PLG Newsletter Fall 2002
President’s Letter
Here we are in the dog days of summer. What a great opportunity to make lace in the air conditioning. I have opened my kitchen to lacemakers on Wednesday afternoons. Call if you can come. We are having fun together. I look at what Betsy has planned for the future and know that we have some really exciting workshops ahead. Louise Colgan is an elegant and thorough teacher. You will enjoy her Color in Lace class. We can never know enough about the threads we use when making lace, so the Friday evening program will be educational as well as a good chance to get together with lace friends. In the spring we will be fortunate to have a workshop with Betty McDonald. She calls it Fingers, Loose and Fancy Free. Robin saw the work being done in her class at an ODEA workshop. It ‘will be a three-day workshop and we need to sign up early, so watch for the next newsletter and send your form in promptly. In fall 2003, we will have Tander with Gunvor Jorgensen. We are truly diverse. It is grand to have such an exciting schedule ahead, but I am amazed when I look back at workshops in the past and realize how many gifted members have shared their talents with us in mini-workshops, like Temari, Tatting, and Teneriffe, to mention only the T’s. I feel fortunate to be involved in PLG because of the warmth, caring, and challenges that we share.
-Amy Gibbons
Lace and beads go hand-in-hand. Think about beaded lace, Danish bobbins with their circles of beads, spangled Midland bobbins with glass beads, etc. Mter not having a bead supply around town except the Bead Mine in South Side, I am happy to find that Squtrr& Hill and Oakland now have their own bead shops. Niost of us are familiar with the Bead Mine. Since going to a bead store for me is like a child in a candy store, I wanted to share the joy of my adventure of checking out the two new shops. I visited both shops, picked up a tray, and began my search for beads for specific project ideas going through my head such as bobbin lace or tatting with beads, spangling my bobbins which have been waiting for some time, making a beaded needle case, a tassel for my scissors, etc. Both shops-The Pittsburgh Knit and Bead and the History Bead Trading Company-are less than a block off Forbes Avenue. The first is south of the intersection of Forbes and Shady in Squirrel Hill. In addition to many, many beads, they carry yarns and knitting supplies and they will order any beads not in stock that you want. The second shop is north of the corner of Forbes and South Craig Street in Oakland. They carry findings, cords, delicas, and seed beads. I found colorful Anchor #8 pearl cotton there. I went home with a bag fuil of goodies from both places. Here is the information on the bead shops In Pittsburgh:
The Bead Mine
1703 Fast Carson Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15203 (South Side)
Phone: 412/381-8822
Hours: Tuesday through Saturday-i 1 A.M.-7 P~M.
Monday and Sunday- noon-S P.NI.
The Pittsburgh Knit & Bead
1708 Shady Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15217 (Squirrel Hill)
Phone:412/421-7522
Hours: Tuesday and Friday-I 1:30 A.?1.-7 PM.
Wednesday-i 1:30 A.M.-9 F.M.
Thursday-i 1:30 AM-S PM.
Saturday-b A.M.-5 P.M.
Sunday-noon-4 P.M.
Monday-closed
The Histor~’ Bead Trading Company
406 south Craig Street
Pittsburgh, RA 15213 (Oakland)
Phone: 412/681-2090
Hours: Monday through Wednesday-I 1 4.N{.-6 P.Nt.
Thursday through Saturday-it A.M~-7 P.N{.
Sunday-noon-6 P.N{.
-Dewi Wong
It was nice of Tracy Jackson of The Lacemaker to open her workshop to three PLG members who wanted to learn Cantù, a lovely lace originating in Northern Italy. Vera Cockyut came to teach. I was blessed with the opportunity to take Tracy and Vera on a Gateway Clipper trip, as well as a walk through Phipps Conservatory. Then Dorothy, Robin, and Dewi joined us for potluck dinner at my house. If you can get Dewi to bring salad, I recommend it. Robin’s secret redpe for scalloped potatoes was especially good.
Then with Robin, Dewi, and I in one vehicle and Tracy and Vera in another, we made a mistake when we left for Ohio and stayed on the turnpike. It was the end of the Fourth of July weekend and we sat for over an hour at the Pennsylvania toll booth, with only a short line on the Ohio side. So next time you travel over a holiday, learn from our error. If the sign about traffic being slow had been before the last exit instead of just after, we could have gone a different way.
Tracy had a wonderful workshop in the store, with snacks and lunches provided all three days. Vera is an exceptional teacher. She had Intermediate Flanders students a well as Cantù students. It was nice to be at the store, because if you got stuck and Vera was busy you could shop. Or if you wanted a break you could shop. We were taking Cantù and spent our time learning about stems, flowers, petals, braids, false plaits, bundling, and threeways. We kept hearing the Flanders instruction which seemed to have something to do with banking or drug use, since they were talking about borrowing or connections. I kept thinking of the Rolling Stones’ song, where “you can’t always get what you want etc.” Dewi decided to get a new pillow and move her work. Robin decided to change her bobbins. There was only one person who thought it was a contest, but with the handicaps that Robin and Dewi experienced, I decided to take it easy and enjoy the vacation from home. I thought it was important for those folks in Ohio learn to sing and laugh while they make lace. Robin’s lace looked better than anyone’s because it was purple. She promised to give it to me if she ever finishes it.
On Tuesday night we were fortunate to be invited to Tracy’s for a cookout with chef Bill. It kept threatning rain, but left in time for us to sit outside. We ate, several people including Vera became involved in beading lessons. We three were ready to come home when the workshop ended, but we sure had fun. -Amy Gibbons
Thursday, September 5,2002, 7:00 P.M.-Regular monthly meeting
Saturday and Sunday, September 21-22, 2002-Demonstration at Phipps Conservatory. Contact Mily
Thursday, October 3, 2002, 7:00 P.M.-Regular monthly meeting
Saturday and Sunday, October 5-6, 2002-Demonstration at Youghtoberfest in Boston. Contact Amy
Friday, October I S, 2002-Presentation on lacemaking threads by Louise Colgan and November meeting, Churchill Borough Building
Saturday and Sunday, October t9-20, 2002-Workshop on Color in Lace with Louise Colgan,Churchill Borough Building
Thursday, November 28, 2002-No lace class. HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
Sunday, December%, 2002-Demonstration in the Nationality Rooms, Cathedral of Learning.Contact Amy
Thursday, December 25, 2002-No lace class. MERRY CHRlSTMAS!
Saturday, December 28, 2002-Christmas Party at Grace Reformed Church
Thursday, January 1, 2003-No lace class. FLAPPY NEW YEAR!
As always, any and all contributions to this newsletter are most welcome. Any news about members, other lacemakers, bobbins. threads, patterns you love, books, ideas, pictures-send ’em in and keep ’em coming
Louise Colgan Workshop and Talk
In October we ‘will be fortunate to have LoulseColgan join us from California. Her presentation on Friday evening on threads used in lacemaking is insightful and interesting. Kathy Kirchner as well as The Lacemaker, Tracy Jackson, with their always tempting wares. Members should feel free to bring goodies for everyone to share while shopping before and after the talk.
On Saturday and Sunday those who register for the workshop ‘will take part in her class on Color in Lace. She has sent a book with examples of the patterns that we can choose. They are in varying degrees of difficulty and there should be something for everyone. There are only twelve spaces in the workshop and as always priority will be given to active members, but there may be space for one or two others. A potluck lunch ‘will work well with the leftover cookies.
It has been a while since we defined an active member in the newsletter. For those who may not have a copy of the article, it is repeated here. An active member is a member who has participated in the Pittsburgh Lace Group by demonstrating for PLG and/or attending PLG meetings or classes. It is to reward those people who actually participate in the group by giving them preference in workshops when there are more people who want to take the class than there are spaces.
-Amy Gibbons
Many thanks to our resident needlecraft expert, Robin Panza, for conducting a Teneriffe lacemaking workshon on Saturday, Tue, 27, at the church A large group of us had a, great time winding thread around fat pin heads (which tended to grab the thread unbidden in a most uncooperative manner throughout the entire process) to make the basic web and then start to weave and knot the pattern with a large blunt needle. The [frustratmg] “coral knot,” the basic stitch, holds the thing together. As Robin lead us through the simple and fascinating techniques1 Amy and Joanie lead us in singing Teneriffe songs.
-Suzanne Potter