2014 Annual Summer Stitch In

The duClay Chapter held its annual stitch in on June 7^th .  It was held at Westminster Woods retirement community on Julington Creek.  We were hosted by member Cathe who is a resident and lunch was served.  It was well attended by 13 members and 1 guest.  We were delighted to have our Central Florida plurals Carol R, Carol P and Linda F come up again this year.

As always, besides stitching there was much ogling over the WIP’s and finished pieces on display.

Members were asked to bring any finishes they have for the year - particularly any WIP Challenge finishes - and any in progress projects they'd like to share.  As always, our members have been very prolific!  Let's look at what they brought!

On display were a beautiful counted canvas work piece finished into a cube by JoyceAnne.

Ellen's finished duClay class piece “Shakespeares Garden Sweet Bag” shown with Melody B’s chapter SAL Snooty Parrots.

Garden Gate by Shepherds Bush framed and stitched by Kris and her Just Nan Baby Sampler.  Kris also stitched Mini Quaker Stitches by Jeanette Douglas.

Loretta’s Plum Street finish - Vickor and Irina.

Carol P’s framed and finished Ooh La La and a tiny Downton needlecase accessory set.

The framed piece is also by Carol P by Rosewood Manor and the WIP counted canvas piece below is by JoyceAnne.  Carol won a blue ribbon in her local fair and a 3rd place grand prize for this project!   Congratulations Carol P!

This in progress counted canvas piece is also JoyceAnne’s.

A completed Autumn at HRH by Carol P.

Carol P’s “I Sigh not for Beauty” which was a SAL with her Mt. Dora stitching group.  Under it is a tiny sampler school sampler also by Carol P.  For comparison is Carol R’s almost completed “I Sigh not for Beauty” using the same threads but on a Vintage Lakeside Linen.  Interesting how different they look.

Carol P's The Ann Bowers Sampler by The Examplarery. This was a 2013 SAL with The Attic.

Jane Tindall stitched by Carol P.

Last is a look at the lovely goodie bags each attendee received from our President Kris.  We also offered two drawings – one for attendance which was won by Carol P. and another for members who have finished a challenge piece which was won by Ruth.

The work done by the members of this chapter is amazing!  We hope to have even more attendees next year come and join the fun.  Thank you Cathe for hosting this event!

Stitching at the River

Thank you Melody for sharing your recap of Stitching at the River which was held this weekend!

The Sun Region retreat for 2014 was held at the Plantation Inn on the banks of the Crystal River.  Home of the manatees however I never saw a live one !   I know there were sightings but it was rainy and nasty Friday and Saturday and by the time it cleared – I was quite out of the notion to go manatee hunting.

The Plantation Inn was a beautiful sprawling facility.  The pool area was gorgeous and they had huge green lawns.  It was meticulously landscaped and had an onsite restaurant with waterfront views.  The rooms were recently renovated and the décor was pleasant and comfortable.  Our stitching/activity room was right across the street from the building where most participants were staying. 

Kathy Singleton and her seminar committee did a fantastic job.  There was fun and games and more fun and stitching space 24 hours a day.  There were about 90 women in attendance and lots of variety in what was being stitched. 

There were manatee races that one could participate in and prizes offered were chances for the opportunity basket draws.  I think there was about 25 opportunity baskets.  Lots of great stuff packed into those baskets, Ott lights, traveling stitching bags, storage systems, you name it – the prizes were great.  Sadly none of the duClay primary or plural members won anything in the draws.  However jockey Melody did win one of the manatee races riding the #1 Ms Knot Fairy who actually came home to live with her in Orange Park.

duClay members in attendance were JoyceAnne Stevens, Kris Kolbinskie and Melody Bryan.  Plural duClay members in attendance were Carol Raley, Linda Ferguson, Carol Presley and Kathy Singleton.

Saturday morning was the big reveal of classes for the next Sun Region seminar to be held May 1 – 3^rd in Orlando in 2015.  Stitching in the Garden will be chaired by Deby Talley and our own JoyceAnne Stevens is Registrar for this seminar.  The class projects are varied and interesting or if you have too many WIP’s and a guilty conscience – just sign up for the studio time and come and stitch and shop and eat and enjoy the company of old and new friends.  Early registration is going on now and $50 holds your place in class. On June 2^nd early registration is over and goes live nationwide.

Member Spotlight - Melody

From time to time we'd like to feature one of our members here on our blog so we can learn more about each other.  Today's member is our VP of Programs and Education Melody.  Melody works tirelessly for our Chapter and we hope you enjoy learning more about her!

Hi – I’m Melody.  I am married with no kids and no pets currently.  However I have enough wool to keep a good size herd of sheep warm all winter !  I work for a great 4^th generation family owned business in Jacksonville FL as an IT Director/Systems Admin. I have been with the company for 11 years and spent the prior 21 years working for another family owned business. I am a native Floridian, born and raised on the north side of Jacksonville.  We moved to Orange Park about 6 years ago and we have been very happy in Clay County.

I guess my grandmother taught me to stitch, just simple embroidery on pillow cases but I started much younger with the sewing cards.  Anyone remember the sewing cards??  I learned to needlepoint at about 8 – 10 years of age, I’ll never forget – we used to vacation every summer at my great aunts summer cottage in Highlands NC and the woman who owned the shop taught me to do simple tent stitch for a backround.  My mom brought me two facing horse heads and I did the backrounds only on them.  I had them up until the time I moved a few years ago when many things had to be culled out, sadly – I wish I still had them.

I am an avid rug hooker.  I do traditional wool rug hooking with wool fabric which is cut into strips.  I have been “hooking” for about 15+ years.  I have been knitting almost my whole life but I did learn to crochet first as a child, again taught by my grandmother. I learned to knit from a german woman who owned a yarn shop in  my neighborhood and I used to ride my bike up there and sit with her.  I learned to do cross stitch in 1981 I think, there were two ladies who I worked with who spent every lunch hour watching the Young and Restless and working on cross stitch.  The one has passed away but I am still in touch with the other woman.  I got involved with reproduction samplers in the early 2000’s and still love the history and mystery surrounding samplers stitched by young girls.  I have done needlepoint on and off since childhood, I am one of those rare people who still loves to do basketweave with wool.  Oh yes I also do the glitzy fibers, beads and so forth but I find doing simple basketweave with wool very relaxing.  As a matter of fact – I have a huge canvas I bought in the 90’s at that same needlepoint shop in Highlands NC that is a painted canvas.  I am progressing thru the backround when the mood strikes me and yep – it is all worked in Paternanyan wool in tent and basketweave.

I can’t say I have a favorite needlework.  They all have a place in my life.  I love to hook and work with the rugs in the winter time when it is not so hot.  I knit year round but my pull to the wool really ramps up in the late summer and fall.  I pretty much stitch on linen and do needlepoint year round.

Well how long have I been in EGA – that is a hard question.  Way back many years ago – I was a charter member of the LeMoyne Chapter in Jacksonville.  That was probably 1974 I would say.  That chapter has now disbanded , sadly.  As I grew older a new love entered my life ( more on that later) and I abandoned my needlework almost entirely for a decade or two.  I re-joined the Dixie Chapter in Columbus Ga about 7 years ago and still retain a plural membership with them.  I joined duClay about 4 years ago as a plural.  Of course I am primary now in duClay.

Currently I am VP/Programs & Education for duClay.  For a short time I was Secretary of duClay.

Favorite designers – oh my gosh- too hard to say.  I know some designers that read our blog and I wouldn’t want anyone to be offended so I am not going to comment on that one.  Suffice to say from the size of my stash that I am enamored with many designers.

Yes I have a blog - http://wooley-thoughts.blogspot.com/

I can’t believe I have been blogging since 2005 – amazing !  I wish I had more time to make posts but blogger just keeps getting more and more disagreeable to me.  It is just taking too much time to get the photos uploaded, precious time I could be stitching.

My current favorite WIP is a hooked rug called the Antique Blue Basket.  It is one of my oldest WIP’s and is within maybe 10 hours of finishing the hooking.  For some reason – it just sits and sits unfinished.  It will be my largest hooked finish and is about 3ft X 5ft.  Another favorite WIP is my Autumn House – a needlepoint design.  It is a painted canvas and I developed my entire stitch guide and used threads mostly from my stash.  It is a piece I am very proud of and need to buckle down and finish.

One of my favorite finishes is my wedding sampler.  It was just framed along with our favorite wedding photo.  It is a very simple Blackbird Design but it took me 13 mos. to complete it so I am glad it is finally done.  One of my favorite rug finishes was my Merrie Halloween.  Another favorite finish of mine is my Best in Show winning Mermaid hooked rug.

Oh the last concert I attended was probably Styx last summer.

A fun fact and the reason I took such a long hiatus from any serious stitching is that I exhibited and bred Afghan Hounds for 25 years.  I bred a number of champions and one of my males was exported to Switzerland and was a top producer in Europe.  It was a fun ride and I traveled all over the US with my dogs but life happens and frankly I just grew very tired of being married to the brush.

Now I am just married to the stash.  I have met so many great people in the stitching/hooking/knitting community thru blogs and needlework groups and guilds.  I hope I will never lose my passion for learning new things.  I hope God will grant me good health and a sound mind to have many years to work thru my stash and keep on enjoying my family, my friends and my needlework endeavors.

With warm and wooley-thoughts - Melody

Year End Luncheon & 2013 WIP Challenge Wrap Up

On December 14, our Chapter met to celebrate the end of the year and our accomplishments.  We also asked members to bring in their projects completed as part of the 2013 WIP challenge.  What a great turnout we had!  

We did have a little business to take care of - the installation of the 2014 officers.  New officers are Kris (President) and Linda (Membership).  

Outgoing President Teresa (left) and incoming President Kris (right)

The food was delicious and the day was definitely a success.  We'll let the pictures speak for themselves.  Below is a sampling of the photos taken that day.  To see all the photos, please visit the set of photos in our Flickr account.

 This is our 2013 Chapter SAL project.

Carol P's A Lady's Worke Box - a 2013 duClay Class with Ellen Chester - Carol finished it herself!

Our members are certainly very talented and prolific stitchers!   A tab has been added to our blog for the 2014 Challenge.  As a reminder, please submit your project list to Kris by the end of the month.  2013 was a great year for duClay and we're looking forward to an exciting 2014!  Thank you all for your membership, your friendship and for the inspiration!

Member Spotlight - Teresa B

From time to time we'd like to feature one of our members here on our blog so we can learn more about each other.  Today's member is our previous Chapter President (2012-2013) Teresa B.  Thank you Teresa for your service to our Chapter and for being willing to be our very first Member Spotlight!

Introduce yourself to us!  Provide a brief introduction to share on our blog.   Family?  Profession?  Where do you live?  Pets?  Whatever you’d like to share!

This is always the fun question for me. I have family, mainly my mom and dad who live with me, or is it I live with them? It’s often hard to tell, especially since they are both getting older and I have taken on more of the responsibilities for them. I work in IT Security and am blessed to be able to work from home. I love it because I don’t have to drive all the way into an office for 30 or more miles. The down side is that I don’t go in to an office and see other people face to face. However, when I’m done working I close my office door and I’m just 15 seconds from my stitching chair! I don’t have any pets, well unless you count those parent’s I mentioned.

Who taught you to stitch and when did you start stitching?

Initially my maternal grandmother taught me to stitch. She was bed ridden for about 9 months when I was 6 years old and we stayed with her while she was recovering. I loved to sit on the bed with her, and she did embroidery. To keep me “quiet” she took an old pillowcase and drew flowers on it, threaded a needle (a sharp!) with floss and showed me how to do a stem stitch. Once I had that down it was on to satin stitches and French knots. Her style was to show me, let me try and then rip it out until it met her standards of acceptable. Not sure why I kept at it, but I did. When I was in college one of my dorm-mates was stitching without anything being stamped on the fabric and I was hooked on counted work from then on out.

Teresa's Christmas Trees filled with stitched ornaments

What types of needlework do you do?

Well there is “do” and there is “tried”. On a regular basis I “do” counted cross stitch (including things like blackwork and lots of specialty stitches) and needlepoint/canvas work. On a less regular basis I “do” hardanger (which I love but don’t think I do very well) and pulled thread work (which I do think I do well). I’ve “tried”, but can’t say I “do” crewel and gold work.

What is your favorite type of needlework?

Whatever I pick up at the time! Seriously, I really do love it all and depending on my mood that’s my favorite type, even hardanger.

What other interests or hobbies do you have or what do you do for fun?

I love to read, that’s a huge passion of mine. I also crochet, which I learned not long after learning to embroider at about 7, and knitting which I only learned about 6 or 7 years ago. I also learned to make jewelry and do beadwork which I very much enjoy but haven’t had a lot of time for lately. And I can’t forget traveling. I love to go places and see things that are both near and far. I was fortunate as a child to travel because of my father’s job and I think that colored the way I see the world and why I love to travel.
How long have you been in EGA?

I believe I’ve been in EGA about 3 or 4 years. I’m embarrassed to say I’m not positive.

Tell us about your EGA experiences, roles held (past or present), etc.

I joined EGA because I wanted to be around other people who loved needlework, of any kind, as much as I do. To learn from their experiences was my goal. I am the outgoing President of the chapter and am looking forward to being a worker bee again. I’ve enjoyed serving the chapter as it has grown and seen some changes, but I also believe that nothing should stay the same forever.

Who are your favorite designers?

This was the question I dreaded the most. I have several designers whose work I love. If you took a tour through my stash you would see a lot of Rae Iverson’s and Ellen Chester’s design, partially because I love what they do and partially because over the years I’ve taken a number of classes from them and of course because I’ve purchased other items to supplement my retirement nest egg. Then you’d also see a lot of other designers that I’ve collected in my stash, like Plum Street Samplers and La-D-Da. The other group of designers would be where over the years I’ve taken a number of classes from certain people and also purchased their pieces, so in that group you’d see Linda Driskell, Indigo Rose (Catherine Strickler), Suzanne Miller, Jean Farish (from my days going to Heart of CrossStitch for you old timers out there), and some Eileen Bennett.   

Teresa's Traditional Elegance II 

Pat Taff/Golden Thread Designs

Are there certain elements that draw you to a design, or some that you avoid?

Sometimes it is color, other times it’s the design and sometimes the stitches draw me to a particular design. I think we all have “favorite” colors that if used well in a design will pull us in. For me it is jewel tones, or shades of red/rose, or blues and greens. My friends know that if a design has a bunny or rabbit on it I may be a goner. I’ve also started collecting samplers with Noah’s Ark because my maternal grandfather was Noah and I was born on his birthday however I never knew him since he died in WWII. I also have a fair number of Adam & Eve samplers as well as a few Quaker types in my stash. When it comes to needlepoint I’m a bit all over the place, but a lot of holiday pieces seem to find their way to my canvas stash.

What are you working on now?

This is a trick question right? Honestly I haven’t been stitching as much as I would like. At the beginning of this year I started having a fairly bad RA flare that kept me from being able to hold a needle much, if any, at all. A great doctor and some fantastic new medicine and I think my hands are back to stitching shape, only to have my job blow up to the point that by the time I finish in the evenings I’m incapable of doing much other than sleeping. Oh well, I have managed to work some on Tocatta #1. For the last few weeks if I stitch I’ve picked up Adam & Eve’s Christmas which was on my challenge list and I really would like to finish it. I’ve also done some really simple stitching on a small Halloween ornament. My stitching bag is full of things that I want to work on…

The Daughters of Longbourn in progress

The Stitching Parlor

Favorite WIP/UFO? Why?

(I’m not sure I like these hard questions…who thought these up?) Ok, if I have to pick favorites, which to me is like asking people with children to pick a favorite child, I’d say that right now…at this moment…if you really are going to make me choose…it would be Blackwork Band Sampler by Rae Iverson/Moss Creek Designs and The Daughters of Longbourn by The Stitching Parlor. They couldn’t be more dissimilar choices. I choose the Blackwork Band Sampler because it’s just a beautiful piece and one that, for whatever reason, I find hard to finish. I will pick it up and work on it for a few weeks then put it down. It’s like I don’t want to let go of it. It’s all silks and just an amazing piece. I’d pick Daughters because I’m a huge fan of Jane Austen and the idea of stitching something that relates to my other love of reading just is perfection. Plus my dear friend Melody gave me the pattern and the linen for my birthday several years ago and when I stitch on it I’m reminded of how wonderful it is to have friends who understand your passion for putting needle and thread to linen or canvas.

Favorite finish? Why?

Finally an easy question…I think. Normally I would whatever I finished last, but that’s not really true. I think my favorite finish was the Quaker Sampler I did for my parent’s 50^th wedding anniversary a few years ago. I decided to stitch Ellen Chester’s An Emblem of Love in my mother’s favorite color of purple. I used a beautiful deep color and then made a few changes to how Ellen charted it originally. I made all the hearts “gold”, since it was their golden anniversary and I added the year they married. On top of all that I managed to completely surprise them both with it, which is hard since we all live in the same house together and I usually stitch in the family room while watching TV.

Teresa (left) with Ellen Chester of With My Needle

Holding Teresa's An Emblem of Love stitched for her parents 50th Anniversary

Do you have a blog?  If you’d like to provide a link, that would be wonderful!

I have a blog, that hasn’t seen much action lately. But there is always hope….

What is your first or last concert you attended?

So the last concert I attended is really the Jacksonville Symphony. However, if you mean the type where there is really loud music and stuff that would be Eric Clapton in March of this year.

What is a fun or unique fact about you that is not stitching related that you wouldn’t mind sharing?

As I mentioned earlier I lived in Europe when I was a small child however my parents are not military. My father worked for a large engineering firm out of NYC who had contracts all over the world. Before I was born my parent traveled all over the U.S. and had just returned from New Mexico and found out mom was pregnant with me when my dad was offered a job in Amsterdam. They could have gone, but decided to stay in the states until after I was born and wait for the next group of people who would be sent over. They waited and instead of going to Amsterdam they sent him to England. We spent 3.5 years there and were lucky to travel to The Netherlands, Spain and Italy. My mom spent a lot of time soaking in all the culture of the countries we visited and instilled a love of museums and old homes in me from our time there.

Anything else you’d like to share?
I hope that everyone will take time and answer these questions to share on our chapter blog. We have quite a few members who are not “local” and it would be wonderful to hear about each person and their stitching. I’m so happy to be part of a community of stitchers like duClay EGA. Happy stitching everyone!

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!