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.

October Meeting Update

For our October meeting, our program was Georgette B.s presentation of the next part of the basket band in our Garden of Delights in a Basket. This is what we've done so far:

We began the band with the bargello stitch, also known as the florentine stitch or flame stitch.

That same meeting, we had a choice of putting our initials on the band. Several members used Judy Jeroy's crewel initials from the "Personally Yours" article in the March 2010 Needle Arts magazine. Ruth P. had a really good time embellishing her initials.

The next month, we had more crewel with our first flower. Georgette showed us all how to transfer the design onto our fabric. This flower used pink buttonhole stitch on the outside of the flower, purple chain stitch to separate the "petals," and long-arm french knots in salmon for the center.

At our October meeting Georgette presented two flowers, The first was blackwork with gold accents. This mirrors our blackwork box lid we did earlier in this series.

The second item was Deerfield embroidery. As usual, Georgette gave us a brief background on the stitch technique we were about to learn. Based on colonial crewel techniques, Deerfield embroidery was an embroidery technique popular in the early 20th century. It was known for it's different blue shades of indigo-dyed thread. That edge is new england laid stitch.

 Georgette also showed us how to get those spike stitches at a consistent angle. She used what she calls a "one over one" technique. You hold a little piece of appropriately-scaled graph paper against the base of the stitch to establish the correct angle for the next stitch. The same technique is used to get the squares in the laid stitches in the center lattice.


We have one more flower to go and then we attach the band to our baskets. Georgette is designing that last part and will present it within the first few months of 2013. We invite you to our next meeting which is our special holiday event on December 5 at 7:00. We will be having our annual "elf" dinner and party. Please come! We meet at the US Bank building in the community room at the rear by the parking lot. The door opens at 6:30.

 Our 2013 meetings will be as follows:  January 16, February 20, March 20, April 17, May 15, June 19, August 21, September 18, October 16, and December 4.

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.

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.