~ Embroiderer's Guild of America ~

~ Good Morning Friends & Folk ~

I had the great pleasure of recently being visited by a local chapter of the

Embroiderer's Guild of America {EGA}

www.egausa.org

 a couple of gals from the chapter had come for a visit here not long ago,

 and was interested in me teaching them to punch needle…

of course, I said yes! how could I not? I am a member of the EGA myself!

So plans were made, 

and this past tuesday a couple of carfuls of ladies 

barreled down our dusty & bumpy road for their class :)

we had the shop all set up for them ~ 

{read: all air conditioners on FREEZE MODE}

with their kits laid out and everything they would need for their new journey

 into the elusive-world of Punch Needle!

they came in, looked around, exhaled a bit and then set down to work.

some had punched previously and were there to hone their skills ~

others came as fresh, exuberant 'newbies' excited to learn

when I teach a beginner to intermediate punch needle class, 

I start you off with the bare-bones-basics.

~ nothing fussy and nothing too intimidating {hopefully!}

… as a student of mine, you need to bring nothing with you except a pair of sharp scissors

and an equally sharp sense of humor!

you will learn how to simply transfer the paper pattern onto your weavers cloth, 

so that when you leave you can now do it yourself in the future.

I'm not a fan of designs being pre-printed onto the cloth, but that is humbly my own concerns.

I go over each step ~ again & again & again

until I feel comfortable enough to walk away for just a moment

but you will know I'm there for you, with you, to guide you on your way

with a pat on the back and a kind word of encouragement

{or I may take your work right out of your hands and have you begin again}

---> TOUGH LOVE Teaching skills I got! 

Once the design has been transferred onto the weavers cloth,

I'll go 'round & 'round the table to everyone 

to make sure their weavers cloth is DRUM tight in that lip lock hoop!

I'll show you how to thread that blasted needle, 

then show you how to hold that razzem'frazzem needle tip so you won't splice your threads 

{which happens to everyone, even us,…um…'professionals so 'fess up about it!} 

:)

and most importantly,

I'll tell you that it is OK to make mistakes…we ALLLLL do ~

to pull out loops, to 'mess up'.

but I will also encourage you to keep going!!!

please remember I was once a beginner too…

I wanted to punch SO BAD and kept getting frustrated ~

for about 3 years I began & quit, began & quit…

it aggravated me to the point where I literally threw my hoop like a frisbee 

across a Dr.'s waiting room one time! OH YES I DID!

but with more determination than patience, I got it…

I FINALLY got it

:)

LOOK!

it worked!! after about an hour of under-breathed cussing,

 lots of heavy-sighing, rolling eyeballs and loads of frustration…

your hands too will begin to create tiny punched loops. 

I PROMISE!

Like anything new, learning a new form of needlecraft is sometimes difficult.

take it from me ~ I HATED it when I began to punch back in the 90's when I was working with girls from the now defunct Holly Berry Hill catalog {remember them?}

Nicol Sayre & Dee Foust were the ones that initially resurrected this old OLD craft here in the USA.

They came out with that tiny little gold & tiny little silver needle

 {which I still have somewhere tucked away…um "safely"}

and brought to their catalog of primitive doll patterns & folk art patterns a 'new' subject matter ~ PUNCH NEEDLE!

Yes, there was Bunka, and Pretty Punch ~ but like Latch Hooking is NOT like Rug Hooking,

the aforementioned does not come close to what we are doing today 

with our updated & more user-friendly punch needles like the Ultra Punch {Cameo} or the CTR, 

or the super-slick Igolochkoy ~

or even the tiny little workhorse Dimensions needle I started this group off with...

SO after some minor {yes, MINOR} setbacks ~ and a couple of do-overs, 

these die-hard needleworkers were fast & furiously punching away…

just LOOK at those happy smiling faces! {or were they gritting their teeth at me?}

oh! and the back of 'someone's head ~ do you recognize??

 yep! you guessed it ~ my sweet Miss Joan 

{rolling her beautiful big brown eyes at me for taking her picture}

so there you have it.

I may be a 'tough' teacher ~ 

but I hope you all know that I have to be

 to keep all you goofballs {she says with MUCH love & affection}

from throwing your hoops and needles at me during class.

I want you to learn this needle art and leave my class with a smile 

and thoughts of what you'll create next.

and,

when you leave

please know that I am still here for you.

drop me an email, call me or message me on FB

Happy Punching everyone!

~ Blessings from the Farm ~

 Lori