December 2024 Meeting

DUE TO ISSUES WITH BLOGGER, PHOTOS ARE NOT SHOWING UP.    I WILL CONTINUE TO WORK ON CORRECTING IT. RT

Our President call the meeting to order.   We had 38 in attendance and 7 attending via Zoom.

The President called for all the various Officer and Committee Reports.

Minutes were shared via a newsletter following the November Meeting.

The Treasurer’s Report was provided.  Membership is now due.   The renewal form was included in the newsletter.   There will be a special ‘gift’ later this year for all current members.   You must have your membership dues paid NO LATER THAN the March meeting to be eligible for the gift.  

Conservation checks were written and sent to the three recipients as recommended by the Conservation Committee.  Those receiving funds this year were - Harmon Museum in Lebanon, Ohio; The Schwenkfelter Museum, Schwenkfelder, PA; and the Salem County Historical Society in Salem, NJ.  Donations for this year totaled - $4,483. 

Conservation Committee -  Marnie received notice from the Harmon Museum that they are already in the process of reframing the samplers we provided funds for.

Green Book - Patrick would like the list of your 2024 finishes for him to file in the Green Book no later than February 15.   Participation prizes will be awarded.   Patrick’s email was in the newsletter. 

Technical Support - We are looking for volunteers to assist with the Zoom meetings.   Please mail either the Guild or Caryl C.

Secret Stitcher - Susan reported all is going well with the exchange. 

Upcoming Programming

 January - we will be reviewing all the stitched pieces for the Designer of the Year for 2024, With Thy Needle and Thread.    Please send photos of any finishes to Susan H. so can incorporate them into a PowerPoint for the meeting.   Her contact information was in the newsletter.    There will be a drawing from all the participants at the March Meeting and prizes will be awarded.  If your finished piece is not submitted for the PowerPoint, you will not be included in the drawing.    We will also be sharing any stitching replayed Christmas gifts received.  

February - We will be concluding the year long Stitch Along of the Hummingbird Sampler.  You should bring your finished piece or your progress to the in-person March Meeting.  You should be sending pictures of your progress to Linda D. for her to include in the PowerPoint for the February Meeting.   Please make sure she has your photo by February 1st.

March - Our Spring Retreat will be the last weekend of March at Salty Yarns.   More information will follow once the pricing is determined.

Jeannette Douglas Designs was chosen as our Designer of the Year for 2025.   Line up your projects for 2025!

Before the holiday celebrations, we even had some Show ‘n Tell

Two finishes by Caitlin B.   Top, is a Jeannettte Douglas Designs from the 2024 Jingle Ball.  Bottom, from Heartstring Samplery. 

Harvest Hues from Mary Corbet by Becky G.  

Cardinal Kin, from Plum Street, stitched by Lynn D. using the Katie Strachan conversion.

From Cross Winged Collections, Chipping Sparrow biscournu and scissors fob.   The eggs in the ‘nest’ are stitched over one.

Holy Family from KS Designs, by Carol P.

O Tannenbaum from Brenda Gervais by Carol P.

September project from Teresa’s Primitives by Linda D.

Wool piece by Linda D.

Martha Jefferson from Chessie & Me stitched by Alison S.

Now, don’t we all need this t-shirt?

Ruth U. was generous enough to offer all in attendance a 2025 charm.   Thank you Ruth for your thoughtfulness. 

President Eve, thanked all who have helped during her first year at President.

Information on a new store, Floss and Flames was shared.   The store is located at 1023 Walker Avenue, Dover Delaware.   They are well stocked in DMC, Class Colorsworks and Weeks Dye fibers.    And they had a small but wide selection of popular charts.   And you can check out their candles while you visit the shop.

Michelle A handled the Holiday Exchange.  And a great job she did again this year.    If you brought a wrapped small, you were able to participate in the exchange.   The criteria for the piece was that is was not holiday related but it was to be sampler related.  It should be fully finished and include your initials, the year and the guild’s initials on it.   There were 18 participants and as always, the members did not disappoint with the lovely stitched pieces that were exchanged.   

Feast your eyes are the beautiful treasures exchanged.

Following the exchange, we feasted on an abundance of goodies brought by members to share. No one left hungry that’s for sure.

 

Next meeting - Zoom only - January 11, 10 a.m.

 

November 2024 Meeting

 We had a lovely meeting that coincided with our semi-annual retreat at Salty Yarns in Berlin, Maryland.  Our monthly meeting was set to happen the same weekend of the Retreat and back in March, the members were unanimous is approving the meeting and the retreat together.   It was a great idea.  There were 46 present in person and 42 joined via Zoom.

President Eve C. welcomed all present, including two guests from Dover who wanted to see what we were all about and decide if they want to join us.   Yes, they do.  Other new members joined us via Zoom.  

The President called for the normal committee reports.    A motion was made and seconded, to dismiss the reading of the minutes (which are provided after each meeting in the form of our Newsletter). The Treasurer’s Report was provided.   We were reminded to not forget to wear our name tags!   $1 goes to the Conservation Fund if you are without a name tag.

A By-Law Committee was appointed  in August and had presented a first and second draft of the revisions to the membership by email.   Both the revised By-Laws and Standing Rules were approved  by those present as well as those on Zoom.   Many thanks to Linda D., Pat L. and Stacy S. for their hard work to bring both documents up to date.  

Elections were also held at the meeting.  The slate of officers was presented and having no nominations from the floor, Stacy S. was re-elected Vice President. Patrick B., re-elected as co-Vice President and Robin T. re-elected as Treasurer.

Conservation Committee - Marnie provided the recommendations she presented to the Board which the Board approved for conservation donated for 2024.  Of those applications submitted, the Committee recommended three organizations to receive funding for conservation.   Schwenkfelter Museum for classes they are having at Penn Dry Goods Days in 2026; the Salem County Historical Society for the restoration of their Sarah Finland sampler; and to the Harmon Museum in Warren County, Ohio for preservation of four samplers in their collection.  The Treasurer added that the total to date given for conservation is over $35,000.

Designer of the Year for 2024 - Brenda Gervais of WIth Thy Needle and Thread is this year’s designer.   Remember to send photographs of any finsihes of her designs to Susan H. for her to incorporate in the January PowerPoint.   Please send photos as you finish items to make it easier to create the power point as she gets them.    Four designers were on the list to vote for 2025.   Jeannette Douglas Designs was selected.

Stitch Along - You should be working on Band 14B - the Rhodes Heart and 14C - the Algerian Eyelet.  Also continue to work on the bottom border.   See below - someone has finished theirs.

As we are getting closer to the end of the year, don’t forget to send - via email - you list of finishes for the year.    Patrick keeps the book as a history of our accomplishments with our needles.  Anyone who submits their list will get a prize.

Our Spring Retreat will be the last weekend of March 2025.

For our Program, we welcomed Kim Young of Sassy Jack’s.  Kim shared her background as well as presented the Mabel Tukes Sampler.  She shared Mabel’s history.     Kim reviewed the specialty stitches in the sampler and will be providing a link to her You Tube videos on the stitches.   Kim offered a guild discount of 15% and the code will be shared in your newsletter.  Kim also has some fundraising things going on a Sassy Jacks for the hurricane victims of the Asheville area, which is near to Kim’s store.   Watch her site for a raffle of antoique samplers to benefit hurricane victims.  

Here is Mabel Tukes and the accompanied small chart Kim provided to those taking the class.  The photo below is from member Melanie S. who has finished both pieces. 

We had a treasure trove of Show and Tell items brought to the meeting.

Thank you Amy G. for your photography.

Our next stitch-in will be November 23.  

Our next meeting is our Holiday Luncheon.  It will be December 14th at the Ebenezer Methodist Church on Polly Drummond Hill Road, Newark, DE.   The exchange is optional and if you wish to participate, bring a wrapped stitched piece.   It is to be sampler theme small with the guild’s initials and your initials and the year.