July 2015 Meeting

Our meeting was held on July 15 at the US Bank building in Ontario, California. Our President and other members were not in attendance. Poor babies, they were stuck in Phoenix, Arizona at the Needle Arts Mystery Retreat. Sorry Helen, Alice and Pam, we feel for you.

After a brief business meeting, Laurie McClellan from El Segundo Chapter presented part two of her emery bag project.

So why have an emery bag? You know that cute little strawberry often attached to a tomato pin cushion? That is supposed to be filled with a fine grit emery sand. Emery comes in black or white (there is no difference in quality). The purpose is to sharpen and polish your needles. You simply poke the needle into the emery several times. Laurie emphasized several points about good emery bags: 1. It should be packed in a tightly woven fabric then encased in another fabric. You don't want sand leaking everywhere, and if any does make it through the tight fabric, it should be caught by the second layer; 2. Don't use any synthetic fabrics in your bag construction. They will dull your needles, which takes away the benefit of using the bag in the first place; 3. Don't use the emery bag as a pin cushion. Emery has a small amount of moisture in it because it's sand. Your needles will rust left in emery; and 4. Only use your emery bag for sharp needles. Tapestry needles have a blunt tip and won't go through the bag fabric without making a hole. Since Laurie is the curious type that does unspeakable things like cut open little fabric strawberries to see what's really inside, she told us that a lot of those little strawberries are actually filled with wood shavings. They make the strawberry look cute, but they don't do much for your needles.

Our May meeting was covering a button with beads. Laurie's kits included a button she had covered for us in Ultra Suede with an initial button already glued in place, lots of different seed beads, some accent beads, needles, beading thread and a beading mat.

Laurie again came with everything all organized and ready so that the project could likely be completed during the meeting. She had made little yo yos of tightly woven muslin, filled them with white emery sand, and sewed the tops firmly shut. She had all-wool felt in different colors, charms, trims, and colored beading thread. We had to cut the right-sized felt circle, make a yo yo, tuck the emery-filled yo yo inside it, and then sew on the button. We then trimmed it out with something pretty and finished it off with a charm.

The bag is about 1 1/2 inch across. It's an attractive and useful addition to our stitching tools.

Thank you Laurie for such a fun and easy project. Our chapter always enjoys your programs. The mermaid design is a free chart at http://www.xstitchhappy.net/2014/05/mermaid-scissor-fob.html.
Don't forget to check out our stitch-in page. Our August meeting will be another session with Pat on the Hapsburg Lace Sampler AND our annual ice cream social. We meet at the US Bank building, 33 N Euclid Ave, Ontario, California. Social time is 6:30, the meeting starts at 7:00. Keep stitching!