January 2025 Meeting

We had a great January meeting and if you missed it, you missed something special.   We currently have 36 members - which includes one new members since our January meeting.   

President Joan welcomed everyone.   Joan thanked all who helped with the decorating the Woodstown Library’s Christmas Tree.  

Group Correspondence Course - Joan is working on the paperwork for National for the Group Correspondence Course.   Watch for the email she will be sending to those who are participating in the course. 

Nominating Committee - Joan asked for volunteers to serve on the Nominating Committee.  If you would like to be on the Committee, please let Joan know.  A slate will need to be presented at our May Meeting with elections at the June meeting.

Regional Seminar - Sign ups for the Regional Seminar in Gettysburg, PA will close at the end of February.   Check out the EGAUSA.org website.

President’s Challenge - Last January, Joan challenged all members to create a name tag in recognition of our 50th Anniversary.   Members received some gold thread and were sent off with their thinking caps.    Here are some of the name tags that were made.    Marian Smith was the winner of a gift card chosen by a drawing of the names of those who participated. 

2024 Contract Challenge - January ended our “Contracts” for 2024.   Members made a contract with themselves to pledge to finish a project during the year.    Thank you to Pat Lerch for coordinating this challenge.    Stacy Stinson was the winner of the gift card drawing.  We will not be doing a challenge in 2025.

Christmas in July - Linda is looking for project ideas and three volunteers to each teach a class in July.

Camp WannaStitch - Several members are attending Camp WannaStitch in Ocean City, Maryland later this month.   Caryl Carthew will be taking the THaP class (Take Home a Project class) on behalf of Lamplighters and will return to teach it to our members.

Programming - For February, March, April and June, Caryl  will teach us two stitches each month for the THaP Needlebook.   This project will be teaching how to stitch on linen and will teach a series of new stitches.   Once stitched, the project will be made into a needle book that will showcase your stitches on the outside cover.   The cost will be $5 and linen will be provided.   You will need to supply one skein of floss in whatever color you wish.  You should also bring a 6-inch hoop to the meetings.

Show ‘n Tell - We had a good variety of finishes on display.  

Harvest Friendship Biscournu by Caryl C

Hands on Design Advent piece, stitched and fully finished by Caryl C.

Hands on Design Advent pattern, stitched by Stacy S.

Rock and Roll sampler from Heartstrings Designs, stitched by Stacy S.

ANG Canvas work by Patrick B.

Labor of love, stocking for Patrick’s grand daughter,

Gilly purse, needlebook and scissors keep, stitched and finished by Becky G.

Autumn Hues, a Mary Corbet design, stitched and finished by Becky G.

Dollar Store lucite frame that holds a stitched flower perfectly by Becky G.

Token of Fall, Hello from Liz Mathew’s, stitched by Becky G.

Zwiegart pattern designed for their plaid cloth, stitched by Becky G.

Bundled up birdie from Blue Ribbon Designs, stitched by Robin T.

Temperature Tree from Stitching Mommy (Etsy).   Each leaf represents a day of the year and the color is determined by the high temperature of the day.  Stitched by Robin T.

Friendship Sampler from Hello from Liz Mathew’s.   Each flower is stitched by a friend.  Robin T.

Program - Our program for the night was a display by Patrick Barron.   Patrick is a member of Lamplighters, an ANG Chapter, Delaware Valley Historic Sampler Guild and other guilds.   He is from Oxford, PA and has his our landscaping business.   He enjoys the challenge of learning new needlework stitches and techniques and likes the meditative benefits from stitching encouraging us all to enjoy the stitch.  He brought with him many of his unique finishes.   He says he sees an object and it called to him to have something stitched on it.   Many of the designs are of his own making.  He was great with sharing his thought process and his many finishes.     

Here are just some of the items she brought to share.

American Tapestry  - Becky G shared information she received from Stefan Romero, Director  of the America’s Tapestry.   This project, America’s Tapestry, 13 Colonies, 13 Stories, 1 Nation is recruiting stitchers from the 13 original colonies to stitch on a panel that is representative of their state.  The panels have been diesgned in collaboration with historical organizations from each of the original colonies and will be stitched over the next 18 months.   Once completed, the Tapestry will be exhibited in prominent gallery spaces in 2026 and 2027.   The historic advisor for New Jersey is the Passaic County Department of Cultural and Historical Affiars.   Reaserach has been completed on the historic Dey Mansion that famously hosted Lafayette’s and Washington in 1780.  Romerois recruiting stitchers from every state and is need of Delaware stitchers right now.   Each state is also providing an institutional backer.     Check out their website. https://americastapestry.com/

Robin shared information on a new cross stitch store in Dover, DE.   It is Floss and Flame, 1023 Walker Road, Dover.   They opened in November and their inventory is low but do offer a wide variety.   They carry many of the popular designers (Heart in Hand, Liz Mathews, Kathy Barrick, Tiny Modernist, Primrose Cottage, Blue Flower, Blackbird, Prairie School, Rebel Stitcher and more).   Owner, Jennifer, has a great supply of Classic Colorworks, Weeks Dye Works and DMC.  She also has fabric in the popular counts and will cut to 1/4 and 1/2 yard sizes.  The ‘flame’ part of the name comes from the hand poured candles she also has in the shop.  Jennifer is glad to host ‘stitch ins’ at the shop.   She just asks that you give her a days notice so she can have the tables set up.  

 

I have included an updated Member Roster to reflect our newest member, Ruth Uhey.   Ruth is from the Dover area of Delaware.  She is a  beautiful stitcher and makes lovely quilts as well as many other sewn objects.   Ruth has a Flosstube channel and can be seen at.  Spectrum Farms Needlework.

There were 17 in attendance and 3 attended by Zoom.

Next meeting - February 13, 2025 at 7 pm.

December 2024 Meeting

Our December Meeting was the usual enjoyment of good stitching friends and good holiday snacks to be shared.   Our meeting was called to order by President Joan T.   

• Lamplighters decorated the Library Tree on December 6th and returned to the Library on January 3rd to take the tree down.
• Golden Name Tag Challenge should - Joan put out a year-long challenge last January for members to make a name tag to recognize our 50th Anniversary.   Make sure you bring your finished name tags to the January Meeting.
• Group Correspondence Course - We have 12 members who have showed interest.  The deadline will be the January Meeting.   The piece is the Love and Laughter Sampler by Denise Pratt Harrington.   Twelve have signed up so far.   
  

• Pat Y asked members who know former member Karen Kayser to send her well wishes cards.
• Membership - Currently we have 34 members.   

Show and Tell

We had a number of lovely items shared.   They can be seen on the Lamplighters Facebook page.

Program

Members were asked to bring in their most memorable piece or a piece that had a special meaning to them.  Those who brought in a piece to share, took turns sharing their piece and its special meaning.   We saw some lovely pieces and heard some lovely memories from the stitchers. 

Diana T helped us finish our wool cardinal just in time to add to our holiday decorations.

Our next meeting will be Thursday, January 9th at 7 pm.   Doors open at 6:45.    Members who participated in the Name Tag Challenge should bring their name tags to share.   

November 2024 Meeting

We have a full November meeting.   There were  20 members present.

President Joan T. called the meeting to order and welcomed all.  She shared a Certificate of Recognition received from EGA National congratulating us on our 50th Anniversary!   There will be an article in the next NeedleArts magazine about our celebration!

Members are invited to meet for lunch on Friday, December 6 at noon at the Woodstown Dinner.   Following lunch, all will go to the Library to decorate the holiday tree.  We have the Showcase to decorate and non-holiday items can be placed in it.  Members will also meet the first Friday in January, for lunch and to ‘un’decorate the Library tree.   All members are welcomed to attend either or both days. 

2024 Challenge

Joan had challenged us all to create a ‘golden anniversary’ name tag.   We each received fabric and some golden Kreinik.   Those who completed the challenge should bring in their completed name tags to display at the December meeting.

Contract Pieces

If you completed a ‘contract’ with yourself to complete a project in 2024 and have completed the project, let Pat L. know.  Those who have completions will have their name entered into a drawing.

Regional 

The Regional seminar will be in June 2025 in Gettysburg, PA.  Check out your email from MAR for more information.

Group Correspondence Course (GCC)

We have 12 members interested to date.  This will start sometime in the spring.  The piece is a sampler by Denise Harrington Pratt

Programs

Linda has a couple pin-keep kits available from the September meeting if anyone would like one.   The cost is $3.00.

Show ‘n Tell

We had a great amount of Show ‘n Tell on hand to feast our eyes on.    These photos have been added to our Facebook page.

Stumpwork by BJ

Just Nan - Central Park - by BJ

Poppies Stumpwork by BJ

One canvas work and 18 felt Christmas Stockings by BJ.   That’s a lot of stockings!

Katie C.’s snowflake sweatshirt

One in a series of four, bird’s nests from Cross Wing Collections, by Becky G.

Looks good enough to eat - chocolate cake by Joan T.

“Tribute” by Debbie Rolley, stitched by Linda W.

40 count over one peacock by Linda W.

From Summer House Stitche Workes by Robin T.

Harvest Time from Lila’s Studio, stitched by Robin T

East Coast Sampler from Jeannette Douglas Designs Retreat, stitched by Robin T

Mr. Sparkles by Linda W.

Shannon Christine Designs by Carol E.

From Glendon Place, When Cardinals Appear, by Barbara G.

Pretty basket of posies by Maria C

Fall pumpkin by Diana T.

Rabbit by Diana T.

Pilgrims by Judy Munns

Pillow by Ann C.   She shared she stitched in on toweling!  Great idea.

Joy by Ann C.

 Mirror, Mirror by Pat Y.  And below by Pat Y.

    

Our program this month was lead by member Ann Clinton.   We worked on a wool cardinal.   Ann had us cut our wool pieces out.   She gave us tips for blanket stitching the piece as well as tips on the best way to stuff the tinier sections of the piece.  For the December meeting, participants should have the bird assembled and stuffed as well as the branch assembled and stuff.  

For December, members are to bring in a memorable piece to share and show.   It could be a special event is tied to the piece, it could be it was a gift from someone, a piece that has a special memory for you,  etc.   Ann will help us complete the cardinal piece.  It is also our Holiday Celebration event.   Members are asked to bring cookies or snacks to share.   It is always a fun meeting to socialize.

For January, we will be having a guest speaker.  This stitcher will show and share their wide variety of self designed pieces and unique finishes.  Put your thinking cap on to keep up with this stitchers imagination.

In February, we will be starting a several month project working on a needlebook with a sampler of stitches.   This piece will be stitched on linen.   If you have never worked on linen, this is your chance to try something new.   This will run from February to April and will be lead by Caryl C.  Each month we will learn, practice and perfect a row or two of speciality stitchers.   This will be a great way to learn some new stitches and to build your skill set.  Once the stitches are completed, it can be used to create a needlebook which will be both a reference for the stitches and useful for keeping your needles.  

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Next meeting - December 12, 2024.   Doors open at 6:45 and meeting starts at 7 pm.

October 2024 Meeting

Joan called our October Meeting to order.   A new plural member was welcomed.   Evalyn Gelhaus is from Voorhees, NJ and was a member of the Creative Needlework EGA Guild in Collingswood until they recently folded.

Joan reminded us to all be watching and reading these emails from Regional and National.   There are a lot of opportunities for members to be found in each of these emails:  classes, lectures, stitch ins, etc.  The Mid Atlantic Region (MAR) Seminar will be in Gettysburg, PA in June 2025 and registration is now being accepted.    EGA members from other regions will be able to sign up starting sometime in November.    Check it out and see if there is anything that might interest you.    Gettysburg is a beautiful area, full of history and a great place to visit.  

Lamplighters is planning a Group Correspondence Course (GCC) for next year.   The project being considered is Love and Laughter.   Twelve members have expressed to date,   We will continue to have the sign up sheet available until the end of the year.  If you are interested and cannot attend the meeting, just reply to this email and will see that your name is added to the list.   100% commitment is not needed until January.

Members will meet the first Friday of December at noon at the Woodstown Dinner for lunch.   Following lunch, members will go to the Woodstown Public Library and decorate the library tree.    If you cannot meet for lunch or to decorate, please bring you holiday ornaments to the November meeting.

We had a lovely Show ‘n Tell and the photos have been posted to Facebook.    I am not sure who stitched what but I do recognize some of the designs.

Pretty sure this is from Hands on Design and it was stitched and finished by Diana T.

Anniversary Thimble Box from Janis Note of Noteworthy Needle.

Beautiful woodland creatures wool appliqué

A couple of spooky guys

Beautiful finish of Jeannette Douglas’s year of bouquets from 2023.  Stitched by Linda W.

Stitched by Diana T.

Betsy Ross by BJ S.

Stitched by Marian S.

Stitched by Carol E

Stitched by Carol E.

Stitched by Carol E.

Winter Quaker from Rosewood Manor by Carol E.

For our October program, Linda shared how to finish our anniversary pin keep.   If you missed the meeting and purchased the kit, you can pick it up at the November Meeting.  

For November, we will be starting our wool cardinal piece.   We will work on it at the November and December meetings.   There are there more kits available to purchase at the November meeting.  I will let you know when I send the meeting reminder if their is anything other than normal needlework supplies that you will need to bring to the meeting.

For December, we will have holiday treats - cookies and candies, etc. - and finish up the cardinal piece.   Linda is encouraging everyone to think about a piece that memorable to you.   It might be a special project, your first piece, the hardest piece, an heirloom, a favorite, the most fun……. Bring it to the December meeting and let us know what is special about it to you.

Next meeting - November 14, 2024 

Doors open at 6:45

Meeting is from 7 pm to 9 pm

Zoom will be available if there is interest.   Please contact Caryl Carthew if you would like to join by Zoom and she can provide you the link.

Robin Thompson

Membership