circles of life

    It is Tuesday night, more than halfway through EGA National Seminar 2007. We (all 600+ attendees including my DH and sons) are in the "Windy City," Chicago, Illinois, USA. Not quite a year ago we -- well, I was sans family, but there were probably still about 600+ attendees -- were in Richmond and viewed the class pieces for this present event. I still can not fathom why I decided to take a crewel class. Perhaps it was the hightened interest of some of my chapter members, i.e., Lisa and Rissa, or just the sheer number of beautiful crewel embroideries that have been designed, taught and stitched in the past few years. (Of course, some people have been designing amazing crewel work for years, like Audrey Francini and Judy Jeroy -- more about them in another post.) Whatever it was, even if only a "jumping on the bandwagon" interest, I signed up for Barbara Jackson's (Tristan Brooks Designs) weekend class, Shepherd's Purse. In the meantime, we (the Mississippi NeedleArts chapter of EGA) determined to bring Barbara to Jackson for a workshop. (Details on this event as they become available.)

    I am in love . . . or maybe just infatuated.

    I was thrilled to discover I (still)have some skill at this stitching technique. Of course, like many of us who were stitching in the 60's, it's not my first rodeo. I worked on many a Sunset kit -- and still have many of them stashed away in a trunk. My dear sweet mother loved "Jacobean" crewel work -- and I have many of her completed (and uncompleted) pieces. She favored finishing her pieces as pillows. Several of them remained on her bed or the cedar chest at the foot of her bed until she passed.

    So, too, like many things in my life, I guess this is a "full circle" kind of thing, a rememberance of the past.

    Today, Rissa, Lisa & I viewed the class pieces for next year's seminar in Louisville, when/where we will celebrate EGA's 50th birthday Barbara will present two two-day notebook classes (1, 2) at next year's seminar in Louisville (and a one-day project). Really, I can hardly believe I am most drawn to those classes.

Here I go again. Starting another blog. My "intention" here is to document, and learn, and share as much as I can about the next twelve months and my journey among the strands of wool and silk.