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Mouse TalesVol 8 - Issue 2 June 2009Contents
President's MessageIn the last newsletter, I challenged you all to do something for yourself. This issue, I want to share what I am doing for myself. A few of you know that I joined Weight Watchers in July, but you may not know that I have lost over fifty pounds. In the past, I have recommended Spark People, an online weight loss community, to the chapter. I am still very active on that website, but I also have been using Weight Watchers e-tools to track my food and exercise. It is pretty amazing to go from a size 18 Women's to an 8 Petite in less than a year. I am less than ten pounds from my goal weight and very close to my weight prior to getting sick with thyroid disease, even if it is not distributed the same way as it once was! For me, this was never really about being fat, even though I clearly was. It was more about being healthy and feeling my best. This is something I am doing for myself, because I finally realized that I am worth it. I know that sounds a little lame, but I think it is true. Let's face it; we have a hobby that leads to a sedentary lifestyle and, for some of us, that can be a problem. When I realized that my waist circumference put me at a significantly higher risk for health problems, including heart disease and diabetes, I decided to make changes. The first thing I did was start walking and swimming, later I discovered belly dance and yoga, so I have been very active for the last three years. That said, nothing worked for me until my thyroid medication was regulated and I started measuring, weighing and tracking my food. How does my personal quest to regain my own health impact you? It is my hope that some of you will take the President's Challenge to do something for yourself. Maybe I can inspire you to decide to take better care of yourself. After all, I want to continue to attend meetings and seminars with all of you for many years to come. I had the chance to see some of you in Nashville at Share-A-Stitch XXIX and a CyberStitcher won the "basket" we donated. There was so much going on at seminar, I apologize if I did not get a chance to say hello. I spent most of my time working the preregistration desk for SAS 30. Speaking of SAS 30, I am the Favors Chair and our chapter is responsible for creating banquet favors for Share-a-Stitch next year and I will need all of your help! I do not want to post what we will be doing here in the newsletter, because I want it to be a surprise for seminar attendees, so check our Yahoo groups or contact me directly for details. Happy Stitching,
Chapter and National NewsIn the CS Newsletter: Yes, at long last a newsletter! I apologize for the long gap since the last one. Trying to juggle things just got the better of me. Hopefully it is all back on track now! My plans for the rest of the year are this June newsletter, a September, and December newsletter - back as it used to be before I had the bright idea of January, April, July, and October. For our new members, we have built in links to websites mentioned, and to emailing people you may need to contract. If you see a link mentioned and the letters are blue, click on that link and you will be taken there. You will note that I don't put folks' actual emails in the newsletter. If you click on their name in blue, you will be able to email them. If you have a problem, let me know! I also encourage members to share - if you found a great needlework book, took a great class with a great teacher, have some neat stitching tips to share - let me know so I can include it in the newsletter. Also, if there are some interesting needlework related events in your area, let me know so that I may add them onto the calendar. With the size of our membership, and the area we cover, chances are if there is something happening near you, some of our chapter may be interested in attending. Sue Sherburne CyberStitchers Part in Share-a-Stitch 30: "Don't be afraid to give your best at what seemingly are small jobs. Every time you conquer one it makes you that much stronger. If you do the little jobs well, the big ones will tend to take care of themselves." - Dale Carnegie Our chapter is responsible for making the favors for Share-a-Stitch 30, which is being sponsored by the Tennessee Valley Region and will be held in Charleston, West Virginia. The exact dates are June 24-27, 2010 and the theme is "Gathering Pearls". SSHHH!!! The favors are to be a surprise for seminar attendees, so please check the conversations going on in our Yahoo groups and see what you can do to assist in this effort. Let's all work together on this! Ding! Ding! Ding! Do you hear Cable Car Bells? Important Dues Information: The national EGA has changed the way our dues are collected. Instead of being due on your anniversary date, all members' dues are payable by May 31st. This year our dues will be prorated and next year they will all be due on the same day. Here's the schedule for our current Primary Members: Plural Members have the same schedule and choices. Note that this applies for this year, 2009, only. All dues will be payable at the same time next year. New members dues will be prorated their first year. Chapter Pins: Cyberstitchers is lucky to have our own Chapter Pin! You can see a picture of what this pin looks like in the files section of this yahoo group. Just go to the file section and look for "cyberstitchers pin". They really are a fun to wear especially when you are attending the National and Regional EGA Seminars. These pins are $7.00 and that includes the postage regardless of where we are mailing. If you are interested, you can pay via paypal at www.paypal.com or www.paypal.ca for our Canadian members. The payee is cyberstitchers@excite.com. Just be sure to identify "Chapter Pin" somewhere in the payment information. You can also send a check to me, payable to Cyberstitchers, just email me for my mailing address. Regardless, of how you purchase one, please email me (click on my name below) and give me YOUR mailing address and that you are wanting to purchase a chapter pin. As soon as I see payment, I will get your pin out to you. Your Chapter Pin volunteer, Special Interest Groups: Check out our SIGs - Special Interest Groups. Different stitchers have gotten together for specific interests and stitch-a-longs: Beading, stitching a Christmas ornament each month, Victoria Sampler/Lavendar & Lace designs, Brag Book, "Heart of My Heart" pattern stitch-a-long, Inspirations Magazine projects, the Dragonboat class, and of course, a UFO (Unfinished Fiber Object) group for members to encourage each other to finish GCC and EGA class pieces. Go to SIGs on our website to see what is going on.
Education ReportThe education committee is composed of Anne Long, Ellen Hartman, and Rissa Peace Root. BEE 6: For our new members, BEE means "Big Education Event". For the past 6 years, CyberStitchers has been offering each member the opportunity to take 1 GCC for the cost of the text book only. The chapter picks up the course/teacher fee and the postage costs for the class. EGA limits a class group to 21 students. Second quarter classes are already underway. Here is the list of remaining
CC projects selected for this year, and which quarter registration will
take place for that class: If you have not selected a BEE class yet, there are still openings left in many of the classes. At this time Shading Stitches is completely full, and Cleopatra's Cat was close. If you have chosen your BEE class for this year, you can join any of the other classes (so long as there are openings) as a "full tuition student". You would be responsible for your textbook cost, share of the course fee, and postage. A number of CCs are retiring this year: Anne is taking names for these classes to see if there is enough interest to register them one more time. The total cost of the class will vary depending upon the number of students in it - so the more students we have in the class (up to 21 students total), the cheaper it is per person! You cannot use your BEE benefit on the retiring CCs. Right now the most popular retiring CCs are Plum Blossoms and Fantasy Remembered, but we still need many more people in each class before we can definitely say we're registering the class. These classes are open to any current EGA member. Don't forget, there are CC's available to us inexpensively via Needle Arts magazine or online at the EGA website. Petite Project: The present petite project is called "Highland Lady" and was
designed by Doreen Arnold based on a line drawing by Michele Chavez from
the Washignton D.C. Chapter Challenge, 2008. A new project will be coming
shortly, so check out "Highland Lady" soon. Tthe latest piece in our Petite Projects file can always be found at
this URL: The project instructions are in pdf (Adobe) format. You will find the pdf file in the folder labeled "Current Petite Project" . BAM: BAM is Bead-a-Month and grew out of a SAM, Stitch-a-Month, program we purchased for several years. Our own Rissa picked up with BAM when SAM ran out of new files. All diagrams are maintained in the CS-Stitch-A-Month yahoogroup. Look in the Files section in the Folder labeled "Files for BAM". If you are not a member of the CS-Stitch-A-Month group but would like to be, send an email to: CS-Stitch-a-Month-subscribe@yahoogroups.com Stitch-a-long: We have a few stitch-a-long groups going now such as the ornament group, and a bead group. Please let Anne know if there is an interest in a group stitchalong, a small meeting stitchalong, or any other similar ideas you might have. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to email. Dragonboats Class: The Dragonboats class is still up and running on yahoogroups. People still continue to join - especially some of our new members. If you are interested in making one of these cute little ornaments, the class is free for all members. Go to yahoogroups.com and sign up for CSDragonboats, or email Sue for an invitation. Please address Education Committee questions to:
Outreach ProjectsOrnaments for Breast Cancer The 11th Annual Silent Auction for Breast Cancer Research at the Attic Needlework shop in Mesa, Arizona was a big success back in November. $15,040.50 was raised and sent to the Breast Cancer Research Center in NY!! OK, ladies, the challenge is out there. Alice, who was mentioned by The Attic, turned in over 50 ornaments last year! I know this lady and she works at another LNS and she is teaching programs for me several times in the coming two years for me as Program Chair for my local Face-to-Face chapter and also teaches weekly at another LNS so she is not a lady of leisure who does nothing but stitch ornaments for this cause. Now we are a group of almost 300 members. Can we not do at least what she did???? How about meeting this challenge and stitching as many rnaments from the group this year as Alice did last year. I will keep a list and keep you posted at each board meeting. The next event is on Saturday night, November 21, 2009 6 - 8 p.m.. It is the 12th Annual Silent Auction for Breast Cancer Research. I can turn the ornaments in as we go along so not a problem for me. If you take a picture, please email it to me as that saves me doing this but I will make sure pictures of all the ornaments are posted before the auction. Give me a few days before the auction to get them there as they try to get them all on display by Friday. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me and also just ask for my mailing address when you are ready to send yours to me. Thanks to all those who participated last year and I hope we have a really big turnout this year. Karen Star Pillows There are still troops deploying around world so if you are interested in stitching a pillow, please use the cross stitch pattern provided by the chapter in our files. You will be stitching a small design on a 6x6 inch square of 14ct. white Aida and then mail it to our Chapter Project Coordinator. The stitched squares will then be assembled into small pillows with similarly-themed backing fabrics. A pillow is given to a soldier before shipping out to kiss the pillow and give it to his or her child as a keepsake that will hopefully comfort the child during the separation from their parent. The pattern may be found here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cyberstitchers_ega/files/KISSING%20PILLOWS%20pattern/ as a PDF document (or, go into the Files section in this group, and click on the folder Kissing Pillows Pattern); if you need technical assistance, please contact Lynn via e-mail. This is a simple and quick stitch. Meg is our Project Coordinator for the Kissing Pillows Chapter Project. She is the chapter member you will mail your stitched design to, and she will be sure that the squares are assembled into mini-pillows and sent on to their final distribution point. Contact Meg via email for her mailing address. We hope that many chapter members will find this project to their liking and that Meg will receive many stitched squares! Just a few items to bring to your attention: Yes there is a Canadian version of this project for Canadian service folks. Lynne D., one of our Canadian members is coordinating this in her f2f chapter in Ontario. Contact Lynne D. by email to get the pattern and information for the Canadian version of this project. Bookmarks For Literacy Judi continues to accept handmade bookmarks for the chapter's Bookmarks
for Literacy project. The requirements are as follows: Outreach for One Our "Outreach for One" folder is still there to provide members with other ideas for outreach. Go to our cyberstitchers_ega Yahoo! group. Click on "Links", then on "Outreach for One" folder. Maintenance of this list now rests with the chapter members. We encourage members to post other links to charities you know of that need assistance, or you can send the information to our Outreach Chair, Lynn, and the committee will see that it gets posted. The committee always welcomes any ideas for chapter projects (either from the membership or the committee). As usual, it's a bit difficult to find something a chapter like ours can do. Any ideas will be gratefully accepted, and will be fully investigated by the committee. Please share your ideas with our Outreach Chair, Lynn.
Elements Inchies:We have heard a lot about Inchies in the Chat4CyberStitchers list. In fact, there is a stich-a-long group dedicated to inchies that does a swap every once in a while. One swap required each participant to create a group of four inchies, one representing each of the four elements: earth, air, fire, and water. I thought the elements would make a great, simple project for the newsletter, and was taken by this little frame to put them in. |
