SOFAAR – Society of Fibre Artists of the Annapolis River

Posted on March 15, 2019 by Christine Igot

TWO rooms left for the Fabulous Fall Fibre Retreat!

An update on our Fabulous Fall Fibre Retreat 2019. There are now only TWO rooms left at the beautiful Hillsdale House Inn for the weekend of our Retreat (September 27th to 29).

We do have a few day stitching spots left as well.

It’s going to be a wonderful, relaxing weekend of like-minded fibre enthusiasts getting together to work on their projects and enjoy the sights of historic Annapolis Royal with its Saturday Farmers and Traders market, interesting shops and beautiful waterfront.

For more information on the Retreat and how to book a room, please contact info@sofaar.ca

Posted on March 11, 2019 by Christine Igot

SOFAAR elects a new board

SOFAAR held its Annual General Meeting and Stash Day this past Saturday, March 9^th, 2019. The sun shone for us and some 35 members gathered for a fibre afternoon. The business meeting was followed by much browsing and selecting of ‘new-to-you’ stash, an exciting Show and Tell and lively conversation.

One of the key elements of the business portion was the election of directors. Some directors are returning: Rachael Cheechoo, Donna Godfrey-Conyers, Sharon Moody and Céleste Thibodeau-Stacey. Others have served on the SOFAAR board in previous years: Cheryl den Hartog and Cathy Malon. Yet others have agreed to serve for the first time: Rosaire MacNeil, Annette Parker-Smith, Tammy Sanford-Hutchinson and Betty Wade. The new board met briefly after the AGM portion of the day and elected directors to serve the members of SOFAAR in the following roles:

President – Cheryl den Hartog

Vice-President – Céleste Thibodeau-Stacey

Treasurer – Rachael Cheechoo

Secretary – Cathy Malon

We look forward to a vibrant year of fibre events – casual gatherings, exhibitions and learning events. We hope to serve you well. If you have any ideas for future, please don’t hesitate to let us know.

PS> We’re working on the next issue of Snippets and we need your help. Please send us your news. This could be a photo of a recently finished project (with a few words of description); news of upcoming guild meetings or workshops; exhibitions of interest to SOFAAR members; books, websites or blogs you find helpful or inspirational; etc. In other words, anything you think would be of interest to fellow members. Please send directly to our totally amazing Snippets editor at gracebutland@eastlink.ca.

On behalf of the newly elected SOFAAR directors,

Cheryl den Hartog

Posted on March 1, 2019 by Christine Igot

Fabulous Fall Fibre Retreat update

Only THREE rooms left at Hillsdale House Inn for our Fabulous Fall Fibre Retreat coming up in September.

We are going to have a wonderful weekend of quiet fibre work in the beautiful setting of Annapolis Royal.

For information on the last rooms available, please e-mail Hillsdale House Inn directly at: <reservations@hillsdalehouseinn.ca>

We will have room for day-stitchers. This means you can still be a part of the Retreat even if all the rooms are booked at the Hillsdale House Inn. We have a maximum of 30 participants. For information on day stitching spots, please contact info@sofaar.ca.

Posted on February 23, 2019February 23, 2019 by Christine Igot

3rd annual Fabulous Fall Fibre Retreat

SOFAAR is pleased to be offering, for a third year, its Fabulous Fall Fibre Retreat.

This event will take place the weekend of September 27th to 29th 2019 at the beautiful and historic Hillsdale House Inn.

Although this year’s programme has yet to been finalized, we can promise you lots of time to work on your projects in a quiet environment – the retreat is limited to 30 attendees -, a lovely meal on Saturday evening at the Inn, two receptions and a popular attendees show and tell!

Four rooms of the 15 available have already been booked for this event, so don’t hesitate to come and join us! There is even an early-bird Thursday night room rate.

For more information and for room rates (the same as last year), please e-mail info@sofaar.ca

We hope to hear from you.

2018 Retreat attendees busy at their fibre projects.

Posted on February 11, 2019 by Christine Igot

Saturday Snips Show and Tell

We had a wonderful show and tell at our Saturday Snips in Digby on February 9th.

This “new to us” venue was light-filled and a great place to work on projects.

Our next Saturday Snips will be on Saturday, March 9th at Saint Luke’s Parish Hall in Annapolis following our quick AGM beginning at 1 pm.

Linda showing off her very first hooked piece! Congrats on such beautiful work!

Rachael's stunning peacock in progress. — Rachael’s stunning peacock in progress.

Grace is continuing to embroider on her jean jacket.

Lynn's gorgeous knitted shawl. We all wanted it! — Lynn’s gorgeous knitted shawl. We all wanted it!

Ann Marie's Bluenose cross stitch taking shape. — Ann Marie’s Bluenose cross stitch taking shape.

Christine's embellished hooked Prince symbol in progress. — Christine’s embellished hooked Prince symbol in progress.

Posted on February 9, 2019February 9, 2019 by Christine Igot

Saturday Snips: February 9th in Digby

Our February 9th Saturday Snips gathering will take place at the Digby Heritage Centre at 7 Birch Street from 1 to 4.

We love seeing members come out with some show and tell and a project to work on.

Finding the Digby Heritage Centre is a little tricky, primarily because the building doesn’t have a sign on it. Go to Digby and continue down the main St. (WATER ST.) until you come to the yellow restaurant called “The Captain’s Cabin” on your right. At this point Water St. turns into Birch St. Ignore the street that veers off to the right. Directly across Birch St. (prev. Water St.) from The Captain’s Cabin is A PARKING LOT. The Heritage Centre is the small beige building with white trim and vertical windows at the back of the parking lot. It is back off the street and has 2 white flag poles out front. Look for the SOFAAR sandwich board. (You can find the building easily on Google Maps.)

SOFAAR looks forward to seeing you.

Our March gathering will also be our Annual General Meeting and it will take place on Saturday, March 9th in Annapolis Royal.

Day of the Dead Dog hooking in progress.

Posted on January 12, 2019January 12, 2019 by Christine Igot

Saturday Snips Gathering

Nineteen ladies braved the snowy roads for a fun-filled, or should we say fibre-filled afternoon of sharing and working on our projects on January 12th. SOFAAR welcomed three new members to the group today as well. A warm welcome to Ann, Lynn and Linda!

Kudos to Irene and Audrey for driving all the way to Paradise from Weymouth to share our afternoon.

It was wonderful to spend time together seeing new beginnings and on-going work.

Our next gathering will be in Digby on Saturday, February 9th.

Here is just a peek of what we saw today:

Cheryl demonstrates knitting from the hip to help rest the wrist!

New member Lynn shows off her beautiful hooking.

Tammy has started a new cross-stitch of a rooster.

And Betsy's Day of the Dead Dog hooking is quite a hoot! — And Betsy’s Day of the Dead Dog hooking is quite a hoot!

Posted on January 1, 2019January 3, 2019 by Christine Igot

Happy New Year 2019!

All best wishes for a happy and very creative 2019 from your SOFAAR board.

It is a New Year’s Day tradition to bring in the new. So what projects are you going to start today or for 2019 ? Please send an e-mail to info@sofaar.ca and let us know. We would love to hear from you all and publish your responses in the next Snippets newsletter.

We have lots planned for 2019!

The first event coming up is our (now) regular monthly “Saturday Snips” gathering. We will be gathering on Saturday, January 12th from 1 to 4 pm at the Paradise Community Hall in Paradise right at 10300 Highway One. We hope to see you there with some show and tell and your dreams for projects for 2019.

There will be a Saturday gathering every month and you can see the next ones appearing on our “Events” page.

March 9th will be bring our annual general meeting and our now famous Stash sale and give away.

April brings a new event of community outreach at the Annapolis Royal Firehall. This event is called “Snips and Scraps” and will focus on waste fibres and how to use them. This is April 13th and we would love to have as many SOFAAR member as possible attend to showcase how they work with waste fibres to keep them out of the landfill. We hope you will participate. Please let us know.

These are just some of our events planned for 2019.

There will also be a members’ exhibit at the Museum in Middleton this summer so today is perhaps a good day to start a piece for that.

Your board is always open to ideas and suggestions and you are welcome to write to us at anytime.

Happy New Year and see you all very soon,

Grace, Céleste, Gail, Christine, Rachael, Donna, Sharon and Cathy

Needlepoint framed at Frames on James.

Posted on December 12, 2018 by Christine Igot

Silk quilt and pillow winner

On December 8th at the Christmas “Saturday Snips” social, the draw for Marilyn Preus’s beautiful silk quilt and pillow was held.

The lucky winner is Françoise Trottier of Bridgetown. We are thrilled that Françoise won the quilt as she is, herself, not only a quilter but a fan of Marilyn’s work. The quilt has gone to a very appreciative home.

SOFAAR would like to thank all those who purchased tickets on the quilt. The money raised will go towards programming and workshops for SOFAAR members.

The social was well attended and a very interesting show and tell of members’ work took place including some of the miniature stockings from our workshop in November.

We hope to see many of you at our next Saturday snips event on January 12th at the Brickton community hall.

The silk quilt won by Françoise Trottier.

Rachael's miniature stocking. — Rachael’s miniature stocking.

Posted on December 5, 2018December 5, 2018 by Christine Igot

Christmas Social: December 8th

Our annual Saturday Snips Christmas Social taking place on

Saturday, December 8th from 2 to 5 pm at the United Church in Annapolis Royal.

Please bring some show and tell and/or current project to share with members.

And those tiny stockings by anyone who attended the crazy stocking workshop with Kay.

Refreshments will be served.

Also, the beautiful silk quilt and pillow made by Marilyn Preus will be up for grabs, with a lucky ticket being pulled out of a hat… or a stocking?

There is parking at the ARCAC gallery across from the church (which is by the lights) or also at the Courthouse right by the lights as well.

We hope to see you all there.