June 2026 Meeting

 Our meeting was opened by President Eve C.   All were welcomed and new members acknowledged.  

• Minutes for May were accepted as provided in the email follow the May Meeting.  
• Treasurer’s Report was provided and included expected expenses for the balance of 2026. 
• Upcoming programming was reviewed. 
• For July, our own Theresa Baird will share her talk on the 13 Colonies Samplers
• For August, Claudia Dutcher will be speaking on Bristol Samplers
• For September, Jackie duPlessis has opened up the enrollment on the Berlin Wool Work spot sampler.   Members received the sign-up form in the May Newsletter.  The deadline to signup is July 1, 2026.  If you are a member, find the sign-up form on our FB page under “Files”.  If you are not a member and wish to take the class, find the member form in the “Files” section of our FB page and then complete the sign-up form for the class as well.
• October - Annual Stash Re-allocation Sale/Garage Sale
• For November, our meeting will be during our Fall Retreat held at Salty Yarns in Berlin, Maryland.   Barbara Hutson will be our special guest.  
• For our December meeting, we will have our annual Holiday Exchange and Covered Dish Luncheon.    Start stitching your exchange piece now.   Your small should be one that is sampler related with guild initials and year as well as your initials.   Bring a wrapped exchange piece/get an exchange piece.   There will be the availablility for away stitchers to participate.  Watch for the sign email for away stitchers in the next few months

Greenbook -  Whenever you get a list of a half dozen or so completed charts, send the list to Patrick to have it added to the Greenbook.    If you have already submitted what you have worked on, no need to resubmit it again.   Patrick will be collecting entries until the end of 2026.  It is always amazing how many  finishes we, as a group, have.

Check out the You Tube interview with DVHSG’s own Kathy R.   https://youtu.be/8t2vCztmF0A?is=GSRDWNKmY6xnN91d   Our stitchers have an array of talents that’s for sure.

Auction/Sale Items -  Roughly every other week, Caitlin will post new items to the auction on Facebook.  Members of DVHSG members will get a heads-up email 3 or 4 days prior to alert them of when new items will be going live on FB.    She is working on some recommendations for items that received no interest and for now, is holding these and will possibly put them up again at the end of the sales.   There are so many charts to get posted that it will take quite a while to any without interest resurface in the auction.  100% of the profits are going to Sampler Conservation.   Thank you Caitlin for taking on this monumental task!  

SAL - The Violets & Verses stitch along is going well.  Continued thanks to Carol P for the schedule she created. 

Floss and Flame Retreat  - Floss and Flame will be holding their first retreat at Bally’s, Dover Downs, Delaware, November 5 - 8.   Day passes will be available.   Check out their website for more information.

Design’s of the year - We do not have a Designer of the Year for 2026, rather we are encouraging all to stitch patriotic designs.     Send any patriotic finishes to Susan H as you complete them for her to start creating our January Showcase of finishes now and through-out the rest of 2026.

America’s Tapestry will be on display from June 19 to Septmber 5 at the Wiliam and Mary COllege in Williamsburg. VA.   Please check out their website for more information.

Today’s Program

Stacy introduced our wonderful guest speaker, Katie Strachan.    Katie gave us a very touching and heart warming account  called “The Things They Kept”.    It was about the life and service of Thomas Bellman, Katie’s own great-great-great grandfather.  She is only the third owner of the Huswif since her great, great, great grandfather that he carried in the Civil War.   Her G-G-G grandfather was a Union Solider in the Civil was and the Huswif is 150 years old.  She has determined from research that in all probability it was created by his betrothed, Lucrecia, whom he married after the war.   Patriotic ladies presented each soldier with the needlebook containing buttons, needles, thread so they could do their own mending while serving.  It was an esssential part of  any soldier’s kit.  Reseraching the period fabrics determined much.  She covered her ancestor’s path through the war and following the war.   Prior to PTSD, there was no nomenclature for what these soldiers endured.   She was able to follow her relative through the early 1900’s including his membership in the GAR, Great American Republic - a kind of predecessor to nowadays, VFW’s  (my words, not Katie’s)   It was fascinating how she wove the story of the Huswif through the war and through the family and years between then and now.   As well as how she brought it all back to the huswif, the fabrics and the needlework. It was enjoyed by everyone  who attended.  Much appreciation was shared in the chat box and all are looking forward to a return lecture by Katie.   Check out her website at     And her YouTube video “Remember Me” which is a follow up to her program with us at this meeting.  https://youtu.be/6rXS6zLFSNY?is=Xejxd9ROWmP4cbCm

Check out our Facebook page for  the Show and Tell for the meeting.  Thank you Kelli E for the great slide shows you are creating for our Show and Tell.

We had 74 members participate via Zoom.

Current membership 245

Next stitch in:   June 27

Next meeting by Zoom - July 11. - Theresa Baird, her own 13 Colonies