Salt City Stitchers

EGA Statement of Purpose

"The purpose of this organization shall be to foster the highest standards of excellence in the practice of the art of embroidery through an active program of education and study and to preserve the heritage of the art of embroidery." (EGA Bylaws, Article II)

Jean's Message

Dear Stitchers,

Can you believe it’s September already? Summer seems to go by so fast while winter lingers and lingers, so I hope you have stored up some good memories to review on those cold days.

We had delightful luncheon and dinners in June. Many thanks go to Lilly Kent, Bobbie Hemphill, Jill Sarkodie-Mensah and Kathy Mannix for planning these enjoyable events.

If you missed the July and August stitch-ins at Lois Lewis’s cottage on Skaneateles Lake, the days were perfect to be by the lake, stitch and chat. Many thanks to Lois for her hospitality.

The State Fair is over and several of our members took prizes. We hope to see all these items again at our September Show and Share. The Bea Borssuck Award was not given again due to lack of original entries. The Fair Manager feels that our criteria for the award is too restrictive so we will revisit this issue at the board meeting scheduled for September 20th. We will also be planning the program for 2004. All members are welcome to attend and if you have not submitted your program suggestions please do so at the September meetings.

Our annual auctions will take place at the September meeting. If you haven’t sorted out your stash yet, better get going, it's almost auction time.

We’ll be starting the Charmed Heart project in October. National has posted about 50 completed hearts on the web site. Many different color ways are shown. You might want to take a look.

Looking forward to another successful stitching year.

Jean

CENTRAL NEW YORK CHAPTER OF THE EMBROIDERERS' GUILD OF AMERICA, INC.

Chapter Officers

Committee Chairpersons and Members

Bylaws - Bobbi Yonai(chair)

Evening Meeting Coordinator - Dixie Nohara

Historian - Jean Hughes

Hospitality - Amanda Noel, Lily Kent, Judy Cain

Library - Joan Murphy, Kathy Frankosky

Newsletter - Susan Kaplan

Nominating - Sue Harris, Sue Sears, Connie Stanley

Outreach - Jean Hirth

Parliamentarian - Marceline Pelley

Publicity - Kathy Fonda

Sunshine - Julie Rimel

Ways & Means - Mary Ann Benkoski (Chair)

Workshops - Pat Schmidt

Dues: Annual dues are $35.00

Name Tags: Each member is required to wear a hand-stitched name tag at meetings and workshops. There is a $0.50 fine imposed for not wearing a name tag. New members may attend two meetings before the fine is imposed.

Newsletters: The CNY EGA newsletter is published four times a year: at the beginning of March, June, September and December. Advertising is accepted; please contact the newsletter editor for information. Deadline for each newsletter is the day EGA meeting prior to publication.

Reprinting: Any EGA chapter may reprint any original material contained herein. Any copyrighted material will be clearly marked and may not be reprinted without the author's permission.

Calendar of Events

Shows/Events

February 2004 - Needle Art Exhibit

There will be an open exhibit for the month of February 2004 at the Baldwinsville Library. Kathy Fonda will be looking for volunteers to help her organize a “Stitch a Valentine” project for people who stop by and are interested in trying embroidery. This is an excellent opportunity to display our work and share our love of needlework and a great chance to gain new members.- Kathy Fonda

Board Meeting – Jean Klym

There will be a board meeting on Saturday, September 20th. The agenda is:
Program 2004
Bea Borssuck Award
Recruitment of Officers
All members are welcome to attend.

Editor's Note - Susan Kaplan

Deadline for the next issue, which covers December 2003 through February 2004, is November 22nd.

Membership

The following memberships are due for renewal before September 30, 2003:

The following have renewed their membership:

Marilyn Butcher

Florence Bell

The following did NOT renew membership:

Joyce Droege

Cynthia Gamage

Julie Hall

Yvonne Klein

Della Pierson

Phyllis Woodard

Jill Zoll

Dues should be paid to the Joan Murphy at the evening meeting, Nancy Hough at the day meeting, or by mail using the form at the end of the newsletter. Please note that late payment may result in missing an issue of Needlearts and the newsletter!

Billie Awards – Billie Houghton

"September Days are here
With summer's best of weather
And Autumn's best of cheer".
So-------- Papers will be ready for signatures for Billie Awards at both Evening and Day meetings in September. Get your stash out. Select an unfinished project and DECIDE to complete it by the June dinner/luncheon in 2004. Same rule applies If you sign and do not finish, you are to pay five dollars to our Central New York Chapter Treasurer.
Happy Stitching and Accomplishment!

Upcoming Programs – Mark Hickox

September:
For both the evening and day meetings. Be prepared to show off your ribbons for the State Fair at the Show and Share portion of the meeting, then following the meeting, it's time to enhance your stash and get rid of some as well!
We will be having our annual Auction. Time to clean out your stash closets and drawers of the things you don't like, won't ever do or have no chance of ever doing. At the same time, bid on some great items that you MUST add to yours.
All proceeds go toward your Educational Fund to give you and your Chapter more great programs. Please participate.
Also, we will need a count on whether you plan on doing the Victorian Clutch Ball in October (day meeting) so Lil Card can get the kits made up.
Please think about what you would like to do next year for program as the Program Committee will be meeting the weekend following the meetings to plan next year. Please sign the sheet as to what you want to do, see done, or teach for next year.

October:
The Day meeting will be doing the Victorian Clutch Ball taught by Lillian Card. She will have the kits available, cost is undetermined at this point.
The Evening Meeting will be the National Project "Charmed Heart". Dixie Nohara has completed this piece and has made notes on the project.
For all those who have purchased the Charmed Heart outreach project from National and who plan to stitch it, please bring your pattern and threads to the evening meeting in Oct. so that we can get started. The finished piece will be on display, and we will provide you with some hints and suggestions for stitching. If you do not wish to do the Charmed Heart, bring a UFO or WIP to work on and join in the fellowship. If you want to do the project and have not yet purchased your pattern, the order blank is in Needle Arts Magazine.

November:
Both the Day and Evening Meetings will be making a beautiful Beaded Christmas Ball, taught by Mary Hickox. A supply list for what is needed for that project will be listed later in the newsletter, or if you prefer to buy a kit at the meeting, let Mary know ahead of time.
This should keep us busy for the next few months! :)

November's Project – Mary Hickox

Time to get your decorations and gifts started for the Season. How about adding an elegant beaded ball to your collection. This is a project that will be easy to make up, and look beautiful draped over any color glass ball ornament.
Supplies:

• one 2-2 1/2 inch glass ball ornament any color
• 2 packages seed beads, size #10 or #11 in two contrasting colors.
• One color being the main color and the other being an accent.
• beading thread
• beading needle
• 8 teardrop beads, or 6-8mm round glass beads to decorate the bottom edges of the drape.

News From MER - Judy Cain

First, news on the Region Director front: Unfortunately Anne Ward found she was not able to serve as Eastern Region Director, so over the summer a telephone conference call meeting was held for the purpose of electing a new RD. Laura Crawford is the new MER Region Director; Laura is from New Castle PA, a member of Keystone chapter. Gerry Stark, from Buffalo, continues as ARD; she had to resign when Anne did and be re-elected at the summer conference call meeting, but it's now official again.

If you haven't yet registered for EGA Seminar 2003 in Rye, New York, being held October 19-25, there's still time, and it can be done online if you've got computer access. Go to http:\\www.ega-usa.org and click on the Seminar brochure; then click on the online registration link. From there it should be self-explanatory.

The GCCs that MER sponsored in 2002-2003 were sent to the teachers, and some have already been critiqued and returned. When all of our projects have been critiqued and returned to the region contact person, they will be sent to me and I will distribute them. It was decided at the May Region meeting to offer four new GCCs through the Region, and input is being sought from the chapters to decide which particular ones should be offered. If you look through the Education Brochure and find something that you'd really like to do, please let me know and I'll pass the information along to the Region coordinator. Each participant pays for his or her instruction booklet plus $5 to help with postage; materials, of course, are also supplied by each stitcher. Choices are expected to be finalized late in September, so if you could let me know sometime in September which GCCs you'd like, perhaps yours will be among those chosen.

Little Stitches IX will be hosted by the Chemung Valley Chapter, in Elmira. It will be held on September 11th, 2004, at the Hilton Gardens, just off Route 17 near Arnot Mall. The purpose of Little Stitches is to highlight the teachers in our region; if you would like to submit a proposal for Little Stitches IX, please contact Marilyn Sbedico, 607-733-5709, or submit your proposal to Marilyn at 151 W. Bennett Circle, Elmira NY 14903 or to Catherine Gordon, 76 White Tail Drive, Ithaca NY 14850.

Marilyn Bedford is compiling a list of people who are willing to teach at the Region level. If you'd like to be included on this list, please call or send your name and phone number or e-mail address to Marilyn at 814-899-2508 or mbedford@ncinter.net She will then provide you with the information needed. The list will eventually be provided to each Region chapter.

Treasured Stitchery chapter, in Wellsboro PA, is hosting an exhibit November 2-25, 2003, at the Gmeiner Art and Cultural Center, 134 W Main, Wellsboro PA 16901. Opening reception is November 2 from 2 till 4 p.m.; the show will be open 7 days a week from 2 till 5 p.m. If you have a group which would like to see the exhibit outside of these hours, you may contact Anne Greer at 570-724-1917 to make arrangements. There is no admission charge.

That's all till next time -- lots of opportunities for neat stitching stuff here! I hope you are able to take advantage of some of it.

Ways and Means Wares:

Bookmark $1.50

Letter Opener 1.50

Tape Measure 3.00

Mini Carry All 3.50

Total $9.50

OR Mini Carry All Set (includes all of the above) $9.00

Tote Bags with machine embroidered CNY EGA Logo $20

All items will be available at both Day and Evening Meetings. Checks are acceptable and should be made out to CNY EGA. The bookmark is also a magnifier and has rulings on it. The tape measure is fiberglass, so one inch won't grow to two! It also has one of those click and reels right back in gizmos. Great for your purse, or his tackle box. The letter opener works very well as a letter opener. Judy Cain keeps coming back for more of these.

What about taking the mini carry all, adding a cute mini project, or just a piece of cloth and some thread for doodling and give it as a present to your granddaughter, your niece, or a friend who's shown some interest, along with a promise to spend some time teaching them. This would be a present for both of you!

Lastly remember, profits go into our educationfund so we can have more teachers to get us hooked on more stitching things so we can spend more money supporting our stitching habits!

And you'll probably need another tote bag to carry it all in!

Stitching with Purpose

By: Dennise Cardona - Kreinik Mfg., Co., Inc.

Today, we stitch not because we have to, but because we want to -- because we choose to. We stitch because of the pure enjoyment of the whole experience of it. Right? Does that reason make you feel guilty? If it does, you're not alone. There are many stitchers who admit to feeling consumed with guilt because they spend their free time enjoying this great activity rather than scratching items off their to-do lists. However, stitching has a purpose far beyond simply being an indulgence. To overcome this sense of guilt and instead approach stitching with a purposeful spirit, it is important to understand the real reason stitchers indulge in this great activity.

It is important when searching for this purpose to consider what stitching does for you emotionally. How does it make you feel? Some say it makes them feel happy, relaxed, more in touch with their senses. Others stitch to pass time, to relax at the end of a long day, to experience a sense of accomplishment, to tap into their creative sides, to share laughs and good times with other stitchers, or to share themselves through their creations. What is your reason to take a blank canvas and add color and design until a finished piece emerges? Some admit that it is to experience that wonderful sense of accomplishment-being proud of the way a design captures the moment after they breathe life into it. Most would agree that the self-fulfillment experienced after accomplishing such hard work is significant and serves as good reason to pursue needlework. The joy that comes from accomplishing is wonderful. Emotions are contagious and joy is one that people surely don't mind catching.

When you stitch, do you ever find yourself asking, 'shouldn't I be doing something else'? Why do we impose guilt on ourselves when we indulge in something that has such positive effects? Perhaps we need to step back and ask ourselves just how much has our work touched the lives of people around us. Needlework is an intimate activity, one that gives us the profound ability to place our love directly in the hands of those for whom we care most deeply. When we poke that needle in and out of our canvases, a part of ourselves is embedded in every stitch. We can create beautiful gifts, ones that carry a value beyond any store-bought item because of the emotions that go into creating them. The sweet reward that comes from giving someone special a project into which you poured your heart and seeing the reaction when she realizes -- hey, she took all this time to create this for me - should make you feel proud, not guilty. A gift of this caliber has the potential to be one of the most relished gifts this person will ever receive because you showed her how important she is to you. The time, talent, and care, which you put into it, will forever be etched in her mind. So before you question whether you should be checking off more items on your daily to-do list, instead, remember the impact your stitching has on those special people in your life.

So, whether you stitch for simple joy, to touch people's lives, or to share a part of yourself with others, take solace in knowing your reason serves a great purpose. Don't feel guilty for taking time out for yourself to enjoy your stitching, rather keep in mind, your indulgences become someone else's treasures, ones that last a lifetime and act as a constant reminder of the love you hold for them. Most important, be proud of your creations and continue to stitch your heart out!

©Copyright 2003 Kreinik Mfg. Co., Inc. This article may be reproduced for distribution. Sign up to receive Reflections newsletter, plus free project and product updates: email kreinik@kreinik.com or call 1-800-537-2166 or visit http://www.kreinik.com

Stitching Etiquette

1. Go to class with an eager attitude and an open mind
2. Be familiar with a waste knot, an away waste knot and an L stitch.
3. Learn to count threads before class.
4. Know how to count diagonally over intersections (or up two, over two if diagonals are difficult for you).
5. Bring a pencil and a notebook; write detailed notes for when you stitch at home.
6. Listen when the teacher is talking. This is important.
7. Observe classroom etiquette.
8. Ask questions if the teacher invites them.
9. Do all the assigned pre-work, if possible.
10. Go at your own pace; please don't be intimidated by others who stitch rapidly.
11. Always remember this: everyone was a novice once.
12. And this: the teacher loves stitching, too.

Thank you all for your very kind remarks.

Jean Hilton

PAYMENT FORM

To: Nancy Hough

From:

__________________ $35 for membership renewal or $16 for plural membership

__________________ $ 5 each for chapter pins

__________________ $ Other _____________________________(Please indicate)

___________________ $ Total enclosed (Make check payable to CNY EGA.)