The Cactus Wren Chapter was formed on February 24, 1988 with
the enthusiasm and guidance of Jinny Allanson and Emmalou Eaton. In
Arizona, Phoenix Chapter is #1, and Green Valley is #2. There were 19
Charter Members who elected Emmalou Eaton the first
President. The first project was a needlepoint nametag, which each
member stitched. Stitch-in Groups (a social and instructive time), a
Community Service Project, and Christmas tree ornaments for the tree at
Great American Bank where monthly meetings were held were added. Arlyne
Ehli planned the first Holiday Party. Nan Kuhn assembled packets of
nametags for visiting guests as well as other projects to raise funds
for the treasury.
In 1989
Helen Thompson was President. Helen also held classes (the
first of several to follow in the years ahead) for a tote bag. Many
other projects were offered from ANG and more lovely ornaments were
created for the tree, along with a tree skirt of antique Santas. The
Chapter stitched items at Green Valley’s Country Fair to increase the
treasury for a future Community Project. The first Spring Luncheon was
held at Tubac Country Club.
Cactus Wren grew
to 48 members in 1990 with Ann Hardy Payne as
President. An ambitious Community Project was conceived with area
schools involved. (This was featured in the October/November, 1992
issue of “Needlepointers”. Students drew pictures choosing their own
subjects,i.e., “fun at the library”, the “Santa Cruz Valley”, or a
favorite story. Twelve finalists were chosen and their designs were
transferred to canvas. Members stitched and all twelve were framed and
presented to the Green Valley Library, where they hang to this day in
the children’s section. The Christmas tree skirt was completed by Babs
Nemecek, and along with more completed ornaments were added to the tree
at the bank. The annual ANG Seminar was held in Santa Fe, MN and eleven
members attended.
Babs Nemecek
was President in 1991. Projects during the year included
miniature portraits, basket bands and tassels, pillows and lacing
canvasses to mounting boards for framing. An auction of equipment,
canvasses, threads, etc. donated by members was successful increasing
our treasury for future projects. Ann Hardy Payne completed an angel to
grace the top of the Christmas tree. The monthly newsletter to members
was initiated and membership grew to 55.
In 1992
Wanda Cooper was President. A very busy year was ahead because
a Community Project for the Green Valley Library was started. A
triptych of Madera Canyon, painted by local artist, Dot Beeson and
charted by Emmalou Eaton was begun. Cactus Wren became members of the
Greater Green Valley Arts Council and participated in three events:
The Weaver’s Guild, Rural Arts Festival and the Art Showcase. New
needlework techniques were taught and learned by all, including
hardanger on canvas, painting designs and background color. . The
membership grew to 64. We had outgrown our meeting room at the Bank and
moved to the Friends in Deed building. The highlight of the year was
having an article and picture of our project for the children’s section
in the Library featured in “Needlepointers”.
Jinny
Allanson was President in 1993. During the year, many of
our members guided us through several projects: Dolores Pickell with a
design for a button cover/earring ornament, Emmalou Eaton with a box top
with a 4-way Bargello, Earla Swope with a drawn thread scissors case,
Pat Phillips with a Christmas ball ornament, and Helen Thompson
continued instruction on the tote bag. Show and Tell was added to our
meetings and inspired us to expand our horizons. We had 69 members.
Pat Phillips
was President in 1994. Members continued to raise funds so the
triptych project could continue under the direction of Emmalou Eaton.
Mary Watkins conceived the idea of a member cookbook as a fund raising
project. Never in our wildest dreams did we know just how successful
this endeavor would be. Membership grew to 85.
Pat Phillips
was re-elected as President in 1995. “Needles and Pins”, our
cookbook was a huge success due to Mary Watkins and staff and all the
contributing members. . We held the “Tour of Stitcher’s Homes” as a
fundraiser, which was well attended and garnered more revenue for our
treasury. Programs for the year included a “Study in Threads” by
Dolores Pickell, ANG program, “Foxfire” with Ann Hardy Payne as leader.
“Elegant Button” was taught by Pat Phillips, silk ribbons on canvas was
explained to us by Helen Crawford and a Hardanger project was taught by
Babs Nemecek. Our first national teacher, Joan Thomasson came for a
four day workshop, and our second national teacher, Marjorie Williams
did a two day seminar. Plans were made for the first “Threaded
Treasures” exhibit of member’s needlework. Camp Cactus Wren was held
for the first time in the summer. Our Chapter pins were designed. Plans
were made for the first “Threaded Treasures” exhibit of member’s
needlework which was held in the Spring of 1996. Our hospitality table
was set up at each meeting to greet members and guests and sell
opportunity tickets. Other firsts were our Christmas Luncheon and
inter-chapter bazaar. ANG Seminar was held in Seattle. Two members won
prizes at the National ANG seminar. Mary Watkins captured 2nd
prize in Adaptation Non-professional as well as Delegate’s Choice
Award. Pat Phillips took 1st prize in Painted Design
Non-professional for her “Santa Marta” by Ann Speece Mills. Membership
grew to 122.
Jane Browder
was elected President in 1996. The triptych started in 1992 was
completed and hung in the Green Valley Library. Marnie Ritter, national
teacher, came for a 2 day workshop and Diane Evans, a designer from
Delaware and Gail Savage, shop owner from Scottsdale each had a one day
workshop. Mary Watkins and Pat Phillips were selected to stitch an
original Christmas stocking for the White house tree, a great honor.
Meredith Morton won Best of Show, the Princess Grace Award, and First
Place in Charted Designs at National ANG. Pat Phillips and Phyllis
Richardson won Honorable mention in the Hand Painted – Without
Instruction category. We held our first “Threaded Treasures” exhibit,
chaired by Jane Lovat. It was decided to hold this event biannually,
alternating with “Tour of Stitcher’s Homes”. A three day stitching
retreat, held at Tubac Country Club took place in August and was
officially named, “Camp Cactus Wren”. The Chapter enamel pin and
sterling cactus wren necklace, designed by member Barb Lapioli-Martinus
were introduced. Decorating the Chamber of Commerce Christmas tree with
our hand stitched ornaments will become an annual event. Membership grew
to 132. We needed additional room so we moved to the Jewish Friendship
Center.
In 1997,
Phyllis Richardson was elected President. Due to all of our
fundraisers, we were able to continue our education in needlepoint by
having national level teachers from ANG. Workshops were by Diane
Evans, who taught us her geometric design, “Lois”. We were fortunate to
have national instructors, MaryEllen Searcy, Marnie Ritter, and Gail
Savage. Our Chapter was again invited to participate in the White House
Christmas project. Twelve of our members were stitchers of the Toyland
Theme. At the ANG Seminar in Detroit, Phyllis Richardson was awarded 3rd
prize for Non-professional adaptation & The Mary Fry Award for use of
color. Meredith Morton’s “Kashan Carpet” was featured on the cover of
“Needlepointers”. Again, our members did us proud!
Gretchen
Helkamp was President in 1998. Since this is our 10th
anniversary, Phyllis Richardson presented all Past Presidents with a 10
year pin, a laurel wreath with a “10” in the center and a hanging gavel.
Threaded Treasures II was held in March and chaired by Nancy Sour.
Ethel Skowronski and Kathy Statz came up with some fun projects:
“Hearts by Four” and “Santa Fe Steps” to name a couple. Cassie Prescott
of Sundance Designs in Tucson spoke to us in April on her trip to Europe
to visit the DMC factory as their guest. ANG National teacher, Michele
Roberts of Houston, TX gave a workshop on the use of metals and
metallics in her “heart” design The ANG Seminar was held in San Diego
with sixteen members attending. . Meredith Morton earned 4 awards at
National ANG with “Daughter of the Sun” - (Judge’s Choice, People’s
Choice, Delegate’s Choice, and 2nd place for Adaptation – non
professional). She also won People’s Choice Award at our own “Threaded
Treasures”. Meredith’s “Daughter of the Sun” was on the cover of March,
1999 issue of “Needlepointers”.
In 1999,
Kathy Statz was President. Projects for the year were
planned by Margaret von Kuegelgen (Vice President) and Dolores Pickell.
Dolores Pickell taught a four way Bargello project, Nancy Pfeiffer led
us through the confusion of a round ornament, Ruth Deobler helped us
understand the complexities of Blackwork, and Earla Swope facilitated a
small Jean Hilton project. We had the pleasure of viewing slides and
all the fine examples of Chinese embroidery that Marge Martin and Barb
Lewis, plural members from Tucson, had acquired on their trip to China.
Camp Cactus Wren was held in Phoenix for the 5th time. We
hired a bus and traveled to Phoenix to visit the Monet Exhibit at the
Phoenix Art Museum. Earl Pennington won 12 ribbons at two county fairs
– and had everyone in stitches (no pun intended) when he showed us all
the ribbons. At ANG in Atlanta, Brenda Hart won 1st Place
with “The Emperor’s Coat” in the Professional Category. Margaret von
Kuegelgen won 3rd Place with “Kelp Forest Fish” and Honorable
Mention with “Inti” in the Original Category. Judy Archambeau
and Earla Swope are Threaded Treasures III co-chairs. The exhibit will
be held in March. In February, we will have Mary Ellen Searcy, ANG
National teacher, and our very own member teaching her “Button, Button
#1” design. Several of our members also participated in the current
National project of stitching the patches for each of the NASA flights.
Our “Feather-in-Your-Cap” awards and the Membership book were begun. We
also began our “States Name” plaques for Friends in Deed as a Community
Project.
In 2000,
Margaret von Kuegelgen was elected President. The Board
decided to hold Threaded Treasures in the winter of 2001 so that it
would not be held the same year as the needlework exhibit in Phoenix at
the Shermer Museum. It was a very successful exhibit with over 100
pieces and many members participating. Most of the state names for the
Community Project were completed, framed, and presented to Friends in
Deed. We were fortunate that the Green Valley News photographer was
there at the time and took a photograph for the paper! Camp Cactus Wren
had 14 participants. Earl and Norma Pennington planned a one-day stitch
retreat and luncheon so that our “Snow Bird” members would have a chance
to go to a one day “camp”. Mary Ellen Searcy did a one day workshop in
November . Our programs included an Or Nue lecture by Margaret von
Kuegelgen plus a Saturday workshop, book review day, the Great Pumpkin
sale, and Phyllis Richardson did two programs on threads and stitches,
the Swedish Embroidery group from Sun City gave a lecture on Swedish
embroidery. Phyllis Richardson held a “Holiday Open House” for the
Chapter instead of a Holiday Luncheon. We participated in “Adopt a
Family” program and donated clothing and toys to a family of three, as
well as giving food and necessities to older people. We designed and
purchased a tote bag with the Cactus Wren logo. Standing Rules were
formalized and put in several of the newsletters, a certificate of
deposit was purchased, a Teacher’s Bulletin Board will be available at
each meeting, and the Revised Bylaws were received back from National.
Several of our members were selected to exhibit pieces at Tohono Chul
Fabric Arts Exhibit. Membership remained at 132.
Lynn
Browning was elected President in 2001. Highlights of the
programs for the year included: Rainbow Galleries Saturday Workshop,
Ribbon Embroidery video and demonstration, a lecture on Tassels, a Book
Review, the Witch Lucynda Workshop, Gold and Shadows II, two one-day
stitching retreats, one in Tucson and one in Nogales, a lecture,
“Evaluating our Own Needlepoint Canvas” by Barbara May Grass, an
eyeglass case, a lecture “ANG Seminar”, a bus trip to the Shemer
Needlework Show in Phoenix, and we finished our the year with a Patio
Sale. During the year we also enjoyed our annual Holiday Luncheon,
Spring Luncheon, and Camp Cactus Wren. In an effort to keep our budget
healthy, we continued the sale of the Cactus Wren Tote Bags and
“recalled” our cookbooks, “Needles and Pans: and resold them. We had a
Patio Sale held at several members homes who lived on the same street.
We did a very brisk business all day, with a good profit coming to the
Chapter. We also initiated a collection called “Tiny Treasures” for a
mini-boutique at Threaded Treasures in 2003. Members were asked to
stitch Christmas ornaments and other small items to be donated to our
semi-annual Threaded Treasures show. As of April 2002, we had collected
about 30 items; this program will continue until January, 2003, with the
show to be held in February, 2003. In the area of community service, we
stitched two sided butterflies in a variety of patterns and fibers which
were sewn together, stuffed and hung in the common areas of Santa Rita
Care Center, and collected canned goods for the Green Valley Community
Food Bank. Our Treasurer logged untold hours getting our non-profit
status and tax ID information cleared through the IRS.
President for the
year 2002 was Sharon Skoczek. Membership was 96
primary members, 25 dual members, and 3 Life Patrons for a total of
124. We continued to meet at LaPosada Community Room. The 7th
Camp Cactus Wren was held at Tubac Golf Resort with 20 campers. A
booklet of SouthWest designs for needlepoint and counted cross stitch
created by members was developed. A P.O. Box was created for Cactus
Wren. A membership brochure was created and distributed at several
locations in Green Valley. The States Community project was completed
and hangs at Friends in Deed. (We received national recognition in the
March issue of “Needlepointers” for this project.) A monthly sign-in of
upcoming projects and the social committee greeted members at the back
table. Sharon had innovative luncheons, all with a theme involved. We
were invited to participate in correspondence courses, one being an
adobe house motif.
President during 2003 was Mary Ellen Searcy.
Lectures/programs included Ruth Kern Books, quilter Thelma Smith, Ruth
Connors on miniatures and slide lectures by Libby Sturdy and Francye
Farley. Members shared teaching Furry Stitches, Silk Ribbon Flowers,
Cross Stitch, Tent Outline, stitching/finishing the SW doll Joaquin, a
tool Reticule, Hardanger, Mystery dying, and stitching/finishing the
Adobe House. Old books were culled from the library and new ones
added. An updated Library List and Shop Resource list were published.
The New Member Handout was redone. Activities included monthly stich-ins
and stitch-outs at Palo Duro and Rio Rico, Camp Cactus Wren, a Christmas
and March luncheon and a bus trip to the Shemer Needlework Show in
Phoenix. A “Smashed Pumpkin Sale” was held. Our Chapter brochure is
available around town and we had a publicity table at the fall Country
Fair. National teachers were Francye Farley’s Embelishing a Gemstone
and Libby Sturdy who designed a Southwest Bag Lady Stitcher for us.
Community projects continued with the four pieces for Casa de
Esperanza’s Senior Center. The stitching and framing of the letters and
numbers for Casa de Los Ninos del Valle was completed. A sampler for
Habitat for Humanities was presented. Earl Pennington’s “Little Boy
Fireman” stitched piece was donated to the Fire House. At National,
members stitched miniatures for the Regional Doll House auction. We
donated a sampler stitched by Dolores Pickell to the auction for 2004
Seminar. Dolores also donated a doll house to the Chapter. Members
will begin stitching miniatures for the house and chances will be sold
in 2006.
Susan Ettle was president in 2004. Susan had taught
textile classes in fabric dying and silk paper dying. Susan is a
fiber artist and instructor. She has had her works exhibited at the
national Academy of Needleart (NAN) in Virginia and Fine Art of Fabric
in Chicago. She has completed a 3 year Teacher Certification program
for NAN. Her final project, “Alarich’s Vase” is in NAN’s permanent
collection. Susan holds a BA and MS in mathematics.We were honored to
have Joyce Lukomski for a workshop of beading needlepoint work on a
cashmere piece. Joyce was a past Editor of Needlepointers. An
overview of a Friendship Sampler Band, introduced by Margaret Von
Kuegelgen, was done by members who had signed up for it. Each member
would stitch a band and then the next month, it was passed on to the
next member in the class. Other classes during the year: Stump Work by
Barbara Richardson, Ann Seese told us about the Royal School she
attended in England, Earla Swope taught “scissor case”, Mary Ellen
Searcy taught “Humbugs – Along Came a Spider” , Sherry Skoczek taught
“holiday cubes”. Deolores Pickell and Earla Swope taught a class using
laid threads for “peonies”. Embellishments on new and antique boxes
was taught by Reba Ashmore. Rebecca Hays taught “blackwork”, and Susan
Ettle taught us how to transfer a picture of gates or doors onto
canvas. Carol Lake presented “Anisazi”. A field trip to the Busy
Needle in Tucson included their offering refreshments for us. There
were Stitch Outs at Rio Rico and Saddlebrook, and LaMariposa Resort.
Twenty two members attended Camp Cactus Wren in Tubac. Threaded
Treasures was a success, as was the sale of Tiny Treasures. Susan
brought Cactus Wren into the modern age by putting the newsletter on the
internet.
Phyllis Richardson was president during 2005 and 2006.
We had a Home Tour as well as a Patio Sale. Camp Cactus Wren was
held at Sheraton Hotel in Tucson. There were Stitch Outs at Palo Duno
in Nogales and at La Mariposa Resort. Mary Ellen Searcy won 3rd
place in the ANG Professional category with her “Woman of the Desert”.
Margaret Von Kuegelgen suggested a “Chinese Auction” where we wrapped
our UFOs and traded pieces. Classes included: Rainbow Galleries
Threads lecture and thread guide class by Jay Patterson, Tumari by Mary
Hamilton, Love Notes Needle Case by Dolores Pickell, Shading by Barbara
Richardson, Dynamic Diagonal Box by Pat Phillips, Locker Hooking by
Bonnie Wedekind. Carol Lake, national teacher gave a special class, and
Cassie Prescott, formerly from Sundance, taught “Young Brave”.
2007, Dale Miller was president. The suggestion for a recipe
book of just salads and appetizers was developed. Cactus Wren t-shirts
were designed and sold. Jan Spraque taught a class for a card using
bargello stitches. The owner of Cresent Colors described her method of
hand dying. She originally did this for cotton floss for cross stitch
projects. Mary Ellen Searcy taught a 3 part class on fabric beaded
pieces appliquéd on canvas to create a shamen or a pin. Donna Lou
Hetler taught us hardanger and we had a class on Scissor FOBs.
2008 and 2009, Linda Nettling was president. “Wrens in the
Kitchen” was a cookbook of appetizers and salads. Recipes were
submitted by members, and compiled by Rosemary Johannesson and sold for
a fundraiser. Margaret Bendig, National teacher, gave a workshop. A
Patio Sale during February, 2009, was another fundraising event. We had
a stitch out at Kristopher’s. Threaded Treasures Home Tour was a
combination of two events that previously were held individually. Five
member’s homes were open with many “treasures” on display. Two South
West pillows were stitched by members and made available for tour
members to purchase tickets to win a finished pillow. Classes included
Framing by Frank Garcia, ANG Video “Design into Stitches”, scissor
pocket by Pat Phillips, and members were asked to participate in a
program, bringing their “favorite things” for stitching. A Standing
Rules change was approved by the membership stating that Cactus Wren
will pay from their treasury funds the fees for teachers including their
transportation, room and board. Members are responsible for only the
cost of the kit fees.
2010 - 2011, Rosemary Johannesson
was
President. We had Sharon Cresent of Cresent Colours give a talk about how she
started her business, and techniques used in dying threads. Brenda Mace of
Massage Works presented exercises and posture to help eliminate stress on our
bodies when stitching. Stitch-ins were held during the summer months, with time
for conversation and exchange of ideas. Our guild received a canvas depicting a
boy reading under a tree, which became a community project. Members starting
the stitching on this canvas. We refreshed out techniques making cords and
tassels. Linda Germaine introduced us to art of Kumihimo with a demonstration
and display of several of her pieces. We made pen & pencil holders using
plastic canvas and yarns. January and February were dedicated to stitching a
sampler. Each member chose her own color way and the results were
spectacular. Yard sale was held in February as a fundraiser.
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