Shakespeare's Garden Sweet Bag with Jane Timmers

On September 21 and 22nd, the duClay Chapter was thrilled to host Jane Timmers of Fancy Work.  Our class was held at the historic Bensel House which is located on the river.  Thank you to the Lynch's for their generosity in letting us meet there.  Eleven EGA members participated in the class and a big thank you also goes out to Melody, our VP of Programs/Education for another successful class!

Our class kits - lots of beautiful silk and linen from Lakeside in the Bittersweet colorway!  Real freshwater pearls too!

Our class project was Shakespeare's Garden Sweet Bag.  Isn't it gorgeous?  The class covered instructions on the  speciality stitches and the skills and techniques needed to finish the bag.  The two days were fun without being overwhelming.  Jane is a delightful instructor and her love of needlework, design, and finishing is very evident.   

The quotes on the back of the bag are from Shakespeare's plays and are related to flowers and gardens.

Thank you to our member Henri who made orts containers for each of the attendees.  They can be folded flat and can easily slip into a pocket in a stitching bag to take home.

One of our out of town members, Jill was in town for a family wedding and stopped by for a bit of stitching and lunch.  It was delightful to see her!  Come back soon Jill!

Speaking of lunch, we catered lunch for both days from Brenda at Fancy J's Catering.  The food was delicious.  Dessert was a bit hit too!

Melody (L) and Brenda (R)

Lunchtime view from the front porch of the Bensel House.

Henri also made this card for us to sign and give to Jane.  The Chapter gave her a pair of Bohin scissors as a thank you gift.  

Here are some other pictures from the class as well as some pictures of the projects Jane brought with her to share with us.  Lots of oohing and ahhing going on!  Thank you Jane, Melody and to our class members for a delightful weekend!

Chapter Exhibit

During the month of September, duClay EGA has the honor of exhibiting in the gallery at the Orange Park Library.  This gives us the opportunity to exhibit our larger projects.  It's a beautiful exhibit and  we do hope that if you're local that you'll take the opportunity to visit in person.  Today, we'd like to share with you some photos of the exhibit.  A complete set of the photos taken (over 50) can be found in the set found here on Flickr.   Apologizes for the glare and reflections on the glass in some of the photos- the gallery hall is full of windows and light. 

 

Taste of Wool

This past weekend our Chapter hosted another "Taste of..." workshop.  This time it was a Taste of Wool.  For those not familiar with our "Taste of..." workshops, they are a great way to try something new or learn a new skill without making a big time or financial investment.   They are also, of course, a great opportunity for coming together and sharing our love of the needle arts.  Our Taste of Wool Workshop was open to non-members and we were happy to have non-members in attendance as well as a group of quilters visit.

Our workshop today was hosted by Denise Harkins who many of you may know from the Old Greene Cupboard Quilt Shop that sadly close a couple of years ago. Denise generously donated her time to our workshop.  Thank you Denise!

Our project was a scissors case.  Here is photo of Denise's sample.  Denise's sample couldn't be found at the end of the afternoon.  With all the wool on the tables, it's quite possible one of us took it home without knowing.  If you happen to find it, please contact Melody.

Denise also brought along a few of her complete wool projects to give the group an idea of what can be done with wool.  

Our group immediately got to work after selecting their kits.  Thank you to Becky for donating the wool for the projects.  There were a wide range of colors to choose from.  All supplies were provided in the kit!  Thanks to the generosity of Denise and Becky, we were able to keep the kit fee to $5.  

Karen 's beautiful blanket stitch - look at her perfect corner!

 

We were also able to welcome in person our newest member, Kathy!  Kathy lives in Chicago and visits our area a few times a year visiting family and decided to join. Kathy is also the owner of The Inspired Needle, a brick and mortar and online needlework shop.  

Kathy also very generously brought a mini-trunk show with her.  Our members were able to pre-order before the workshop and she delivered those orders.  We also could shop, fondle linen, and purchase  during the workshop.  The fantastic selection of Lakeside Linen in a variety of colorways was a special treat!  Thank you Kathy!

 

Most attendees were able to get a great deal of the project completed before the end of the afternoon!

 

Jane also brought a couple of projects her husband, Wiley, has recently completed.  Wiley is an avid stitcher and is known for stitching huge projects.

 

There were also several wooly door prizes - donated by Cinnamon's Quilt Shoppe, Denise and Katie Puckett (wool dyer and rug hooking instructor).  Thank you all!

It was a great afternoon!  Special thanks goes to Melody, VP of Programs and Education for another successful duClay EGA event.  If you're not familiar with EGA, we'd highly encourage you to visit your local chapter.  If we're your local Chapter, we'd be thrilled to have you visit!  There are many benefits of EGA membership and it's always wonderful to meet  with and be encouraged by fellow lovers of the needle arts.