THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, May 31, 1995 TAG: 9505270225
SECTION: ISLE OF WIGHT CITIZEN PAGE: 08 EDITION: FINAL
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Short : 44 lines
The Tidewater Sampler Guild is popping its membership stitches, says Sharon Hines, who recently was inducted as the guild's chairman.
Shortly after it was created in 1990, the guild's membership roster climbed to 60, which is the maximum allowed because of fire occupancy laws at the historic Francis Land House in Virginia Beach. Members hold their monthly business meetings and sampler shows there.
Members and associate members who live near one another often get together between meetings and classes to stitch. Every Thursday night, the eight Isle of Wight County guild members meet at someone's house for a ``sit and stitch'' gathering, where they can visit while working on their latest sampler projects.
In addition to a waiting list for membership, the guild has 200 associate members who live all over the country, Hines says. For their $20 annual dues, they receive monthly newsletters filled with advice on stitching and caring for samplers. The associate members also are included in the occasional stitchery classes held at the Virginia Beach Central Library and invited to visit museums to look at sampler displays with guild members.
``Most of our guest lecturers are nationally known historians or teachers,'' Hines says.
At first, the Tidewater Sampler Guild was a one-of-a-kind organization for sampler lovers. Since it started, however, five other guilds modeled after the Tidewater group have sprung up throughout the country.
``Although there were lots of other sewing guilds, this was the first one in the country to be devoted just to samplers,'' Hines says.
Members had talked about moving to a larger location so the Tidewater guild could increase its membership. But they concluded that, because samplers are a historical art form, the organization should meet in a historic house, Hines says.
- Allison Williams MEMO: [For a related story, see page 8 of The Citizen.]
by CNB