Posts Tagged ‘cross-stitch’

After sending out a quick email to thank our Detroit Maker Faire volunteers, I received such wonderful responses, I just had to note a few of them.

Sue K. sent a great picture, and although it’s not one of the new stitchers we taught at Maker Faire, I just had to post it . . . It demonstrates how very skilled our volunteers are, and is a testament to the fact they can motivate just about anyone to learn.

Bentley learned how to knit . . .see it's easy

Several volunteers commented about how nice it was to spend time with other fiber artists, as well as welcome newcomers to the needlearts.   Dawn Pollard, Treasurer
of the Monguagon Chapter of the Embroiderers’ Guild of America and a
member of Needlepoint by Night, part of the American Needlework Guild told us she “walked away from the event in a great mood” and sent her best “to each of you that helped to bring the love of needlework to the Metropolitan Detroit area!!”

In fact, I don’t recall anyone leaving without asking to be notified again next year.

I have a feeling volunteer list for the Stitch Zone in Dearborn is going to fill up quickly in 2011 . . . in the meantime, we’re in the planning stages for Maker Faire NYC, to be held at the New York Hall of Science on September 25 and 26th.  We’ll be sending out information soon.  If you want to know more now, send an email to tnnamaker@gmail.com.

Recently TNNA sponsored an award-winning Needlearts Stitch Zone at the San Mateo Maker Faire event.  We were there last year, and taught more than 1000 new fiber enthusiasts.  The theme was “recycling” and so we incorporated yarn made of grocery bags into the kids programming and the display.

This year, the theme of the event was “children,” so we were even more tuned in to the kids.  Again, we spent time knitting, crocheting and stitching (needlepoint) with the kids on our oversized needles, hooks and canvas.  You can get a glimpse of what it was like at http://tnna.org/Outreach/tabid/100/Default.aspx.  And, again, we estimate we taught over 1000 new stitchers . . . this time, even more appeared to be under the age of 12.

Ada Lai shows a young boy how to crochet!

Now you might think, ok . . . these kids really aren’t going to go home and knit or crochet . . . but we also know most of the fiber lovers of today first learned when they were younger than 12.  So, today’s play will eventually turn into tomorrow’s passion.  We also know, many of the parents who were watching will go home and get out their old projects, left unfinished years ago and just waiting for the moment they’ll be picked up again.

Even the young ones are able to pick up this lace making technique.

Recently, Jules Kliot (Lacis and the Museum of Lace) sent me some picture of an event at the Exploratorium in San Francisco in early July.  They demonstrated lace making to young and old . . . These picture really tell the story.  Even the young ones were enthralled, and obviously were able to pick up the techniques themselves.

The children were enthralled with the lace making demonstration by Lacis at the Exploratorium in SanFrancisco

If you have pictures of young stitchers, send them to us so we can show the world the stitchers of tomorrow.  (Of course, get their parents’ permission first!)