CONNECTICUT RIVER VALLEY CHAPTER
NEWS
May 2006

WEBSITE ADDRESS: WWW.CRVC-EGA.ORG

Just a reminder....Let Lisa Green know at klg7641@comcast.net if you have a new email account.

June Meeting:  Workshop on June 3rd

Meeting Site:  Thistle Needleworks, 1005 Hebron Avenue, Glastonbury, CT 06033
                                 Phone: 860-633-8503

Schedule for the Day:  9:30 am to 3 pm

Michael Boren, a rising star in the embroidery world, is coming to teach a one-day canvas workshop on Saturday, June 3rd.  The piece to be taught on Saturday is "Daphne".  The picture and information are listed below:

Daphne

A Counted Canvas Design

Stitched with Gumnut Yarns "Aztecs" stranded silk, "Jewels" perle silk,
"Opals" silk & wool, "Moonbeams" mohair and "Gemstones" wool,
and Kreinik #8 Braid

Daphne Design size: 5" x 5"
on 18 mono canvas

Daphne

The cost of the kit will be $40 for pattern, canvas, and threads.  Openings are still available, so sign up as soon as possible.  The deadline for registration is May 20th.  See the registration coupon at the end of this newsletter.

You may bring your lunch or purchase take-out options at two restaurants in the shopping plaza with Thistle Needleworks.  A short business meeting will take place at lunchtime.  Please bring something for show and tell, whether it's a work in progress, a project for this summer or a recently finished piece.

Students should be prepared to bring the following to class:
        #22 tapestry needle
        #24 tapestry needle
        beading needle
        laying tool
        light and/or magnification, as needed


Big News for October 7th (please note this is the first Saturday)

We will be meeting at the Duncaster Senior Residence on Loeffler Road in Bloomfield, CT.  It is easy to reach from Route 91 and offers ample parking.  (Directions will be included in the August newsletter.)  This facility has a wonderful meeting space that they are willing to let us use; lots of wonderful tables, comfortable chairs, plenty of outlets, delicious food if you wish to buy a sandwich, and a very pleasing environment.

At this meeting, we are planning to investigate the technique of blackwork.  Julia Appell will act as facilitator for this study, so come prepared to stitch and learn.  All you will need to bring is floss and the usual stitching supplies.  Other supplies will be provided.  More details will be in the September newsletter.


December 2nd - Hold this date for our holiday meeting

Plans are to continue our investigation of blackwork patterns and have a special holiday lunch.  The meeting will take place at the Duncaster conference room.


     

NEW ENGLAND REGION
"Region Day"
Pilgrim Hall Museum in Plymouth, MA
Saturday, September 30, 2006
10 a.m. - 3 p.m.

A VERY SPECIAL PROGRAM.................................

Morning session:
PART A:
  A tour of Pilgrim Hall Museum.  Pilgrim Hall is home to the Loara Standish sampler, the earliest sampler made in America, embroidered by the teenage Loara Standish, daughter of Mayflower passenger Myles Standish c1650.  The Museum also displays the needlework card table (c1750) embroidered by Mercy Otis Warren (1728-1814).  The tabletop, worked in wool threads on canvas, depicts a game of Loo already in progress, with the cards and the mother-of-pearl counters (both round and in the shape of fish), surrounded by flowers

PART B:  An up-close and personal look (front and back) at 6 American samplers.  Pilgrim Hall Museum contains a small but extraordinary selection of samplers, from the 1700's Elizabeth Brewster sampler to an 1832 sampler recording the Pilgrim genealogy of Saba Cushman.  The embroidered sampler is among the most significant of historic "women's artifacts," representing a form of art, education, and pastime, one that endured for several centuries, which, through its evolution, can be examined for evidence of changes in women's lives.

Afternoon session:
A presentation by Elizabeth Creeden, one of the country's most talented designers and needleworkers in crewel.  She will be sharing her current project: a 7 foot by 7 foot commissioned wall hanging of Alice in Wonderland.  The hanging is being stitched in the Arts & Crafts style of May Morris, using silk on wool damask, a style of needleworking that hasn't been done in 100 years or so.  The group will have the opportunity to view the wall hanging as a work in progress and then learn about the entire creative process, drawings through stitchery, with a discussion of both the milestones achieved and the challenges faced along the way.  This is a unique opportunity to interact with a contemporary needlework artist.

EXTRA! EXTRA! ...............Numbers are limited, so sign up early.....................

The New England Region will subsidize this program.  Therefore, the cost for the day is $45, including lunch nearby at Isaac's Restaurant.  Please register by filling out the form below:

NOTE:  The deadline for registration is September 23, 2006

Name______________________Chapter__________________

Address______________________________________________

Telephone___________________Email____________________

Luncheon choice: _______Chicken Cordon Bleu or ________Broiled Scrod

Please make check for $45 payable to NER-EGA

Send to:  Lisa Green, 14 North Drive, Simsbury, CT 06070-1214


TWO NEW GROUP CORRESPONDENCE COURSES OFFERED BY THE REGION:
 

COLOR PLAY                                    Teacher:  Peggy Wright
                         
May, 2006 to January, 2007

Play with color while beading two peyote-stitch bracelets!  This course covers four types of peyote stitch and methods of designing in the stitch.  You work exercises in flat and tubular, even and uneven-count stitch, starting with larger 8o seed beads and completing the remaining exercises in cylinder beads.  The course then covers basic color theory, and you work color exercises using cylinder beads in uneven-count flat and tubular peyote stitch. These exercises with color schemes allow you to plan your two bracelets.  After working the exercises, you choose your own colors for your two bracelets.  You work the flat bracelet first and learn to create the beaded toggle to finish it. You then work the tubular bracelet and learn to decrease to finish the bracelet's ends and the beaded end-cap.

Project:  Two bracelets
Beads & thread:  Japanese 8o seed beads and 11o cylinder beads, nylon thread
Colors:  Student's choice;  class covers color theory and use of color schemes
Skill Level:  Advanced beginner
Prerequisites:  Some beading experience
Text:  71 pages, including 10 pages with color graphics; spiral bound
Supplies (approximate):  $40 to $100 retail, depending on whether students use the same or different cylinder beads for the exercises and the two bracelets and whether they buy more or less expensive beads (the types of finishes on the beads makes some much more expensive than others). 

 

COLOR PLAY by Peggy Wright

REGISTRATION DEADLINE:  July 15, 2006

NAME_____________________________________PHONE______________________

ADDRESS_______________________________________________________________

CHAPTER__________________________________MEMBERSHIP NO.___________

EMAIL ADDRESS___________________________________

Enclose a check for $50 made out to NER/EGA

RETURN TO:  Lisa Green
                          14 North Drive
                           Simsbury, CT 06070
 

CREWEL CHOICES                                Teacher:  Judy Jeroy
                                  
May, 2006 to January, 2007

This course was designed to encourage intermediate-level stitchers to make choices, take chances, and insert changes in my example. Students will be studying curved long and short shading, whipped crescent spider webs, bullion rosettes, twisted chain, fancy lattice filling, raised chain, and raised outline stitches.  Students are encouraged to move the individual elements of the design around, and/or reverse them.  The course is designed for the intermediate level in surface embroidery but is suitable for more advanced levels also.  The oval design measures 7" x 10", and is finished as a picture.  My color scheme of corals, yellow, blue, olive, and grass green may not suit your taste, and you are encouraged to change the colors to suit.

There is an element of mystery as students are challenged to find the things that I would change about the piece if I were doing it again.  Numerous technical tips and hints will be given to allow participants to achieve excellence in this medium. Stitching and shading with Appleton™ crewel wools on linen twill fabric will allow students to produce the lovely embroideries that they have long admired.  Fabric, threads, and needles should cost from $42 - $50; scissors, hoop, and stretcher bars are also needed.  The text includes color photocopies.

History of the technique is given in some detail; you will learn how this form of needlework moved from England to America and how it was adapted to fit the conditions of the colonial world.

Project:  Picture
Size:  7" x 10" oval design
Fabric:  Linen twill
Threads:  Appleton crewel wools
Colors:  Student's choice
Skill level:  Intermediate
Prerequisites:  None

 

CREWEL CHOICES by Judy Jeroy
Stitched by Judy

REGISTRATION DEADLINE:  July 15, 2006

NAME_____________________________________PHONE______________________

ADDRESS______________________________________________________________

CHAPTER__________________________________MEMBERSHIP NO.___________

EMAIL ADDRESS___________________________________

Enclose a check for $40 made out to NER/EGA

RETURN TO:  Betty Berry
                            56 South St.
                            Leominster, MA 01453


Stitching Getaways:  The following is the schedule for the West Side Day group.  They will meet in the months that we do not have a chapter meeting, and a focus for each meeting is listed below:

September 12 Bead Encased Cabochon explanation by Linda Berry
November 14   TBA

The West Side Day group will be meeting from 10 AM to 1:30 PM at Suzanne Newton's house in West Simsbury.  Bring along your lunch and a project you are working on and/or any project you would like to share.  Please email or phone Suzanne at sfnjsn@sbcglobal.net or 860-658-2037 if you plan to attend.

Pequot Colony - The New London Library has been undergoing major renovation starting in October of 2005.  Rather than trying to find another room where they can meet, they have decided to have their stitch-ins at various members' homes.  The schedule for June, July and August is as follows:

June  - Anne Connerton's
July - Doris Boas'
August - Barbara Crum's

Barb Crum's house will be back up for any month that the hostess named isn't available.  Doris will be a backup for Barb, especially in the winter.

If more information is needed, call Doris Boas at 860-572-8441, or email @ ndboas@sbcglobal.net


CRVC-EGA Program
 
Saturday, June 3, 2006

"Daphne"

with Michael Boren

Amt. Pd.__________

Check #__________

Date Pd.__________

 

CRVC Program Registration Form -- June Meeting

Mail completed form to:  Linda Berry, 203 Tunxis Rd., West Hartford, CT
06107-3201.  Make check payable to CRVC-EGA.
The deadline for signing up for this class is May 20th.

"Daphne" with Michael Boren

__________Kit fee of $40

Name:     ___________________________________________________
 
Phone:    _______________________ Email:______________________

Due to the $10 increase voted by National EGA, our primary membership dues is now $47.

CRVC-EGA Membership

$47. Primary Membership
$15. Plural Membership (NER)
$18. Plural Membership (not NER)

For a membership card, please enclose a SASE.

Amt. Pd. ____________

Check #  ____________

Date Pd. ____________

 

CRVC-EGA Membership and Address Change Form

Mail your completed form to:  Suzanne Newton, CRVC-EGA Membership,
14 Madison Lane, West Simsbury, CT 06092. 
Make check payable to CRVC-EGA.  Enclose SASE for membership card.

     __ Address Change
     __ CRVC Primary Membership ($47)
     __ Plural Membership, Primary Chapter in New England Region ($15)
     __ Plural Membership, Primary Chapter not in New England Region ($18)

Name:            ____________________________________________________

Address:        ____________________________________________________

City, ST, ZIP ____________________________________________________

Phone:           _______________________ Email:________________________

Primary Chapter:   _______________________________________________

Membership No.  ______________________   Total Enclosed $___________