Penelope Cannot Contain Herself

Oh Penelope - you were such a joy to stitch! Your name came to me so clearly as I stitched your face - what a nice way to begin! Those spirals in your hair were kind of a bear to stitch, but I love your springy curls so I'm glad I did it. As I started stitching your hat in place it occurred to me that you were singing and I spent some time imagining what your song would look like while I finished stitching on all the tiers of your fabulous, impractical hat. By the time I finished adding your song, that hat no longer seemed worthy of it, so the hat got some scrollwork too. We had a couple of tense moments when I rinsed out the stabilizer and the red background and permanent black ink I used on the stabilizer bled everywhere, but we made it through that near-disaster with your joy (and mine) intact. Whew! And now it's time to send you out into the world. I'm going to "frame" you in an embroidery hoop and send you out to the TRAC Gallery for the Studio Tour Exhibit. Prints will be available soon too. You're my favorite piece so far - thanks for bringing such joy to so many (many!) evenings.

Love,
Wendi