Sunday, December 14, 2014

December Meeting - Annual Holiday Meeting

Each December we have an extra special covered dish meeting and our annual holiday exchange.   It is the normal exchange - bring a gift/get a gift.  The stitchers of DVHSG do not disappoint.    Yummy foods and exquisite stitching.  But business first before we see the all the goodies.

It was a busy meeting with lots to share!

Dues - Dues for the 2015 year are now due.   The annual fee remains at $25.   Payable by check to DVHSG or pay by cash WITH A NOTE attached including your name.

Catherine Theron Strawberry Needleroll  Orders due to Deb S. in January.  Cost is $70/kit only - no class.

February 21, 2015 - Snow date - 2/28 -  Textile Conference on PA German textile history and Mennonite textiles.  Cost is $30 per person. (I need to check with our Secretary for details I missed - like who and where!)

Baltimore Museum of Art - November 2014 through May 2015 - Lessons Learned: American Schoolgirl Embroideries

Woodlawn - Any piece you wish to submit to Woodlawn needs to be brought to the next meeting.   Please include the $5 delivery fee for Pat and Karen as well as the completed Woodlawn form(s).   This is only if you want Pat and Karen to take your piece to Woodlawn for you.  Forms are available on the Woodlawn site.    If you wish to submit and delivery your items on your own, then please follow the Woodlawn's website instructions.

Williamsburg - Stitching Together a National Identity symposium  (scroll through the calendar of events to March) will be held in Williamsburg March 15 through 17, 2015.   The lectures fee is $295 and DOES NOT include food and lodging.  Some of the speakers are Candis Perry, Kim Small Ivy and others.

Rehoboth Beach Needlework Display - The Rehoboth Historical Society will run March 14 through May 10, 2015.    The Guild discussed sending the scissors blocks we did as a group submission.   It was also suggested we send a grouping of the completed Eileen Bennett White work stitch-along pieces.  Stacy S. will be taking items down for anyone who wishes to display.  Most likely will be needed at the February meeting but more details will follow.

Penn Market Days - Sign-up for classes are open for the May 15-16, 2015 event.  See their web page for sign-ups, vendors, and a list of activities.   Just a sampling of events and guests:   Classes, Berlin Work, Lynn Bassett, Madelyn Shaw, Amy Finkel, World War 1 Quilts, Downton Abbey and more.

OK, business done.......

A stitch along for next year was announced.    As always, stitch alongs are voluntary.   Guidance will be given along the way with 'suggested' time lines for completion.   This year the piece is by Sharon Verbos of The Purple Thread.   Stacy shared a nice reading of Sharon's synopsis of her design of the piece.   We will be able to order items at a discount through Karen K.  The sample was stitched on 32 count using two colors of Gloriana silks.  Of course, you can select your own count, color and choice of floss.  Orders will be taken in January and stitching will start in February.   As an incentive, one lucky stitcher will be chosen from those who have completed the sampler by January 2016 to receive a prize.







January/February/March Meetings - See our sidebar for  upcoming meeting info.

Check out out the Chessie & Me blog for some snippets on the DVHSG recent class.

Show and Tell - Unfortunately by the time I was able to circulate with my camera for photos of the work of our hands, most had put away their items so we could all ogle the gorgeous exchange pieces.


This adorable trio is from Pat Y.

Nancy F.'s finished class piece

They even learned to decompage the inside.


Sali's etui.

And now for the holiday exchange....
This doesn't even begin to show the feast we had!






Patrick did beading around a flower frog - how clever!


Marnie shared a neat way to create the form for this one.  She coiled strips of felt and
then covered with her beautiful stitching for her exchange piece.


Caryl may have won the over-achiever award with what she stitched for the exchange!

Camera doesn't do this justice!

Cool Lotus box


Adorable Needle Book in perforated paper.






Whew! And that's all I've got!   What a great group.....great stitchers, good friends.  

Saturday, November 8, 2014

November Meeting

Our meeting today started with the election of officers for 2015-2016.  The slate of candidates was announced and a voice vote was a resounding "Yes" to all those who were listed for Offices.

Susan D. ~  President
Stacy C. ~ Vice-President and Programming
Sal C. P. ~ Treasurer
Caryl C. ~ Secretary

Chessie & Me Class
Next weekend's Chessie & Me class will be held at the Embassy Suites on Route 896 which is right across the street from the college stadium.   Both the Saturday and Sunday classes start at 9 a.m.

Some pre-stitching completed for one of the classes....this is always the point when I wish I had signed up too!


Winterthur
Winterthur currently has several volumes of German embroidery books which they wish to purchase for their collection.   The books are said to be exquisite, detailed pattern books from the 18th (?) century.   Winterthur is seeking matching funds to their grant to purchase these volumes.   (I need to get more details.)   Please visit the Winterthur website.

December Meeting
Our December Meeting will be our annual holiday exchange.   It will be a covered dish luncheon with the Guild supplying an assortment of wraps.   From past experience, we all know there will be a vast variety of delicious foods to go along with the wraps.   But the highlight will be the exchange.  All are welcomed to participate and everyone should attend the meeting whether they are taking part in the exchange or not.  If you bring an item, you get an item.   Your piece should be a handmade small with a sampler theme to it.   Needlebooks, pinkeeps, scissor fobs and similar are the standard fare.   Check out the Holiday Exchange tab above to feast your eyes on some of the beautiful exchange items from previous years.

Penn Dry Good Market
The annual show and sale will be May 15 & 16, 2015.   Vendors will have antiques and vintage textiles, quilts, needlework, linens, baskets and more.   There are workshops and lectures to attend. All will take place in the Schwenkfelder Library & Heritage Center, Pennsburg, PA.  Admission is $6.00.

Catherine Theron
There's a new needleroll pattern!  Deb S. is taking orders and payment for the kit.   Money is due at the January Meeting.    This for the KIT ONLY.  There is NO CLASS.   The price is $70.00.

Salty Yarns Classes
Sherry Jones will be teaching a class in April 2015.   Betsy Morgan will be teaching three classes in June.   More details will follow OR check out Salty Yarns website.

Woodlawn
Pat Y. will be collecting any stitched pieces that will be sent to Woodlawn at the JANUARY meeting.   Items are due to Woodland BEFORE our February Meeting and if you wish Pat to take your piece, please make sure you bring it with you in January.  We are so fortunate Pat makes this annual trek with our treasured pieces.   Of course, you can make other arrangements for getting your piece to Woodlawn by the deadline at the beginning of February.

Rehoboth
The Rehoboth Historical Society exhibit will be in May 2015.   It was suggested we send down all the scissors blocks completed from our challenge earlier this year.

Dues
Annual Membership dues will be due on January.   The amount is $25.   Our membership year runs January through December.

And now after all that information.....we had show and tell.   Our program today was to share your most challenging piece.    As we went around the room, there are some common themes.   The reasons varied from the difficulty of a pattern, to the multitude of color changes, to the size, to the frequency of color changes or, a cause near and dear to my heart, being lead astray to another piece and loosing interest.    The more we talk and learn about one another, the more we find we stitchers are all cut from the same cloth!

Please enjoy the photos and please don't hesitate to email me with more information or corrections to anything I have shared here.  Some are Show and Tell and some are from the Most Challenging piece column.   I have tried to identify which is which as best a my memory can tell me.

Quaker Scissors Pocket - An EGA project stitched and finished by Caryl C.
 Some of the stitchers decided to stitch on 40ct. instead of 32ct. shown here.
 It is a pretty piece either way.

Another cutie from our cutie Francine!

Also from Francine.   This is the 3-part sampler from Just Cross Stitch Magazine.

Jean T. always astounds us with her stitching and finishing.
 Jean T. - adorable!
 And two more from Jean.    The rushing around this little pillow was fabulous.

Those were all Jean's Show and Tell.....I didn't get a photo of her Challenging Piece.


Barbara G. shared this as her most challenging piece.   She felt it was the largest piece she had done to date and there were just many color changes, a stitch of this and two stitches of that.  This is Rosewood Manor, Quaker Spring.

Sorry for the glare everyone.   This one has less glare but the color is not as nice.

From Patrick

 And remember last month's post?   This little guy was not assembled last month.  Great job Patrick!

Patrick shared this as his most challenging piece.   The photos cannot even begin to show the detail and stitches in this beauty.




This little box was another members (sorry, I didn't get her name/she was without a name tag).  Assembling this was what made this her most challenging piece.

 And full of smalls to boot!


This is Pat Y. most challenging piece stitched.   Another one of those with a million color changes!  From across the room, this looks like an oil painting!


Karen K. and Pat Y. shared their quaker balls.   Karen's, forefront, is on 40ct, all the same color linen.   Pat stitched hers on 32ct. using two different color linens.   Karen - an expert finisher, said this was particularly difficult to assemble the squares and hexagons!


 Words can't even begin to describe this Japanese embroidery piece by Pat L.  It was truly exquisite and admittedly her most challenging piece.  Unbelievable.


OK, so that's our meeting this month.   Looking forward to seeing all you at our December meeting.