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Pretty much describes my last weekend. Cut because, oh yeah, this will be long!

Went back to Plimoth, to work on The Jacket :). Yup, second trip, just couldn’t resist, and it was very good timing. Pretty much all the silk stitching was finished this weekend so if there are more sessions for the goldwork, they may be hit and miss as that needs to be consistent so the number of stitchers may be limited. But I’m getting ahead of myself....

Travel companions for this trip was non-lj friend Deb P., who I went with in January, and first-timer

snailstichr . I had been telling her she *really* needed to experience this, then finally mentioned it to

trimguy , who promptly booked her tickets. I’ll start with him first next time! Our flights all arrived on time, as was our ride to Plymouth and delivery of the rental car. Hit Lobster Hut for a quick lunch (this will be part of a continuing theme), then to Pilgrim Hall to see the Laura Standish sampler. This had been on DP’s list in January but the hall was closed for off-season renovations. There were 3 additional samplers on display in another exhibit so it was worth the wait. Almost directly across the street was a stitching shop so, naturally, it was next on the itinerary. DP and I had visited the store in January and, gee, for some reason they remembered us :). I didn’t find anything tempting this trip but the other two did. By now jet lag was setting in (we had all been up at o-dark-hundred to catch our flights) so we decided on an early dinner and back to the hotel. I think this is where the idea to have some sort of seafood every night came in. We headed to a great restaurant DP and I had found in January called East Bay Grille. It is right on the shore, with a boat dock and jetty directly behind it, and to die for lobster bisque. With happy tummy’s we took a short stroll around the jetty area and returned to the hotel where I promptly fell asleep on everyone.

Up early the next morning and headed to the plantation. Did I mention that it was starting to get overcast the evening before? Lots of clouds this morning and very soon, RAIN. Oh man did it rain! This stitching session was in the wardrobe department so we were on high ground at least. Everything was setup and ready to go for us, including coffee, water for tea, and homemade breakfast goodies. Tricia and Wendy (two of the designers helping wrangle this project) were there to get everyone started. Since DP and I were return stitchers we were both given jacket pieces to work on and dived in.

snailstichr did a practice piece and then started on the forehead cloth. We had enough stitchers that ALL the pieces were being worked on at the same time, plus some of the detached pieces. DP and I compared notes later and we both found we had problems getting back into the rhythm of this stitching. There is a new thread being used for this project and it is a little tricky to work with, it took us this first day to get comfortable with it again. Fortunately while we were a bit slow, our stitching was still good so the motifs looked OK.

An unexpected surprise on the first day was two visitors from the MET, there to take pics and film of the project to use as part of a video for an exhibit they have going up in December on 17thC embroidery. This meant that there was a small demo on making the spangles for the lace that came to us, we did not have to traipse out into the rain to see it :). Very cool to see this done in person, after having followed the research and development on the blog. And Carolyn was there with the lace! I did not get to practice the lace as I had hoped to but so lovely to see it in person. It is going to make the project POP! The plantation provided a great homemade lunch so we stitched through the afternoon, and it rained. Dinner that evening was at a different restaurant, but seafood was still the theme. Dinner for me was clams and scallops :). We met up with 4 of the other stitchers and had a good time visiting, and discovering a very nice golden ale by a local brewery. Had no problems sleeping this second night either :).

Saturday; more rain. In fact it pretty much poured all day. This was going to be the late evening, with the plantation sending out for dinner, so we all took a bit of a break at one time or another to visit the plantation’s collection of artifacts and/or the gift shop. The gift shop had not been open in January so DP and I had missed it then, not this time! As volunteers we also got a discount so that was fun. Found some Shakespeare figures for

galactusprime , chocolate for the co-worker and a clay pipe for the housemate. A lot of stitching was done, plus another break for show-and-tell. I tend to do a lot of costume work, not so many of the modern kits and designs, so it is always fun for me to see the beautiful work the other folks have done. My jacket piece this session was the right front and today was the day I worked to finished out the little leaf bits that were left and all the butterflies. Dinner was carry-out from a local Thai place DP and I had fond memories of from January. I had crab rolls for an appetizer, to preserve the seafood theme :).

Sunday started with more rain but, despite the hurricane passing us by out to sea, we actually had a spot of sun in the afternoon which was nice. We all had our fingers to the proverbial grindstone today however and the needles flew. One by one the silkwork on the pieces were being finished and they went ‘out of service’, with an appropriate Happy Dance :). There were still detached pieces to work on for those who finished their jacket work so everyone stayed busy. I started on my worms. Yes, worms :). I had actually been dreading these, as the stitch used is tricky in silk. Using the gilt sylke twist however was a whole ‘nother story! With the bit of gold on the GST the thread will stay where you put it! Made a biiiig difference with this stitch and I plowed through them. Also, before C left, I got to work on the lace! I had helped beta-test the pattern and instructions but without having been able to practice did not want to try the lace and make a big mistake. C was very good to let me work a small point which I appreciated. We went back to East Bay Grille for dinner as it seemed appropo for our last night. I had mac and cheese, made with white cheddar and lobster. Now THAT was comfort food!!!

Monday started overcast but rain was no longer in the forecast so we had hopes for some sun. Not to much left to do on the jacket.

snailstichr had mentioned how she was hoping to stitch a little on the actual jacket so I saved the last worm, one of the fancy (ie; two color) ones for her while she practiced on the same motif on the forehead cloth. I finished up and passed my piece on to her. While she did the worm I did a little cleanup work on the forehead piece. We were both finished by lunch and, Ta Da, the right front went out of service and a Happy Dance was done. The back was the last piece being worked on by an amazing stitcher named Carli whose needle had *really* been flying all weekend. She kept working while the three of us took a break to visit the craft center and the actual village at the plantation. Again, something DP and I had missed in January as it was all closed for the season. It was a flying visit but still cool to see the houses in the village, gardens, etc., and interpreters in costume. A few had stopped by the wardrobe department over the weekend so we had an upclose look at the garments then. A lot of wool! On Saturday one of them had mentioned how hard it had been raining, so much that the hens were taking cover in ‘her’ house :). The village is set on a slope and from the top you can see, and hear, the ocean. By the time you get to the bottom you can even smell the sea air. I can think of worse places to work.

Back up at wardrobe it was finally time to say goodbye which was hard to do. This had been a great bunch of stitchers and the wardrobe staff always makes us feel so much at home. If I lived closer I would sooooo be volunteering there. Not sure how late Carli was able to stay but she was very close to finishing so, an awesome amount of work was done this weekend. Sun was out as we met our ride to Boston but it was overcast again by the time we made it to the airport. Apparently it was a widespread weather system as both of our flights had delays getting home, which did allow more time to decompress from the sensory-overload of the weekend. DP and my extra time was spent in Logan,

snailstichr got bounced around going home but we all ended up back at KC around the same time.

galactusprime tried to wait up for me but had crashed out by the time I dragged myself in the door. I was very happy I had taken an extra day of vacation to recover.

Back at work now and wishing I had some more silk to stitch, sigh. Which just means I need to get those projects I keep talking about up and running!