Hi Stitchers, I can’t believe it is March already! Wow! This year is just flying. I hope everyone is finding time to get their needles flying too!

We have a wonderful program set up this month with Laura B. and hope everyone can participate. She has been such an awesome Programs Person. Thank you so much Laura.

The Stitcher’s Showcase is coming up soon and wanted to remind everyone if you have pieces to be entered that Sandra H. will be going up and will be glad to take the pieces.

And one last thing, we do need a treasurer. It is not a time intensive position and we would love to have you if you are thinking of helping the chapter.

Hoping March is a great month for everyone and the Pot Of Gold on Saint Patrick’s Day is filled with lots of fun stitching and time to do it!

Happy stitches,

Jean

Happy Valentine’s Day a bit early! I hope everyone can find time to enjoy your very special Love Interest…..Stitching!

Our meeting last month was very relaxed and enjoyable. Thank you Karen K. for opening your home for the meeting. Lots of wonderful food and the program was very informative. Thank you Angelina for a great program.

Reminder: February’s meeting is in conjunction with SDANG on Tuesday, February 11, 2014, at the same meeting place. Cassie P. is leading the program, Sparkly Scissor Fobs, which look like a must have for our stitching tools!

There are some great workshops coming up by SDANG and Muchas Manos. Dazzling Delights on February 22, Long May She Wave on March 29-30, and Heart Felt Stars on June 14. Check out both chapters’ websites for detailed information on these wonderful projects.

Some sad news, Gini’s mother did pass. Please keep Gini in your thoughts and prayers for strength and healing during this difficult time.

I’m looking forward to all the wonderful programs and workshops scheduled and I hope everyone is enjoying the wonderful weather and stitching up a storm.

Jean

Happy New Year everyone! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and is ready to do some fun stuff this year. I know I am!

First off, we would like to thank Gini M. for being the president for the last year. We had a fun year and are sorry to have her step down due to family health problems. We really appreciate all the work you put in for the chapter. We are all thinking of you and hoping your Mother’s health improves quickly.

Since Gini has stepped down, I have decided to fill in as President. I will do my best, and I know with the new board and the help of everyone in the chapter, we will have a wonderful year.

I would like to remind everyone Karen K. has graciously volunteered her home for a pot luck and to bring their laptop, iPad or other device to the January meeting. It should be very informative and helpful with Angelina leading us.

The February meeting has been moved to Tuesday, February 11, 2014 with San Diego ANG. The meeting is held at the same place Muchas Manos meets.

We will have a workshop with Margret Bendig, who is a wonderful teacher. The project is her Heart Felt Stars tool holder. It is very nice and looks to be one we can all finish fairly quickly. Yay! The workshop will be in either June or July. Look for more details and information soon. It promises to be a fun workshop.

Keep the Soldier Kissing Pillows and Bookmarks coming. These outreach items provide such a wonderful impact on those who receive them and those who see us making them and learn the reasons behind them.

Wishing everyone a very stitchy year!

Jean

President’s Message

Hello and good morning, everyone. As I write this, it’s close to 6:00 a.m. on Sunday morning, November 10th. I’m up early to get everything together that I need to take to the second day of Gary Clarke’s Tulle and Organza Fantail class that begins in about three hours.

On Friday, November 8th, we had a small and intimate group or four stitchers to learn his method of Stitching in the Dark, when we worked on the Black Cockatoo. As I’ve described it before, it’s a brilliantly colored cockatoo stitched on black poplin with a vivid variegated blue floss used to stitch the sky and trees. What I can say about this technique is it turns all the Rules about knots and carrying threads on their head. Gary has OK’d the use of this method to work on a smaller project, say an ornament or – ooh, ooh – a Dreamcatcher!!! So I might just use some of my copious spare time to draw something like that, which we might have as a project next year.

And then on Saturday and Sunday, November 9th and 10th, we had a glass of 10 stitchers for Gary’s Tulle and Organza Fantail. Delicate, gorgeous, and delicate. Those are words that I think really fit this project. There was a bit of tedious cutting of the bird shapes from five colors of nylon tulle and then basting them onto one layer of Japanese organza, and then when all the parts were placed, Gary stretched a second layer of organza over them. Well – just – wow.

Today, Sunday, we’ll all continue stitching the simple straight stitches to create feathers and texture on the tree branch. That’s where everybody’s work will start to take on separate personalities.

The three stitchers who were able to take both classes were Laura B., Angelina H., and me, so I assure you that you will see the progress on both projects when you come to the November chapter meeting and the Holiday party. One fun fact that Gary shared yesterday is that when we work on the Fantail in the evening with ordinary home lighting, the organza appears opaque and is easier to work on. However, I didn’t try it when I got home after class last night – that’s a story for another time, if ever.

So the Cockatoo, on black, will be my daytime UFO, and the Fantail, on white organza, will be my nighttime UFO.

Jean L. and Margi T. will be finalizing our slate of officers for 2014, for voting at our chapter meeting on November 18, so we hope to see you all there!

And for chapter members who are registered voters living within the City of San Diego, please remember to go to your local polling place on November 19 to help select a new mayor. As a poll worker, I encourage you this year, because there’s only the one item on the ballot, choosing among – what? – 10 or 12 people who want to be mayor. It will be a very slow day for poll workers, I imagine. Fortunately, I will have a couple of interesting embroidery projects to keep me occupied!

In the meantime, Happy Stitching!

Gini

President’s Message

Seminar 2013, Winning by a Stitch, has ended. I’m looking forward to seeing Ina demonstrate the oyster stitch that she learned there! Have you started your planning for Seminar 2014, Legends and Dreams? I have. I put my early registration class request form into the mail on Saturday, October 12!

I seriously encourage everyone to get their early registration class selection and $100 deposit in by October 31, the end of the early registration period. I’m sure that once you see the class photos on-line you’ll find at least one class you NEED to take! There’s a wide variety of techniques to choose from, including Lois Kershner’s signature landscape scenes on canvas,
Michele Roberts’ goldwork phoenix design with British historical reference, two bird designs by Tanya Berlin, and blackwork classes from our blackwork experts, Carol Algie Higginbotham and Marion Scoular.

So, I flew up to San Mateo for Gary Clarke’s Buttons class on September 24. I’m sending Shelly a few pictures of my attempts at some of the patterns; you’ll possibly find them here in the newsletter. Largely, the designs are worked with a round template divided into 12 sections, with long stitches made from mark to mark, similar to Rhodes stitches.

We worked on lightweight muslin with an off-white cotton fiber similar to size 8 pearl cotton. After six or seven neutral colored patterns, I really wanted to try some other colors! I did one pattern over a square of a turquoise fabric. Since I’ve been home I’ve tried a couple of others with colored fibers and beads. There are a lot of ideas in the kit’s booklet.

I think we’re down to the final finishing touches on our November workshops with Gary. The rental fee for the Barracks has been paid, Gary has a place to stay, and the last two places in the Fantail class have been purchased. There are still four seats available for the Cockatoo class on Friday, November 8, so if your schedule can allow it at all, we’d love to have you there!

Ina and Jim G. will host a potluck reception/party for Gary after the Fantail class ends on November 10. I’ll have more information at the chapter meeting on October 21. Even if you can’t come to one of the classes, please come to the party to meet Gary and bring a dish to share.

Our October 21 meeting is an open stitching night, which I think are always nice because you can get a real sense of the range of all of our interests and talents. I hope to see everybody then! In the meantime, Happy Stitching!

Gini

President’s Message

H O T ! ! ! ! It’s too hot to sleep, and almost too muggy and humid to stitch. I’ve put aside my large sampler because I don’t want to get it sweaty! I’ve been stitching small kits that don’t have too much area for me to mess up with perspiring hands. I hope everyone has been keeping cool in any way that works best for you!!

How many of you are going to Louisville for the 2013 national seminar? This will be the 55th annual seminar for our Guild, so it’s being held again in our national headquarters’ city, between October 5 and October 11. Are you getting excited? Be sure to get a Hot Brown sandwich somewhere while you’re there, and I hope someone will enjoy a Mint Julep in my name!!

If you can’t make it to Louisville, this coming chapter meeting on September 16 may be your last chance to purchase a $10.00 ticket for the drawing to attend the 2014 seminar with a lot of your expenses paid! As our Region Director, Ina is able to sell those tickets in advance, so you can get your name in the hat. Ina will have more information and details. I’m planning on buying two tickets!

While you’re at seminar in Louisville, be sure to look at the project display for the 2014 national seminar, Legends and Dreams, hosted by our Pacific Southwestern Region, in Phoenix, Arizona. Classes, dinners, and other events will be held at the Pointe Hilton Squaw Peak Resort. Seminar dates are October 18 through 24, 2014.

One of the best ways to start your Seminar planning is to do an early registration. Early registrations will be accepted in Louisville, and then will be opened up to all EGA members on Saturday, October 12, 2013. On that date, on the EGA national website, www.egausa.org, you’ll be able to see photos and descriptions of the class projects that will be offered at Legends and Dreams. And not only classes, but you can sign up for a Saturday or Wednesday tour during early registration as well!

I really encourage everyone to submit their early registration form by the deadline, October 31. That’s 19 days to peruse the classes and tours and get your preferences booked. The advantage to early registration is that your class choices are guaranteed, unless the class list has to go to a lottery. For filling out that form, and the $100.00 early registration fee, you can get a feeling of security for your class and sightseeing plans.

If you haven’t had a chance to go to a national seminar yet, this opportunity in Arizona is for you, since it’s just a few hours’ driving distance. Drive with a friend, and start the fun early! If you are a first time attendee, you’ll get a special ribbon to add to your nametag. Come and meet EGA members from all across the country. Some have even come to past seminars from Canada, Australia, and France!

I’ll have copies of the Early Registration forms and other documents at the September meeting.

As for our Australian teacher Gary Clarke’s visit to San Diego, at last count I have four (4) spaces available for the Black Cockatoo class on Friday, November 8, and two (2) spaces available for his Tulle & Organza Fantail class on Saturday and Sunday, November 9 and 10. The Cockatoo class fee is $115, and $160 for the Tulle & Organza Fantail class. Non-EGA members will play a slightly higher fee. Registration forms will be available at both the September 16 and October 21 meetings, if any spaces still remain.

If you haven’t melted into a puddle of sweat (let’s be blunt!), I hope to see you all at the September 16 meeting. In the meantime, Happy Stitching!

Gini

President’s Message

Ladies, I’m kind of feeling the Dog Days of Summer, when the heat and humidity are strong and the days seem longer because of it. Except that here in San Diego we haven’t had too much heat and even less humidity. In fact, we’ve had such a mild summer that it kind of makes me wonder what the rest of the year is going to be like. Will we have 95 degree days in October?

As the EGA Seminar in Louisville gets nearer, I want to remind you all about the wonderful opportunity we have here in San Diego, to host Australian designer and teacher Gary Clarke who will lead workshops on two of his designs. The Black Cockatoo will be taught on Friday, November 8, and the Tulle & Organza Fantail will be taught on Saturday and Sunday, November 9 and 10. A very limited number of spaces are left in each class. Photos and Last Chance registration forms are included in this newsletter.

A little correction from last month’s newsletter in which I stated that the Tulle & Organza Fantail “does appear to have stumpwork, or fabric cutting. . . . .” No, it doesn’t have any stumpwork, or pulled threads, or fabric cutting!

If I haven’t harangued enough about these projects, here’s some more. You all (probably) know I’m definitely a counted-thread stitcher. Gary’s designs are surface stitching, not usually my forte, but somewhat unique, and I’m looking forward to the challenges. The stitches themselves don’t look too complicated but, how often have you had a chance to stitch a delicate little birdie on just a few layers of organza and tulle? The bird should look like it’s just hanging in thin air, surrounded by a frame. I can hardly wait!

We’ve got a large classroom space in Historic Barracks 17 of Liberty Station, that has a lot of light from both the east and west sides. There’s plenty of parking nearby including handicapped spaces and a recharging station. Lots of lunch options are also close by – if you haven’t yet had a hamburger at Five Guys, you can come and have one with me! They’re really good!

You can count on more stitching and creative fun with Muchas Manos. I’m interested to see the finished products from Laura’s July program on Princess Lace. What an interesting way to add machine-made lace to netting or other lightweight ground fabrics to make something so beautiful!

Laura will teach us again at our August 19 meeting, to create a needle case in the Japanese technique of Sashiko. Have you already paid your $5.00 kit fee?

Speaking of the EGA 55th Annual Seminar, in Louisville, KY, don’t forget to see Ina G. for your ticket for the “scholarship” drawing for the 2014 Seminar in Phoenix, AZ. Tickets are $10.00 each, and the award includes the price of one four-day class or two two-day classes, hotel, banquets, and more! Ina will have more details at our next meetings. This drawing has historically been done during the Closing Banquet on the last evening of Seminar. Proceeds go to EGA’s education fund.

If you’re not vacationing out of town, I hope to see you at the August 19 meeting! In the meantime, Happy Stitching!

Gini

President’s Message

So one of our biggest milestones of the year has come and gone, the 2013 San Diego County Fair.  I’ll be bringing my (third place) prize winning Hardanger table topper to the July meeting on July 15.  Hope to see the rest of our chapter’s winners there, including Sandy H.’s Christmas stocking.

We had three visitors at the June meeting, and we’re sure hoping that Lana M. and Kim T. will come back for more fun. Nancy D. brought a visiting friend who lives near Richmond, Virginia, and we told her about the Gentle Pursuits EGA chapter.  A lot of us have a friend in that chapter, who used to be a member of our San Diego chapter, so we know Nancy’s friend will be very welcome there.

There are still a lot of seats available for the two Gary Clarke Workshops scheduled for November 8, 9, and 10th.  The two projects we’ve contracted with him for are a brilliantly colored Cockatoo on a black percale background.  That’s set for Friday, November 8.  I think we’re going to be very glad we have a room with lots of natural light for this design.  The technique is listed as “Working in the Dark”, and the stitches are worked as surface stitches, as opposed to counted thread techniques.

The two-day class, scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, November 9th and 10, is a gorgeous Fantail, another bird, stitched on layers of tulle and organza.  Again, these stitches are surface, as opposed to counted thread techniques, and they all look very straightforward to me.  This project does appear to have stumpwork, or fabric cutting, or anything else that I think some of us are still a little afraid of.  A big part of the beauty of this piece is the semi-sheer nature of the ground fabric.

For other educational opportunities, I want to remind everyone that any member of EGA can attend the biannual seminars of other regions.  For prices that are usually lower than the annual national seminars, you can often have very similar experiences with nationally-known teachers and sometimes even “encore” presentations of projects from national seminars.  And they’re a great way to get acquainted with members from around the country.

Margi T. recently sent me an announcement of the Rocky Mountain Region’s 2014 Regional Seminar, entitled Miles of Memories, Route 66 in the 1950’s.  The seminar takes place July 31 to August 2, 2014 in Albuquerque, NM, and includes such classes and favorite teachers as Betsy Morgan’s counted thread Elizabethan Etui, and Lois Kershner’s Garden of the Gods.  If you’ve been able to attend any previous EGA national seminar, you’ve seen Lois’s beautiful landscape scenes.  You can check out www.rmrega.org for more information.  And you can check the national website for links to the other regions’ websites.

I hope you’re all looking forward to learning a new-ish technique for most of us, in the Princess Lace project that Laura B. will present at the July meeting.  This looks like a fun way to create some very beautiful lace by a form of applique onto a tulle background, and adding basic embroidery stitches for further texture.  (Hope I haven’t misled everybody, Laura!)

And looking further ahead, Laura will lead us in another one of her personal favorite techniques, Sashiko, at the August 19th meeting.  For the low kit fee of $5.00, we’ll create a needle case.

And keep working on your bookmarks, for Ina G.’s library.  The theme for this year’s summer reading program is Reading is Delicious.  There are so many ideas you can find in almost any cross-stitch book or magazine that you have in your stash – I assume everybody does, because I do!

We’ve missed Angelina H. for the June and July meetings, but she had the opportunity to take the whole family on a European vacation (while Mom’s working).  If you’re one of her Facebook friends, you’ve probably already seen that Elizabeth got to celebrate her ninth birthday in Paris!  What a lucky little girl!

Hope you can all make it to the July 15 meeting!  In the meantime, Happy Stitching!

Gini

President’s Message

I’m so happy that so many members have renewed their membership for 2013-14. Our membership is holding steady in the mid-20s.

Game On! That’s the theme for the 2014 San Diego County Fair. We’re looking forward to another four weeks or so of stitching demonstrations in the Home & Hobby Display area, indoors, out of the hot summer sun.

Jean L. and I went up to the fairgrounds a week ago, after all the entries were delivered, to choose the winner of the Muchas Manos de San Diego sponsored award in embroidery. When you go to the fair, be sure to look for the absolutely gorgeous pillow done in crazy-quilt embroidery techniques, embellished with beaded blossoms and large silk ribbon flowers, along with many other types of stitches. I’d almost classify it as a masterpiece.

The stitchers’ names were still concealed when the choice was made, so we did not know in advance that the winner is Mary Kay H., who is actually a member of our chapter! Part of the prize is a year’s membership to the chapter, so congratulations to Mary Kay. What a lot of highly skilled work went into your project!

We did recognize a couple of the items that had been entered, because they had been shown as UFOs in our chapter meetings! I have mixed feelings to report that this year’s first and second place winners in the Hardanger embroidery category were not won by the same person who won both first and second place last year (me). That means, at least, that the Hardanger category should continue to be offered for the next few years.

As reported last month, at the May 20 chapter meeting Margi T. brought along the Muchas Manos de San Diego banner that had been stored in a past-president’s home for many years. The date in an upper corner was 1979. It was a large rectangular banner, approximately four feet wide, a patchwork quilt of 12-inch embroidered squares of the members’ hands. There were so many that several were even sewn onto the back of the banner.

A few photos are included here, of the chapter emblem (below), and (on page 3) some of the hands that really stood out to me, like the hand with the perfectly shaped red satin-stitched fingernails and three-stone ring. Margi plans to display this banner at the guilds’ booth in the San Diego County Fair this year.

The project at this month’s meeting is a Petite Project entitled Hardanger wreath. If you haven’t already signed up, I will have additional squares of fabric (white, off-white, light blue, dark green), and lengths of size 5 pearl cotton and size 4 Kreinik metallic braid, available for the materials cost of only $3.00. It’s an easy project with some details that are not particularly standard Hardanger, at least in my experience. The finished project can easily be made into a little cushion, biscornu, ornament, or whatever you wish!

Our Gary Clarke Workshop Committee will be finalizing the cost soon, and filling up our roster. We’re hoping to see as many as possible on November 8 for the Black Cockatoo, and November 9 and 10 for the Tulle and Organza Fantail.

Hope you can all make it to the June 17 meeting! In the meantime, Happy Stitching!

 
Gini

President’s Message

First things first, and that’s Membership.  If you haven’t yet done so, please make sure you pay your Membership not later than the May 20 meeting.  Angelina has sent e-mails to each of us to remind us of what we owe.  Please, please keep your membership up to date!

Spring Cleaning!  Do you remember everything that’s in  your stash?  Is  there something that you just know you have but haven’t been able to find it?  It might be time to do a little sorting through your storage, in whatever form that might take.  I’ve recently started plowing through the boxes and bags in my second bedroom and finally found the license plate frame I bought many years ago, warning drivers behind me that I Brake for Needlework Stores, among several other small kits and charts.

Margi also e-mailed me that she recently helping former member Emily in her home, and came across a chapter artifact that had long since virtually vanished from the memories of our long-term members.  I didn’t even know it existed, and I’ve been a member for 10 years.  I’m not going to tell you what it is – you’ll have to come to the chapter meeting on May 20 to find out.  Pictures will be in next month’s newsletter.

On April 20, Muchas Manos had a good turn-out at the Spring Pacific Southwestern Region spring meeting in Camarillo, CA.  Jean and I attended as representatives of the chapter, and Karen attended as chairman of the Finance Committee of the PSR.  And, of course, Ina is our current Region Director.  She led us through the first part of the agenda quickly, and was able to start the Chapters’ reports before lunch was delivered.  If you’ve ever been to a Region meeting, you’ll know that these reports are really interesting, but can get a little long-winded.

One thing Ina and the Region officers stressed was that the resources of the Region are there to help support the chapters.  I know all of our members are used to checking our own website, muchasmanos.org.  Did you know that the Region has its own website?  It’s psrega.org.  This is a nice, centralized information center for all the chapters of the region.  If you’ve got a visit planned to the LA Area, or Las Vegas, you can check the Region’s website to find the locations and days/times of local meetings.  You can always drop in at any EGA meeting anywhere in the country, just as we love to have visitors at our meetings.  As a reminder, PSR covers California from roughly San Luis Obispo south, all of Arizona, and parts of Nevada.

It’s not too early to start thinking about the 2014 National Seminar that will be held in Phoenix.  As Region Director, Ina has been given a couple dozen tickets for the Seminar “scholarship” opportunity that will be drawn at the 2013 Seminar in Louisville in October.  Each ticket will cost $10.00.  Ina will have more details at our next meetings.

At our May 20th meeting, Heather will lead participants in their progress on the Schwalm Group Correspondence Course.  At the June 17th meeting, I’ll present a Hardanger Wreath project.  Materials costs for that project are $3.00, and will include a six-inch square of 22 count Hardanger fabric, size 5 pearl cotton, and size 4 Kreinik metallic braid.  I’ll have fabric squares  available in white, off-white, light blue and dark green.

One other update:  Gary Clarke’s workshops on November 8, 9, and 10 will definitely be held in Historic Barracks 17 at Liberty Station.  There are many large windows on  the east and west walls will give us lots and lots of natural light, which we still should have in November.

Hoping to see you all of May 20!  In the meantime, Happy Stitching.

Gini