Friends Of Counted Embroidery—

Local Group Counting On Expanded Membership

By Nancy K. Crevier

They could fall asleep counting their blessings or counting sheep, but the members of The Laurel Chapter of Friends of Counted Embroidery are more apt to fall asleep counting stitches. What they would like to count, along with the many stitches, say those who belong to the Newtown-based group, is new members. Founded in the late 1970s, the advocates of counted stitchery have been meeting monthly, originally at the old Congregational Church on Main Street (now the Meeting House) and in recent years at Christ the King Lutheran Church on Mt Pleasant Road. The group is enthusiastic about the art of counted embroidery, and is eager to grow the membership.

At one time, the Laurel Chapter boasted a full membership of 125 members, with a waiting list, but as more women have gone back to work full-time and as older members find it difficult to travel to the meetings, that number has dwindled to fewer than 30 this year. Still, members come from dozens of area towns in Connecticut and New York to learn from and be inspired by each other, and to socialize as they create intricate works of art using embroidery skills and various fabrics that allow each artist’s individuality to shine through. It is an opportunity for friendship and learning, said members Lynn Harrison, Beverly Robertson, and Marge Gingolaski, and there is always room for more.

The Laurel Chapter is one of many chapters of Friends of Counted Embroidery across the nation, and adheres to its mission “to expand our knowledge of all forms of counted embroidery through workshops, lectures, slide presentations, and the mutual exchange of ideas.”

Counted embroidery, explained Ms Harrison, who along with Ms Robertson is co-president of the Laurel Chapter in Newtown, is any needlecraft in which the threads of the fabric are counted to create a design.

“Cross stitch, for example,” said Ms Harrison, “Is basically sewing x’s on a blank piece of fabric, by counting the threads.”

Hardanger, named for the area of Norway from which it originates, is another type of counted embroidery, involving counting and cutting of threads to create open spaces in the design. Similar to Hardanger is the pulled thread art. In pulled thread, however, the threads in the fabric are pulled apart to make the design, rather than cut.

“Needlepoint is a type of counted embroidery,” Ms Robertson said, in which the sewer can use a variety of stitches to create a design on canvas. Other counted crafts may fall under the counted embroidery umbrella, she added, including beading, with which the group has experimented a bit.

“It’s anything that’s counted,” she reiterated.

The Friends of Counted Embroidery welcomes women and men of all ages and all levels of expertise, from beginners to those with decades of experience.

“One reason I joined, about seven years ago,” said Ms Gingolaski “is that there’s so much I don’t know.” Members are eager to help each other, she said, and she enjoys the sociability of the monthly meeting.

“We have a lot of extremely skilled people who belong, who have been in the group for years,” said Ms Robertson, “but we don’t want to intimidate any newcomers, either.”

This chapter makes a point of inviting various lecturers throughout the year to introduce new skills and strengthen old skills. Field trips to colleges, museums, and historical societies give them insight into the origins of many types of counted embroidery, and are a fun way to socialize outside of the meetings.

The club enjoyed a demonstration of  demonstrate Japanese braiding (Kumihimo) using a disc, by Teresa Layman at the October meeting. In November, members will hear a lecture on “Dutchess County Samplers of the 19th Century,” by Kathy Moyer. Later in the year, the Friends will be introduced to traditional handcrafted Japanese Temari, which are elaborately embroidered hand balls in the folk art fashion, from member Ginny Thompson.

Ms Harrison and Ms Robertson are working to set up exhibitions of members’ works at area libraries, as well, and hope to have one in place by the end of this year or early 2013.

The current members do not believe that the art of counted embroidery is a lost art, but one that is hidden. “There are still a lot of people who [do counted embroidery], even if they don’t belong to a group,” said Ms Harrison.

“But being with a group is energizing,” interjected Ms Robertson, “by seeing what everyone is doing. It’s interesting to see the different ways in which a project is finished. Belonging to a group is a way of being exposed to other things and being taken out of your box. We have a ‘show and tell’ at each meeting, so that we can see the great stuff people are doing.”

Belonging to Friends of Counted Embroidery provides a sense of worth, too, said Ms Robertson. “You realize that other people regard this as an art. You don’t have to feel guilty about taking time to do needlework,” she said.

A project is offered at nearly every meeting, Ms Gingolaski said, but members are not required to work on it. Like herself, she said most members have “tons” of other projects underway that they use the time set aside in the monthly meeting to complete.

While the pattern for a project is the same, in the hands of the individual members it become a means of creative outlet, said Ms Gingolaski. Because there are so many different kinds of threads and fibers available, a single pattern will have numerous outcomes, depending on the selections made by the stitcher. It is the excitement of working with the metallic, silk, and overdyed threads on everything from fine linen to coarse burlap that she believes is drawing people to the art of counted embroidery.

“We would love to have more people come to our meetings,” said Ms Gingolaski. “It’s educational, and it’s fun.”

Friends of Counted Embroidery meets the second Thursday of each month, September through June, at Christ the King Lutheran Church on Mt Pleasant Road in Newtown, from 10 am to 2 pm. Walk-ins are welcome. Come as a guest the first time. Yearly membership fee is $25. Participants are asked to bring a bag lunch, a coffee mug, and basic stitching supplies, as well as a donation for the FAITH Food Pantry in Newtown.

For more information or to join the Laurel Chapter of Friends of Counted Embroidery, contact Ms Robertson at bvrlyrob@hotmail.com or 203-775-5949; or Ms Harrison at luvrlylynn@aol.com.

There is no pressure to complete a project or master a skill, said Ms Harrison. “The joy,” she said, “is in the making.”