work the stitches to produce a beautiful creation. I could happily work my way through them all.

And then there was the second book, Tanya Bentham's Opus Anglicanum.

I've been following Tanya on Facebook and reading her blog for several years, mainly because she has a wicked sense of humor. I didn't think I'd ever actually work a piece in this style--I had pretty much figured I was happiest in the 17th century--but then, as I said earlier, Cynthia Jackson dragged me into Tudor embroidery--and Tanya may have just pushed me back even farther.

She, too, has information on threads and ground fabrics and techniques:

The information on techniques includes photos of what things look like if you do them the wrong way. Sometimes that's more helpful than seeing them done the right way . . . 

She also offers tips, and interesting bits of historical information--for example, in one project, the horse is . . . um . . . anatomically correct--because the king riding said horse would appear wimpy if he rode one that wasn't . . . um . . . fully equipped.  Who knew?

Tanya has a great line about those of us who amass threads. In talking about the colors to use in Medieval embroidery, she mentions that those embroiderers used a limited palette with high contrast between shades, and she says: 

"Buy all the colours if you must (and, let's face it, we want all the colours because they are shiny and pretty and the possession of a complete set of something makes our little monkey brains happy) but please use them on different projects."

Is that not true?

She also provides directions for a whole bunch of projects--step-by-step again--

There are even directions for alternate methods of working certain aspects of a design.

So, my dilemma today is this: should I start the finishing frenzy I had planned--and really need to do--or do I start collecting materials for new Goldwork and Opus Anglicanum projects?

It is my pleasure to introduce

 Miss Mary Ann Turner

And a close-up of the lower third, with all the sweet motifs:

She will be available this fall, reproduced by Thy Needles's Worke. You can find other samplers from Sharon's collection at her Etsy store.

After putting the last stitch in, I thought about taking the night off. But when I sat down to watch Grantchester, my hands were fidgety, so I pulled out the ancient crewel piece I excavated awhile back. It now has a leaf.

So, what's next?

First of all, I'm going to beat back the ravening hordes of dust bunnies and throw a couple of loads of laundry in. Then I think I'm going to determine which of the projects in the finishing basket will get first dibs on my time and attention. Currently, the top layer has three of the four projects I've taken from Jackie at Sassy Jack's ready to go, two of Sherri Jones' Patrick's Woods designs, and an ancient sweet bag that Tricia Nguyen designed for the Historic Needlework Guild. There are also several Christmas ornaments that I could do now and have ready in December.

Or I could sit in my corner and take the day off.

You'll know as soon as I do.