EMBROIDERY MONTH

February is National Embroidery Month and some of our members are celebrating this in various ways. If you haven't tried embroidering on paper you should give it a try. One of our NORBAG members, Celeste Chalasani, will be teaching a two-day class of embroidery on paper at FOBA this June. For more information go to: https://focusonbookarts.org/2026-foba-conference/ Registration begins March 28. 

Our member from the UK, Margaret Beech, has recently joined a local (to her) organization, York Embroiderers and Stitchers. She was asked to speak at their monthly meeting about her work as a book and calligraphy artist. Here is their description of her visit.

Margaret Beech presents "Paper Magic"

"Our afternoon speaker was a local artist who specializes in calligraphy and bookmaking (mostly out of paper, but some out of fabric). In 2025 she was invited to exhibit as part of York Open Studios. Margaret had brought along a large collection of different books made over a number of years. Margaret's work is very varied and quite difficult to categorize as the books have a sculptural quality. She is part of an International community of artists that swap ideas and books that they have made. Because of her interest in calligraphy and words she incorporates poetry and phrases into her art/books, many of which contain manipulated and three-dimensional elements. Over the course of the afternoon we saw flag books, fan books, flickbooks, concertina books, scroll books, Jacob's ladder books, explosion pages and surprise elements. We very much enjoyed her spirited 'show and tell' and admired her creativity."
Here are some photos of the books Margaret shared with the group.

NORBAG's February workshop was taught by Jeanne Levy. She shared a versatile hanging accordion book that could be designed as a great Valentine gift. Thank you Jeanne for sharing this structure with us. Margaret Beech sent in a couple of photos of the book she made using her sister's marbled paper. 

EMBROIDERY WITH CELESTE

For those of us who were fortunate enough to attend the August 14th Zoom workshop on how to embroider on paper, it was a terrific experience. Celeste Chalasani provided us with a set of great worksheets that we could print out and use to practice various stitches. She also gave us a lot of useful tips including which end of the DMC folded thread package to pull out the end of the thread (the side with the color number printed on the label). The best part is that we now have these great little sample sheets that can be put together into a book for handy reference. Here are a few examples of completed books.

Margaret tied her individual sheets together with kite thread.

Dianne pasted her examples into an accordion book.

Bonnie also used an accordion structure and added a cover
 with additional decorative stitching.

Here are a few screenshots of Celeste's embroidery.

These examples show embroidery onto photographs
to add a three-dimensional quality.

Can you find the embroidered bees and caterpillar in these photos?

The photo on the left has embroidered ladybugs.

Many thanks to Celeste for a wonderful workshop. Hopefully we'll soon see more examples of embroidery on paper in upcoming exchange books.

EMBROIDERY ON PAPER

Our August workshop will feature Celeste Chalasani showing us the basics of how to embroider on paper. Celeste has been teaching Stumpwork, an embroidery technique that produces three dimensional work, for ten years. She has recently begun exploring embroidery on paper and will take us along on her journey.

These photographs are examples of Celeste's embroidery.

French knots enhance the waves along the shore.

Celeste will begin with a slideshow presentation showing us different forms of embroidery on paper. Next she'll demonstrate some basic embroidery stitches that we will be able to use to embellish book covers and pages. The actual project that we're going to be working on are 4" x 5" pages with stitch diagrams. Celeste's idea is to work the stitches on the cardstock to create a small stitch reference. She made hers into an accordion book to refer to later when working on future projects.

Celeste's accordion style reference book

Materials needed:

• Two size 8 embroidery (crewel) needles
• A wine or beer bottle cork to use to make a very fine pricking/piercing tool
• A thick acrylic pad, mouse pad or paper to protect your table surface
• Cardstock (8 1/2" x 11"), white or ivory
• Stranded cotton embroidery thread such as DMC or Anchor, any color
• Single sided Scotch or masking tape

*Before the workshop, you will need to create a pricking/piercing tool using one of the size 8 embroidery needles and the cork following the directions provided once you RSVP. Celeste will also provide a pdf for you to print on cardstock so that you can practice embroidery stitches as she demos them. Please RSVP to Dolores (contact information is in the newsletter) by August 9 to receive the instructions for this workshop. To learn more about Celeste and her classes visit her website at www.celestechalasani.com.

What:   Embroidery on Paper workshop

When:  Saturday, August 14 at 10 a.m. Pacific time

Where: On your computer, tablet or smartphone via Zoom

RSVP:   YES to Dolores Guffey by August 9 to receive password and Celeste's pdf

Workshop questions: Celeste Chalasani

Zoom questions: Bobbie Hayes

Contact information is always in the newsletter