I was able to attend a needlework retreat hosted by Belle Grove in Middleton, Virginia. The event was originally supposed to be at the plantation itself, but Covid intervened and it was a Zoom meeting instead. They hold retreats every quarter, so hopefully next time we’ll get to see each other in person. The kit was mailed out, with all the supplies needed to complete the project, and with a gift of tea and a few snacks.
Going in, and having had only a passing acquaintance with cross-stitch and minimal knowledge of needlepoint as a whole, and knowing I’d be in the company of women who had worked on the Shenandoah Tapestry, therefore really knew their stuff, I figured I’d stand out like a sore thumb. However, not only was I not the only rank beginner who barely knew the business end of the needle, but they were all lovely to me and eager to answer every silly question that fell out of my mouth.
The project this time is a needlepoint version of the 1840 Frederick County Courthouse, which now houses a Civil War museum located in Winchester. I was especially excited because we were focusing on stitches that could be used to replicate architectural details, and I do love me some architectural details. As it so happened, so did our tour guide, who did his best (which was very good) with a virtual tour of the manor home itself. He told us all about the details of the limestone bricks used for the façade, and Thomas Jefferson’s influence on both the inside and outside of the home. I never knew Thomas Jefferson had such strong opinions on house design. Belle Grove is almost perfectly symmetrical, including fake doors painted on the walls so each side of the room matches. And apparently he thought staircases were useless? Or at least he didn’t like to use them. For example, the only staircase on the original building was outside, and it was primarily used to bring meals from the kitchen building to the main house, which I can only imagine got real cold in the winter. I suppose when you’ve got slaves that you can make tramp up and down stairs outside in the cold carrying heavy loads for you, it doesn’t really matter to you if it’s easy for them or not.
The class was extremely informative, and although I hardly made a dent on representing the bricks on the courthouse (looking at the picture I took I see I’ve messed up a bit), and although I need a new fiber hobby like I need a hole in the head, I may not be able to help myself. Already looking forward to the next retreat!