Here’s more of the November session’s show & tell. The green velvet bookcover embroidered in gold is by Cathy. Under it are two pillows, the top one embroidered by Kandy, the bottom by Kathy. The first time they met they realized they were working on the same pattern. I imagine there was a little of the same sort of awkwardness that comes when you both wear the same dress to a party, but they each made different color and size choices so the pillows aren’t twins. And you have to figure that someone who chose the same pattern as you did is someone you’d like to know.

Allison, friend to both Kandy and Cathy, sent me an email last week describing their trip home (they all drove together from Philadelphia; Allison flew there from her home in Tennessee):

Cathy, Kandy and I had a bit of an unexpected adventure on our way home Sat. evening. We were in CT somewhere when we heard a loud POP from under Cathy’s car hood, and then some really terrible noises. We pulled over and made it to the parking lot of a State Police station, which was lucky because the car was kaput. It had blown a spark plug and taken some wires with it. After some stressful discussions about what, exactly, we were going to do, we towed it to a garage (which, of course, couldn’t do anything until Monday). The tow-truck guy helpfully drove us to the best hotel in town, the lovely Super 8. We called Kandy’s husband, who jumped in the car and drove most of the night from Philly (4+ hours) to get to us. After a couple hours’ sleep, we managed to make it back to Philly in time for me to catch my plane home. Whew! Cathy’s going back up to CT to get her vehicle after Thanksgiving, which will be another adventure I’m sure. It’s never dull around us.

Cathy is the same person who embroidered the gloves, and she wrote in response to Carolyn’s question about the lace:

The lace I used was store bought lace that I got from Joann’s fabric. I believe they also had gold lace as well. I chose it because the lace pattern was very close to a period design and it was the most historically accurate lace I could find for the gloves. The lace is not real silver thread though and I do not know how well they will hold up over several years.

I had a fantastic Thanksgiving. I went to work. I love going to Plimoth Plantation on Thanksgiving, and today was a beautiful day, unseasonably warm, with a lovely late autumn sunshine reflecting the holiday atmosphere.

After checking in at the 1627 English Village’s morning meeting, my Thanksgiving tradition is to head over to the Visitors’ Center where the hosts, hostesses and singers for the Victorian Thanksgiving Dinners are getting dressed, warming up voices and instruments, and having coffee and muffins.

I always help my friend and colleague, Die, into her gorgeous 19^th century clothes. For these dinners she plays Mrs. Charlotte Pinkham Hoxie, the wife of whaling Captain Abraham Hoxie – that’s her husband - in both centuries - at right in the background.

Why Victorian Thanksgiving? In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln declared the first national Thanksgiving Day in the United States. Before that, Thanksgiving was a very local holiday, celebrated in some places and not in others. Even where it was celebrated the actual day was declared by the minister or local government.

What we now consider the traditional Thanksgiving menu dates back to the 1800s, too – turkey, root vegetables, pie. I love pie. But I digress.

On Thanksgiving there are three seatings for the Victorian Thanksgiving Dinners – I’m not sure how many people at a seating, but well over 100 anyway. These dinners sell out months in advance.

Every year I help Die into her corset and gown, then lace the black ribbon through the backs of the black velvet-covered buttons. Fix the black velvet belt, hide the ties; fix the little black hat with the veil. I love this outfit – it’s modeled after one in a 19th century photo, and Die looks wonderful in it.

Then I wander around the sites, helping folks find their way from one place to another, or where the nearest rest rooms are, or just being friendly. Last year it rained, rained, rained. Many people visited the museum, but it wasn’t as pleasant to be walking around, that’s for sure.

And while I was wandering, I found this little girl minding a goat. Sweet goat, it ate every fallen maple leaf a child offered, and willingly accepted pats from everyone. Sweet girl, too.

The staff enjoys a potluck dinner behind the scenes, with the staples provided by the museum and all the sides and desserts brought from many different traditions. I love that part, too, getting to try everyone’s favorite dish. And, of course, pie.

People often say to me, “Oh, too bad you have to work on Thanksgiving.”

Tricia found time in her crazy busy week (try getting a family of four ready for a driving “vacation” to share some good news:

Did you all hear a scream of delight from Plimoth and Boston today? If you did that is because a big box of Thanksgiving bounty arrived from Access Commodities and Golden Threads. Our last colors of what is officially known as ‘Gilt Sylke Twist’ arrived. We have been trying to keep the discussion of this thread to a dull whisper on the blog because we and the manufacturers weren’t ready to fully introduce the thread yet to the embroidery community - although the excitement over it keeps spilling out in comments.  Sorry that we aren’t able to give a full run-down here about the threads and when they will become available (yes - you read that correctly - they will be available for all), but a long road trip for Thanksgiving looms and the blog write-ups will have to wait after much turkey and football and a long ride back to Massachusetts. I promiss I will write - but here is a close-up picture of the Redde to get you excited.
Tricia

I have to say my exclamation of delight had a serious undertone of relief as well. We’ve set an ambitious schedule for the completion of the jacket by July 1. It can be done - we can do it - but there’s really no room at all for not having the materials in hand when we need them. I’m a worrier, especially about details, and I was a little worried about having these threads before we needed them. Cross that off the list.

What this means, of course, is that the December embroiderers will be able to see these new colors, and perhaps even work with them. We still have a few spaces in that session – let me know if you’re interested in coming to Plymouth for all or part of this session - Tuesday December 11 – Friday December 14.

We had a pile of riches at this show & tell. First up is some of Cathy’s work. She made the coif in three weeks for a competition. She freely admitted she wasn’t working at the time, which really frees up a chunk of time for fiber play. And yes, she did win the competition.

Here are some gloves with blackwork embroidered gauntlets. I thought they were beautiful, and finely executed. Then I turned them over and around to look more closely –

and realized the patterns lined up perfectly. Nice detail.

It’s going to take me weeks to post and write about all the beautiful items everyone brought to share. I love show & tell day.

Here is the November group. From left, Penny, Beth, Wendy, Allison, Kandy, Melanie Anne, and Cathy. Absent are Carol, who joined us for two days but had to work today, Shaina, who was off today, and me. Being the blogger has its privileges. I got to take the picture.  We were in the Wardrobe office this week, as you can see from the background. It made for a cosy, comfortable atmosphere. I’m thinking how we can manage more sessions in the office.