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Redwork Embroidery from penny squares to present. What is old is New Again! Kits available for purchase for approximately $5. Try a penny square of muslin and a variety of designs. Design your own project with a flour sack towel and project downloads. This is a versatile and simple form of needlework that comes into popularity thru quilts and modern designs. There are many books that use redwork in quilting and household projects as well as websites with seasonal and modern designs. A Valentine for you! Highlights| Joyce Reid, our president, began the meeting with a few announcements. When you register for a workshop, the full kit fee must be paid at that time. An estimate of the teaching fee will be announced with the workshop, but it is not due until the day of the workshop. Since the teaching fee is calculated by dividing the expenses for the workshop by the number of peope attending, the teaching fee will go down as the number registered for the workshop goes up. The exact teaching fee will be announced and is payable at the beginning of the workshop. Membership fees for 2010 are due. If you want to participate in the exciting programs scheduled for 2010, there's still time to renew! Karyn, our membership chair, will be sending reminder emails to the members who have not renewed. Logons for members who do not renew will be disabled on March 1st. Lynn McVey, our program chair, talked about the Robin Laukhuf workshop scheduled for April titled My Favorite Scottish Sampler. We have 12 people signed up, so the workshop is now confirmed. On Sunday after the workshop, Robin will present a program on hand dyed fibers. Susan Balsai gave us a preview of the upcoming August workshop which will be presented by Tricia Nguyen. There will probably be two half day workshops on Saturday with an evening lecture. We'll add details to this website as soon as plans are finalized.
|  | Lynn McVey presented our Valentine's Day program on Redwork and Penny Squares. First she passed out our kits which were in a very festive red and white bag, very appropriate for Valentine's Day. It contained a muslin square with a heart design for practicing your redwork stitches, a needle, a ball of turkey red pearl cotton thread, instructions and patterns rolled up and tied with a red ribbon, a towel to embroider after your practice and even a chocolate candy heart! Many of us started stitching our hearts as Lynn talked about Penny Squares. Penny Squares became popular in the 1880s. Girls and boys could go to the store and purchase a square for a penny. They could choose from a book of perforated paper designs and then that design would be marked on their fabric with chalk or perhaps cinnamon! Later, designs were pre-stamped on the fabric. Turkey red thread was a traditional choice for stitching the designs until 1900 when more thread colors became available. The thread was color-fast and did not run. Lynn commented that it was so durable, it might even outlast the fabric it was used on. Lynn outlined the practice design on our muslin using a very fine tip permanent acid-free marker. She explained that you can use any type of embroidery stitch you wish, but you might want to start with outline, backstitch or stem stitch. It doesn't matter how small your stitches are, just try to keep them even and consistent. Some of us tried using chain stitch and fern stitch in other parts of the design. The important part is to have fun! | 
| Lynn concluded by inviting us to take a closer look at the many books she brought describing all different types of redwork designs. Thanks, Lynn for a great program! What a nice, relaxing way to spend a Valentine's Day afternoon. There are a few kits left. Contact Lynn if you would like to purchase one. In addition, we had several items for show and tell. Karyn Pechinski brought an antique French sampler that she purchased on eBay. She is trying to find out more about the girl who stitched it and is enjoying the research process. Other show and tell items are below. We hope you will join us for our next meeting on March 14th! Our program will be about the the process of framing needlework presented by Monica Pratt from Welcome Stitchery Needlework and Frame shop. | 
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