Celebrating 25 years!!
By admin | May 19, 2009
On May 21, 1984, the Apple Valley Smockers became an official affiliated chapter of the Smocking Arts Guild of America. The Charter document was signed by the National President (Teri Orsini), the National Secretary (Kathleen Copeland) and by Candace P. Grim, the first president of the Apple Valley Smockers and ‘Attested’ (witnessed) by Susan L. Finger, Chapter Secretary.
Twenty-five years later, eight current members celebrated this event at a mini-retreat at the Columbia Breaks Fire Interpretive Center (www.wildfirecenter.org) on May 9, 2009, in Entiat, Washington. This center is surrounded by beautiful Ponderosa Pines, sagebrush, various native plants, fire lookouts, and an interpretive trail. We started the day with a delightful breakfast of a marionberry scone from the Entiat Valley Pastry Shop, fresh fruit, coffee, and tea. Members enjoyed visiting, smocking, sewing, taste-testing chocolate covered macadamia nuts and Jelly Belly beans, and strolling on the trail. We also had a potluck lunch that included a wonderful assortment of salads, homemade bread (Thanks, Scott!), and punch. It was a great opportunity to relax and celebrate 25 years of smocking and the friendships that have resulted in the center of apple country in Washington State!
The next three months we will be returning to our regular meeting location at The Attic Window, 1630 N. Wenatchee Avenue, and catching up on our projects in progress. Looking forward to seeing all our regular members and if you are at all interested in learning this fun skill contact us or just come to one of our meetings to see what smocking is all about.
Enjoy the beautiful area that we live in!!
Melanie Chambers
President, Apple Valley Smockers
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December 27, 2008 Apple Valley Smockers
By admin | December 27, 2008
The calendar that I chose for keeping track of all our family’s events/plans for 2009 has the title of “The Path~Finding Your Way on Life’s Journey.” In many ways I am looking forward to stepping off the path that I have been on in 2008 and starting on a new one in 2009 (those of you that are in the middle of or have ‘launched’ your sons/daughters can relate to some of the challenges that those years bring…!) I am looking forward to following some new paths in 2009, including jumping back onto a former career path as a Registered Nurse. But I hope that the path I’ve started on in smocking continues right next to where I am traveling~close by where I can easily jump on and off when I want a relaxing evening or have the need to be creative. That has been one of my favorite features of smocking~it’s easy to take with you on your travels (remember smocking in a cave, at Mt. St. Helens and by a creek) and in 15 minutes you can actually make progress on a row of cables. So I hope that on whatever paths you choose to take in 2009 that your smocking skills go along with you. Also, never forget that you have friends on that smocking path~your fellow Apple Valley Smockers are there to cheer you on and to encourage you to keep on smocking and to take that next step when things aren’t going as you hoped (being able to talk while you smock is another beautiful feature of this art!!) Here are a few of the planned classes/events for 2009 for the Apple Valley Smockers’ meetings.
January 3: Pleater demonstration/discussion
February 7 : Marliene Cheek from Needlework, Linen, and More will be our guest speaker to share with us her vast knowledge of threads, flosses, floche, and how we might use them in smocking.
March 7: Smocking Arts Guild of America Trunk Show
April 4: Our annual preparation of Wee Care gowns: cut-out and pleating
May 9: This month we will be celebrating the Apple Valley Smockers’ 25th Anniversary!! I see silver smocked items….
June 6, July 11, and August 1 will be opportunities to do your Summer Smocking (which some of you may ask is that any different than Winter, Spring, or Fall Smocking?? Think– sipping iced tea, in the shade of a backyard tree, with the smell of freshly mown grass and steaks on the grill wafting your way as you finish the last stitch of a picture-smocked frog wearing a hula skirt…so you see Summer Smocking is a special treat that I look forward to in the midst of this cold and snow!!)
Happy smocking!!!
Melanie Chambers
President, Apple Valley Smockers
(PS: The first member of our guild to email me that they have read this blog will get a special prize at our January meeting!!)
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October 21, 2008 Apple Valley Smockers
By admin | October 21, 2008
Hello Fellow Apple Valley Smockers and Website Guests,
It has been a busy couple of months with the fairs and the NCW Quilt Show. There are a lot more people in the world now that know what English Smocking is and there are also a lot of people who thought that nobody still did it and now they know that smocking is alive and well!!! It was a lot of fun talking with people who were admiring all of your beautiful projects. My favorite comment was by several ladies who said, “I smocked something years ago, but I did one project and then I never did that again!! It was a lot of work!!” Then I would show them a pleater and how it does the work that they used to do by hand to pleat the fabric and I could see that glimmer in their eyes that said, “Maybe I should try to smock again…” Thanks go out to all the members of the Apple Valley Smockers for supplying the beautiful projects and to those members that helped with each event. NOW it is time to settle in for the winter with a nice rectangle of pleated fabric and work on a new project! Maybe a Picture Smocked project? Keep up the great work ladies!!!!!!!!!!!!
Melanie Chambers,
President, Apple Valley Smockers
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August 2, 2008 Apple Valley Smockers’ Meeting
By admin | August 5, 2008
Hello Smockers,
This will be a brief post to share with you the topics we discussed at our August meeting. Many of our members were on vacation~I hope they managed to fit in a little smocking while waiting for their planes, trains, or automobiles…
We are finalizing plans for the upcoming Fairs. Anyone that is able to go to the NCW Fair in Waterville on Friday, August 22 to demo Smocking (and eat Cinnamon Rolls and Carmel Corn) is asked to let Melanie know. We will meet at the old KMart parking lot at 10 a.m. and carpool to Waterville. (maybe we can make a quick stop at the Waterville fabric store…Yesteryear Quilting). We plan to leave the Fair between 5-6 PM.
We brainstormed ideas for the theme of our display at the Chelan County Fair. The Fair theme is “Where Farm and Family Fun Meet”. We are going to add another “F” to the theme and that is “Floss” meaning embroidery Floss, somehow incorporating that into our display!! Set-up of our display will be on Tuesday September 2, after 8 am. All of the items in our display need to be entered in the Fair. Give me a call and I will share how to enter your items. Passes to the Fair are available to anyone who is willing to volunteer at our Smocking display/Handiwork barn for 4 hours. I need the names to give to Lynn by August 15th to be able to get these. A potential class with the Smocking Judge has not been confirmed yet, so stay posted. We are planning on carpooling from our September meeting at The Attic Window to the Fair to demo from 12-2 on Saturday, September 6th. This is a great opportunity to share our love of Smocking with the people of this area!! So I hope that everyone can get to the Fair which runs from Thursday, September 4th to Sunday, September 7th!!
I am updating our contact list, so if your email or address has changed let me know.
I will be sending out some emails as it gets closer to these events to keep everyone posted. Feel free to contact me with any questions. (784-1164 or melentiat@gmail.com)
May you have many hours of easily threaded needles, even pleats, and beautiful smocked stitches!!
Melanie Chambers, President, Apple Valley Smockers
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July 12, 2008 Apple Valley Smockers’ Meeting
By admin | July 15, 2008
Hello Smockers!
The air is hot and dry and the winds are picking up this afternoon. The breeze may be coming from the needles flying over all the smocking that our members are working on. We are starting to see more and more completed items! Thank you all who brought them to the meeting to share!
The CASA stocking is making the rounds. Our goal is to have it done to display at the Quilt Show.
It will soon be Fair time in the valley. We are scheduled to demo and display our smocking at the NCW Fair in Waterville on Friday, August 22. Plan to meet at the KMart parking lot at 9 am and carpool to Waterville. We will head home ~5:30-6 pm. If anyone is interested in entering items in the fair, a pick-up in the Wenatchee area can be arranged.
We are also planning a display at the Chelan County Fair in Cashmere. Items that we display must be entered in the fair. Set-up for the display is Tuesday, Sept. 2. There is no charge to enter an item. If you are an exhibitor, there is an Exhibitor’s Pass available for $10 that gives you entry to all the days of the fair (Sept. 4-7). Otherwise daily admission is $8.00 (plus $3 parking). Any time that you are at the fair, you are welcome to sit by our display and smock!! Lynn Schlosser is in charge of the Sewing/Weaving building and we are trying to set up a “Master Class” with a smocking judge that is supposed to be coming from out of state. We may have to change our times to accomodate her schedule, but we would really like to take advantage of a class if we can work it out.
The Quilt Show is coming October 10-11, with set-up on the 9th. Since this is the first event in the new Events Center I anticipate more excitement and hopefully a great attendance!! I’ve heard that there are some men who said they will be attending the quilt show for the first time just to see the new center!! We will make Raffle Tickets available at our September meeting for anyone that wants to pre-sell them to friends and family.
Roberta is still working on setting up the Trunk Show for March 7, 2009.
I hope you enjoyed the latest issue of SAGANews. At our meeting we reviewed some of the highlights and checked out the Buyers’ Guide.
There are 4 SAGA Chapters in Washington State: Apple Valley Smockers; Columbia Cablers, Richland; Puget Sound Smocking Guild, Bellevue; Treasured Threads, Kent. I emailed the Kent group and invited them to our meetings. Their president responded and will forward our email to the group. They do not meet during the summer.
Please feel free to contact me with any ideas or questions. I hope that you are utilizing our website. We will be adding a link to southern-stitches.com. They have a wonderful program called Threads of Love, very similar to our Wee Care program.
Keep those needles threaded!!
Melanie Chambers, President, Apple Valley Smockers
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June 7, 2008 Apple Valley Smockers Meeting
By admin | June 10, 2008
Hello Smockers,
We had a delightful meeting at Roberta’s home (thank you again, Roberta!!). Here is a brief run-down on some of the topics we discussed:
*Roberta is requesting the SAGA Trunk Show for March 7, 2009. Martha Bailey has asked for submissions throughout this summer.
*Lyn is working on an embroidered label for the CASA stocking which is beginning to be worked on by members of the group.
*Melanie has submitted the paperwork to the City of Wenatchee for the Temporary Business License for the quilt show. There was no charge since we are affiliated with SAGA, a 501(c) 3, non-profit organization and we were able to show the appropriate documentation received from SAGA.
*The Beginning Smocking class with the Sewing Simplikitties was a wonderful experience! They were very quick learners and are already creating some beautiful smocking stitches.
*Doing a display at the Chelan County Fair (at Cashmere) was discussed. Lynn Schlosser said it could be anywhere from 2 x 2 to 4 x 8 feet. The items would need to be entered in the fair. There is no cost to enter items in the fair, but there would be a charge to enter the Fairgrounds. We also discussed going to the fair after our September meeting for demonstrating smocking. (We decided that actually having our meeting at the fairgrounds may be a little too distracting.) We are interested in having a class by the person coming from Idaho who is a “Master Smocker” if the times can be arranged. Melanie will follow-up with Lynn S.
* Officers for 2008-2009 were elected: President Melanie Chambers, Vice-President Terri Blane, Secretary Nonie Hoffman, and Treasurer Karen Drummond.
*We also discussed meeting at Knitabilitea (on Wenatchee Ave, next to Mills Bros.) as an alternate meeting location for when the classrooms at The Attic Window are in use.
Our next meeting will be July 12th, due the 4th of July holiday weekend.
Keep those needles loaded with floss, ladies. And may they flow like a hot knife through butter as you create your beautiful smocking projects!!
~~~Happy Smocking~~~
Melanie Chambers, Apple Valley Smockers’ President
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May 10, 2008: Apple Valley Smockers’ Meeting
By admin | May 24, 2008
Hello Apple Valley Smockers’ Members,
As stated in my earlier Blog, I want to use this site to keep you updated on important information discussed at our meetings. So if you couldn’t make it, here are some of the topics we discussed at our May 10, 2008, meeting:
*Melanie met at Central Washington Hospital with Michelle Murphy who is the Resolve Through Sharing representative and thus our contact for Wee Care gowns. She was very grateful for our past contributions of gowns and they were currently totally out of gowns. The Resolve Through Sharing organization provides kits that help to organize momentos for the families who suffer the loss of a newborn. She described the outfit in the kits as more like a white flannel bib, and also stated that our gowns were so beautiful in comparison! She has also had parents tell her how nice it is that someone would do this (make these Wee Care gowns for them). Since they were out, I donated 3 of the completed gowns that I had with me and told her that we would be donating more this Fall after the quilt show. They could use a variety of sizes (they have needed gowns to fit as small as a 5 inch long baby to full term size babies). They would also appreciate a variety of colors (maybe some parents would like brighter colors??), and the lengths could vary ( some of ours are short to ones that are more the length of a Christening gown…). Picking out a gown from our selection of Wee Care gowns may be the only “parenting” that these parents get to do. Thank you ladies for your past and future contributions to this very worthy cause!!
* {I’m adding this note after our first Simplikitties 4-H Beginner Smocking Class} On May 20th, we met with 5 members of this 4-H group and showed them some beginning stitches for smocking with the goal of completing a smocked Christmas drum. They picked up the skill very quickly!! Thank you to Karen and Roberta for their excellent teaching skills. We look forward to their second class on June 3rd. What a delightful group of young ladies to pass on this art to!!!!
*We are still on for the NCW (Waterville) Fair smocking day on Friday, 8/22. We will meet and carpool up to Waterville for the day.
* No one was interested in taking on the chairmanship for setting up a display at the Chelan County Fair, Sept. 4-7. There was some interest in demonstrating smocking on Sat./Sun the 6th/7th. I will research this further with Lynn Schlosser as to what times might be available.
*The NCW Quilt Show, October 10-11, was notified by the City of Wenatchee that it now requires all groups that have a booth at the show to have a Temporary Business License. Non-profit groups are not required to pay the $10 fee and I was able to obtain a copy of the documents from SAGA that proove we are such and submitted them with the completed form to the City of Wenatchee on May 20th. They will still issue us a license, but there is no fee, since we are not selling any items.
*I filed the 990-N Form to the IRS on April 24, 2008 (was due by May 15th). This in now required of all non-profit groups that have gross receipts of less than $25,000. It is done online. {It was amazing to find out that there have actually been some SAGA groups that have exceeded the $25,000 limit!!}
*We received a little over 43 yards of fabric that we ordered from Princess Designs that was going out of business. The colors we received were Beige, Prissy Pink, Lt. Blue, and Seafoam (green). Contact Karen if you are in need of some of this nice Imperial Batiste. Our cost including shipping was $157.94 ($3.64/yard). It was voted on and passed that we will increase the price to purchase our fabric to paid-up members to $3.50/yard.
*Summer meetings will be June 7 (at Roberta’s), and July 12 (one week later due the 4th of July holiday), and August 2nd. (The July and August meetings will be at the Attic Window.)
*Election of Officers will be held in June.
*The Trunk Show will be requested by Roberta for March 7, 2009.
So members, please let me know if this if helpful to you!!
Melanie Chambers, Apple Valley Smockers’ President, 2007-2008
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Welcome to The Apple Valley Smockers’ Website
By admin | May 21, 2008
Thank you for taking the time to check out our website! I hope that if you live near Wenatchee, Washington, that you would consider joining us and learning the wonderful art of Fine English Smocking. I (Melanie) am near to completing my first year as president of the Apple Valley Smockers and it has been a very pleasant experience. We currently have 15 members and at our meetings we get to see beautiful projects that our members are working on or have completed. Our members always willingly share their expertise and I have learned so much!! Nonie has greatly expanded our stitching skills by teaching us the following stitches: a “quicker” Wheat stitch, Van Dyke, Surface Honeycomb, Chain Stitch, Cretan ~ and then we twisted it!!, Barbed Trellis, and Double Barbed Trellis!!! For those that plan to incorporate this into an apron, we will have a beautiful Sampler of these stitches facing the perils of our cooking in the kitchen!!! Karen has also taught us how to create and use Piping in our smocked projects. She also assists new smockers in those first tentative stitches. Karen has taught me so many “Smocking Hints” over the past 10 years and she never seems to tire of telling me “one more time” just how to do something. Thanks Karen and Nonie!!! {How fortunate their grandchildren are!!!}
If you are new to smocking and have attended a meeting, Roberta has probably helped you to get started on your first smocking project. Someday she will be famous in the Wenatchee Valley for all the people that she has patiently taught English Smocking to!!!
One of my goals for this Blog will be to incorporate a summary of our meetings for members that can’t make it. We miss seeing you!!
Happy Smocking!!
Melanie Chambers, Apple Valley Smockers’ President, 2007-2008
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