I have started design work on two exciting new projects.

The first is a green frontal for the English-speaking United Methodist Church in Vienna using an African material brought by one of the members. After consultation with the committee we have decided that the special material will be used in a quarter rosette on the right side of the altar, with a banner saying Halleluia! Stretching to the other side. It is proving to be somewhat of a challenge to get the right threads, but I have the other materials assembled, and hope to start trial stitching of the letters this week.

On our recent trip to England we were entranced by the flight of a spectacular Emperor dragonfly in the parking lot of the Thursley Nature Reserve. That and the hedgerows along the towpaths are the inspiration to finally try stumpwork. I plan a three panel piece 'Autumn dragonflies'. Each panel will be 90 x 40cm. I plan to buy canvas stretchers and silk soon. The lefthand panel will show brambles and hawthorn with Ruddy Darters both on the path and in the air. The righthand panel will feature the male Emperor patrolling among cattails with a female laying eggs at the surface of the water. The middle panel will include dried seedheads and a small white butterfly, but otherwise I haven't a full picture of it yet. Obviously there is a lot of preparation before serious stitching can begin, but at the latest I hope to have a trial panel together for experimenting by early October.