Between stitching engagements, I've been soooo domestic that I am beginning to feel like Martha Stewart - NOT! I have however, been doing lots of cooking and "cleaning up". Yesterday dinner was - cornish game hens with my own special sauce, roasted yukon gold potatoes and roasted asparagus. I also made 10 cups of rhubarb conserve. 10 years ago, on our honeymoon in England, I came across rhubarb conserve in a tea shop in York. I like rhubarb - that wonderful fresh taste. The conserve had bits of orange in it and sugar - nothing else. The orange tasted almost candied, but that is a process that happens during the cooking - not separately. Since the first time I made it I had some tangelos, it has come to be Rhubarb Tangelo Conserve in my house.
Some other dishes that have emerged have been pork loin with rosemary and garlic, roasted broccoli, boiled baby yukon gold potatoes to use the rosemary garlic pork juices, marinated tri tip, various forms of steak sandwich, party wings, eggplant caviar, eggs benedict, matzah brie, matzah ball soup, and matzah pancakes, and more. It is so hard to eat low fat and eat prepared meals. Low fat can be tasty!
Meanwhile on the stitching front, I did a couple examples of blackwork bookmarks for the Cable Car Cablers/Smocking. We did the Greek Key design in class; in both double running and back stitch. I blathered about blackwork and smocking historically - 16th C or so. They had lots of questions and I managed to have answers for most of them. I don't mind saying I don't know, but it is always amazing to me how much I do know/retain from reading/researching. And yet there is so much I don't know and want to explore!
Our Guild meeting was a basic hardanger design. I had forgotten how much I enjoy doing hardanger. It was on 18 ct canvas rather than 22 ct aida and done with Watercolors (pearl pima cotton). Yes I'll post pics. I've also been stitching a couple new name tags. Laura Perrin was at the Stitching Festival and I picked up a couple of her freebie designs and $1 chunks of canvas. Not that I ever really follow a design, but ... In addition, I am doing 2 of our upcoming summer evening classes. I'll do the Greek Key for one and I am doing a Petite Project by Mary Knapp "Purple Mountains Majesty, a bargello altoids tin cover. Need to sit down and stitch the model for it. Also will need to do the "homework" for the English class. The specially woven linen canvas and silk (flat silk) has arrived. I need to do most of the tent stitch before the class. Now you know what I'll be stitching on in April.
I also need to do the model for one of our guild's kits - a design courtesy of Laura Perrin. We send simple embroidery kits to the VA hospital in Texas which houses returning vets. The kits are for family members to help pass the time. Our Guild is doing 3 new patriotic kits - 2 designed by members and this new one "American Star" -- 2 XS and 1 canvaswork. We will kit them in June - I hope. I'm shepharding the 2 members through the process of charting and creating "professional" looking instruction sheets.
If anyone wants to donate supplies to use - we need, preferably by June 15th:
14 count aida - white
18 count canvas - white or eggshell
DMC Floss - white, black, red 666 & 498, blue 797, purple 791, gold 725, green 699
DMC #5 Pearl cotton - navy 823, red 815, ecru
Ribbon Floss 144-001 Gold OR Kreinik 1/16th Ribbon 002-gold
Watercolors 008 OR 154 (#5 pearl cotton equivalent) OR Dinky Dyes Pearl Cotton #86 - note that Jo Mason of Dinky Dyes is providing us with a large "lot" of this
#22 and #24 Tapestry Needles
1 quart ziplocks
Email me or comment and I'll provide an address.
When I'm not stitching or cooking, I'm cleaning stuff out. More to go up on ebay soon. Garage sale this weekend. Lots more to charities and into the garbage. At least I can recycle the papers. We won't mention that I need to prep for meeting up with the tax man next week. Papercuts and stitching do NOT go together.
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