Meet Pat!

From time to time we like to feature one of our members here on our blog so we can learn more about each other.  Today's member is Patricia who will be teaching A Taste of Beaded Edging technique to us in October.  We hope you enjoy learning more about her!

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I grew up in the suburbs of New York City and married my high school sweetheart .  We have lived all over the country and have two children and two grandchildren. Even though we have lived in Florida longer than anywhere else New York will always be home.   Before retiring and moving to St Johns, I worked as the Administrator in a physician office.  

My interest in cross stitch, sewing and  knitting began when I was a teen and I was encouraged by an aunt and also a neighbor. But I became an avid stitcher while living in Colorado in the 1980s. There a neighbor introduced me to EGA and my horizons were expanded when I saw the beautiful work the women in both the Foothills and Colorado chapters were doing. It is a wonderful way to meet people who share my interest when moving to a new city.  

My favorite piece is usually what I am working on at the moment. I love needlepoint, quilting and cross stitch.  A few of my my favorites designers are Blackbird Designs, Plum Street, Country Cottage, Little House, and Lizzie Kate.

 

I have been able to participate in many Regional and National seminars and have done numerous group correspondence courses.  Each class I have taken has expanded my knowledge  and allowed me to meet many new people who have enriched my life. My all-time favorite teacher is Jody Adams. Her needlepoint designs were beautiful and challenging. She is sweet, fun and taught me to love making French knots.  

My other favorite hobbies are traveling in this country and abroad. I love snow skiing in the Rockies and snorkeling in the Caribbean, seeing Broadway shows in NYC and spending time in my favorite Italian city, Florence. 

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Thank you Pat!

Box Finishing Class

In May our member Linda F from Central Florida came up to teach us a box finishing class.    Specifically the Chessie & Me book finishes that are so popular.    Cathy of the Inspired Needle ordered the cardboard books for us and members selected their own design for finishing.  In April, we had everyone paint their boxes so they'd be ready to go. 

Linda put together kits for us to include little pots of PVA glue to use.

 

Everything you could imagine needing was provided.

 

Linda worked the room and helped, gave tips, and encouraged us all afternoon!

 

Here are some pics of boxes in a variety of stages of progress:

 

 

 

 

 

We also have a couple of finishes to share as well.

 

 

 

Linda thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with us!  We appreciate you!

See all of the days photos in our Flickr album found here.

If you are in NorthEast Florida, we would love to have you visit our Chapter!

Blue Bunny

In May, our Chapter was pleased and excited to host Janeann Sleeman for a needlepoint class.  Janeann has taught for us before (see here, here, here) and we were thrilled to have her back.  Our class piece was this cute Blue Bunny.  It finishes about 5" square.

Here is Janeann's finish.  We didn't get a photo of it in the acrylic box that we all just loved!  It was filled with eggs.  Too cute!

Our class favor from Melody was this cute bunny!

Janeann led us through each section of the stitch guide and gave us plenty of tips along the way to improve as stitchers.  It's those little things that have big impact and really make taking a class extra fun!

Janeann giving a demonstration on turkey work.

Henri made the most adorable box in the theme of the class as a very unique thank you card for Janeann.  Henri has such talents and we are fortunate she is so generous with her talents!

Inside, each attendee wrote a brief thank you to Janeann.  Janeann, we cannot tell you how much we appreciate your friendship and knowledge and your willingness to teach for us!

Here is a members WIP about 2 weeks after the class. 

Another successful duClay class!  Many thanks to Melody for always bringing us something fun to do.  Lunch was catered by Brenda but we neglected to get photos of the food which was outstanding as always!  For all the photos from the day, please see our Flickr Album for this event.

A Taste of Basket Making!

In March our chapter had a Taste of Basket Making workshop led by our member Suzy.  This is the first scheduled activity in a year full of fun things for the chapter member to participate in and learn from.  Suzy saw a basket like this somewhere in a shop and was able to come up with a small and quick project to teach to the members.  

Our kits were thoughtfully put together by Suzy.

We immediately got to work, starting at the bottom. Suzy was constantly on the move ensuring we all got a great start and built a good base for our baskets.

A mid-progress shot of the basket.

Here is Suzy on the right sharing some information with Donna.

Suzy is an accomplished basket maker.  Here are two baskets she made that she used to carry supplies.  Aren't they gorgeous?

Suzy is multi-talented.  She also hooked the piece attached to this large basket.

Most finished their project by the end of the afternoon.

JoyceAnne brought hers in the following month showing how she lined the basket.  It was absolutely beautiful!

She has a needlebook and a pair of scissors underneath her hand appliqued wool pincushion.

We would like to thank Suzy for facilitating the class for us. She even had a "make up" class the following month for a couple of members who missed the March meeting.

See all of the day's photos HERE in our Flickr Album.

Taste of Crewel with Linda Dean

On February 5th, duClay was pleased to have Linda Dean facilitate a "Taste of" workshop on Crewel.  Linda is an EGA Master Craftsman in Crewel and we were so fortunate to have her teach a workshop for us!  She is also the organizing President of the Canapy Oaks Chapter in Tallahassee.

 Linda started off my answering the question "What is crewel"? It's not a time period or embroidery but a thread. It's traced back to Exodus in the bible. Crewel thread is a loosely twisted double ply thread. Crewel was popular in 17th century England as crewel threads were beginning to be mass produced then.  She also gave an overview of the differences in crewelwork from the 17th(highly stylized) and 18th century(more realistic).  Very interesting lecture!

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Linda taught the group the basics of crewel with this eyeglass case project above.  Loads of fun!

Linda also graciously brought some of her crewel projects that she designed and worked on for her Master Craftsman Certification.  Stunning work!

This is one of Linda's WIPs that she brought to share with us.  This is based on the first scene of the Bayou Tapestry which is from about 1050.  It's not sure who stitched the original tapestry but it was preserved in the basement of the Bayou Cathedral.  It tells the story of the Normand Invasion when France went to England and took over the throne.  

Thank you Linda for your generosity and wonderful presentation/lecture!

Bunnies!

Melody has been working on the kits today for our spring class with Janeann Sleeman!  We will be stitching this cute blue bunny from Melissa Prince Designs and of course Janeann has developed a custom stitch guide.    Lunch will be catered by Brenda!  Stay up to date at what the duClay Chapter is offering our members by visiting the Programs and Workshops tab right here on our blog!

Annual Christmas Luncheon

In December, we hosted our Annual Christmas Luncheon which is always one of the favorite member gatherings of the year.  This year we had a member come down from Atlanta to attend!  We met at a local tea shop for tea and then retired to the library for the balance of the festivities.

It's always so much fun to see what our members have stitched for our annual exchange.  It does not have to be an ornament.

We also have the annual drawing for our WIP Challenge Winner!  This year is was Carol who was the lucky winner!  This is Carole with her exchange gift.  

We passed the pieces around so everyone could look closely.

The exchange gifts!

We also had a HUGE show and tell of the projects our members worked on during 2016.  Too many to post so you can view them here in our Flickr album or on our Facebook page.