August Meeting

(i'm guessing) These are some of Francine's beauties!

Much thanks to Lynn D., our wonderful secretary for her newsletter info....which I am duplicating here. 

With so many on vacation, we usually dedicate our August Meeting as a stitch in.  It is a nice time to stitch and socialize and catch up with one another.  Our UFO challenge continues.   Francine C. brought in many finished UFOs. Pat H. also had two finishes to share.  Her Shepherd’s Bush checker board (and a Santa pillow.  

Pat H.'s Santa Pillow

Lynn D.'s Biscournu

Evalyn G. shared an antique sampler she bought at the Penn Market event at the Schwenkfelder Museum in May.  

(need help ladies - I wasn't at the meeting - please let me know if I have identified the photos correctly.  thx)

It is time to start filling out your registration form for our fall retreat!!  So many of us look so very forward to this bi-annual event.  It will be held Oct. 3 to 5 at the Lankford Hotel in Ocean City, Maryland and is a MEMBERS ONLY event.   The cost includes a welcome wine and hors d’oeuvres party Friday night and a continental breakfast Saturday and Sunday.  The cost is $135 for the weekend, $10 per night extra for a single room, and a $50 deposit is required by September 13.

Please make checks out to Salty Yarns.  A big shout out to Stacy S. who will be handling all the arrangements again.  You can mail your registration to Stacy S.  or bring it to the September meeting.

Lookie lookie!  Check out the new promotional bookmark designed by Donna A.  We will have them available for needlework events to let people know about our guild.  (Sorry but the more I try to enlarge the photo the poorer the quality.)

The Morven Museum  is having an exhibit of New Jersey samplers.    The exhibit will run from October 3, 2014 to March 29, 2015 and there will be a catalog available.  http://morven.org/shop   A full day needlework symposium is planned for October 5 and will feature Stephen and Carol Huber, Amy Finkel, Peter and Leslie Warwick, Dan and Marty Campanelli and Daniel Scheid.  Reservations are now open.  http://morven.org/events/event/needlework-symposium  Sounds like a good day trip to me....even if you don't attend the symposium.   Hmmm, let's see....a day out with girlfriends who are like minded, a bit of needlework and lunch!  What could be better?  

Closer to home is the Winterthur Symposium   “The Diligent Needle” symposium will be held October 24 and 25.  Registration opens June 19.   http://www.winterthur.org/?p=1158

M. Finkel and Daughter will be hosting on October 26.  

And for Downton Abbey fans, the Downton Abbey exhibit will be on display at Winterthur through the end of 2014 (and maybe a little into the new year....a detail I need to check.)    It was a wonderful exhibit that a few us have had the pleasure of seeing.

 Edith's wedding gown

The display was wonderful.    Don't you all just remember the scene with Sybil showing up to dinner in this outfit!   Lord Grantham was fit to be tied!

Another great offering from Lynn D.   She found this battery operated portable light on Amazon. Lynn reported Amazon had quite a few choices that seem like the same thing.

Super Bright Portable LED Lamp  It is all about having the right tools.  This puppy is not much bigger than a deck of cards when collapsed.  Better hurry....I understand there is a run on them at Amazon.  Just like stitchers to share when they have a good find!  Thank you Lynn!

July Meeting

As with everyone.......busy times in the summer.   Our July meeting was a swap o' stuff.  Commonly called our Stash Reduction and Redistribution meeting.   We all bring stitching itms and patterns to swap, exchange, with the intention of 'downsizing' our stash......all too often we return home with more than we left with!

Quick update - I have to photos for our November class with Linda of Chessie & Me!    See our "classes" tab above for the details.  The cover and inside of the needlebook.  Deadline for sign ups is August 9th.

June Meeting

As usual, we had a good meeting.    Tons of information to share.

Registration is now open for the Winterthur Symposium, October 24/25, 2014.    There will be lectures, workshops, and tours.   Registration is required.    The overall exhibit entitled "The Diligent Needle" opens August 23, 2014.  For more information, please use the link above.

The next three meetings
     July - Stash Reallocation
     August - Stitch In
     September - Stacy S. will teach a wool stitched piece.   There is no pre-work.   The piece consists of a piece of wool approximately 6 x 6 with two pears in coordinating fabrics that are blanket stitched in place.    Advance sign-up will be required by the August meeting.   Watch the newsletter and blog for more info.   The cost for the kit will be $15.00.

Also due at the August meeting will be the registration for the November Chessie & Me classes.            November 15th - $75, kit and lunch included in price, pre-stitching is required.   Designed exclusively for DVHSG.
     November 16th - $100, kit and lunch included in price, no pre-stitching required.   This is the 'unfinishied sampler'.   A partially stitched sampler design with history and info on the motifs and suggestions for finishing with your own flare.
  (See our Class Tab for more info on the Chessie & Me classes.)

We were treated to a couple of new members from Lancaster County, PA.  Welcome Deb and Liz!  Hope you enjoyed the meeting and will be back again!

Christmas in Williamsburg
Check out the link to Just Cross Stitch for details on the 2014 Christmas in Williamsburg Seminar. The dates are December 4 through 8, 2014 and it will be at the Kingsmills Resort.

Salty Yarns
Jackie de Plesses will be teaching at Salty Yarns in September.   Stay tuned for more details.  The second week of October is the annual Jamboree at Salty Yarns.   There will be three designers teaching three half day classes.  Sharon Verbos of the Purple Thread, a LaDeDa design which will include pre-stitching and a third to be named designer.

Heart's Ease
Our own Theresa Baird has released the Mayflower Sampler Guild Design.   The piece is designed to be mounted on the lid of a Nantucket basket or it can be completed as an ornament.   Theresa will be creating and releasing the smalls in August.

Please follow the link above to catch up on all the Theresa has going on.   Her designs are beyond compare!   In January she will be leading an online group in stitching the Delaware Inspiration Sampler.   This will be through the Swan Sampler Guild.

Nomination Committee
The Nominating Committee - Marnie B., Ann S., and Stacy S. are looking for nominations for officers for our November election.  Please contact them if you are interested in holding an office for a two-year term.

SAL
Today Katie F. showed us how to complete the Lacis portion of the white band sampler stitch along. Thank you Katie!

Karen is either overwhelmed or hiding from the camera!

And now.....get ready for the photos from Show and Tell!

Stitched and finished by Francine.

 This strawberry has over 1,000 stitches and is only about an inch and 1/4 tall.   It is a SamSarah design stitched with one strand of floss over one on 40 ct.

Jane G.'s handywork.   First is a La-De-Da piece that Jane put her own touch on by adding the color to the flower and bow tie.

Don't you just love the flag.  How appropriate for Flag Day!  What a cute stitch and Jane does the beautiful finishing too.

Next up, Jean T.'s work

Jean finished and framed the SAL piece.

Jean finished and adapted the Catherine Theron needleroll into a tri-fold.

 Something by Jill G.

Lynn D's. stitching

Caryl C's version of the white work SAL. Many of us wish we had added color to ours.

More from Jill G.  Awesome color changes.

Pat L. just wows us with her Japanese embroidery.   The pictures do not do her work justice.   This is her Phase 7 piece.

Katie F. -  What can one say.....simply awesome finish!

I think we would all just love to have something like this in our sewing basket!

May Meeting

Here's what is happening at Delaware Valley Historic Sampler Guild.  I wasn't able to attend the May Meeting but thanks to our wonderful secretary, Lynn D., she brought us all up to date with the newsletter.

If you were lucky enough to attend the meeting, I understand Patty Yergey of Samplers Revisited was a great guest speaker.   She showed slides and gave a talk on the evolution of her design career and the antique samplers she has charted.  Patty brought some of her antique samplers and reproductions samplers. Of course there were patterns for sale and from what I understand many were purchased.

(if you were there and can share the names of any of these, please let me know)

It is time for elections and a Nominating Committee has been formed.     Ann Skeans, Marnie Brodoway, and Stacy Stinson were named to the committee to nominate a new President, Program Chairs, and Secretary.  If you are interested in volunteering for one of these positions please contact them.

Something to look forward to....upcoming Chessie and Me Classes   Linda Lautenschlager will be teaching 2 classes this fall.  Scheduled for November 15 and 16.  Please see our "Classes" tab above for pictures, more information and registration forms. 

Something of interest - like many other designers have,  Chessie and Me is doing a Chessie’s Heirloom Club.  For more information on that please see her blog:

http://chessieandme.blogspot.com/2014/04/chessies-heirlooms-club.html

Our Annual Guild Contribution for 2013 will go to the Lewes Historical Society.   The Lewes Historical Society is working to get an estimate of costs to conserve one of the Mrs. Bowers samplers.

June Meeting       Katie Franetovich will be teaching us how to do the lacis portion of our Stitch A Long.  If you want to work it on a doodle cloth you must satin stitch around a block that consists of threads in a multiple of 4 plus 2 additional threads.  Bring sharp scissors because we will be cutting threads.

July Meeting        This will be our Stash Relocation Sale and Stitch In.

August Meeting   Stitch In

We are sorry to announce that Rita S. is moving to San Antonio Texas.  We are sure she will be very happy but we will miss seeing her wonderful projects and her smiling face!  Please keep in touch Rita!

UFO Challenge   Don’t forget to bring in your UFOs as you finish them!  This challenge continues to the end of the year.

Added Feature   Check out the "cross stitch calculator" link at the top of the sidebar on the right......calculate the amount of fabric you need for any given design.  Enter your stitch count, fabric count, over one or two, etc. and it does the work for you.  There are similar APs for your Smart Phone and iPhones.   Love it!