International Crochet Day, September 12th, 2-4pm

Join us at The Courtyard Artists and Artisans (212 St. George St., Annapolis Royal) for International Crochet Day. WEATHER PERMITTING! Bring a chair, a snack and whatever you’re working on. Non-crochet projects are fine, too. This is an outdoor event with no rain date. Current COVID protocols will apply.

New Program Available

TRAILING THREADS SOFAAR 2021 COLLECTIVE FIBRE PROJECT

We all wish to stay connected through our love of fibre. And we all miss being together.

How about joining a virtual collective fibre project for the rest of this year?

The idea is for all registered participants to work on the exact same image as a project.

We would meet together via Zoom at an agreed upon time every couple of weeks to talk about our interpretation of the image and our progress.

Here are the details:

OBJECTIVE: Staying connected through a common project

TITLE: Trailing Threads

FACILITATOR/CONTACT: Christine Igot

IMAGE: Mayflower or Trailing arbutus (hence the project name). Nova Scotia’s provincial flower.

REGISTRATION DATE: by April 1st, 2021 to christine@latext.com

FINISH DATE: December 31st, 2021

DETAILS:

1. Every participant uses the exact same image.
2. Coloured image (as seen above) is provided in a .pdf to all registered participants.
3. Size may be altered but colouring is to remain the same.
4. Any and all fibre and any and all techniques can be used, including but not limited to: embroidery, needlepoint, hooking, quilting, cross-stitch, appliqué, crochet, knitting, beading, felting, lace-making, etc.
5. Finished piece can take any form: rug, hanging, framed piece, chair pad, 3D stand alone, quilt, wearable art, etc. Limited only by imagination.
6. Participants work on their piece on their own time but every two weeks, participants meet via Zoom at an agreed time to discuss their work and their challenges and show their progress.
7. Participants MUST agree to attend the Zoom meetings to meet the objective of the project (see above).
Of course, once or twice, maybe, someone might have a conflict and miss a session.
8. Participants may create more than one finished piece in more than one technique.
9. Pieces must be finished by December 31st, 2021
10. A SOFAAR exhibit of all the pieces may be possible in the spring of 2022.

NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS: unlimited, but you must be a SOFAAR member. Participants will all be contacted via e-mail the first week in April to set up a time and day for the Zoom meetings.

COST: There is no cost. The project is open to all SOFAAR members and each participant provides their own materials.

If you would like to be a part of this collective stitch-along, please fill out the registration form and send it to Christine Igot. You can find the registration form here on the Members’ Only page of the SOFAAR website. Or you can request a form from Christine by e-mail. You’ll need to print it, complete it, scan it, and e-mail or snail mail it to Christine.

Change to AGM Date

SOFAAR Annual General Meeting 2021

Normally SOFAAR holds its AGM in March but given the present Covid-19 restrictions in Nova Scotia the Board of Directors has delayed the meeting until it is safe for all members to attend. The Nova Scotia Registry of Joint Stocks informs us that if a meeting cannot be held according to the current Health Protection Act Order it enables a society to postpone it for a further 90 days after the state of emergency is lifted. 

Everything decided on at the March, 2020, AGM remains in place until we are able to meet safely. The Directors remain the same and financial statements and other documents are sent to the registry after we hold our AGM. 

An important part of our AGM is our spectacular Stash Sale and Give-away and the stash is continuing to grow with generous donations from our members and friends. We look forward to meeting with you all, not only to tend to the necessary annual business of the society but to find good homes for the fabric and fibre that has been collected so far.

Introducing New Members-Only Resources

During the pandemic your Board has worked hard to introduce new ways to connect our members to fibre-related content. Our latest initiative is our Members-Only Resources page on sofaar.ca. Currently included on the page are all of the 2020 and 2021 issues of Snippets, a list of books available from our library, a direct link to the popular Snippets article on how to photograph your work, and the recording of the recent program on growing flax for linen with Patricia Bishop. More material will be added shortly.

To access this information click on the Resources link at the top right of any sofaar.ca page. You will see the screen pictured below. Click in the password box and type in the password. Click on ENTER. The password was sent to you in the January/February 2021 issue of Snippets.

Virtual Saturday Snips

Join Us for Virtual Saturday Snips
March 13, 2021, 1 – 2 p.m.

If you’ve been hesitating to join a virtual SNIPS, we’d like to encourage you to jump in and give it a try. Past participants have been pleasantly surprised and enthusiastic about the experience.
“…nice to see everyone and hear them in these crazy times…”
“I enjoyed being part of the conversation.”
“…a group conversation rather than individual conversations. I really liked that.”

Most people bring something to work on (just like a live SNIPS) and we gather in a virtual circle. The conversation is always interesting. We catch up on current projects and show off our finished pieces. It’s a nice break from the “Groundhog Day” life of COVID.

Join via your computer or download the app onto your device. It’s pretty simple but there’s also detailed online help directly from Zoom. We HIGHLY encourage you to read this first if you have any questions as they cover most of the platforms and browsers available. You should find yours on that page.

https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201362193-How-Do-I-Join-A-Meeting-

You can also ask your kids to help as they may already be using Zoom for work and school.

If you want to test your connection before the meeting, please go ahead. Once you connect, you will be placed into a ‘waiting room’ so you can test anytime. On the actual day of the live meeting, you will still enter the waiting room to be ‘admitted’ about five minutes before the meeting starts.

Take advantage of the waiting room feature to sign in a bit early to the actual meeting.  If you should run into any issues, Aprille Janes, who hosts the ZOOM meeting, will be available 30 minutes before the meeting to help. Feel free to call her at 902-824-1926.

Complete details about how to join our Zoom meetings can be found on our password-protected Resources page.

Books, Books, Books!

Our book collection is both growing (thanks to new donations) and shrinking (as members lay claim to books). If you would like one of the books, please contact Barbara Nutley-Hunter at nutleyhunter58@gmail.com. Pickup or delivery can be arranged or you can receive your book the next time we are able to meet for Saturday Snips.

Click here to see a list of our books.

SOFAAR Member Sam Norgard and International Beading Week

The Beadworkers Guild of the UK is sponsoring INTERNATIONAL BEADING WEEK.  SOFAAR member Prof. Sam Norgard, of the Savannah College of Art and Design, has been selected by The Beadworkers Guild of the UK as a Guest Ambassador.

Complete information may be found at: https://www.nationalbeadingweek.co.uk/Diary-of-Events.php

Event Details: The Black and White Together Project Team’s goal, led by Prof. Norgard, will collect from Makers around the world numerous black and white warped squares made with size 11 black and white Delicas.  They will then assemble the works into one connected piece.  Hundreds of warped squares, representing Makers of various ethnicities, are envisioned!  It is their hope by offering these sessions, pre-recorded, on-line, that it will enable ease of access to Makers around the world allowing them to easily fit viewing into their schedules.

Warped square instructional video and all pattern instructions will be accessible on line.

During the week of July 27 – July 31 – each day Makers can access a pre-recorded session that will provide 25 minutes of instruction and demos on the construction of the warped square.  Each day a different pattern, using only black and white size 11 Delicas, will be explored.  In addition, 20 minutes of each session will be used to discuss the state of the art of beads by highlighting the works of various bead artists in the world today. Session links will be posted on International Bead Week website.

It is their vision that Makers interested in contributing to this piece will view the instructional sessions and contribute the warped square(s) they construct to the compilation of the final project.