Our meeting this month will be a wonderful day with needlework judge
Karen Duggan. Her talk will be about how to improve our work.
From selecting ground material, threads, colors and stitches to framing, what
are the right and wrong decisions we are making that will positively or
negatively affect a judge's score. She will bring a few pieces for
demonstration and would like members to bring pieces for mock judging. It
is best if the pieces are NOT ones that are dear to your heart so that no
feelings will be hurt if errors are found or negative comments presented.
Karen is very enthusiastic and encouraging, so this day should give us lots of
ideas to produce better work.
The meeting will be in the Duncaster conference room. On the
registration coupon,
please check if you wish to order a lunch ($10). This
will be a generous half sandwich, a cookie and a drink. It is wonderful
food, but the cost is higher than we charged for the October meeting. You
are welcome to bring your own lunch if you prefer. As always, you are more
than welcome to attend if you only wish to join us and stitch on your own
project.
What to bring: 1. Show and tell -- something of interest to you, or a
project you are working on
2.
A piece you are willing to have judged, if possible.
Please fill in the registration form and send your check to Linda Berry by Tuesday,
January 30th.
Schedule for the Day: 10 am
to 3 pm
10 AM to 12
noon Morning
program
12 noon to 12:45
PM Lunch, show and tell, and a
short meeting
12:45 PM to 3
PM Afternoon
program
Here are directions to Duncaster: (Official address is 40 Loeffler
Road, Bloomfield, CT, but we would like you to enter the building on the
Mountain Avenue side)
84 Westbound from Manchester:
Take Rt. 291, exit 61.
Follow Rt. 291 to Rt. 218 exit. Take left onto Rt. 218. Follow for
about 3 miles. Take right onto Rt. 189 and follow to the center of
Bloomfield. Take a left on Rt. 178. Continue straight on Rt. 178 for
1.4 miles. To use the new front entrance, turn right onto Mountain Avenue
and continue approx. ½ mile to entrance on the left into Duncaster. From
the Loeffler Road entrance or the Mountain Avenue entrance, once on the campus,
visitors should follow the signs to the Aquatics & Fitness Center
Entrance.
84 Eastbound from Farmington:
Take exit 41. Go left on South
Main St. [which becomes North Main St. at West Hartford Center] for 4.6 miles to
Rt. 185. Turn left on Rt. 185 for 1.8 miles. Turn right on Rt.
178. To use the new front entrance, after about ½ mile turn left onto
Mountain Avenue and continue approx. ½ mile to entrance on the left into
Duncaster. From the Loeffler Road entrance or the Mountain Avenue
entrance, once on the campus, visitors should follow the signs to the
Aquatics & Fitness Center Entrance.
91 [North or South]:
Take exit 36. Go west on Rt. 178 for 4.5
miles to the center of Bloomfield. At the traffic light continue straight
on Rt. 178 for 1.4 miles. To use new front entrance, turn right onto
Mountain Avenue and continue approx. ½ mile to entrance on the left into
Duncaster. From the Loeffler Road entrance or the Mountain Avenue
entrance, once on the campus, visitors should follow the signs to the
Aquatics & Fitness Center Entrance.
Saturday, April 14th
This meeting will be a wonderful opportunity to work on a beautiful small
piece of crewel embroidery. Our extraordinary friend and teacher, Gerry
Barbeau, will be coming to teach her piece entitled "Purple -- Is Fashionable
Twice". See the description and picture below:
PURPLE -- IS FASHIONABLE TWICE
Purple -- is fashionable twice --
This season of the year,
And when a soul perceives itself
To be an Emperor.
Emily Dickinson
Length of Class: One day
Proficiency Level: Beginner/Intermediate
Class Description: This delightful Keepsake Box will be decorated with
a simple thistle design stitched in crewel threads on linen twill. The
royal purple and soft green palette is perfect for this interpretation.
Nine traditional crewel stitches will be taught, as well as how to make a
twisted cord. The fiberboard box will be painted in class by the student
and directions for making a twisted cord and mounting the stitched piece will be
included.
You may register for this class now by sending in the registration coupon at
the end of this newsletter or signing up at the February meeting. Gerry
will need to know how many will be taking this class, so please let us know as
soon as you can. The class will be presented at Duncaster, and all you
will need to bring is the usual stitching supplies plus a hoop. The cost
of the class is $25 with the box or $20
without.
Saturday, June 2nd
Catherine Jordan will be coming to our chapter from Virginia to teach a
one-day workshop. Her expertise in the use of hand-dyed threads is well
known on the national level, so take advantage of this opportunity to learn from
her. The class description follows:
Exploring Color!
Come
to this exciting and fun-filled class as we explore basic
color principles to help you make more effective color choices. This class will
cover tips for using over dyed threads to control color, so you can more
confidently select and use color. Students will select two thread (2) palettes
of beautiful, colorfast over dyed cotton floss from Catherine's extensive
collection to work with. We will cover how to decide where to cut in the color
changes, color repeats, the right end of the thread, maximizing blending
and color separation through the use of stitches selected, and techniques such
as sequencing, pooling, striping, and random effects. Learn what to look for
when selecting over dyed threads in terms of monochromatic, analogous, and
polychromatic skeins as well as how value influences your work.
Students will have a choice of designs from basic spot motifs
(as shown in photo) or may creatively work a free form design. Counted, pulled
and surface embroidery stitches will embellish the design as many of the motifs
are worked over 1 thread. If you wish to finish this piece and mount it in a
box, you may bring a box that you have and design your piece to fit it, or the
boxes similar to those shown in the photo may be ordered in class. Class time
will cover many needlework finishing options available using commercially
available boxes. When you register for this class, please specify if you wish to
work on 28, 30 or 32 count linen. Your color choices are white/antique white or
tea-dyed fabric.
If you want to refine and perfect your shading as well as take
control of color with over dyed threads, this is the class for you!
Come to this exciting and fun-filled class as we
explore basic color principles to help you make more effective color
choices. A registration coupon is at the end of
this newsletter, but you may also register at the chapter meeting. The cost of
the class is $34 -- how can you beat that?! The chapter is paying for the
transportation and housing of the teacher, so you reap the benefits.
Saturday and Sunday, October 13th &
14th
Another wonderful opportunity! We have been able to hire Margaret
Vant Erve to come here for a two-day class. She is an exciting teacher
that Julia met at the National Seminar in Richmond. Her background as an
artist makes her approach to stitching more interesting because of her
perspective. Below is a picture of the class piece that will be offered
and a description of the class:
Spring Garden by Margaret Vant Erve
2 day workshop - basic surface embroidery knowledge required
Project size - 8" x 6"