CONNECTICUT RIVER VALLEY CHAPTER
NEWS
May 2007

WEBSITE ADDRESS: WWW.CRVC-EGA.ORG

June Meeting:  Saturday, June 2nd

Our program for this meeting will be a class with Catherine Jordan.  This class will cover tips for using over dyed threads to control color, so you can more confidently select and use color.  Students will select two (2) thread palettes of beautiful, colorfast over dyed cotton floss from Catherine's extensive collection to work with.  We will cover how to decide where to cut in the color changes, color repeats, the right end of the thread, maximizing blending and color separation through the use of stitches selected, and techniques such as sequencing, pooling, striping, and random effects.  Learn what to look for when selecting over dyed threads in terms of monochromatic, analogous, and polychromatic skeins as well as how value influences your work.

Students will have a choice of designs from basic spot motifs (as shown in photo) or may creatively work a free form design.  Counted, pulled and surface embroidery stitches will embellish the design as many of the motifs are worked over 1 thread.  If you wish to finish this piece and mount it in a box, you may bring a box that you have and design your piece to fit it, or the boxes similar to those shown in the photo may be ordered in class.  Class time will cover many needlework finishing options available using commercially available boxes.

"Exploring Color!" with Catherine Jordan

This meeting will be in the Duncaster conference room.  On the registration coupon, please check if you wish to order a lunch ($10).  This will be a sandwich, a cookie and a drink from a new source, Indigo Kitchen in Avon (homemade bread, high quality meats, etc.).  You are welcome to bring your own lunch if you prefer.  As always, you are very welcome to attend if you only wish to join us and stitch on your own project.

What to bring:  1. Show and tell -- Anything you would like to share
                            2. Usual stitching supplies

Schedule for the Day:  10 am to 3 pm
            10 AM to 12:30 PM             Morning program
            12:30 PM to 1:15 PM           Lunch, show and tell, and a short meeting
            1:15 PM to 3 PM                 Afternoon program

Here are directions to Duncaster:  (Official address is 40 Loeffler Road, Bloomfield, CT, but we would like you to enter the building on the Mountain Avenue side)

84 Westbound from Manchester
Take Rt. 291, exit 61.  Follow Rt. 291 to Rt. 218 exit.  Take left onto Rt. 218.  Follow for about 3 miles.  Take right onto Rt. 189 and follow to the center of Bloomfield.  Take a left on Rt. 178.  Continue straight on Rt. 178 for 1.4 miles.  To use the new front entrance, turn right onto Mountain Avenue and continue approx. ½ mile to entrance on the left into Duncaster.  From the Loeffler Road entrance or the Mountain Avenue entrance, once on the campus, visitors should follow the signs to the Aquatics & Fitness Center Entrance.

84 Eastbound from Farmington
Take exit 41.  Go left on South Main St. [which becomes North Main St. at West Hartford Center] for 4.6 miles to Rt. 185.  Turn left on Rt. 185 for 1.8 miles.  Turn right on Rt. 178.  To use the new front entrance, after about ½ mile turn left onto Mountain Avenue and continue approx. ½ mile to entrance on the left into Duncaster.  From the Loeffler Road entrance or the Mountain Avenue entrance, once on the campus, visitors should follow the signs to the Aquatics & Fitness Center Entrance

91 [North or South]
Take exit 36.  Go west on Rt. 178 for 4.5 miles to the center of Bloomfield.  At the traffic light continue straight on Rt. 178 for 1.4miles.  To use new front entrance, turn right onto Mountain Avenue and continue approx. ½ mile to entrance on the left into Duncaster.  From the Loeffler Road entrance or the Mountain Avenue entrance, once on the campus, visitors should follow the signs to the Aquatics & Fitness Center Entrance.

 


NER Seminar

The following members of CRVC attended a very successful seminar in Burlington, Vermont:  Julia Appell, Linda Berry, Lisa Green, Susan Jones, Lydia Landis, Kathryn Lord, Deb Milvae and Martha Piontkowski.  Catch some of us in the pictures below:

Our opportunity basket was very popular.  It received the third highest number of tickets in the drawing and was won by Deborah Dolby of Vermont.  Several members of our group were winners, but Kathryn and Julia scored big hits with very generous baskets.  They have donated several items from their winnings to a package that will be sent to an Ohio woman's correctional facility by Thistle Needleworks.

It was announced that Seminar 2009 will be presented by the Region at a location to be determined by our chapter.  That is our responsibility, and we hope to settle upon the site by the end of the summer.  Lisa Green will be the chairman of the seminar, and several of the jobs have already been assumed by other chapters.  The Education Committee of NER will be in charge of hiring the faculty, Southern Maine Chapter will produce the brochure, Central Mass. Chapter will create the nametags, Northern New England Chapter will act as the registrars, and Green Mountain Chapter will organize the baskets.


 


October Meeting:  Saturday and Sunday, October 13th & 14th

Another wonderful opportunity!  We have been able to hire Margaret Vant Erve to come here from Ottawa for a two-day class.  Her background as an artist makes her approach to stitching more interesting because of her perspective.  Below is a picture of the class piece that will be offered and a description of the class:

Spring Garden by Margaret Vant Erve

2 day workshop - basic surface embroidery knowledge required
Project size - 8" x 6"

The spring garden is probably the most delightful vision for the Canadian gardener. After a long winter it is wonderful to witness the profusion of color that emerges from the ground.  This embroidered garden features some standard favorites; Siberian irises, tulips and daffodils nestle in front of bleeding hearts while scattered in the foreground are dandelions and forget-me-nots.  This class will teach the student how to use combinations of simple surface embroidery stitches to create each of the flowers in this dense garden.  DMC flosses are used on Habotai silk.

"Spring Garden" by Margaret Vant Erve

Registration is open now.  We are making all of our classes available to EGA members in other chapters so it is important to register early if you want to make sure you have a place in the class.  The cost of this class is $35.
 

December Meeting:  Saturday, December 1, 2007

Our meeting will include a program at the Connecticut Historical Society in Hartford and a holiday luncheon in the area.  As you may recall, chair seats were stitched by CRVC members for the Governor's Mansion in the 1970's.  They now are in the collection of the Historical Society and will be preserved by them.  The information below gives a more detailed description of the morning program.

Connecticut Needlework, 1740-1840:  Masterworks and New Discoveries from the
Connecticut Historical Society Museum Collections

 
CHS Director of Museum Collections, Dr. Susan P. Schoelwer, will survey the
rich artistic and decorative legacy of needlework produced in Connecticut
prior to 1840.  During a period when paintings and prints were few and far
between, a variety of needlework genres provided Connecticut households with
color and artistry--canvaswork (needlepoint), crewel embroidered bed
hangings, silk embroidered pictures, samplers, memorial pictures, and whole
cloth quilting.  Several genres appear to be distinctively Connecticut
creations, including "mermaid" petticoats, bed rugs, crewel embroidered
garments, and a unique series of religious and allegorical scenes worked
during the American Revolution by Prudence Punderson of Preston.  The CHS
Museum's unparalleled collection of nearly 300 examples is the starting
point for a major study of regional needlework, funded by the Coby
Foundation, Inc., and the National Endowment for the Arts, to be presented
in a forthcoming book and exhibition.  Program participants will get a
"sneak preview" of this exciting project, with a slide presentation followed
by a "behind-the-scenes" tour to see collection highlights first hand.

When the morning program is completed, we will gather for a holiday luncheon at a restaurant in the area.
 

February Meeting:  Saturday, February 2, 2008
                                    (Snow date -- Feb. 9th)

Karen Duggan will visit our chapter again, but this time she will teach us one of her pieces.  Last February we enjoyed her discussion on how to improve our needlework and what judges look for.  This time we will benefit from her vast experience in stitching and enjoy more of her wonderful sense of humor.  More information will be in future newsletters.
 

April Meeting:  Saturday & Sunday, April 5 & 6, 2008

It will be a great pleasure to have Carole Lake visit our chapter for two days of classes.  The Saturday class will be her "How to Write a Stitch Guide" class, and it will meet in the classroom at Thistle Needleworks.  Carole can discuss about 8 canvases in a one-day class.  By the time we've discussed them, students should be able to write a simple stitch guide for themselves.  If you have a canvas you would like us to use as one of the eight, please let us know.

The Sunday class has not been decided as yet, but more news will follow in future issues.

SAVE THESE DATES for a wonderful weekend with an excellent, nationally known teacher. We've had to schedule her two years ahead of time, so join us while she is in this area.

FUTURE BOARD MEETINGS (All members are welcome)
          Tuesday, September 11th           Tuesday, November 13th


Stitching Getaways:  The following is the schedule for the West Side Day group.  They will meet in the months that we do not have a chapter meeting, and a focus for each meeting is listed below:

        Sept. 11th       Show and tell

The West Side Day group will be meeting from 10 AM to 1:30 PM at Suzanne Newton's house in West Simsbury.  Bring along your lunch and a project you are working on and/or any project you would like to share.  Please email or phone Suzanne at sfnjsn@sbcglobal.net or 860-658-2037 if you plan to attend.

Pequot Colony - The schedule for May and June is as follows:

        May 17th -- Anne Connerton's home

        June 20th -- Doris Boas' home

If more information is needed, call Doris Boas at 860-572-8441, or email at ndboas@sbcglobal.net


CRVC Program Registration Form -- June 2nd Meeting

Mail completed form to:  Linda Berry, 203 Tunxis Rd., West Hartford, CT 06107-3201.  Make check payable to CRVC-EGA.  The deadline for signing up for this class is May 25th.

"Exploring Color" with Catherine Jordan

______Kit fee of $34
 
______I have enclosed $10 to pay for my lunch.

Name:     ___________________________________________________
 
Phone:    _______________________ Email:______________________

 

CRVC Program Registration Form -- October 13th & 14th Meeting

Mail completed form to:  Linda Berry, 203 Tunxis Rd., West Hartford, CT 06107-3201.  Make check payable to CRVC-EGAThe deadline for signing up for this class is September 15th.

"Spring Garden" with Margaret Vant Erve

______Kit fee of $35
 
______I have enclosed $10 to pay for my lunch.

Name:     ___________________________________________________
 
Phone:    _______________________ Email:______________________

 

CRVC-EGA Membership

$47. Primary Membership
$15. Plural Membership (NER)
$18. Plural Membership (not NER)

For a membership card, please enclose a SASE.

Amt. Pd. ____________

Check #  ____________

Date Pd. ____________

CRVC-EGA Membership and Address Change Form

Mail your completed form to:  Suzanne Newton, CRVC-EGA Membership, 14 Madison Lane, West Simsbury, CT 06092.
Make check payable to CRVC-EGA.  Enclose SASE for membership card.

        __ Address Change
        __ CRVC Primary Membership ($47)
        __ Plural Membership, Primary Chapter in New England Region ($15)
        __ Plural Membership, Primary Chapter not in New England Region ($18)

Name:            ____________________________________________________

Address:        ____________________________________________________

City, ST,ZIP  ____________________________________________________

Phone:           _______________________ Email:________________________

Primary Chapter:   ________________________________________________

Membership No.  _______________________   Total Enclosed $___________