2nd and 4th Wednesdays (September to June)
7:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Waterford United Church
135 Main St S
Location on Google Maps
Heather Hollands, ONN Representative
Report – March 2023
submitted by Heather Hollands, ONN Rep
Our Guild continues to meet on a regular basis. During our weekly stitch ins many individual projects are being completed, which are illustrated below. These include the cross stitch sampler, stitched by Kim Smit; Romanian point lace designed by Sylvia Moreno and stitched by Jane Hunter; a Hapsburg lace sampler designed by Tanja Berlin and stitched by Heather Hollands and the beautiful pulled thread floral heart designed by Kim Beamish and completed by Cori Angus. Seven of our members are registered to participate in the upcoming Embroiderers Association of Canada seminar and are therefore endeavouring to complete some of the unfinished projects on hand. We are very much looking forward to celebrate the 50th anniversary of EAC from June 6-11 in Winnipeg Manitoba.
At our first evening meeting in March, eight of our members began participating in a round robin sampler. Members were to pick out their fabric, threads and any add ins such as beads and to complete the first band of stitching. The bags were then passed on with the only rules being that you must use ONLY the materials supplied and also record what stitch or stitches were used on each band. The bags will the be passed on every 2 weeks to the next stitcher.
For our next upcoming programme at the end of April we have arranged for a therapeutic yoga instructor to work with us. She will be showing us some exercises for our hands to help keep them flexible and reduce stiffness. We will also be doing similar exercises for the foot fascia. We are looking forward to this assistance and perhaps will consider similar workshops in the future.
Report – December 2022
Submitted by Heather Hollands, ONN Rep
Our Guild continued to meet on a regular basis, both informally on Mondays and formally on the second and fourth Wednesday evenings of each month.
We completed the hardanger ornaments from a workshop earlier in the fall.
Our next workshop was taught by Cori and Tanoo Angus. It was the two bead edging technique that is used on many indigenous items, such as straps on bandolier bags, octopus bags and Iroquois clothing edges and moccasin flaps and dozens of other applications. For our group, we learned the technique used as a decorative edging on the felt birds pictured below. Most of us plan on using them as Christmas tree ornaments.
Felt birds with beaded edging
We finished off our evening meetings with a lovely dinner at one of our local restaurants, The Blue Elephant, to celebrate the Christmas season.
In the new year, plans are underway to do a round robin sampler. More details will come in the new year.
Our Guild would like to take this opportunity to wish all of you the very best for 2023!
Report – September 2022
submitted by Heather Hollands, ONN Rep
During the summer months, members of Norfolk’ Own Needle Arts Guild continued to meet each Monday for informal stitching at Waterford United Church. Each member was working on projects of their choice, some of them continuing to work on things learned at seminar in May.
We began our Fall evening meetings on the second Wednesday in September, also at Waterford United Church. We started with a short business meeting, followed by a Penny Social, which has become an annual fundraising event. Each member brings a good, but inexpensive wrapped gift along with a wrapped “gag” gift and each of us bid on the ones we think we would like. It is a fun evening with lots of laughs!
Our next meeting consisted of a Hardanger workshop taught by Lotte . It is a small Christmas ornament, seen in the pictures below. Some of our group are working on Hardanger projects they have on the go instead of the ornament. This project will continue in October. There are also samples of other pieces of Hardanger on display below.
Also, during September we received our new Embroidery Canada magazine. We are all having a good look at the brochure inside, showing all the courses offered at Seminar 2023 to be held in Winnipeg and celebrating the 50th Anniversary of EAC.
Unfortunately, we were unable to attend the virtual O.N.N. Meeting and hope that we will receive minutes to keep us informed. [Minutes have since been distributed. – Ed.] We do value belonging to O.N.N. and look forward to an in person meeting in the future.
Report – July 2022
submitted by Heather Hollands, ONN Rep
Spring has been a busy time for several of our Guild members. Seven out of our eleven members attended the Embroiderers’ Association Of Canada annual seminar, which was hosted this year by the Toronto Stitchery Guild. It was a wonderful week where we were kept busy with the many interesting workshops that were offered. It was also great to meet many new fellow stitchers from across Canada, as well as becoming re-acquainted with friends from past seminars. I feel that all of us came home freshly inspired and anxious to complete our projects. Two of our industrious members were able to complete their projects at seminar. Pictured below is the adorable knitting gnome, completed by Kim Smit. The other completed project pictured here is the lovely sweet grass basket with the beaded top by Tanoo Angus. The other pictures are of Jane Hunter and Cori Angus who are diligently working on their pulled thread floral heart.
For the remainder of our Guild year we have continued to work on our seminar pieces.
We completed our evening meetings in June with a dinner at one of the local restaurants in Simcoe.
We are continuing to have our informal stitch ins every Monday during the summer.
During the month of August, we will have a display of our work featuring many techniques, at the Simcoe Public Library. It is hoped that this will inspire people to come and join us in the future.
Report – March 2022
submitted by Heather Hollands, ONN Rep
Our Guild has continued to meet on a regular basis, during the day on Mondays and also for the second and fourth Wednesday evening meetings for business and programme. This year, we have decided to have members pick an interesting technique or stitch and present it to the Guild. Our latest stitch was taught by Marlene Robinson – the sorbello stitch. It is pictured below, where Jane Hunter adapted the design to fit in a greeting card. We are looking forward to Libby Kellner teaching us Yorkshire buttons. Some of our members are also beginning to work on a goldwork dragonfly designed by Jane Nicolas and which was featured in the Inspirations magazine.
Pictured below are other completed projects . The thread painted bluebird is a piece that was a workshop at an EAC seminar, taught and designed by Tanja Berlin and stitched by Jane Hunter. The stump work rose was a design featured in Inspirations magazine designed by Susan Porter and stitched by Heather Hollands. Next are the two cross stitch samplers, stitched by Kim Smit. Also is the stunning goldwork lion designed and taught by Tanja Berlin, stitched by Cori Angus.
The EAC seminar is fast approaching In May and seven of our eleven members are looking forward to attending and coming away with new projects to work on.
As part of our business meeting in March, we discussed our vision for the future of ONN. We felt that ONN should endeavour to proceed as it has been, but with some modifications. We felt that meetings should be held each year in person, as it helps to promote cohesiveness of the guilds and is very valuable for programme ideas as well as viewing the stitchers’ accomplishments of other guilds for inspiration. We felt strongly that an executive is not necessary as it would add to expenses and also may present travel problems for meetings. Our Guild did not like the idea of online meetings as not everyone has a computer or is interested in corresponding in that manner. It was felt that in person meetings could be scaled back considerably, such as; no goodie bags, no speakers, no vendors and bring your own lunch, with coffee, tea and water provided. We are, however, open to try an online meeting in the fall.
Respectfully submitted
Heather Hollands
Report – December 2021
Submitted by Heather Hollands, ONN Rep
During the fall, our guild has continued to meet informally every Monday from 10 am – 4pm working on our own projects. We have also been able to meet on the second and fourth Wednesday evenings, with one being a business meeting and the other one a programme. Since we can not have outside teachers, it was decided that each of our members would choose a technique or interesting tip to teach or share with the group. Grace Smith did our first programme in November, where she demonstrated the five bead knot stitch. It is done like a cross stitch over 4 threads. The first part of the cross has 2 ends on it and the second trip to complete the cross has 3 beads on it. This makes the stitch look like a small flower. Some people did several of these stitches, then added some stems and leaves and they then placed them in cards that we will sell at a local shop in Waterford.
Also, this fall, eight of us signed up for the EAC seminar to be held in Toronto in May, 2022. We have received our classes information, and booked our rooms and anxiously wait and hope that this will be able to happen as planned!
We finished off our evening meetings with a Christmas dinner at a local restaurant in Simcoe, where everyone had a great time.
In the new year, our plans are to continue to have our members teach a small project each month and also to start a gold work dragonfly project.
Report – September 2021
Submitted by Heather Hollands, ONN Rep
Our guild has been able to have social distance stitch ins from early June until the present. During the pandemic we have been concentrating on completing our unfinished projects.
Two of our members had registered for the EAC seminar which was to be held in Richmond, BC. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, going to Richmond had to be cancelled. However, seminar proceeded online. Our two members had signed up for the Assisi sewing pocketbook. These courses took place on Friday afternoons for six weeks via zoom, straight from the instructor’s home in Italy. It was an interesting experience, complete with a tour of her lovely 17th century home .
At our final evening meeting in June, one of our members presented us with an interesting challenge. We were each given scraps of window screening and some leaves that she had preserved and told to complete something with them to be shown at our September meeting. Some of our completed pieces are photographed below.
This coming year we have plans to work on a goldwork dragonfly design and also to make some all occasion cards that our group sells at a local shop. We are also planning to make some temari ornaments as a Christmas project.
Report – January 2020
Submitted by Heather Hollands, ONN Rep
We have had a busy fall, as the pictures below will illustrate. In October some of our guild joined with the Tulip Tree guild for a retreat at Elmhurst Inn in Ingersoll. It was a wonderful time away with lots of stitching accomplished. We felt spoiled, as the accommodations and food were lovely.
Also four of our members participated in a goldwork workshop hosted by the Brant Embroiderers guild. It was a lovely butterfly designed and taught by Barb Cook. We thoroughly enjoyed this and now goldwork does not seem as intimidating for some. It was a wonderful day!
Our Fall project within our guild consisted of a goldwork pendant kit that we ordered from Tanja Berlin. The instructions were very precise and most members completed their pendant.
Our stitching year ended with our Christmas dinner at the Blue Elephant in Simcoe.
We are looking forward to the New Year where one of our projects will be a canvas work maple leaf pattern which is a fundraiser for the EAC 2020 seminar in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Report – October 2019
Submitted by Heather Hollands, ONN Rep
Report – April 2018
As the winter is finishing up, many in our group are just finishing up our fall and winter Mountmellick sampler and looking forward to starting some new projects this spring.
In a recent calendar produced by EAC, there was an article about hornbooks, which are a wooden paddle-like shape and were used in the past by children in school. On these hornbooks would be the alphabet or numbers to help the children learn. Embroiderers have used the idea of a hornbook where a small piece of stitching can be secured, and with loops attached to the stitched piece, it can have threads for a project attached and organized. One of our family members has a woodworker who made these hornbooks for us, with each one a little different. We are now busy stitching a small 3- to 4-inch square of stitching of our choice to attach to our hornbooks and they will be ready to use to hold our threads.
Also, we are beginning a stitchers challenge to be completed by our final meeting in June. Each member received a bag with an object inside with a design on it. Our challenge is to reproduce the design in whatever type of stitching we feel would best reproduce the design. We are to use whatever materials we like, with our background fabric being 6 by 6 inches.
Also, in the near future we are planning to do a stump work sampler designed by Sherri Del Rizzo.
We have also been contacted by CEG Guelph to assist them with the upcoming ONN annual general meeting scheduled for October. We will be responsible for sending out and collecting the registration forms.
So, as you can see, spring promises to be a busy and exciting time for Norfolk’s Own Needle Arts Guild.
Report – December 2017
Norfolk’s Own Needle Arts Guild has had a busy fall. In September our new programme chair, Cori Angus introduced us to a Mountmellick sampler which we have started and will continue to work on throughout the year. It consists of 21 leaves placed on a twill fabric in three rows of seven leaves or to design your own sampler. Each of the leaves will be a different Mountmellick stitch. We have found it necessary to have a practice piece to help us get the correct and even tension before working on our good design.
Also, in November, we had a guest teacher, Naomi Smith, come and do a workshop with us on moose hair tufting. In order to help cover the expenses we extended an invitation to other local guilds who may have been interested. It was a really wonderful experience and left many of us with the feeling we would like to do more, if only we had access to moose and caribou hair!
As Christmas draws near, many in our group are working on Christmas cards and finishing gifts for special loved ones.
In the new year we will be continuing our Mountmellick sampler and will be adding a stitched crazy patch round robin.
Ontario Network of Needleworkers 