At the December 2022 Annual Meeting and Holiday Luncheon our guest speaker was Steve Pittelkow who has been marbling for nearly 40 years. His presentation included a slide presentation and a marbling demonstration. During his presentation, Steve provided a brief history of marbling highlighting both historical and contemporary uses. As a kick-off to the 40th Anniversary of SPN, each attendee received a piece of marbled cloth to be embellished with needlework. The “finished” pieces will be showcased at the 2023 Annual Meeting. By vote of the attendees, the “people’s choice” winner will be awarded a handmade box created by Steve (See photo on left). If you weren't able to attend, there are a few pieces of marbled cloth still available. Contact Jean B. for more information if you would like to participate.

In addition to embroidery, participants may add beads, buttons, lace, ribbon, or other materials.

It has been noted that some of the fabric pieces have a large amount of white space. In those cases, participants might consider using crayon tinting or dying with Sharpies and rubbing alcohol. Here are a few links to tutorials:

• https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/embroidery-tinting-with-crayons-colored-pencils-and-paint-4051977

• https://little-dear.com/blogs/tutorials/crayon-tinting-your-embroidery

• http://adventurequilter.com/dying-with-sharpies-and-alcohol-part-one/

• http://adventurequilter.com/dying-with-sharpies-and-alcohol-part-two/

• https://createwhimsy.com/projects/how-to-dye-fabric-with-sharpies/

A stitch dictionary could be helpful to decide which stitches participants might want to use on their piece. Your local library may have one or there are several online stitch dictionaries. Here are just a few:

• https://www.needlenthread.com/videos

• https://pintangle.com/stitch-dictionary/

• https://royal-needlework.org.uk/rsnstitchbank/

Watch for upcoming programs for more ideas to add color to fabric and to learn stitches.