Tag: SoME

  • Surface Embroidery Class Series:”Sherry for Jack” by Hazel Blomkamp

    Surface Embroidery Class Series:”Sherry for Jack” by Hazel Blomkamp

    DEADLINE EXTENDED! The registration deadline for this event has been extended to October 31st, 2025. If you were on the fence, hop off soon!

    The Southern Maine Chapter (SOME) is pleased to offer “Sherry for Jack”, a series of four surface embroidery Zoom classes taught by Hazel Blomkamp, beginning on January 7th, 2026. The design is as featured in Hazel’s book, Crewel Intentions.

    The Piece

    SKILL LEVEL: Intermediate to Advanced
    TECHNIQUE(S): Surface Embroidery
    SIZE: 8 1/8” x 4 ¾”

    The Details

    This16-hour class will be presented in four, four-hour sessions, beginning on January 7th, 2026.

    LOCATION: ZOOM (Attend from home!)
    DATES: Every Wednesday in January (7th, 14th, 21st, 28th), 2026
    TIME: 9 AM – 1 PM, EST.
    REGISTER BY: OCTOBER 15th, 2025

    TOOLS & MATERIALS

    Participants will need a copy of Hazel Blomkamp’s book, Crewel Intentions. If the book isn’t available at your library, you can purchase one from Hazel for $16.00 by checking the box in the registration form. The book contains 7 patterns with valuable embroidery instruction that will help you stitch other pieces.

    TECHNIQUES

    This project includes and iterates on the basic embroidery stitches, making it a great class for stitchers seeking both familiarity and challenge. In addition to practicing old favorites, participants will learn a wide range of intermediate embroidery techniques including:

    • Couching & Trellis Couching
    • Whipped Backstitch
    • Padded Buttonhole Stitch
    • Coral Stitch
    • Raised Herringbone
    • Padded Satin Stitch
    • Bead Embroidery

    The Instructor

    Hazel Blomkamp has dabbled with all the needlecrafts since childhood. When her children were babies she developed a passion for embroidery to break the tedium of life with toddlers, using it as her evening reward for having got through the day with her sanity intact. her children are now young adults and she still embroiders in front of the television every night. She has been designing for the past 18 years. Preferring to design projects which appear to be traditional, she pushes the boundaries by introducing other forms of needlecraft into traditional techniques, exploring further in everything that she does. Along with designing, she runs a busy website from home. She teaches at her home studio, in Pietermaritzburg, KZN, and travels throughout South Africa and to Australia teaching embroidery and fine beadwork. She is a regular contributor to South African and Australian embroidery magazines and is a columnist for South African Stitches Magazine.

    QUESTIONS?

    Email the organizer, Betty Bell.

    LEARN MORE & REGISTER
  • Backyard Birds by Suzanne Bruno

    Backyard Birds by Suzanne Bruno

    Suzanne Bruno of the Southern Maine (SoME) Chapter completed her third art collage book, Backyard Birds.

    Artist Spotlight: Suzanne Bruno

    Q: Tell us about your background in needlework and how you discovered EGA.

    A: I come from a long line of sewing women and have been a member of the Southern Maine chapter (SoME) for 18 years. I learned about EGA from some of the women in my Crazy Quilters of Maine group, a chapter of the Pine Tree Quilt Guild. My first love is crazy quilting, and when I started seeing a lot of “junk journal” and “paper collage” online, it was a natural progression for me to attempt the same techniques with fabric.

    Q: What inspired you to create “Backyard Birds” as your third embroidered book?

    A: I live on a lake in a rural area of Maine surrounded by birdsong, so the bird idea developed naturally as I searched for free images online to interpret in fabric. I set aside fabrics and trims from my stash and came up with a suitable size where I could incorporate an embroidered bird and leaves section from an antique crazy quilt, plus a small piece of an antique paisley shawl.

    Q: Can you describe your creative process for this project?

    A: The pages came together as I started layering my materials. I often take photos of my work in progress before everything is stitched in place. The challenge for me was to use only what I have in my stash. The most enjoyable part of this project was attaching and embellishing the twig and branch “perches” for the birds. Backyard Birds took me over a year of planning, collecting, and stitching.

    The challenge for me was to use only what I have in my stash. I love antique textiles and rescue the worn and torn whenever possible.

    Q: What makes this book personally meaningful to you?

    A: When I share this book with friends and family, I get very nostalgic about fabrics, trims, and embellishments from various quilts and tea cozies I’ve made over the years. Each piece tells a story and connects me to past projects and memories.

    Q: What’s next for you creatively?

    A: My next fabric collage book is in the “planning in my head” stage—it will take a while! I’m also working on my second crazy quilt, which I hope to complete for a milestone birthday in 2026.

    Suzanne Bruno’s “Backyard Birds” beautifully demonstrates how traditional needlework techniques can evolve into contemporary art forms while honoring the past through rescued antique textiles.

  • Denise Harrington Pratt Teaches at the 2025 Mid-Atlantic Region Conference

    Denise Harrington Pratt Teaches at the 2025 Mid-Atlantic Region Conference

    Denise Harrington Pratt of the Southern Maine chapter taught three classes at the EGA’s Mid-Atlantic Region conference in Gettysburg, PA. 

    In her Geometric Fascinations class, students made two boxes and stitched beautiful, color-coordinated lids.

    Photo by Vicki J. Brown, SoME Chapter