Blog & News

Our annual retreat came to an end yesterday.  I certainly had a very good time, but even more important, from the comments I heard from many, it was a very good time by all. 

Both of our after dinner speakers were appreciated.  Barbara Doheny's talk on pins Friday night was interesting.  No doubt the explosion of bobbin lace around 1500 was sparked by the invention of a pin machine.  Patty Foley tailored her talk "Lace is Everywhere" to a lace-aware audience, and it was well received.  I have seen her general audience version before, and I would recommend it for anyone who might have an inkling of interest in lace.

Since the library was at the meeting, a lot of people had the ability to browse the collection.  Many of the books are now in use by people.  In looking at the checkout list, this was one of the largest lists I have seen for the NELG library. 

We had a great auction.  There was a lot pillows this year as well as bobbins and out-of-print books.  I was very please to see that some of these ended up with some beginning lace makers at reasonable prices.  The proceeds help support NELG for things such as the library and the scholarship fund. 

On the trip to Logan Airport, Ulrike Voelcker who had taught a class on Point Ground lace commented on how pleasant the experience was.  That made me feel good.

So, for all the people on the retreat committee who organized it, for all the people who donated items for the silent auction, for all the people who made bids on the silent auction, for the excellent teachers, for the staff at the Sacred Hearts Retreat and Spirituality Center, and for all the people who attended, thanks for making this a success.  I hope we will do as well next year.

Kudos to Patty.  A well done and informative look at lace.  Take a picture in September when Gary visits you at the Big E.

It's ready, much thanks to the Retreat committee for the last several months in preparing for the upcoming retreat.  There are a lot of plans, decisions that need to be taken care of - this part is done.  Now on to the last part - the final details that will make the retreat such a joy to those of you attending.  

It was recently posted on Arachne that Anova Books, the company that owns the Batsford imprint, are about to add the Read & Kincaid books to their Print on Demand service and also make them available as ebooks. The planned schedule is

Milanese Lace: An Introduction - July
New Braids and Designs in Milanese Lace - August
50 New Milanese Patterns - December 

This is great news for all fans of Milanese lace!

Jill

Was I suprised to find out that the show has gone live.

Filming went well - it was the fastest 30 minutes ever!  It was a fun interview.  I met with Gary, the host, before filming to go over some of the questions, what to do and not do, where to look and where not to look, sound check with the microphone, notes on good TV and not good TV.   Met with the director to go over the slides they had selected to use.  Mind you, I sent a mere 70 pictures so they could determine what they wanted to use.  There is plenty of preparation time before, during, and after for the studio crew! It's interesting to be working for a project that will not be shown until next month.  No instant gratification here!

Waddesdon Manor, Aylesbury, United Kingdom  has a lace show ....LACE21 opening right now and will be showing amazing lace from the Baron's collection  with inspired lace created by many contemporary lace makers.

It's done - well almost done - on April 21st is the taping of the tv program Common Sense Connecticut. I will be interviewed for 30 minutes on Lace!  While it is a local tv station, once it is uploaded everyone will be able to tune in via the internet.

Does anyone have any additional questions I can give the interviewer ??  He doesn't think we could talk about lace for 30 minutes.....  I told him I could talk about it for 30 days!

Thanks in advance !  I'll post the link as soon as I get it.

PS  One great thing about this show - it is posted to the various cable / at&t venues, so therefore we can get some coverage about our love of lace

Maire Treanor, an authority on Clones Lace, a form of Irish crochet that she has re-intorduced, visited me on Friday at the museum to bring me up to date on her research. She was in Manhattan for a class with the NYC Crochet Guild before traveling on to Kansas City for a public program and class sponsored by the Irish Center there.

Maire uses the money from her teaching tours to finance further research into Irish crochet. She is particularly interested in Irish crochet that has developed outside of Ireland. She made a research trip to Orvieto to study the Irish crochet there, has written about the Irish Crochet made in Japan in the early part of the 19th century, and is interested in continuing her research pursuing contacts in Central and South America. She was also traveling with some pieces of contemporary Irish crochet made by a Ukrainian friend which were rather nice tops. They were were pretty and contemporary looking and were it not for my figure problems I would have wanted to find out more about how to obtain such a garment.

Maire showed me the project that she would be teaching in Manhattan. It is a mask based on the concept of the Venetian carnival masks. I thought it was a good idea for a project, because it is pretty, and it is not too big, and each mask will be unique. Each student will make various Irish crochet motifs and then join them to make a personal mask.

Maire told me that she would be particularly interested in teaching in the Boston area and asked me if I know of a contact there. (I am assuming her interest in the Boston area may stem from the idea that there are a lot of people of Irish heritage there.) If anyone would be interested in contacting her for a future class, her email is Maireslace@gmail.com. I think she is already lining up future tours in the US.

 

 

I am happy to announce that Marjorie Dashef has agreed to fill out the remainder of the Member at Large term.  This board position has not been filled for a few months, so I expect that there will a little ramp up time.  If you are aware of demonstration opportunities, please let her know.  Your support is appreciated.