Spending Time with the Bay Area Sampler Guild

Last weekend I had the great pleasure of teaching two classes, Fruit of the Vine Sampler Huswif and A Lady's Worke Box, for members of the Bay Area Sampler Guild  in the San Francisco area.



Unfortunately, I didn't get very many photos of Saturday's class, Fruit of the Vine Sampler Huswif.  However, here is one of Sarah, Sharon, Muriel, and Gauri hard at work on their needlerolls.



Here is a peek over Ria's shoulder of her progress.





 Here is Liz showing off what she accomplished on Saturday, but I took the photo during Sunday's class.

A fair number of photos were taken Sunday at the class for A Lady's Worke Box, and I thought you might enjoy seeing some of the sampler guild members.

The next photo was near the beginning of the class.  In the background are sisters Lupe and Blanche, whom I first met several years ago when I taught for the Valley Quail EGA, which is also located in the San Francisco area.  Margaret and Kate are in the foreground.

 Here are some more photos also shot during the class on Sunday.  Unfortunately, I neglected to get any close-up photos of the beautiful stitching and wonderful progress they made in class on their Jacob's Ladder needlebooks.

Here are Kim, Pam, Laurie, Eilene, Gauri, and Muriel.

Here are Laurie, Eilene, and Gauri in the foreground, and I'm in the background with Ria.

Here I am with Liz, Annette, Kate, and Margaret.

....and then, all too soon, it was time to go our separate ways.  Here I am with Laurie, Sarah, Gauri, Sharon, and Margaret as we were packing up to go home.  The table is still cluttered with the mock-ups I used for demonstrating the assembly process for A Lady's Worke Box.



One of the highlights for me was seeing the completed With My Needle projects the gals brought for me to see in person.  I know there was at least one more project not shown in this photo.

Below are some close-ups.

First is Annette's beautiful sewing pouch.  The design, Flowers for My Friends, is one that I created a few years ago to help out victims of the Italian earthquakes that did so much devastation.

This is an inside view of Annette's Bunnies in the Garden.  Isn't that cute fabric she chose to make her carrot scissors sheath?

I neglected to get an outside view but found this one on an earlier blog post.

Annette had told me that she has lots of internet stitching buddies, but none are local.  She was delighted when I told her about the Bay Area Sampler Guild in San Francisco.  She is now their newest member and took her first-ever classes over the weekend.  I think she's now hooked.  She's already making plans to attend their next meeting.  Annette gave me one of her beautful sewing pouches.  It is so wonderful--beautiful fabrics and a zipper so none of my needlework goodies will fall out.  I also like the fact that the pouch is relatively stiff, which will protect my charts from getting bent.  Thank you very much, Annette!

Here is Quaker Needlework Treasures I believe stitched by Sharon. (Please correct me if I'm wrong.)

Next are photos showing the outside and the inside of  Floral Needleroll. The chart package has charts and directions for two different needlerolls.  This is the version that is mainly stitched over two linen threads.  I can't remember if this one was stitched my Sharon or Shirley, so ladies please help me out.



And last, but not least, are Shirley's and Sharon's A Needleworker's Sampler Huswif.  Both ladies took this class a few years ago when I taught for the Valley Quail EGA.  Shirley hasn't decided if she will frame her piece or make it into a huswif like Sharon did with hers.  Sharon's needlebook is also shown in the photo.

It certainly was nice being with such a gifted group of needleworkers, seeing old friends (some of us go back to when we attended Sampler Gathering years ago in Plymouth, Massachusetts), and meeting others for the first time.  Hopefully our paths will cross again in the not-too-distant future.

After the class, I went up to beautiful Sonoma for a few days.  Look at the beautiful flooring in the hallway of the lovely inn where I stayed....how fitting for my having just taught Fruit of the Vine with its wonderful grapevine border!



Annette's Bunnies in the Garden

Californian Annette recently sent me some photos of her completed Bunnies in the Garden Sewing Case.

Here is her case closed.

And here it is opened revealing the needlepage and pincushion.  Below Annette's sewing case is her scissors weight and carrot-shaped scissors case.

Here is an enlargement of Annette's scissors weight.

And here is the other side.

Here is Annette's pincushion embellished with ribbon along the edges.  The pincushion is removable.

And here is an enlargement of Annette's carrot scissors case.  I love the orange fabric she chose.

In a note Annette included with her photos, she wrote, I have completed stitching your chart of "Bunnies in the Garden". This was such a joy to stitch. I am so thrilled that I was able to follow your instructions. Your instructions are clear and precise. I made sure that I read and re-read them before the cutting of the needle page. And I did it! WooHoo!!! That was a first for me.  If I could stitch all these sewing necessities, anyone can. I learned new techniques from you. I got to learn the Nun's Stitch, how to cut the design out, add a quarter in the scissors fob (never heard of it before, and I love the feel of the weight of it), and I got to learn gathering of the ribbon. And I also got to learn how to make a cord and didn't need any fancy machine to make it. I'm so thrilled. Now I get to enjoy my new sewing set for in time for Spring.

I added my intials on the scissors fob.  My ribbon was a bit too wide for my pincushion but I still used it becasue I did not have another color ribbon that would work.  And I did make the pocket on the needlepage, as per your instructions.

I stitched on 32ct Lilac Linen, threads - DMC, Silk Gloriana, WDW, Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe & Chameleon from The Cherry Tree, South Africa. The bunny and my initial are stitched in the thread from South Africa. The thread was given to me from a friend Lee who lives in New Zealand. So that was very special to me.

Can you tell that I truly had FUN stitching your "Bunnies in the Garden"? Yep, I sure did.

Annette, I can't begin to tell you how happy it made to read your note.  We try very hard to give very detailed assembly instructions, so it makes me very happy to read your glowing comments.  You did a terrific job with assembling this project!  You must be thrilled.  Just think, not only do you have a wonderful springtime sewing case, but you also learned some new techniques in the process.  I bet with your new confidence you'll be using the techniques on other projects.

The lilac linen is so pretty with this design, and I don't think your ribbon is too large.  It gives a luxurious look to the pincushion.

I'm going to put my Bunnies in the Garden Sewing Case in a shaker carrier along with my two Whitman candy egg tins.  (Yes, once upon a time Whitman made tins in the shape of Easter eggs.)

Bertie and her bunnies!

In August, Bertie from Gloucestershire, England sent me these fun photos of her completed Bunnies in the Garden.

Bertie found the bunny in the upper left corner of the first photo in London. The bunny is handmade. Bertie wonders if perhaps it is really a cat, and and not a bunny. It sure looks like a bunny to me. What do you think?

Rather than using the threads I used on my model, Bertie decided to use some in her stash. She used a combination of threads from DMC, Gentle Art and Crescent Colours. (Your thread colors look wonderful, Bertie.) The pinkeep is embellished with silk ribbon along the edges. Quite lovely, don't you agree?

Don't you love all the cute bunnies in Bertie's photos? Bertie, did you hide a bunny charm under the pincushion like I did on my model?

Thanks, Bertie, for sharing photos of your work. I'm sorry that it took so long for me to get them posted. Perhaps the next time we see each other, you can bring your sweet needleroll for me to see in person.

I had a pretty good weekend. We made it to the play on Saturday, but dinner out was too much. I also made it to church on Sunday for the first time in many weeks. (I had to take a pillow for my back to both the play and to church.) The one disappointment to the weekend was that I wasn't able to stitch on Garrett's birth sampler--I just couldn't handle the over-one linen thread stitching for the personalization. Maybe I'll try again tomorrow. I've only put in about 20 stitches in the last 6 weeks--can you believe that?

Today was my post-cataract surgery eye doctor appointment. I was giddy with excitement as I ordered my new glasses. (If you remember the eye surgeries were way back in June.) The glasses won't be ready until next week, but at least now I can count off the days.

Thanks for your notes of encouragement. I sure appreciate them. I'm defintely taking things easy--my stamina is really shot.

Gill's been busy--Acorn Sampler Sewing Case, Quaker Needlework Treasures, Bunnies in the Garden, Quaker needlebook

I have had so much fun this week hearing from stitchers from France, Japan, and now Australia.

Today's photos are from Gill Aldus. Gill is another beautiful stitcher and finisher.

The first two photos are of her Acorn Sampler Sewing Case. Gill wrote that this is her favorite of the projects. She added, "I had a blast putting it together and I show it off to everyone who visits! ;-) "

To see what the sewing case looks like on the inside or to see the project framed, look at it on my website.

The next two photos are of Gill's Quaker Needlework Treasures. Don't you love the gorgeous fabric she chose for her bag and the wonderful leaves on the ends of her cording?

Gill wrote, "The bag and needlebook was a present for a friend who loves Autumn which is what prompted the fabric choice; the needlebook is lined with the same fabric. She loved it!"

Next is Gill's Bunnies in the Garden sewing case, folded up and ready to be tucked in a bag to be taken somewhere. And last, but not least, is Gill's Quaker needlebook. I designed this for the Just CrossStitch magazine's Christmas ornament series. Thanks, Gill, for sharing photos of your lovely work all the way from Australia!

Please continue to leave your comments in the comment section under each blog post or in the guest book. If you’d like to send pictures, just email me. I love hearing from you!

What is they say about bunnies quickly multiplying? Well, that certainly is true this week with more completed Bunnies in the Garden projects.

The first is from Denise Archer of Reed City, Michigan. If you look at her photos, you can see how Denise changed her project from the original one in order to make her piece larger.

Denise writes, “I made the needle roll as a birthday gift for my friend, who also stitches with me, Elizabeth Bunn. She has a fondness for bunnies due to her last name and I thought it would be a great present for her. The needle roll was made on 25-count Lugana (over two), mushroom in color. I used all overdyed fibers on it.

The cushion was made into a tuffet. I beaded the edge of the tuffet and needleroll because I like to beaded borders on projects like this. I hope to be making myself one of these someday.

Also, I want to thank you for all the beautiful designs you have done. I have stitched a few and have a bunch of charts in my infamous "to do" pile. I'm really liking the Floral Needleroll chart you have presently and am contemplating that as a "must do" on my stitching list.”

Don't you love Denise’s interpretation of this project? The photos are a little fuzzy, but I think you can still see her changes and the beaded edging she added.

The next photos are from Françoise of Vichy, France. Notice how she changed the pincushion design and put a bird on it instead of a bunny. Also look at her lovely ribbon closure. As usual, Françoise your work “C’est magnifique!”

Robbin Douglas of Upton, Massachusetts whose An Emblem of Love you saw last week, just sent me photos of her Bunnies in the Garden. Robbin wrote, "Donna Granger (whose project was shown on Wednesday, May 13, 2009) organized a SAL on the "stitchingsmalls" Yahoo group in 2006 and this is one piece that I actually finished to completion. Given my skein of thread, working the bird with the two colors of blue was quite a challenge because the colors changed quite frequently. But it's a wonderful little piece and I really enjoyed working it. I decided to make my carrot a double sheath -- that way I can store my ruler and my rabbit scissors together; the threadwinder has a pocket behind the needle page.”









Robbin is another excellent stitcher and finisher. Was it clever for her to make a double sheath so that she would have a place for a bunny ruler? Look for lots more photos from Robbin.

Akemi Yumoto sent photos of her scissors weight along with two carrot scissors sheaths inspired by the one in the chart package.

Thanks, ladies, for sharing your beautiful work.

Bunnies in the Garden reminds me of spring time with the bunnies frolicking among the flowers. This is a fun little piece, and today I have three versions to share with you.

The first two photos are from Donna Granger who lives in Berkley, California. Didn't Donna do a beautiful job with the stitching and assembly of the needleroll, fob, and carrot scissors sheath? Did you notice her rabbit scissors?

Donna stitches (and finishes) lots of terrific pieces. I have other examples of her wonderful work to share with you in the coming weeks.

Sandra Kalber of London, England also stitched Bunnies in the Garden. She wrote, "I enjoyed the stitching and used the recommend Old Willow fibers, and I am sad that these are not being made any more."

Sandra must really like this set because she told me that she has made two sets. The scissors sheath is her own creation using the needleroll outside border design. Wasn't she creative? And look at the beautiful dupioni silk she used for her needleroll lining.

Look at what Myrna did with the same design....she added lots of goodies--a scissors case, box, ruler case, and an additional fob! Wow---another very creative needleworker!!