February 2018 Meeting

President Mary Rita welcomed everyone and started the meeting.

Secretary Caryl C. reported she has found part of the email problem.   The emails come from the DVHSG yahoo email account.   Some email servers block email from Yahoo.   Please check your spam filter/junk mail.  Emails are sent the day of or day after the monthly meeting and the Sunday before the the monthly meetings.   Please let Caryl know if you are not receiving the emails.  

Treasurer Nancy F. shared the Thank You notes received from Bergen County Historical Society, Winterthur, and the Gloucester County Historical Society.  Each organization received a donation from DVHSG to be dedicated to sampler restoration.  

Broken Needle Ceremony

Patrick conducted a Japanese Broken Needle Ceremony.  This ritual is a twice yearly event held on December 8th, the date of Buddha's enlightenment and February 8th, the date of Buddha's birthday.  This ceremony was done for stitchers to acknowledge the hard work there needles had performed for them the previous year and to pay tribute to the hard work of the needle.  It was also believed that since your needle is your constant companion, the needle knows all your secrets.  When you bury the needle into the tofu, you are burying your secrets.  The ceremony also wishes you better sewing skills in the the new year. Following the burying of the needles, Patrick recited a prayer of gratitude written for the Broken Needle Ceremony.  

Programs 

March - We will host Nikki of Nikki's Creations for the morning meeting and an afternoon class.  The morning meeting is open to all members.  The afternoon class required advance sign-up which is now closed.

April - A guest speaker will bring some of your collection of over 100 antique samplers.  She will share her knowledge of samplers, how she finds them and how she goes about selling them.

April - MEMBERS ONLY Retreat at the Lankford Hotel/Salty Yarns in Ocean City, Maryland will be April 27, 28 and 29th.   The cost is $140 which includes two nights, two continental breakfasts and a Friday evening welcome reception.

May - Debra Wilson will be our guest speaker.   For our meeting she will share the history of gold work.   In the afternoon, she will teach a gold work class.  The afternoon class is $58 and will include lunch and materials.   More information on sign ups will follow.   Please pay attention to the additional information that is provided with the sign up information.   It will list items each stitcher MUST SUPPLY.

June - Many will be attending the Symposium at the Biggs Museum on this same date so the June Meeting will be a Stitch In.

Stitch-a-Long

There are errors at the beginning of some rows.  Marnie has the next set of rows charted for the Lauren Sauer Band Sampler SAL.  It appears stitchers will run out of the forest glade green supplied.  It was suggested to use another green on the dividing bands.  Also, the Montenegrin stitch consumes a lot of floss so a substitute stitch should be considered.  For the rows with flowers, it is suggested to put in the vines first and then come back to do the flowers.  Also, some are doing all the stitching but the satin stitches and will return to the do the satin stitches last.  

2017 Challenge

Patrick thanked everyone who participated in the 2017 challenge.   Collectively we finished 185 projects.   The top fourteen were awarded prizes.  They each received a telescoping wand with a magnet on the end.  Perfect for picking the needle dropped under the table.   For 2018, the Challenge will be repeated.  The binder will be available at every meeting for members to list their completed projects. 

This month's program

Patty Yergey of Samplers Revisited was our guest speaker.   She brought along many samplers and spoke in detail about two.   The Lydia Wharton Sampler, from Millsboro, DE (top) and the Phyllis Tally Sampler from Talleyville, DE (below)  Through research, Patty provided so much information about Lydia and her prominent Sussex County DE family.  The Wharton Family name is very popular in Sussex County.  At one time, her family owned 2,000 acres of farm land.  Her sons become Senators and Congressmen. Her sampler is more plain and primitive looking then Priscilla Talley's sampler.   Priscilla's sampler indicates a girl with more schooling then Lydia and a family of social status and money, shall we say, refinement.  However, that said, there is little known about Priscilla and her family other than their farm was located in what is called Talleyville north of Wilmington, DE.

Priscilla Talley's sampler appears on the soon to be published book by Gloria Seaman Allen.

Many other samplers were on display.   Below, in the center is the from Lancaster County, PA. Fianna's Show Towel taking towel motifs and arranging them in a sampler.   The pumpkins are first and second in a series by Pat Yergey.

 Sarah Greene Sampler, circa 1849

Jane McNair Ketching Scottish Sampler, circa 1862

Hay Cairns Scottish Sampler, 1840

 Show & Tell

SamSarah Design, stitched by Kathy Reed

Also stitched by Kathy Reed.

From HeartStrings Samplers, stitched by Kathy Reed.

Cherish Stitches pillow kit stitched by Pat L.

Goldwork stitched by Carolyn N.

 This trio was stitched by Carolyn N.   It was one Drawn Thread pattern that she stitched individually.  She switches them out within the same frame for the different seasons.  Clever clever clever!

 Also stitched by Carolyn N.   Charted for pastels, she changed it up to the patriotic themed colors.

This stunning piece was stitched by Deb E.   It was an online stitching class from the Gift of Stitching in 2006.   Each section is dedicated to a different region of the world and came with interested facts and an explanation of the motifs for that area.

Basket of pillows from Little House, stitched by Jean T.