June Meeting and some Stitch-In Photos

Our meeting on June 17 was pretty much the usual. First, people started drifting in about 6:30, found a comfortable seat (isn't it funny how we tend to prefer the same seat?), grabbed a snack from our new snack table, and started to talk. Then we started the business portion at about 7:00 and got the boring part our of the way ASAP. Then we got to our program.

Pat C. taught our new project, Hapsburg Lace Sampler by Tanja Berlin. She talked a bit about the background of Hapsburg Lace, about which frankly not a lot is known. She did point out that about 25 years ago, there was some interest by a local designer. Pat said there were knots used, oh so many knots. Here is a pic of one of the old design leaflets.

Click on any photo to enlarge

Our Education Director, Yvonne B., stitched up the sampler using overdyed pearl cotton, solid pearl cotton, and metallic. We thought the effect was lovely. 

 It's hard to tell in the photos, but she stitched it on iridescent canvas. 

I really like the way the overdyed pearl created additional interest in the larger areas.
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Dark Solid on Light Background

Light Solid on Dark Background

Overdyed and Solid Threads on Light Iridescent Background

The same section in three different thread/canvas combinations.







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Here are a few pictures from our Stitch-In on June 24. We have quite a range of techniques.

The start of Hapsburg Lace

Hapsburg Lace on Blue Canvas

Embroidery by one of our quilters

Redwork

A canvas piece from ANG

Stamped work on a tea towel

The beginnings of a sweet bag

Another stitcher working on that ANG piece

Counted cross stitch

Cross stitch by Ursula Michaels - finished and framed!

Cross stitch Flower Power by Crossed Wing Collections

Another start of the Hapsburg Lace

Counted cross stitch

Needlepoint piece of a Charleston house, a souvenir from a trip

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  Last, in May we started an emery bag project by Laurie McClellan. It is a beaded Ultrasuede-covered button surrounded by beads to top an emery bag. Those of us not named Darlene will be finishing up our emery bag at the July meeting.

Darlene V. always adds a little extra to make it unique

Darlene's finished emery bag next to Denise M.'s started button

Laurie planned it to go along with our mermaid project that was our January birthday gift to our members. We paired on online freebie with linen, threads, a jewel and teeny pearls.  The design is from from the blog Cross Stitch Happy. We finished it as a pincushion with the trim stitchers' choice.
 

 

 I wish I had a picture of the one stitched by Kendra - she sprayed her linen with blue floral paint first and it looked terrific.

Our next meeting is July 15, with optional social time (and a snack) starting at 6:30 and the meeting itself beginning at 7:00. We meet at the Community Room at the back of the US Bank, 333 N Euclid Ave, Ontario, CA, or as the locals call it Euclid and "D" Street.

December Meeting Update

We combined our November and December meetings into one meeting on December 5. We enjoyed our annual "elf supper." Helen I. made a big pot of soup, several people brought salad, bread, and drinks, and Ruth P. brought a cake.

Our Vice-President of Programs Georgette handed out gifts to the members of a little ornament kit, an adorable little evergreen tree made from upside-down hearts. Georgette included a kit to finish the ornament too.

   

 She even included the backing fabric, circle card shapes for mounting, and padding. There was even twisted cording in the kit too! Here is Ruth P's ornament with added beads.



                                                                                               
Our next meeting will be held on January 16 at the USBank building, Euclid and "D" Street, Ontario, California at 7:00. Every one interested in any needlework that uses a needle with an eye is welcome.
Please join us!

Our project this month was the second step of out basket band for our Garden of Delights in a Basket. See more here at our July meeting.

 Georgette B. has been working hard designing this band. Here she is presenting the project. To learn more about our garden, click on "Garden of Delights in a Basket" in the Labels section on the right of the screen.



 


  At the top of the diagram is the bargello section from July. This month was crewel stitching. We are adding our initials (seen upside down on the bottom of the diagram) and stitching the flower on the upper left in crewel also. Each of the remaining three flowers will be stitched using a different technique.

Mary P. had the basting and the bargello completed. Georgette has planned the band to have several different techniques so that we can try a new stitch and decide if we like it without committing to a large project.

We also discussed how to adjust the band design to fit different size baskets.




Some of our members also brought in some show and tell. I forgot my good camera and had to use my phone camera so please excuse the picture quality.

The right project is a friendship sampler for Darlene V. She decided on the theme and colors and stitched the top band. Friends took turns completing the additional bands. Her theme was "stitching!"

The left is also Darlene's work. This is a ribbon embroidery tree from the ANG magazine done by her at Sunkissed ANG in LaVerne and framed by Kerry Ince at We, Of The Needle in Brea.

Our next meeting will be October 17 at  7:00 PM. We meet at the US Bank building at 333 North Euclid Avenue, Ontario, CA 91762 in the community room by the rear parking lot. The door opens about 6:30. Any one interested in needlework is welcome. This will be our last regular meeting of the year as we do not have a November meeting and our December meeting/holiday party will be December 5.

August Stitch-In

We had quite a variety of projects at our stitch-in.

Darlene V. stitched more on her birches project. Here is information from our May stitch-in. This is cross stitch using over-dyed thread.

 Georgette and Helen were both working on bracelets from a pilot project by Carolyn Sherman. This is a beading project.

 Lydia was getting started on "Corn-elia." This canvas project is being taught by the Inland Empire EGA chapter.

 This is "Samurai Warrior" by Judy Souliotis, stitched up by Jeannie T.  She's adding the fun detail now. This is another canvas project.

 More "Bargello Arrows" by Pam R. You can get a peek at more information about this here. 
You can just get a glimpse of Denise M. completed version of this same project in the back. This is a bargello stitch on canvas.

Here is a project from our own chapter. Mary Lee is stitching up the basket band from our Garden of Delights in a Basket series. This is bargello or florentine stitch on an evenweave fabric. Other techniques will also be on the band.

Here is "1Corinthians Wedding Sampler" from Stoney Creek being stitched by Ruth P. This is counted cross stitch. It's stitched with plain DMC floss and lots of blending filament.






Denise M. was working on a doodle cloth for a mitered corner technique she's learning through her whitework group. She was at the early basting stage and I guess my camera was bored and didn't bother to get the picture! Sorry Denise. It'll be beautiful when it's done. For more on Denise's whitework, just go back to the last post.

It's so much fun seeing everyone's projects and different techniques. We'd love to see your work too. We meet on the fourth Wednesday of each month at Ginger's Quilt Shop in Upland, California from 10-2. Our next stitch-in will be September 26. Again, thank you to Ginger for allowing us to meet at her shop.

July Meeting

Our regular meeting was held on June 18 and of course we had a lot of fun. We also had a new member join and two visitors! This month we began working on our basket band for the Garden of Delights in a Basket.

 Here is our wonderful Vice President of Programs, Georgette B., introducing the project. Helen I. has several of these baskets in her stash and is making them available for our members. The basket idea was to let our members try various techniques on small inexpensive projects so our band will also include several techniques. This month is a Bargello or Florentine stitch project.

 Georgette stitched up the first part as a model. Check out the instructions! As she is designing or adapting these projects for us, Georgette usually has to do each one twice - once to figure out how to make it work and once more to figure out how to write the instructions.

 She showed us her "waste cloth" for the project that she used to get the correct size. She talked about Florentine stitch and how with a change in the "step" the design can be altered.

 Georgette also brought in some materials from the Florentine study box available from Pacific Southwest Region. These are truly awesome resources for several techniques made up over the years and available to our local chapters. Go to http://psrega.org/study_boxes.htm for more information.

 And here are a few more items that we've made for our Garden! This spool pincushion was the chapter's gift to our members at the December 2011 meeting. A wool felt pincushion sits on a spool that we decorated with a simple cross stitch design.The cross stitch was attached just by using a tiny strip of iron-on adhesive. Very clever, Georgette!  The tassel was our chapter gift for December 2010.

Here is another item in our basket. Georgette adapted a design for a needle roll. Every item in our basket was to be not only a different technique but able to be finished without using a sewing machine. The top roll was stitched by our member Darlene V. and the bottom one stitched by Georgette. The front of each looks similar to the other. How about the backs?






This piece was finished by whip-stitching two rows of backstitching together. Darlene embellished her seam by adding more stitching and buttons. Georgette personalized her roll before she finished it.

From adding buttons and beads to changing out colors, Darlene has personalized a number of projects. See her spool pincushion on the back right? There is her tassel with extra beads on top. She also added red to her blackwork mint tin both in the stitching and on the trim. We look forward to seeing what new ideas Darlene comes up with for each project.



If you'd like to join us, please come to our next meeting to be held at 7:00 Wednesday August 15 at the US Bank building, 333 N. Euclid Avenue, Ontario, CA  91762.

The Second Item in our Garden

For our Garden of Delights in a Basket, Georgette B. designed a blackwork mint tin piece. Our kit included harganger fabric and black and gold floss. She showed us how to mount it to the lid and we finished it off with two kinds of black ribbon. It was a fast way to try out blackwork.

The First Item in our Garden

Here is the first item we made for our Garden of Delights in a Basket:

It's a needle book designed by Linda Driskell. Our program chairman Georgette B. was able to contact Linda and she kindly allowed us to copy and teach her design to our chapter members. Georgette's goal was to allow each Baldy View member to try a small sample of a new technique and to finish it into a usable item without a sewing machine. She taught the stitching over one meeting and the finishing over another. This project featured a harganger center and mock bullion flowers.

Look at all Georgette's pins and needles! Georgette demonstrated how to get an even cut on felt by using freezer paper.

We could make an optional pocket in the back for our gauge that had been a gift from our chapter to each member. Georgette had to make two needle books to work out the techniques and she put her monogram on the back of one. She pulled that design from the Dover book "Charted Monograms for Needlework and Cross Stitch." If I get a chance, I'll post a photo of that too.



Thank you, Linda, for allowing us the use of your design.