"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)
I don't know where the fall went, and here we are almost into the holiday season. Actually, I'm writing this on the biggest shopping day of the year, so I guess we ARE into the holiday season. I'd like to wish you and your family very happy holidays -- and time for stitching, of course.
The Stash Enhancement Auction held during the November evening meeting included items from Mary Finizio's estate, items Muriel Roe didn't want to move to Texas, and items donated by a non-member on behalf of a friend of hers who is no longer able to stitch, as well as many donations from our own members. It was a great time, and we raised $639 for the Education Fund! If you weren't able to attend, next time you should make it a point to be there, if only to watch Linda Conaughty in action as our auctioneer.
Coming up are our holiday parties. The day meeting is a luncheon, and the evening meeting always has so much food, it might as well be a dinner. Information on both of these meetings is to be found in the newsletter, but if you're attending, remember that there's a gift exchange, so bring a stitched holiday item for the exchange and you will be able to take one home.
There are also a couple of exhibits to be taken in this month. Lil Card has arranged an exhibit of our work jointly with the Central New York Needle Arts Guild; that exhibit will be at the Betts Library for the month of December. Also going on this month is an exhibit by the Oneida Chapter of EGA; it's being held at the Rome Art & Community Center, and you should find directions to that exhibit elsewhere in this newsletter. Let's try to support our sister chapter, and don't forget to see our own exhibit too.
The 2002 program will be available very soon, and we have some really unusual and interesting programs planned. I look forward to seeing you all at one or the other of our meetings -- or even both! And again, happy holidays to you and those you love.
| December | |
| 8 | 10:00 a.m., Liverpool Christian Church Board meeting - all are welcome (Note change of date!) |
| 11 | 6:30 pm., Evening meeting - Holiday Party and Ornament Exchange |
| 19 | 10:00am., Day meeting - Holiday Luncheon and Ornament Exchange |
| January | |
| 15 | 6:30 pm., Evening meeting - Stitching Chocolates with Pat Schmidt and Jill Sarkodie-Mensah |
| 16 | 10:00am., Day meeting - Stitching Chocolates with Pat Schmidt |
| February | |
| 19 | 6:30 pm., Evening meeting -Nametags Galore! with Mel Nichter, and Nametag Exchange. |
| 20 | 10:00 am., Day meeting, - Nametags Galore! with Mel Nichter, and Nametag Exchange. |
| 23 | 10:00 a.m., Liverpool Christian Church Board meeting - all are welcome |
February 2002 - Needle Art Exhibit There will be an open exhibit for the month of February 2002 at the Baldwinsville Library. 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
July 13-14, 2002 - Workshop Barbara Rakosnik will be with us for a 2-day workshop on July 13-14, 2002. She will be teaching her Perfectly Peony Sampler.
Now that autumn has arrived, all good stitchers should look at their stash and select an item or two to finish for a Billie Award next June. Kindly sign your name on the sheet provided at each day or evening meeting. As usual, if you sign and do not finish your project, please pay our treasurer $5.00 at the June banquet/luncheon. What a good feeling to have completed another piece of embroidery!!! Thank you.
Please note a change to Genevieve Jones' e-mail address - genjones@worldnet.att.net
New Members:
Ellen DiRubbo
Nancy Schad
Louise D. Meloling
3 Mott Road
Baldwinsville, NY 13027
315-638-1153
lmeloling@yahoo.com
The following memberships are due for renewal before December 31, 2001:
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!
Our chapter will be offering two Group Correspondence Courses in 2002. We'll be doing Ukrainian Openwork and Lace Ribbons. If you are participating in one of these, you have already been contacted with information on cost. Please make your check out to CNY EGA and be sure to turn it in at one of the December meetings or mail it directly to Nancy Hough. We expect to order the texts for both courses shortly after the December meetings, so that the groups can begin to meet in February or March.
Our thanks go to Phyllis Woodard for the September program on finishing the bargello ball ornaments; it was great to see so many different color combinations in October. Thanks also to Judy Cain for teaching the hardanger scissor fob in October; we've seen several of those finished too. Special thanks and kudos to Linda Conaughty for her auctioneer expertise; the auction netted $639 for the Education Fund, and a great time was had by all.
Our December meeting will be the holiday party; Linda Bruce has coordinated this, and you will find information on what to bring elsewhere in the newsletter. And continuing with our food theme, in January Pat Schmidt and Jill Sarkodie-Mensah will be teaching us to make a chocolate -- the inedible kind. These are very realistic looking and should be fun to make. At the February meeting, Mel Nichter will be showing us her extensive nametag collection; did you know that Mel has lots and lots and LOTS of nametags? We'll also be doing a nametag exchange, so do come and participate.
We've had some good times together this fall. Our thanks and congratulations go to all our State Fair winners. We're proud of you! Special thanks to Jean Klym for the glove frameweight program in November, and to Pat Schmidt for the project in September.
Looking toward what's coming up, Billie Stoughton and Janet Johnston have arranged a wonderful program for the December meeting. You won't want to miss this one! Check the article in this newsletter for information on what to bring, and come enjoy the festivities.
Our January program will be a chocolate -- the no-calorie kind. Pat Schmidt is going to teach us to make a chocolate that will look lovely as it sits out and tempts your friends. And in February we're going to have the opportunity to see Mel Nichter's extensive nametag collection; I'm really looking forward to that one. We will also be doing a nametag exchange, so be sure and come to participate.
In getting the program ready, we asked for volunteers to coordinate the June 2002 luncheon and the December 2002 holiday party. Sue Sears volunteered to work on the June luncheon, but she needs some assistance from other members. If you would be willing to work with Sue on this, would you please let me know as soon as possible? Thanks. EGA belongs to all of us, and we all need to do our part to keep it lively and interesting.
If you contributed to the Muriel Scholarship, you should have received a ballot by the time this newsletter reaches you. (If you haven't contributed but would like to, please call me at 607-756-7352 as soon as possible.) The ballots must be returned to either me or Dixie Nohara at or before the December day meetings; the name of the lucky recipient will be randomly drawn from all ballots returned. The drawing will take place at the December day meeting. The recipient will attend MER Seminar at Chautauqua in May, and will present a report to the chapter at either the May or the June meeting.
Mark your calendars for the Evening Meeting Holiday Buffet for Tuesday December 11,2001 at 7:00 PM. This is the Essentials Buffet for the Discriminating Palate - that is, hors d'oeuvres and dessert! So bring either an appetizer or a dessert to share. Volunteers are needed to bring paper products; Please let Linda Bruce (637-5596) know if you can bring napkins, paper plates, punch or hot cups. We will also be having our annual ornament/hand stitched holiday item exchange. If you choose to participate, bring a wrapped ornament/holiday item with your name on it as the giver. Don't forget to Show & Share! Bring any Holiday works in progress and/or your favorite stitched holiday items to inspire the group. For more information, contact Linda Bruce.
"It's a good thing" : To knit caps or booties, sew bereavement gowns for the Special Pediatric Unit at Saint Joseph's Hospital. See or call Jean Hirth for simple directions.
The December 19th meeting will be a covered dish luncheon. Please bring your own table service. If your last name begins with the letters A-G, please bring a salad. Those with last names beginning H-P, a main dish and those from Q-Z, a dessert. Each food item should serve 10-12. Beverages will be provided.
There will be the usual gifts exchange (optional) of needle related gifts.
Mrs. James P. Hughes (Ethel) will be speaking on "Teddy Bears". She makes her bears from all materials with joints in arms and legs. We hope you will join us for a few pleasant holiday occasion. Should there be any changes, they will be announced at our regular day meetings.
The Oneida Area Chapter Embroiderer's Guild of America cordially invite you to their exhibition "Needle Memories" December 1 - December 28, 2001. Presented in Galleries 1 & 2 at the Rome Art & Community Center, 308 West Bloomfield Street, Rome, New York 13440 - Reception: Saturday, December 1 from 2:00 p.m. To 4:00 p.m.
Coming from Syracuse on the Thruway: Get off at exit #33. Turn RIGHT on to Route 365 north. *At approximately 8 miles from the Thruway exit bear LEFT on NORTH JAMES STREET (the prison is on the right, large fenced in buildings) Should you miss this turn and come to the signal, make a left at the signal. The speed limit on N. James Street is 30. Continue on N. James Street to ERIE BOULEVARD signal. Get in the left lane. (There is a Quality Inn on the left and a gas station on the right) Turn LEFT onto Erie Boulevard. Go 1 block to the signal. This is NORTH GEORGE STREET. Go up North George Street to BLOOMFIELD STREET. Turn LEFT on Bloomfield. ( The Family "Y" is on the corner). The Rome Art And Community Center is across the street from the "Y". There is a circular driveway in front of the Art Center and parking in the rear. If the parking is full, you can park in the "Y" parking lot across the street.
If you are coming from Route 5. Turn LEFT onto Route 365 North and follow the directions above from the *.
Chautauqua-"Patterns from the Past" - May 1-5, 2002. Please consider going to this. The courses are great (see them on the internet at http://cstl.syr.edu/MEAR_EGA/PFTP). Registration starts January 3rd, but you can mail in your forms before then. We have decided to send our own basket to "Patterns from the Past" as we did in 2000. Donations are welcome. We have had some great donations to date, but could use some more to make our basket outstanding. Please let me know if you have something you would like to donate.
There is going to be an exhibit at Chautauqua in May. You do not have to attend to have a piece on exhibition. Please bring your pieces to the April meeting. They will be returned to you at the May meeting. People who view the exhibit vote on their favorite piece. There is always a very nice award for the winner. For those few people who have not returned "Patterns from the Past" favors, PLEASE get them to me ASAP so I may turn them in. Thanks to all of you who stitched them.
Our region is again sponsoring Group Correspondence Courses. Registration closes March 1st, with course books available at seminar in May. If you sign up for a course and aren't going to seminar, I will have them for you at the May meetings.
The Board of Directors of the CNY EGA will be meeting on the following Saturdays: December 8, February 23, and April 20. All meetings are held on Saturday mornings at 10:00 a.m. at the Liverpool Christian Church. Elected officials and all committee chairs are members of the Board of Directors, and your attendance is important. Members of the chapter are of course welcome to attend. Please note the change of date for the December Board meeting -- the 8th, not the 1st!
When I was little, my mother used to sew a great deal. I would sit at her knee and look up from the floor and ask what she was doing. She informed me that she was embroidering. As from the underside watched her work within the boundaries of the little round hoop that she held in her hand. I complained to her that it sure looked messy from where I sat. She would smile at me, look down and gently say "Child, you go about your playing for a while, and when I am finished with my embroidering, I will put you on my knee and let you see it from my side." I would wonder why she was using some dark threads along with the bright ones and why they seemed so jumbled from my view. A few minutes would pass and then I would hear Mother's voice say, "Child, come and sit on my knee."
This I did only to be surprised and thrilled to see a beautiful flower, or a sunset. I could not believe it, because from underneath it looked so messy. Then Mother would say to me, "My child, from underneath it did look messy and jumbled, but you did not realize that there was a plan on the top. It was a design, I was only following it. Now look at it from my side and you will see what I was doing."
Many times though the years I have looked up to heaven and said, "Father, what are you doing?" He answered, I am embroidering your life. I say, "But it looks like a mess to me. It seems so jumbled. The threads seem so dark. Why can't they all be bright?" The Father seems to tell me "My child, you go about your business of doing My business, and one day I will bring you to heaven and put you on my knee and you will see the plan from My side."
Author unknown
Deadline for the next issue, which covers March through May 2002, is February 20th.
The Rose Cottage |
A Stitcher's Garden |
Stitchery Row |
PAYMENT FORM
To: Nancy Hough
From:
________ $35 for membership renewal
________ $ 5 each for chapter pins
________ $ Other ____________________________________ (Please indicate)
________ $ Other ___________________________________ (Please indicate)
________ $ Total enclosed (Make check payable to CNY EGA.)
copyright (c) 2001 by Susan Kaplan