duClay started 2018 with a big event - we hosted Betsy Morgan for 2 classes in late February. Betsy has announced her retirement in 2020 and we felt so fortunate to have her. She is a talented and dedicated educator and it shows in her classes.
Our class projects were Maria Katarin's Stitching Reticule...
and Swan Bower.
These are the two pieces that were assembled in class and required pre-stitching. Betsy has her own method of joining two the stitched front to the back and both projects used this method. One stitched linen to linen and the other was linen to silk. We also practiced several speciality stitches over the 3 days as well.
If you've never taken a class with Betsy she has a teaching style that is very easy and encouraging. She continually walks the room, giving feedback and words of encouragement, and making it simple to ask a question. Her teaching style lends itself to be beginner friendly and her projects are interesting and unique which appeal to stitchers of all skill levels - even the most experienced. Our classes had stitchers who had never taken a class of this caliber and stitchers who have taken many, many, many classes like this. Both had a great experience!
Maria Katrin's Stitching Reticule is named for her daughter and the motifs taken from an 1844 Mexican sampler in Betsy's collection. Betsy also shared bits of her inspiration for the Swan Bower project - motifs from two different samplers. She will eventually reproduce this one...
...and another motif came from a sampler she came across in her travels.
Betsy also taught her twisted cord method that she's been teaching her entire career.
The projects are stunning projects and very different from each other. Here are a few pictures of Betsy's models. Several members completed finished the small for each class in class or overnight. We have a great group of stitchers and experienced finishers and we'll be seeing finishes of the other items in the coming months for some members. We can't wait! Betsy's instructions are detailed and she has thought of everything to make assembly problem free. As Carol P always says, just take it one step at a time and you'll be fine!
Betsy shared she also sells the charts and instructions for her retired designs. You can see some of
her retired designs HERE. Just simply send her an email and she will let you know the cost, etc. As time goes on, she may have more retired designs so please do check all her blog posts as the link above may not be most current.
Our Flickr album with all the photos from this event can be found
HERE.
We hope you enjoyed our recap of our wonderful days with Betsy! We also hope that it would inspire you to take a class or visit hour local EGA Chapter. If you're local to us, do check our older blog posts as well feel it would be clearly evident how any stitcher would benefit from membership.
