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I love it all: embroidery, canvaswork, quilting, crochet. So much to do, so little time.





Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Rotation Recess

Hey Blog Buddies,

Yes, the title of this post says it all.  No new rotation photos this month because I've been ignoring the one new and three original projects in my rotation.  But some months I think of the rotation as merely a suggestion anyway, and this was one of them.

Which isn't to say that I haven't been stitching--I have.  I've been to two classes in the past few weeks.  First, I went to Shipshewana, Indiana.  It's an Amish community in the Northeast part of the state.  The class was With my Needle's Kindred Spirits, which was taught at the end of Inspired Needle's annual retreat.


We stayed at the Farmstead Inn in Shipshewana.
Bucolic, no?


Cathy had a fabulous boutique set up
in the stitching room.
This is only part of it.




There was an optional exchange of smalls.
Some of the items weren't so small!


But on to the class...


Students each received this wonderful wooden carrier.
We are to stitch the linings for the sides
and all the accessories, including a needle roll, 
pipkin (squeezy thing), ruler holder,
pin cube and scissor case (not shown).
We got some lovely green Dupioni silk
with which to line our carrier.

This is my progress so far.
I have four sides of the pin cube done.
The sides are less than two inches long.
That big-looking needle you see
is a petite No. 28.
A lot of the stitching is over one
on 36-count!

Needless to say, this project will take me awhile.
I do want to give kudos to Ellen Chester;
she is a great teacher,
and her written materials are very comprehensive.

Next up was a Tanja Berlin needle painting
class hosted by the Indianapolis
chapter of the EGA.

This was our project.
Tanja's rendition of the bird is stunning.

I'm actually a bit farther on than this photo shows.
It was dreary and rained all day today,
so I didn't document my latest progress.
It's my every-morning-before-breakfast project.
What I don't care for is how
stripey the bottom of his little belly appears.
Perhaps some additional white stitches will do the trick?
I'm finding this project to be a little nerve-wracking,
but will try to stick with it until it's done.
It's the type of project that, once put away,
probably wouldn't get picked back up.

Tanja also is a great teacher,
with detailed step-by-step instructions
that leave nothing to the imagination.
I'm just not sure that needle painting is for me.

I started and finished this little ornie.
Yes, I finish-finished it myself!
It's Prairie Schooler's Winter's Eve, found
in the 2015 JCS Christmas Ornament issue.

Last but not least,
I started another smaller project.
(Really!?  Don't I have enough WIPs!?)

This is the right-hand side of
Plum Street Sampler's
Sampler Lesson No. 3.
The saying is:
"The daily labors of the bee
awake my soul to industry."
I have the other charts in the series,
but chose to start with No. 3.

Well, that's it from here.
Thanks for sticking with me
through this rather long post.
Hope you are having a grand November,
and a Happy Thanksgiving to my US readers.
Thanks, as always, for stopping by.

8 comments:

Robin in Virginia said...

What lovely projects you are working on! I really like the PS ornament you stitched and finished. What fabric did you use?

Anonymous said...

Love ALL the projects you are working on! You did a super finish on that ornament and I adore the Plum Street Bee stitching! Sounds like you had a great time at the retreats. Love the Bluebird!

Carol said...

I've always been fascinated by those lovely needlepainting finishes so I can't wait to see your bluebird, Pat! And the wooden carrier will be fabulous when you're all finished with the stitching parts (now I know what a pipkin is!!). Great job on your ornament--the more you do, the easier it gets :)

Wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving next week!

Julie said...

A fabulous wooden carrier, I do like the little goodies that you will be making to go into yours.
Pretty PS ornament and such a darling birdie.

Tiffstitch said...

Those sound like very interesting classes and yes, I'd try more white to get rid of the stripey look on the blue bird. Beautiful ornie finish!

Melody said...

You have some great projects in the works. It's great you got to attend an Inspired Needle retreat. Maybe someday I will be able to as well.
I really like the Prairie Schooler ornament from the magazine. Nice finish for it as well.

Anne said...

Beautiful stitching, as always! ��

Anne said...

Those question marks are supposed to be a smiley face. Sorry