Stitching through the shutdown

Over two weeks without work, and after the first week of prepping for my husband's birthday followed by fall cleaning when I couldn't sit still, I finally got to my stitching. I know I am not the only federal employee who has taken to her needles for comfort. A friend in Massachusetts has told me that she is knitting up a storm.

 

Over the weekend some of my coworkers went back to work due to the generosity of states, cities, and private donors. Most of us have not been so lucky. So we sit and stitch and watch the news and apply for unemployment and hope that we can be back at work soon.

 

I brought a project with me from Denver to work on, not truly believing that there would be a shutdown. I wanted to work a small coaster pattern that I saw in the latest issue of Inspirations Magazine. It will be a gift. The magazine pattern inspired me to create additional motifs, and over the last several days, I've stitched five sets of four coasters each. I'm now out of linen and since my sewing machine is in Denver, I can't finish the coasters until I return. As I wait out the shutdown, I'll start stitching a little kit from Canevas Folies--my new Rhode Island project.

 

It is nice to have some extra stitching time, but it is far from a vacation. I would much rather be working and helping make our country stronger than sitting on the sidelines. As I write this Tuesday evening, I think that there is some hope that we will be working again soon.

This is the pattern from Inspirations that inspired me.

All of the flowers were stitched with #5 pearl cotton--a thread I've never used before.

I had to work with the limited palette of threads I had brought with me, but am happy with the results.

Because the buttonhole stitches didn't cover the entire fabric, I supplemented them with straight stitches two different pinks.

I'm not sure what flower theses are. When I finished the four flowers that were my goal, my imagination took over.

 

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