Last winter, Catherine and Deb from Kansas came out to Plymouth to embroider bearing gifts of coffee and chocolate. This September they came again, bringing more chocolate (bless them) and a friend! Catherine and Deb had been trying to persuade Sandye to come out to Plymouth and exercise her considerable embroidery skill on the jacket, but, well, we all know the gravitational pull of our usual orbit can be pretty strong. This time,they contacted Sandye’s husband and explained the situation. He responded by making Sandye a plane reservation and then telling her to sort out the rest of the arrangements. How great is that?

Sandye brought treasures to share with us. First is a favor she made for her husband to carry. They are members of the Society for Creative Anachronism, as are many of our embroidery volunteers. The first picture is Sandye holding up her work, the second is a close up. She said that she has often been asked why she made him such a lovely favor to carry, wouldn’t it get ruined? She says, I know how to make another. And after hearing about his supportive attitude towards her avocation, I bet we all agree he totally deserves pretties.

Sandye really likes snails. Do you see how the coiling vine is the snail’s shell? It’s subtle, and so pleasing because you have to discover it. She said she used up leftovers from other projects on this.

Here is a coif she embroidered. There are many motifs on it, including a snail which isn’t visible from this angle.

The last piece was a gift to Sandye from Catherine. In the SCA it is an honor and an achievement to receive a laurel (or is always plural?), and it sounds like it can also be a grand party! Catherine made this for Sandye for Sandye’s laurel award.  See the snail?

(SCA members, did I mess that up completely? Straighten me out.)