It all started on the most unlikely of days...Superbowl Sunday. I got it in my mind that my bag of embroidery thread needed organizing. Don't know why this happened. But I will tell you...
...it's a great way to "watch the game." It helped that my brother made me cocktails and cooked gumbo from scratch. And voila! A rainbow of thread!
Just in time too...the next week I got hit with the flu...nasty stuff. Don't recommend it. Nine days in sick bay. BUT...I had my trusty Rebecca Ringquist sampler at hand AND my newly organized thread rainbow...
...and so I stitched and ...
...stitched.
I bought this fine little sampler from her Etsy shop here and signed up for her online Embroidery Sampler class here. You could do the class without her printed sampler, but it's so great to learn and then have the finished sampler to refer back to, just like in days in yore.
Well paced with a friendly, conversational style, she walked me through 15 new stitches. I kept flipping back and forth between the online class and movies on my laptop. If you find yourself at home with the flu, or some other gross cootie that keeps you in sick bay for some extended period of time, I can also recommend the following movies: The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Shangahi Calling, The Sessions, Bright Star and Netflix's excellent series, House of Cards.
All stitched up and feeling better, finally, I edged my little sampler with some ribbon and a few buttons.
I love the simplicity and hand drawn charm of her sampler. I learned new stitches while creating something really lively and beautiful. I had so much fun, I'm working on another one then believe I will try my hand at my own design. The repetition of stitches is so meditative and seems to work so well for the last of these seemingly endless winter days. Hope you are all well...avoiding the cooties, finding your own stitches in time.
