Argonne is next to Waterfall Glen Forest Preserve--it looked inviting and I plan to get back that way and check it out. As I drove into Argonne I had to stop and the gate and receive a pass. Another Susan and registered me in advance. The place is HUGE! It was at least a couple of miles from the gate to the building the meeting was held in.
My aim in visiting this group was to garner ideas for teaching needlework to new stitchers--children in particular. One outreach project they do each year is to set up and teach at the DuPage County Fair. Above is their chapter display, set up in the Home Arts Building with displays of needlework, sewing, and canning and vegetables.
Above and below are pictures of the members teaching passers-by in the Home Arts Building.
I did learn quite a lot about this project and about outreach in general. They certainly know a lot more about it than I do and I'm still digesting all that I learned. I was amazed and humbled by all this small chapter (30 members) has accomplished. (And none of it reported to the region or to EGA!!!--I brought a bunch of blank forms and left them with my pleas for some documentation.)I felt extremely welcomed by this gracious group. Before the meeting, the one person I knew in the group, Joyce, introduced me by e-mail to Karen, who is in charge of the county fair event, to Susan, who got me the entry pass, and to Kathy, who is their president. Karen met me at the door. Kathy welcomed me at the meeting. Joyce was teaching that night but she took the time to make sure I wasn't left out of anything, as did most of the other members.
This is a bunch of creative ladies, too. One member showed for completed and framed samplers from a project taught at the previous month's meeting. The other show and tell was awesome, too. The project Joyce was teaching, a needlepoint cube, had specific parameters, but within those guidelines the members were being very creative with their own color and stitch selections.
I want to thank all of the members of Waterfall Glen for their caring, generous sharing of ideas and their wonderful suggestions. I was certainly wowed!
