I’ve just finished my second class at seminar, Catherine Jordan’s “Quiet Garden.” This was my second choice when I didn’t get into the very popular “Radishes,” but it certainly was not a second-rate class! Catherine is an excellent teacher, and once again I learned many new things. The project is an embroidered knot garden on linen, attached to a faux-finished papier-mâché box in the form of a book. It’s always nice to learn a finishing method that is not the standard framing.

The stitching is almost entirely double running stitch and French knots on 32-count linen but we also had to do some painting on the fabric. Here is what mine looked like after I’d done some painting but before starting any French knots:

My progress, sideways.

And here it is with some French knot shrubs added:

End of day two.

The thing that was the scariest for most of us was painting the book. In the end everyone’s looked different, but they were all wonderful. And I think because it was the scariest part, it’s the part I’m most proud of. Take a look:

My book.

After this experience, I’m going to look into some of Catherine’s other projects, specifically the embroidered maps. One of the best things about seminar is having the opportunity to do things that are a little unusual for you, and learning that you like them!