Blog #77 - St. Charles, Missouri, USA
Wednesday, 14 November 2018
Before heading home to New Zealand from St. Charles, I had another day of rest and so spent part of the day wandering the ‘old town’ which was originally the capital of the State of Missouri back in the late 1700’s.
To get there, one can take the free Tolley Bus that departs from the main doors of the hotel.
It was from here that Daniel Boone set out and began his travels to find routes through the interior of the county.
A bronze statue is in the street near a walkway to the river to remind us of him and his famous exploits.
The picturesque town is lined on both sides of the street with classic American homes of the era and cobblestone footpaths and the street is also cobblestoned. If cars had not been present, it would have been like stepping back in time. Just gorgeous.
However, I was very mindful of where I placed my feet, as only a couple of weeks earlier my lovely friend, Joy, (who was on a Quilting Tour in the States with other ladies from our area) had fallen and badly smashed her right elbow necessitating hospitalisation until she could be escorted home to New Zealand by a nurse. Subsequently she has had to have major surgery.
Think of you often, Joy, as you gradually mend.
I know this accident has been an awful ordeal for her.
When I saw the building in the ‘old town’ (pictured below),
Joy’s Collective Market, my thoughts again turned to Joy. It was full of antiques!
Not that you are an antique, Joy - but you and your friendship are priceless.
Mary personalised her sampler by replacing some of the original motifs in the sampler and substituting them with another motif such as a thistle to acknowledge her Scottish ancestry. She also added her name and the year/date she worked her sampler.
The design that Mary worked was one of Gigi’s lovely designs -
Other letters available are : A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, N, O, P, R, S, T & V.
For me, a sad situation has occurred. My dear little car (Samantha) has become worn out.
She has been a part of me and the business since the beginning of 1995.
I did not want her to be given to the scrap merchant and so she is now permanently parked at the front of Needlework Gallery and house.
In time she will have plants around her, but for now - pictured below - is how she is situated.
I do miss her.
For those of you who have been wondering about the planned 30th birthday celebrations, our usual needlework exhibition and Christmas throughout the house - sadly, none of these events are happening this year. I’ve not had the energy to organise or set it up.
My apologies to everyone who were expecting it.
As for progress on the stitching of the Alphabet Series.
I’ve managed to stitch a few more letters but as yet not finished them as ornamentals.
The finished pieces are letters for the back of the ornamentals - L & M.
And I’ve stitched both front and back of the letter ‘H’. These are pictured below.
Also, I’ve stitched one of the letter ‘P’.
Still have to stitch another ‘P’ for the back of the ornamental.
To have a break from stitching the similar alphabet designs,
I have designed a new needlework piece which I’ll probably name,
‘Sampler Keep’.
Pictured is a snippet of some of the pieces in this new design.
Pieces in this design have been worked with -
Sampler Thread : Midnight
Belfast Linen - 32 count - Lt. Mocha / Mushroom
And finally, you may recall in Blog #74 my writing about my error with stitching ‘Tiny Blackwork Floral Sampler’ and my subsequent adaptations. I’ve now made up these adaptations into the pincushion and the scissors fob and made up the other design (Blackwork Heart) into an ornamental as per the original design. These are pictured below -
yet I have not started the original design (Tiny Blackwork Floral Sampler) that I planned to do before making my error!
That’s all for now. May you be blessed with peace and contentment as you stitch.
