Mistress L Class

It is finally the day I get to start my goal of the year, stitching Mistress L's Band Sampler.  I get up and go walking.  I didn't get many steps in yesterday so I need to get back on the wagon.  It is truly spring in Indianapolis.  The trees are flowering and pansies have been planted.  We are in an industrial park and I  walk by hospitals, clinics and other businesses.  There is a lot of construction going on too.

It is a nice walk.  

BFF and I are running just a bit late but we have time to get to the Fire Station.  I remember where it is from when we passed it the other day.  It is on 106th street right by a round about.  But our first hurdle is should we turn right or left.  BFF thinks left.  I think right.  She goes right as I am so sure I know where it is.  We drive farther than I think we should but we do find the Fire Station.  Uh-oh.  There are no cars there.  Then it dawns on me, maybe there is more than one Fire Station.  I'm an idiot.  We manage to find the directions to the fire station that our hostess has emailed to us.  We are on the wrong street and wrong Fire Station.  Rats.  Now we must hurry or we will be late.  We find the right Fire Station and are the last ones to arrive.  I think we are getting a reputation for being late.

There is the sweetest reward waiting for us:  the kit!

This is a large project and there are lots of threads.  Oh, I'm so excited.

The room is well lit and I don't even use my light.  There are comfortable chairs.  Let me repeat (as this is rare) There are COMFORTABLE chairs.  Wow.  I like this venue.  

We go through the kit and the directions.  The first thing we have to do is baste so we can start it in the perfect place.  We get a little history of the three ladies.  This is my favorite part of the sampler.  But I'm not starting there.  I need the motivation to work my way down there.  I feel surprisingly calm enough to begin stitching.  Isn't this the most beautiful sampler?  And I'm not even a sampler person!

There is enough food left over from yesterday's lunch at Nancy's that we can just stay and eat right here.  Several of us go outside to eat as it is a gorgeous day and there is a pretty fountain in front of the (right) Fire Station.

I get a few rows done on the sampler.  This will be so fun to stitch.  

Our next thing to to drive to Sue's house.  At Spring Fling Sue invited us to dinner at her house.  There are four of us going.  We find Sue's house pretty easily as she has emailed us detailed directions.  More curio cabinets!  It is fun to see all the things that Sue has stitched.  It makes me want to stitch some of them too.  She has that wonderful Pineapple Sampler by Barbara Jackson that was in back issues of either Fine Lines or Sampler and Needlework Quarterly.  Someday I may stitch that.

She has a nice dinner for us and then we stitch some more.  After a bit I'm so tired and ask BFF if we can go back to the hotel.

Great day and there is still tomorrow!

A