Madame Defarge strikes again

Last week I was at the Llangollen International Eisteddfod.  I've been going there since I was a baby and during my teens (at the height of my embroidery obsession) I used to take my latest project with me and sit in the pavilion during the competitions and stitch.  We always sit in the same block and over the years have got to know the others that also sit in the area and a lovely man from Windsor, who we'd see there with his wife every year, started to call me Madame Defarge, from A Tale of Two Cities, because I'd stitch while the competitors danced/sang - a bit like the character knitting while the poor victims of la guillotine faced their terrible fate.

So, Madame Defarge was back again at Llangollen last week, stitching away as the choristers and dancers fought it out for first prize!  And I made some progress on my sampler (which will be the sister sampler to the one in 'They're changing guard at Buckingham Palace') at last.  I still have a way to go, but considering I'd only managed a couple of letters of the alphabet border and the bulk of the name before last week, I'm quite pleased with my progress.