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2010 July / August

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Editor's Column
a note from Elizabeth

What a Wonderful World

I am convinced that the needlepoint world is as close to perfect as you can get. No one is happier than a bunch of needlepointers at a stitching retreat, seminar or guild meeting. Any day that we get to stitch is a good day — but add social time with other stitchers and it becomes a red-letter day.

My stitching group loves — I mean really loves — classes. We are fortunate to live in an area with several active groups who bring in teachers from across the country. If we wanted to, we could take a class once a month nearly year-round — and drive to every one.

We also love getting together. We love starting new projects. We love working on the same piece at the same time. But the part we love the most is the social aspect of a class, or more accurately, the social activities that turn a class into an event: coffee and tea before class, snack breaks during class and lunch breaks sitting in the sun on the deck. We sip wine after class and savor local restaurant fare for dinner. We often return to the studio to stitch before bedtime.

Recently we invited Nancy Cucci to pilot a class for a piece she will be teaching at a national seminar. My group has the pleasure of hosting Nancy once a year and her classes feel a bit like a family reunion. The same people sign up to participate in her classes year after year. Many travel from California, Washington, Chicago, Ill., and even Texas to join in the fun. The noise in the studio rises to sporting event levels as the students start arriving and greeting each other.

Nancy left Oregon to teach a class in Lewes, Delaware, my parent’s home. After my father retired from the USDA, my parents moved from North Carolina, where I was raised, to Delaware so they could be closer to my mother’s family. Mom belonged to ANG in North Carolina and was a founding member of the Seashore Chapter of the American Needlepoint Guild in Lewes. Years ago I attended a meeting with her, just once, but that was enough become good friends with several members of the Seashore Chapter. Needlepointers love meeting other needlepointers. Meeting someone who is equally obsessed with stitching is like finding a long-lost cousin; you can’t talk fast enough as you try share all that has happened since you last met.

Roseanne hosted Nancy Cucci when she taught in Lewes, Delaware. One of the nicest compliments that I have received came from Debby Leffingwell of New York, who attended Nancy’s class in Lewes. Debby took the time to write to me about a discussion that had taken place during the class. The stitchers had talked about Needlepoint Now and how much they all enjoyed the magazine. She went on to say that if we ever have space in our classes, then she would like to join us. Debbie, we love meeting new people and we rarely meet a needlepointer that we don’t like. Come on, girl, Oregon awaits you!

Needlepointers don’t care where you live or what you do for a living. They just want to know what you are stitching now, how long you have been stitching, the size of your stash and the location of your favorite needlepoint shop. As Louis Armstrong would say, “What a wonderful world….”

Keep the thread in the needle,

Elizabeth

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