President Evelyn C called the meeting to order and welcomed all present, in person or via Zoom. First time participants were welcomed and introduced themselves. ·
Committee Reports were given -
Treasurer’s Report - No payments were issued in February. Deposits were made for upcoming classes and membership. To date, we have 193 members that have renewed/joined.
Treasurer, Robin T and Pat L reviewed the records from 2000 to present and created a spreadsheet outlining the Guild’s donations to sampler conservation and sampler education. The total to date is $31,000. Not a small amount indeed. We know these annual donations have made a difference in the sampler community.
Reminder to all attending meetings in person to wear your name tag. If you do not have a name tag on at a meeting, please remember to put a dollar in the Name Tag Can. All monies collected go to our Conservation Fund.
2024 SAL - Members should be working on the March assignment of Bands 1 and 2 as well as the adjacent top and side borders. Linda will be at this month’s Stitch-in to help with any SAL related questions.
Secret Stitcher - Members continue to post on Facebook any goodies they have received. If you are a Secret Stitcher participant and do not have a Facebook account, please email Susan H and she will post a “thank you” for you. This year’s program runs until August at which time members can sign up to participate from September to August of 2025.
Dues - Renewal payments are now past due for 2024. If you have already renewed, thank you very much. Caryl C and Robin T will work to revise the current member list that will be shared in the April newsletter. Those who have not renewed will have their names removed from the member list and the distribution list. A membership form can be found under “file” on our Facebook page.
Spring Retreat - The date for the retreat is April 26th to 28th at Salty Yarns in Berlin, MD. The registration form was shared in the Newsletter to members. The cost is $70. Attendees are responsible for making their own lodging arrangements. Registration is due to Stacy by March 15.
Designer of the Year - Brenda Gervais of With Thy Needle and Thread is our Designer of the Year for 2024. For our 2023 Design of the Year, Plum Street, Linda D. used a computer number generator to pick winners of members who stitched Plum Street designs in 2023. Prizes included Plum Street charts and Salty Yarns gift cards. We had a total of 38 participants and prizes were awarded to 14 people.
The Green Book - Patrick B had a small gift for all members who entered their 2023 completed projects in the Green Book. This book is available at each in-person meeting or your can mail your complete list to Linda D at the end of the year. Linda will print and give to Patrick to file in the book. It is a great way to keep track of everything you do as well as it is amazing to see the total we stitched as a group.
Broken Needle Ceremony - Patrick B conducted a Broken Needle Ceremony. The ceremony is a long practiced tradition in Japanese culture. People who sew pay tribute to the needle and all the work it has done for them over the year. More information is on our Facebook page.
Upcoming Programs
April—(Hybrid) Jackie DuPlessis will be with us to teach “Cherry Berry”. The sampler will be taught during our morning meeting. If you chose the sewing roll option you will need to attend the morning session to hear about the history of the sampler. After lunch, we will continue with the afternoon session. The meeting will go until about 4:00. Zoom will be open for both sessions.
May—(Hybrid) A physical therapist will be at the meeting to show us exercises to help with our necks, shoulders and arms that grow sore when stitching.
June—(Zoom) Evalyn G. will give a presentation on silk worms and how silk is created.
July—(Zoom) Beth Seal from Summerhouse Stitchworkes will hold a discussion on Susquehanna Samplers.
August—(Zoom) Caryl C. will give a tutorial on how she finishes pin drums.
September—(Hybrid)Teresa Miller (from Teresa’s Primitive Treasures) will present a project designed for DVHSG. More information will be in upcoming newsletters. The project involves painting and the kit should be approximately $30. Away stitchers can participate. In-person participants will have paint available, but away stitchers will not have that included in the kit. The instructions will include what you need to have available.
October—(Hybrid) Garage sale
November (2024)—(Hybrid) Kim from Sassy Jack’s will join us to discuss and teach the Mabel Tukes sampler. Watch for more information. This meeting will take place during our semi annual retreat at Salty Yarns in Berlin, MD, as approved by the members present (71) at the today’s meeting. People not attending the retreat will be able to participate by Zoom.
December (2024)—We will have our annual smalls exchange. The small should be sampler-related, but not holiday themed.
Today’s Program -
Our program was led by Member Susan H. She gave everyone tips and ideas for converting a jewelry box into a travel stitching box. A big thank you to Susan for organizing and presenting this project. She brought a lot of supplies to help us work on the project. The meeting time was extended so members could work on their boxes. A copy of Susan’s presentation was sent with the latest newsletter to members. Susan shared where to find a tutorial on Floss Tube from Rachel of “Moonlight Stitches”. Sherri of Colorado Cross Stitcher also has a tutorial. When finished members were encouraged to big in their finished jewelry boxes to Show and Tell.
Many continued thanks to Stacy S for her work in scheduling our programming.
Show and Tell
Spring House from Bent Creek by Evalyn G.
Florence Mary Dickinson, from Hands Across the Sea, stitched by Kathy R.
