In July I attended the inspiring Distant Stitch Summer School with Jan Beaney and Jean Littlejohn. This proved quite a pivotal weekend for various reasons.
I was very impressed by the standard of the work of the other students, especially in the little "exhibition room" downstairs. My own, supposedly diploma-level work, looked pathetic in comparison. My personal tutorial with Siân only served to reinforce this and it was left that I should reconsider my commitment to the Diploma course.
My initial reaction was to give up but over the summer I realised that I missed the design and stitching, especially after the privilege of sharing the teaching and ideas of Jan and Jean. I tried to get back into the Diploma but it all seemed pointless and in the end things got so bad that I got out my cross stitch sampler to finish it (which I never did!)
However, after speaking again to Siân, it has been agreed that I will transfer to the Certificate course. I had previously done the Certificate over 2 years at a local class but I always felt I was being rushed and would have liked to go into some things more deeply. Also, the Distant Stitch course will be structured in a completely different way and I know that Siân will be a more challenging task master, so I am quite happy. My aim has always been to learn and develop within a structured framework and this appears to be the answer.
My mind is already buzzing with ideas on crosses and stars and I have already taken lots of pictures - all I need now is some of that elusive time to actually do something with them.
