Meetings: from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm (Class from 9:30-noon)
usually first and third Tuesdays in each month

Kortright Presbyterian Church
55 Devere Road, Guelph
Bus route #10

Website: cegguelph.ca/

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Report – March 2023

submitted by Judy McMullan, ONN Rep

Our Winter term went well and no snow cancellations! 🙂

As well as our classes (Sue Ronchka’s “I Wish I Had a BIG Hat”, Alison Jackson’s “Hardanger: Basics and Beyond”, Bridget O’Brien’s wool applique course “The Circle Game”, Judy Eckhardt’s “Motifs and Slips” and “Glazig Embroidery” with Janet Sunderani) we had some time in the afternoon programs to explore.

As a service to our members, we always keeps a store of blank cards with apertures for a small embroidery – “holey cards”! Ruth Douglas gave us a refresher on how to install your little piece into the card for maximum effect. For example, a small piece of felt or thin batting behind your piece gives it extra oomph.

On another afternoon, we brought it our textile treasures – historical or exotic – and told their stories.

Of course, Valentine’s Day is always a good excuse to get out the pink and red fabrics and Kate Pautler led us in creating Slow Stitch Valentine postcards.

Barbara Lee Johnson, Jane Londerville and Barbara Grantmyre gave us a presentation on Blackwork of all sorts. No, it doesn’t have to be black!

We’ll be seen this summer at the WEFTFest event in March in St. Jacobs, at the Fibre Festival in Fergus in July and at the Aberfoyle Fall Fair. Stop by and say ‘hi’ if you you’re there!

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Report – December 2022

submitted by Judy McMullan, ONN Rep

We are sooo pleased to be meeting in person again! There are a lot of masks as we are made up of a lot of seniors but – wow! – in person!

This fall we explored travelling with your embroidery (aka Pocket Project), the calming Slow Stitching, the intricate Stumpwork (a lot of it was off the fabric), the rising Parma embroidery and our usual beginner/refresher course – Stitch With Confidence. In early December we had a session of creating Christmas ornaments.

Your correspondent did not get around with her camera so most of the photos I have are the photos of my own work! My apologies!

We always have a speaker or hands-on after lunch and Fall saw us explore Journal Covers, Scrappy Balls, a Peyote Stitch beaded ring, a Remembrance Day themed Lincolnshire Brooch and our ever popular Stash Sale.

In January, we will be exploring Sue Ronchka’s dynamic “I Wish I Had a BIG Hat”, Alison Jackson’s “Hardanger: Basics and Beyond”, Bridget O’Brien’s wool appliqué course “The Circle Game”, Judy Eckhardt’s “Motifs and Slips” and the exotic “Glazig Embroidery” with Janet Sunderani.

Report – September 2022

submitted by Judy McMullan, ONN Rep

We are very pleased to be back to in-person meetings and classes at our pre-pandemic venue of Kortright Presbyterian Church. Our Registration Day was well attended and we currently have 74 members and 6 different classes on the go.
Stitch With Confidence with Bonnie Evans is for anyone new or needing a refresher. Laura Dobrindt is teaching A New Look at Stumpwork. I’m in the class beside hers and I saw some beautiful needlelace last week! Pat Bowley is presiding over Slow Stitching. Each person will be working at their own pace on their unique project. I’m co-ordinating the Pocket Project where we are discussing how we take our projects along to waiting rooms or on vacation. We are stitching away at little scissor keeps, tiny pincushions, etc.
Ruth Douglas is teaching Ricamo di Parma and other old Italian stitches and she has quite a crowd around the tables. The Independent group, as usual, bring their own projects and enjoy some time together.

Our Afternoon Program team has had one social and one set of speakers so far. Our big Stash Sale is coming up in mid-October and that is always a good fund-raiser for us.

Report – July 2022

submitted by Judy McMullan, ONN Rep

Our recent in-person stitching sessions in the park were plagued with either cold weather (May) or rain (June/July) but a few hardy souls did brave the elements.
In May, we had a glorious online Show and Tell session organized by the amazing Gail Bailey. Gail put all of our photos and videos into a lovely video presentation and we were able to watch it together.

Several of our members made it to the Embroidery Association of Canada Seminar 2022 in Toronto. A special bonus was a chance to meet up with people from other ONN Guilds while there.
The Outreach team has been popping up at local events here and there with a display of our work. We hope to get the word out about what we do and entice new people to join us!
The Program Coordinator has been busy recruiting teachers but we don’t have the word yet on all the classes.
In the meantime, have a look at what we’ve been working on since our last report.

Report – December 2021

submitted by Judy McMullan, ONN Rep

Well, we rolled with the punches & came up smiling! Though we were disappointed not to be able to have in-person classes, we made a success of our first-ever online classes.
We had been having one-session programs all Fall so planning for 6-session classes wasn’t entirely new. Now, we are proud of the new skills we have acquired!

Some lessons learned:
1) It is much more effective to screen share a previously photographed work than to hold the work up to the camera. This is best for a Show and Tell time. That being said, it is usually possible to hold your work-in-progress up to the camera and get immediate feedback from your teacher during a class.
2) Someone, somewhere, *will* have technical problems joining the online session. Please be patient and hope it is not going to be the teacher!
3) Kindly mute your microphone when the dog barks or your phone rings.
4) Please join the session with the email you provided instead of your son’s/mother’s/work email – or at least let the session convenor know to expect a new email name from you.
5) We love, love, love Show and Tell! Keep those photos coming in!

We have one more online workshop in May – a one-day session in Beginner Hardanger. Nevertheless, we do plan on live classes for September!

Some photos of recent work. We’re still getting a chance to see those items finished just before (or after!) Christmas and items done during those cozy, indoor winter days.

Report – December 2021

submitted by Judy McMullan, ONN Rep

We had dearly hoped to resume in-person classes in January but we realized by November that it would not be feasible.
So, we are boldly stepping into the world of online video teaching! Most of our teachers have some experience with online meetings but a full course will be a horse of a different colour. We’ll let you know how it goes!
We are planning 5 courses for the Winter 2022 term: Beginner Design, Canvaswork, Landscape Variations, Wool Appliqué and Crazy Quilting. If you’re interested, have a look at the full descriptions on cegguelph.ca.
In October, we did an exercise in stitching on dark fabric. In November, we had 2 online sessions to create Christmas ornaments.

Report – September 2021

submitted by Judy McMullan, ONN Rep

CEG Guelph carried on with online video meetings through to August. Most months we had a Stitch ‘n Chat event in the first week and then, a couple of weeks later, we had a program.
May saw a hands-on event making a brooch, taught by Pat Menary.
In June, Mavis Brown gave a talk on Arctic Embroidery and showed us many examples of work that she did in the Arctic or that she acquired there.
We had one Stitch ‘n Chat session in each of July and August.
Guelph also hosted an outdoor stitching event at a park for World Embroidery Day. All enjoyed getting together in person at last!
We assisted with the Aberfoyle virtual fall fair this year by contributing 250 baggies filled with embroidery fun for the Ag Society’s goody bags. Our members stepped up with donations of threads, fabrics, needles and small needlecases.

We are going to continue with video meetings until the end of November and we dearly hope we can have in-person classes in January.
For September, we took advantage of the connectivity of the internet and had a live talk by Susan Kay-Williams of the Royal School of Needlework. What a treat!
As Sept 25th was Stitch-in-Public Day, we again met in a Guelph park for an in-person stitch-in. There may have been one knitter among us but she was making lots of stitches!
We’ll have a hands-on program in October and two sessions of Christmas hands-ons in November. We’ll continue our once a month Stitch ‘n Chats, as well.
We’re doing the best we can to keep in touch and keep our fingers busy.
At this point, we have 60 members which is a little lower than our usual numbers but enough that we know people are still keen on getting together and still keen to be stitching!
Here are just some of the delightful items created by our members:

Report – March 2021
Submitted by Judy McMullan, ONN Rep

CEG Guelph have been enjoying our online video meetings twice a month. On the first Tuesday of the month we have been having Stitch & Chat sessions partly with the whole group and partly in breakout rooms.
Thanks are due to Cathy S. who has been hosting each of these meetings!

On the third Tuesday of the month, we have been having a presentation. January’s presentation by Alison Jackson was on The Great Tapestry of Scotland. This magnificent work is not currently open to the public while a home is being built for it but you can get a taste on their website or Facebook page. Search for “Great Tapestry of Scotland”.

February was a presentation by yours truly on Metallic Threads. They are not quite the same as actual Metal Threads but possibly more fun!

March was a hands-on session guided by Alison Jackson. Alison sent out the pattern by email beforehand with suggestions for threads and colours. It was a couple of charming little scenes that could be completed with whatever you had in your stash. I haven’t received any photos of that one yet but here is one that I managed to stitch up. I didn’t restrict myself to floss so some of the areas may be a little chunkier than Alison’s sample photos. Alison has given us an extra incentive in that all those who send of photo of a completed landscape will be entered in a prize draw.

Our Challenge in the fall was Bugs! and the results were revealed at our January meeting. Here are a few of the bugs:

Currently, the Challenge is titled “Spring Fling!” which is pretty wide open for interpretation. All will be revealed at our April get-together.

In the meantime, here are a few of the things our members have been stitching up!

Report – December 2020

sumbmitted by Judy McMullan, ONN Rep

Like so many other groups, CEG Guelph has had to forego in-person meetings for the 2020-2021 year.
To keep in contact with each other as much as possible, our fantastic newsletter editor has taken the newsletter from a thrice-yearly publication to once a month. She has been getting support from members with articles, web links, challenges and information about upcoming events (both within the Guild and outside).
The Executive met back in August and made the decision to ask all members to pay the Associate Member fee (about 1/2 our regular fee) and we were very pleased to find that almost all our members have signed up. We are at 74 members.
Though we don’t feel we can effectively have an in-depth class like we’ve been used to, we can meet up online and we have done so.
In September (I think it was), Cathy L hosted a parking lot event for the return of library materials. Some members who didn’t even have a library book, brought a lawn chair and a mask and stayed for the social time.
In September we held our postponed Annual General Meeting, including the reveal of our Brown Bag Challenge results. The brown bags had cutoffs from bridal and formal wear. All the brown bags had shades of blues and greens and aqua and sparkly whites such as the fancy lace. All had some shiny embellishments. Some bags also had a few shades of yellows and golds and others had some purples. There was variation in the bags for interest but all the same basic 9 or 10 pieces of fabric and the remaining 5 were the variations. The theme was “Water Fantasy”

In October we had a talk from Judy Eckhardt who has been taking a series of Crazy Quilting classes online. Judy talked about stitches, threads, ribbons, slips and showed us her creations.

Normally we have an extra class day in November and we make Christmas ornaments. This year the team had so many good ideas that we ran Christmas workshops for both our November and December meetings. Each event had a choice of 3 ornaments. Patterns and materials lists were distributed in the monthly newsletter. Members then met online and went into smaller “breakout” rooms to complete their ornaments and have a chat.
We’ll continue the online meetings and have plans in place up to May of 2021 though we normally finish classes in March and have our Open House in April.
People are definitely finding they enjoy seeing and hearing from other members in any way we can.
Here are some photos of what our members have been up to since March:

Report – Summer 2020

submitted by Judy McMullan ONN Rep              4 August 2020

CEG Guelph reluctantly made the decision to have no classes for the 2020-21 year. Accordingly, we have set our fees at the Associate Member rate for the coming year. We are keen to maintain our relationship with Kortright Presbyterian Church who has hosted us for many years and we have been in discussions with them.

We have not ruled out a ‘live’ workshop in the coming months but we will continue to monitor health advice and consider the needs of our members, some of whom are in at-risk categories.
Of course we love to share what we have been doing and we plan to use our Facebook page and our website to post photos of things we have been working on. The webmaster has been posting photos to Facebook as they come in.

The Executive has been meeting via Zoom and each member was contacted by phone over the summer. We have also increased our newsletter from 3 times a year to monthly (more or less). We will also be keeping in touch with members via monthly online gatherings starting with our Annual General Meeting on Sept. 15th. October will be a presentation on Crazy Patch Quilting by Judy Eckhardt. November and December will each feature small Christmas projects.

My last class was the Feather and Fur course with Mavis Brown and I’ve received several photos from that class, which I will include here for your viewing pleasure! (Mine’s not done!)

Report – March 2020

submitted by Judy McMullan ONN Rep              20 March 2020

Classes for the Winter term are Counted Needlepoint on Canvas led by Ietje Jackovich, Feather and Fur led by Mavis Brown, Free-Standing Dimensional Stumpwork led by Ana Maria Kramer, Beaded Embroidery Sampler led by Judy Eckhardt, Soutache and Shibori led by Renata Georgeff and Experimentation in Felting led by Hazel Alexander.
All of these classes were full or close to full so we have had lots of interaction and ideas flying about. The Independent table was our seventh spot.

Afternoon programs were popular, as well. In January Ana Maria Kramer spoke on “My Journey in Stitching” and brought many of her stitching samples from girlhood on. Lovely work! In early February it was hands-on with a heart-shaped scissor fob. Later in February we were treated to a preview of the Ailsa Craig “Quilts of Spain” show. As well as some background, we were able to see several samples of the quilts and teasers for the planned workshops. By now, we know the show has been cancelled as the teachers are not leaving Spain. What luck for us to see the small selection that we did!

Our March afternoon program was “Finishing School”. Members either brought in, or described, unfinished projects and sought help and advice with how to solve a problem, how to use a piece or otherwise get it done. Of course our members were able to come up with all sorts of ideas to get them over the block and all went away satisfied!

At this time, our March 24th class is postponed and, with it, the Afternoon Program.

We also have an applique and embroidery workshop with Donna Funnell planned for Thursday April 9th and, so far, it has not been cancelled.

Please watch our website cegguelph.ca for updates!

Report – October 2019

Submitted by Judy McMullan, ONN Rep

CEG Guelph has started off the year with a record-setting (for us) 91 members. That’s 89 members taking classes and 2 Associate members. That’s meant a lot of full classes for us! As we’re all sitting close to each other, it’s a good thing that stitching and chatting go so well together!

Classes this fall are Beginning Embroidery, Beginner Stumpwork, Needle Lace, Hand Stitched Reverse Applique, Stitched Edges and Insertion Stitches, Sashiko. We are lucky enough to have our own members able to teach these classes.

Our Afternoon Program started with a “What Have You Been Stitching?” round table. Coming up are “Needles, Scissors and Hoops”, How to Develop Your Design Skills (speaker Pat Armour), a hands-on Make Your Own Sketchbook, the ever-popular Stash Sale (yes, we just buy each others’ stashes!) and we’ll finish up with another round table on family heirlooms or other precious pieces.

Oct 31 will see an all-day workshop with Naomi Smith leading us in creating a beaded card case. We are still signing up our own CEGG members but you can contact us in mid-October to see if there are still spaces.

Contact us at cegguelph@gmail.com.

Report – August 2019

Judy McMullan, ONN Representative

Canadian Embroiderers’ Guild Guelph finished our 2018-19 year with an Open House and Display of Work in April.  We have been continuing to let people know what we do by participating in the Waterloo Region Quilt and Fibre Art Festival in St Jacobs, last May. We always have lots of interested visitors.

In July, Ruth Douglas and friends were showing embroidery at the Renaissance Faire in Fergus. A display is also planned for the Guelph Library – main branch – in August and at the Aberfoyle Fall Fair in September.

Registration for classes will be on Tuesday September 10 from 10 am to noon and classes will begin the next Tuesday. Class descriptions will be up on our website in mid-August. Keep your eye on cegguelph.ca

Report – April 2019

Judy McMullan, ONN Representative

CEG Guelph was fortunate with the weather this winter and didn’t have to postpone any classes due to snow or ice. At the time of writing, we have one more class session and then we look forward to our Open House.

Classes this winter were goldwork, combination stitches, faces in stumpwork, sewing box, kantha interpreted, blackwork and our usual independent group. In the afternoons we enjoyed making mini “chocolates”, needle felted birds, a Sorbello stitch workshop, a slide journey to Italy with Mavis Brown.

I’ve included some photos from our workshop, last November, with Mike Parr.

We are also looking forward to a one-day workshop with Sharon Fisher on embroidering wool appliqués. That will be on April 30th. The workshop is full.

Our Open House and display of work will be on Tuesday, April 23 this year from 1-5 pm at Kortright Presbyterian Church in Guelph. Free admission. Tea room (of course!). Please drop by!

This summer we will also have displays at the Quilt and Fibre Art Festival in St. Jacobs and the Fergus and Aberfoyle Fall Fairs. In St. Jacobs, look for us in the basement of St. Jacobs Mennonite Church from May 21-24.

CEG Guelph had a couple of new members join us in January but, unfortunately, two of our long-time members have passed away. Both Lyn James and Dorothy Scott are remembered fondly.

Here are some photos from our Mike Parr workshop last November:

Report – January 2019

Judy McMullan, ONN Representative

CEGG has 85 members this year. It’s always more fun with more people and our classes have been well attended.

In addition to our regular classes, a smaller group was able to attend a workshop in November with Mike Parr from Ottawa. We worked with silks and Japan gold to create a lovely little evening purse.

Thanks to the volunteers who led at our Christmas Workshop at the end of November. Collectively, we put together a great bunch of Christmas decorations.

Coming up for January-March we will have 6 classes and also our Independent group.Look for: All That Glitters with Marsha Fontes, Exploring Possibilities with Mavis Brown, Friendly Faces in Fascinating Fields with Ruth Douglas, Handmade Sewing Box with Ietje Jackovich, Kantha Embroidery Interpreted with Pat Bowley and Wild Rose Blackwork Sampler with Barbara Lee Johnson.

To learn more about our Guild or our classes, please visit us at cegguelph.ca.

Report – April 2018

Judy McMullan, ONN Representative

CEG Guelph has had a few more stitchers join us recently and we are now up to 88 members.

Our Open House and Display of Work will be on Tuesday, April 24, from 1 to 5 pm at Kortright Presbyterian Church, 55 Devere Drive, in Guelph. As usual, we will have pieces created in our classes and the work which our members have completed on their own. We will have our special Canada 150 display again in order to show off the projects that were completed in the latter part of 2017.

CEG Guelph will also be participating in the Quilt and Fibre Art Festival of Waterloo Region. We’ll be in St. Jacobs Mennonite Church in the town of St. Jacobs from Tuesday, May 22, through to Friday, May 25. We’ve also been invited to participate in the new Black Sheep Festival of Contemporary Textile Art at the Elora Centre for the Arts in Elora on Saturday, July 7. We’d love to have you visit either one!

We also very pleased to say that Norfolk’s Own Needle Arts Guild and Oakville Stitchery Guild are going to work with us and we will be able to have an ONN AGM this year. However, we don’t feel we can have something as quickly as May, so we have booked our venue for Tuesday, October 30th. That will be at the Kortright Presbyterian Church in Guelph.

We’ll have a morning business meeting, as usual. In the afternoon we plan breakout sessions to discuss the future of ONN and how we can best continue our Annual General meetings. New technologies may be helpful. We’ll know, by October, if having 3 or 4 groups working together to host a meeting is a good idea. We can discuss some of the challenges that were mentioned in the survey last fall.

I’m looking forward to rolling up our sleeves and addressing some of the difficulties. The benefits of the ONN are there. We want to continue to enjoy them.

In the meantime, Kathryn Robicheau, our Treasurer, will continue with paying for the website and collecting the fees for the coming year. The AGM will just be a little later.

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Report – December2017

Open House is a beautiful fibre art show with about 50 artists each showing a few works. For 2018, the show will be on Tuesday, April 24, 2018, from 1 to 5 pm. As well as the work of the Guild members, you will see demonstrations of different styles of embroidery, throughout the afternoon. Relax in the Tea Room with friends or fellow enthusiasts. Handmade greeting cards will also be for sale. Frame them for yourself or give them to someone special!

Report – December 2017

This year we had 87 members sign up. Having a large number always means lots of chance for exchanges of ideas. It’s been a good fall session.

Come winter, our classes will be Creative Box Design with Judy McMullan, Beautiful Whitework Changed Up with a Splash of Colour with Ana-Maria Kramer, Point by Point Needlepoint with Joanne Holt, Three-Dimensional Felting with Hazel Alexander, Embroidery on Wool Appliqué with Renata Georgeff, Music Inspired Needle Art with Susan Strachan Johnson. We always have one table for Independent work, as well and it will be full.

One highlight of the fall was our two-day workshop with Carol Arsenault. She guided us through a gorgeous stumpwork piece with strawberry flowers and fruit. Carol was a thorough and patient teacher and we really enjoyed having her with us.

This fall we also tried something new to get our scissors back in shape. We had a mobile knife sharpening service come to the church where our classes are held. Sharp My Knife was in the parking lot while we held our classes and people brought their scissors out to the van as they arrived and then picked them up later in the morning. We found the prices reasonable and the service excellent.

At the end of November, we had our one-morning Christmas Workshop with a choice of several different ornaments or Christmas items to stitch. I chose the velveteen wine bag with the goldwork Christmas tree. Thanks to the Guild members who volunteered to teach these mini-classes.

Our Canada 150 challenge is ongoing. Members are invited to contribute a 6” x 6” square for a group display. Laura Dobrindt has headed this project and she has brought the display to several different venues where it has been very well received.

Our afternoon programs (1-2 pm) are open to all, so if you are in Guelph please do stop by! January 16 will be Demo Day with several stations demonstrating useful techniques. Next will be a Make & Take in Hand Felting. In February, we’ll create an Ort (Scrap Thread) Holder. The first meeting in March will be our Stash Sale  and later in the month will be a hands-on session in Thread Painting. Our last meeting will be a trunk show with Donna Funnell. Please check our website cegguelph.ca/ for the exact dates of our programs.

We have been communicating with the Ontario Network of Needlework members to see what we can do about meeting this year. At the time I’m writing this article (Dec 5) we have not made a firm date for the ONN AGM but I can tell you that people are very clear that they find ONN beneficial and value our association with each other.

I’ve included a few photos of recent work by our members.