INSIDE:

Women find camaraderie through the Pomegranate Guild,
a national Judaic needlework society.

JILL DAVIDSON SKLAR
Special to the Jewish News

mir

oung, poor and pregnant with her
first child, Nadine Eder had a mis-
sion when she first picked up a nee-
dle and thread: to create a beautiful
baby's room for practically nothing.
"We wanted to hang something above the
crib," she said, recalling that she started work on
the project when she also was completing her
course work in dental school. "Of course, I
picked the hardest thing ever. I didn't think I
would get it done in time."
After hours of painstaking work, she accom-
plished her goal of finishing a complicated
alphabet sampler, complete with animals and
colorful letters. She hung the work over her
son's crib.
But she never let go of the needle and thread.
Now, Eder, of Livonia, is helping other Jewish
women celebrate their needlework skills through
the first Michigan chapter of the Pomegranate

.

Guild, a national organization of Jewish needle
workers.
As president of the guild chapter, she oversees
guild meetings and activities for its 40 members,
some of whom live as far away as Buffalo, N.Y.,
and Indianapolis.

Seeking Closer Ties

Initially, Eder, like some other Michigan mem-
bers, joined the national group through a chap-
ter in the Chicago area. With Chicago too far
away to commute to the meetings, the
Michigan members stayed in touch through a
newsletter and through the national group's
magazine, The Paper Pomegranate. Through this
long-distance contact, the Michigan members
continued to work on group Judaica needle-
work projects.
But some members craved contact with
other local needle workers and, in the fall of
1999, they organized a local group by soliciting
Michigan-based members of the Chicago chap-

Clockwise left to right:

Rhonda Kellso of Allen Park and Judy Ginsburg of
Farmington Hills work on their embroidery projects.

The Pomegranate Guild gets its name from this Bible verse.

Dorothy Goldstick of Taylor works on a cross-stitch
of her Star of David challah cover.

A completed challah cover.

Jr

3/2
2001

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