GREATER GRAND RAPIDS CHAPTER

NOVEMBER 2011

NOTES FROM THE PRESIDENT'S DESK

Greetings!

Many of our members are facing personal challenges and need to be remembered. Last week Susan D.’s husband, Jim, passed away, and we extend our condolences to her and her family. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.

Recently I had an opportunity to see a friend working on an interesting piece of stitching. It was not something I probably would have picked up on my own, but watching her stitch, seeing the fabric she used as well as the fibers, made me think I’d like to add it to my stitching stash.

While I was gathering the fabric and fibers, I overheard another person say something about copying her idea. The friend replied that she thought it was great, and was flattered that someone would want to stitch the same thing.

How many times have we chosen a piece to stitch because we saw someone else’s project, or a shop sample? It is always more interesting to see the actual project than a one dimensional picture, and to see how a stitcher interprets a design.

Sometimes I will change a color, or, in the case of samplers, change names, dates, and verses. However, for the most part I stitch as the designer intended. I wonder if stitchers in the past did the same thing? Did they see someone stitching a piece and like it? Were designs jotted down and shared? Were the groups of women who got together much like those of us today, getting together to stitch and share? Obviously, the answer is yes, or our craft, like so many others would be in jeopardy of being lost. Undoubtedly, the first sharing was between mother and daughter, much like my own daughter and me. She watched me stitching; asked if she could learn to do cross-stitching, and the rest is our history.

This is not to advocate photocopying but to advocate the idea of sharing our craft with others, teaching a technique, helping choose fabrics and fibers, teaching various stitches and the use of colors. Without each other to learn from, we risk the continuation of the historical significance of our needlework heritage.

Thankfully, we have many examples of what our ancestors stitched. We can stitch them as they did, or make them our own.

Until next month,
Happy Stitching!
Carolyn

CALENDAR
November
4 – Sampler Group - Friday at 12:30 PM - Call Susie H.
12 - * * * * * UPDATE * * * * * Stitch-In at Kris C's house in Holland - 10 AM to ? - Contact her for directions.
20 – NEWSLETTER INFORMATION due
No AM or PM Meetings

December
5 – Sampler Group - Monday at 12:30 PM - Call Susie H.
8 – GGREGA Christmas Party – Thursday at 6:00 PM – Pietro’s Restaurant, Grand Rapids
20 – NEWSLETTER INFORMATION due
No AM or PM Meetings

CHAPTER NEWS
2011 Christmas Party

The GGREGA Christmas Party will be held on Thursday, December 8 at Pietro's (on 28th St. near Breton. Pietro's offers a semi-private room (the Champagne Room) in their Pietro's Back Door area. The menu is less expensive, more extensive, the food and service are excellent, and it is a bit more centrally located. Although they call themselves an Italian restaurant, they also have steaks, chicken, chops, veal, and of course, great pasta.

We will be following this schedule:
5:30 PM - drinks,
6:00 PM - brief Business meeting
and Officer Initiation
6:30 PM - dinner.
The Ornament Exchange will take place after dinner.

We will be collecting hats, scarves and mittens for needy children.

If you wish to go to the Christmas Party but were not be able to attend the October meeting, please contact Kelly L., as she will be providing Pietro’s with the number of attendees so that enough tables are set up for us.

If you have any questions about the Christmas Party, please contact the Christmas Party committee volunteers: Jane W., Betty H., Alice R. and Kelly L.

2012-2013 Officers

We are still in need of a volunteer for the 2012 Chapter Secretary. This person will need to attend the evening meeting and publish the meeting minutes for the evening meeting. We are also in need of a Workshops Chair. Please contact Carolyn or Kelly if you are interested.
The Programs position for evening will be filled by a committee consisting of Jane W., Betty H. and Alice R.
Vonnie H. has volunteered for the position of AM Liaison, a key position in our chapter structure where we have both evening and day group meetings.
Many thanks to the volunteers who keep this chapter functioning smoothly!

Update: Great UFO Challenge Event

Alice has now completed 3 UFOs from the list she submitted. As she is the only one in the prize drawing, the rest of us need to get busy so that she doesn’t make a clean sweep of it!
{Reminder: you can still sign up for the Great UFO Challenge event by providing your list of UFOs (must have been started before 2010) to any of the GGREGA officers. You can take your own “before” photos or bring the evidence to a meeting or stitch-in where it will be photographed. The period of the challenge is May 2011 through May 2012.}

Newsletter Items

Any member may submit items to be published in the newsletter. Anything received by the 20th of the month will be included in the following month’s newsletter. The items can be of general Needlework interest or specific to this chapter.

UPCOMING EGA EVENTS
April 22-26, 2012 – GLR Seminar
Stitch Down in Titletown Green Bay, Wisconsin
Information about the Seminar is here:
www.ega-glr.org/GLR2012Booklet.pdf
Registration form is here:
www.ega-glr.org/GLR2012RegistrationForm.pdf
Hotel Reservations are now being accepted at the Hyatt Hotel on Main. When making reservations, please tell them that you are with The Embroiderers' Guild of America/Great Lakes Region Seminar (not just the Great Lakes Region Seminar).

REMINDER

Some of our members are allergic to or sensitive to perfumes, aftershaves and other scents. Our EGA Meetings will be Perfume /Aftershave /Scent-Free out of consideration for those who have these sensitivities.

CHAPTER NEWSLETTER

Our chapter newsletter is provided to our members in different ways: through US mail; via email; and online at www.ega-ggr.blogspot.com When you can’t access your email or find your newsletter, you can always find our newsletter online at our BlogSpot.