June 10 Stitch Gathering

Here are some of the projects our participants were working on at our June 10 gathering at the Hobby Lobby in Upland. We had a great time as always. Anyone and everyone interested in needlework is welcome.

 Ruth P. is working on a hardanger runner from Nordic Needle. She got all the way around the everything matched up, but when she started the inner section, it didn't fit. It turned out that she'd made the exact same counting error in the mirror image spot at the opposite end, so half of her stitching had to be taken out! But it will be very pretty when it's done. This is a beginner piece and is really fairly simple to stitch. Hardanger is quite sturdy.
















 Barbara S. is working on "Rainforest" by Kathy Rees on congress cloth. It's a lot of little samplers that make up one big canvas-work sampler.

Sally A. is trying to complete a project from Stoney Creek Pattern of the Month but keeps having to correct the count. When it's done it will be finished into a bell pull.



 

Denise M. is starting a new project by Dorothy Lesher called "Dragons Tea Party." This is from a recent workshop in Ontario.

 

Mary Lee M. had two little projects, a lighthouse by Stoney Creek and a small project from a Baldy View meeting.

We had a visitor today who received a needlepoint lesson from Denise M. We look forward to seeing her again.
 

Once again, thank you to Hobby Lobby and the Upland general manager Meribel for allowing us to use the classroom. Our next stitch gathering will be Monday July 8. Needle workers of all levels are welcome. We'd love to see what you're working on. Our regular meeting will be in Ontario on Wednesday June 19 at the US Bank building at "D" Street and Euclid at 7:00.

May Stitch-in

From now on we will be hosting a community stitch-in at the Hobby Lobby in Upland on the second Monday of each month. Our thanks go to Hobby Lobby and the manager Meribel for letting us have the space.

Our next stitch-in will be on Monday May 13 from 10:00 - 4:30. Come anytime, stay for as long as you like. Bring your lunch or go out to one of the many food places in the area. Membership in the EGA is not necessary because this is open to ANYONE. Come by and have fun with us!

February Meeting

This month we received the fourth flower for our basket band.
Here is a brief recap of our basket band project:

We started with a small row of bargello (also called Florentine or flame) stitch motifs. This is stitched with pearl cotton. Bargello is a counted stitch so it must be done on some type of "countable" fabric. Georgette chose hardanger fabric for this project.

The next month we added the first of our four flower designs, this one done in blackwork stitched with cotton floss and metallic cord. This is another counted stitch.

We also stitched our initials using the crewel technique and embellished them. Crewel is always stitched with wool threads. It is a surface embroidery technique that is not counted and is traditionally done on a heavier fabric like a twill made from linen or wool.

Then we added two more flowers. This one is done in the Deerfield stitch. It uses similar stitches to colonial stitching but is done with embroidery floss instead of wool. It is traditionally done in indigo shades. This is a surface embroidery stitch that also is not counted.

Then we had a crewel flower stitched using wool thread.

So this is what the basket band looked like going into our March meeting.











Georgette designed the fourth flower done in pulled stitch. It uses the traditional white-on-white (or in our case cream-on-cream) color so that you see the effect of the stitches more than the stitches themselves. There is sometimes confusion about pulled versus drawn thread techniques. Pulled thread techniques form a lacy look by pulling firmly on the stitching thread to distort the fabric to form holes. Different stitches create different hole patterns. No thread is removed from the fabric. Drawn thread, on the other hand, actually removes thread from the fabric to create the designs. Both pulled and drawn thread techniques are counted stitches. My camera was not working well so I will edit this post after I get some pictures.

I am sad to report that our stitch-ins, also called stitch-and-chats, will no longer be held at Ginger's Quilt Shop as the shop is closing.We will meet instead at the new Hobby Lobby classroom in Upland on Wednesday, March 6 from 9:30 - 2:00. We hope this new stitching spot works out where it's easier to meet new friends.  As soon as we have a firm schedule we will post it. In the meantime, stop by the Upland Hobby Lobby and tell Meribel "Baldy View says thanks for the room."

Don't forget that Helen is donating baskets to the first 12 people to have the basket band stitching completed by our April meeting, so get stitching! Georgette will discuss finishing the edge of the band at our next meeting.  We'll see you the USBank building at Euclid and "D" Streets in Ontario on April 24 at 7:00.