Once upon a time, just over three years ago, a friend and once-fellow-teacher called me.

She: “Can you teach me how to do gold church embroidery?”

Me: “Yes, I can.”

And so we started by covering the very basics of goldwork embroidery. Nothing paid or formal. Just a casual arrangement to meet once a week when she had an hour or two to spare.

Once she understood what threads do what, she decided the best way for her to start would be to actually start, to begin with a real project that could be used upon completion.

Her primary interest was learning to work with real metal threads that can be couched. To that end, we began a “sacred monogram” project. We transferred the design onto velveteen, appliquéd felt padding, and then couched gold passing thread.

After several months of her working on the project quite slowly, the inevitable happened: life got busy, she had to prioritize, and the goldwork was side-lined.

I sent my slate frame and my floor stand home with her, so she could work on it when she had time.

A good two and a half years went by, and although we occasionally touched base, the embroidery was still languishing, neglected, not going anywhere.