I took a sampler class from Nan Tyson Euler, who was wonderful. The piece we worked on was inspired by a girl who left a diary of her travels on a wagon west across the country in the late 1700s. Nan designed the piece based on the sampler style at the time. Some of the design elements were left up to us -- color choices and such. I embellished a few spots of the sampler in my own way, adding an apple, a bird and a snail underneath trees at the top. Because of a mistake, I ended up with extra space near the top, so I flipped on design element on itself, which Nan thought was very neat. I worked in silks on linen, and during breaks ate chocolate orange creams and dark chocolate covered carmels. What indulgence!

The class also started work on a housewife -- a little pouch that is rolled up to contain needlework tools and items. Three pockets will be covered with crewel: a flower, a bird and shamrocks. I had never done crewel before, and didn't know that crewel describes not the stitches, but the fact that it's done in wool. I caught onto crewel quickly, although my stitching kept wanting to wander sideways. The tulip is done, and looks really neat. The Appleton Wools we used were colonial colors, so I felt like a true "pioneer!"

I also learned a few neat new techniques. We learned a method of securing our fibers down without a tail on either side. We learned to pierce through the front of the linen through one fabric fiber under where we'd be stitching, leaving a small tail on the front. Then we went back up through that same fabric fiber/strand near the first spot, then back down again. So we basically pierced one fiber three times, all in different spots on the strand. Then you start stitching, covering up that area. You can finish a fiber off the same way, tucking your piercings behind a stitch. To get rid of the tail, you tug on it, snip it near the surface of the fabric, and what's left pops down into the linen fiber. It holds VERY tight, and is worth practicing.

While we sat and stitched, Nan read to us from the diary of the young woman who "designed" our sampler. She was a hoot! Always complaining about the wagoneers, the Dutchmen, the dirty little children. She did travel through some horrid conditions, and it was interesting to hear what life was like two hundred years ago. (The entire class verbally expressed disgust when we heard about the sleeping conditions at the inns and taverns -- some of the sheets, our traveller supposed, hadn't been washed in two years! This poor girl often slept in her clothes, with her head on her handkerchief.)

We also discussed elements of style, comparing posters of old samplers, discussing which ones we liked the best, which ones had the best designs and use of color. Nan showed us slides of samplers she has seen and studied. It was really interesting not only to hear about the samplers' histories and techniques employed, but the stories of Nan and her travels to different museums and countries to study these samplers. She is a knowledgeable teacher, and I know she travels extensively throughout the country giving lectures and classes. Definitely, if you love samplers, take a class if the opportunity presents itself.

I definitely enjoyed taking a four-day class. Not only did it give me the opportunity to get to know my teacher and classmates, but it left me with one UFO, instead of two or four! It's nice to take a class and really get a few days' work in on it (it's pretty rare I get even a portion of that much time to work on anything).

Our seminar committee was fortunate enough to acquire a great many gifts and prizes for attendees. I won a really nice piece of linen from Wichelt Imports (which I'll be using in an upcoming round robin), some Rainbow Gallery Fibers, and of course goodies that were at our lunch places every day. These included a homemade fabric bag filled with floss, pencils and other goodies, a red felt homemade heart, a scissors tassel, and matboards donated by a local frame shop. We were so amazed with the donors' generosity. Sometimes all it takes is a nicely-worded letter, and the results can be fabulous. We included addressed postcards with each prize so winners could personally thank each donor.

I was in charge of the daily newsletter for seminar, which meant writing and printing one to be ready each morning of the seminar. I did much of this work in advance, so only had to write one page worth of material each evening (after doing interviews, collecting items from a comment box, and hearing from the "higher authorities.") I even managed to get photos in one newsletter. We passed around disposable cameras, and two managed to come back in time for me to have them developed at the one-hour photo place across the street. A few quick scans, and voila!

Friday night we all got to tour the Nordic Needle (which is here in town). We were the first customers to be allowed into the "basement," which I imagined was a mysterious dark place, but was actually very light and cheery. The front part of the store is nothing at all in size compared to downstairs and its lovely offices, neat work areas, and shelves of supplies. The Nordic Needle was gracious enough to have goodies for us, knowlegeable tour guides, free gold needles, and lots of extra helpers, including a man who shuttled people from the hotel to their shop. It was a lot of fun just standing in the aisles talking to everyone!

I also had the opportunity to set up shop for a few hours at merchandise night. I was there with a table overflowing with fabric, charts, and other fun things. It was nice to get a lot of positive exposure, handing out catalogs and business cards to everyone who stopped by my booth. A few smart shoppers discovered the huge stash of hand-dyed fabrics I ordered in especially for the event. They snatched them up in bundles!

One of the really fun things about seminar was meeting some customers and friends I've made through my site: Sherri, Bonny, Carol, Mary, Nina...it was great to see all of you! Sometimes sitting home here on my computer, I forget that there are faces connected to all of these e-mail addresses. I am going to start doing more travelling now that my business is off and running. I may meet more of you at a Shepherd's Bush gathering in Memphis, Tenn., in June, and I'll also be at market in Charlotte the end of July to meet designers and distributors. You're sure to hear about these events in future newsletters.

June is a great time for stitching! Now that the gardens are in, and the mosquitos and other critters are out, grab a project and have fun.

© 2007 Theresa Venette. Articles on this site may be reproduced in needlework group newsletters or other handouts with permission of author and proper attribution. Send questions, comments and suggestions to: xspeddler@yahoo.com