Flitting here, there and it feels like… everywhere!

If I don’t write this update now, it will be Christmas…

Let’s start with my trip to the Original Sewing and Quilting Expo in Lebanon, Tennessee. OSQE hold shows all over the USA but I had only ever been to ones in the Chicago area. Richard had signed up for a booth and I thought it would be fun to sit in the comfy chair again. Off I set, flying into Nashville early on the Thursday morning.It turned out Richard was keeping my chair warm for me! We had a super time, selling lots of threads, yarn and other needlework goodies.

AND I got to hang out with the Nashville Redfords on Friday evening 🙂

They drove out to pick me up after the show was done for the day. The girls were very patient waiting for a table and it was lovely to see them.

Back home and on to the next project. I taught a three session Zoom class for Creative Spark between Houston and going to Nashville. There had been some thought that we would be able to record it and serve it up later on demand. Alas, it was not to be! The students were good sports and we had a fun  time together but there was no way the recording was good enough…

So, I booked a ticket to Oakland and set about getting ready for a trip to C&T in Concord, California.

And then I decided a needed new samples…

How about a couple of dragonflies?The Dazzle thread made lovely sparkly wings.

Remember this tote bag pocket from my Butterfly Stitches book?

I have wanted to remake it for a while… so I did. It was well worth the effort of picking out all the stitches. I was very pleased with my new quilting. design. Much better!

And then I thought it would be fun to embellish a jeans jacket with a butterfly. Steve wasn’t too sure but by the time I was finished he was reasonably impressed.I made all sorts of step outs and managed to fill two suitcases with all the things.

Apparently it was very windy over the Rockies so the flight took almost five hours from Chicago, but Sophie was there to meet me. Off to C&T we went.

Here I am, in front of the welcome quilt in reception.We had one and a half days to record three classes. We worked hard! Here’s the set. Three cameras and lots of lights…I asked Tristan to take some pictures on my phone…Oh well…

There will be three on demand classes coming in the New Year… embroidery and wool appliqué… don’t worry I will tell you more soon!!

My friend Jenny Lyon drove down to see me but we hardly got a chance to chat. It was just work, work, work.

Just like that, it was time to fly home again.

What else?

I have been making some new workshop samples for upcoming classes.

Here’s my Pretty in Paisley panel, stitched in shades of grey and mounted on an 8″ canvas. It’s a fun design to work on, wherever you are on your embroidery journey.I was very happy with my looped bullion stitches around a trellis stitch center.

Then there’s an English paper pieced block, Night Time Butterfly from Paper Pieces. I used fabrics from a 10″ layer cake of Flowers for Freya by Linzee Kull McCray for Moda. It’s a little wobbly but I think it is an excellent block for learning how to stitch curves and sharp, narrow points.

And now I am working on some improv bocks with some more pieces from the layer cake. Two types of four patches and then two variations of nine patches…And how about an Ohio star?

Yes, there will be an improv class in my future…

AND one last project.

Flowers and a butterfly combine for a pretty new embroidery design.
Just six colors of thread on a white linen square!

There you have it. I feel like I have been flitting backwards and forwards between projects for the last six weeks…

I still have a long to do list before the holidays. I have not sent any Christmas cards… again. Julia did me a lovely photo collage. Perhaps I’ll post it on Saturday?