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.