Santa Clara Valley Chapter of the EGA
Education Director's message
It’s Autumn, and everyone is busy-busy, scurrying around like ants. If you don’t have children to worry about, there are grandchildren. If you don’t have to worry about people, there are holidays to plan for. Got all those ornaments finished?
Me? I’m inside relaxing and trying to stay cool. 100 degrees or more all week. Chill out- this too shall pass, hopefully before we all lose our minds. Stitch on!
Assorted Orts from Margaret, September 2024
I am always on the lookout for email and snail mail from EGA. If Covid gave us nothing else, it has seemingly caused an increasing awareness and support of the virtual world. Those of us who are somewhat isolated because of location or state of health are still able to find areas of interest and ways to communicate with each other. EGA has stepped up big time on the national and regional levels, and there is a wide variety of things to do, places to go, and learning experiences. The national website has a myriad of opportunities, some of which can be accessed 24/7 and printed out as needed.
I have a few from the last couple of weeks. Marion Scoular has an oldie but goodie blackwork project “The Princess and the Pea”, presented as a Lightning Round. The newest Needle Arts has an interesting sampler with a reproduction project, two bookmark project of motifs from the sampler, and a third bookmark printed in the magazine. The bookmarks are quick to stitch on banded fabric. There are new Lightening Rounds, ICC’s, and virtual lectures. An article on nametags gave me a couple of ideas for one to stitch.
As usual, check out Mary Corbet’s blog and that of Inspiration Magazine. Both are free, signup is easy, and you can either just look or get into real trouble. Plus, they are always there on the websites which are easily searched.
Finally, there is a new book available from Krista West, the mover and shaker behind Avlea. This is so well prepared it almost feels like a thesis. Krista has a background in Greek Orthodox liturgical textiles, and her current output is basically folk embroidery designs for the home.
The book is called Everyday Folk. It is a soft-back publication by David & Charles, and includes an introduction, information about the craft, 14 specific projects of varying sizes, a 40 page design library, a list of suppliers and an index in 144 closely written pages. Price is abou1 $21 on Amazon, and it will be available on Kindle for about $18 in September. If you want to get an idea of what the designs are like, EGA has a free chart and instructions for making a small bag on the website.