Woodlawn Winners from 2014 and 2012 UPDATED

Since March 31st was the last day of the Woodlawn needlework exhibit, I did a little Googling to see if anyone has reported on the Best of Show winner. I came up with two hits--apparently the 2014 Best in Show winner was a "blackwork" piece.  There are no any photos of it I can find but you can see one of the blue ribbon winners (in the Surface Embroidery catagory) here.
http://www.paperstitch.net/2014/03/02/woodlawn-2014/

I also stumbled across a photo of the 2012 Best in Show winner, which is a charming embroidery piece.  I actually saw this in person the last time I made it to the show.  The embroidery details among the letters and the flowers are very charming--they include a tiny snail, butterflies, a dragonfly, a lady bug, etc.  Click on the photo for a slightly better look.
http://www.heraldstandard.com/society/local-needle-arts-teacher-wins-best-of-show-award/article_a5037f10-c9ad-50a4-8807-65e8e571ba35.html

Congratulations to all those who entered and all those who made it to the show!

UPDATE: I found a list from Woodlawn of all the folks who entered in 2014 with a list of any ribbons they won.  Apparently this was published in a program, presumably the one they hand out to visitors to the exhibit.
http://www.woodlawnpopeleighey.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/2014-Entry-List-for-Program.pdf

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright March 31, 2014 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

Revisiting the Fishing Lady on Boston Common

My copy of Needle Pointers for July 2013 has just arrived and Kate Callahan's Fishing Lady piece is on the cover! Whoo HOO! Congratulations! You have already seen her large Fishing Lady piece on Blog last year. Here's the link with all the information Kate sent me about this masterpiece.  Please reread it to hear Kate's voice as you browse the magazine to really see all the courting couples, the plants and sheep and of course the amazing horses and dogs!
http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com/2012/05/road-to-woodlawn.html

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
@ Copyright 2013 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

ScottLee Colors

Arlene's Award Winning ScottLee

By now most of us have the January NeedlePointers magazine that showcases all the award winners from the 2012 Seminar.  I got a question about two weeks ago about the colors Arlene Cohen used in the blue and ecru version of Jean Hilton's "ScottLee" that won an award at the Philly Seminar exhibit.  Arlene was kind enough to have sent me photographs of her piece that I used on Blog last spring so I emailed her and asked if she had a thread list.  This is what she said in reply:

"I originally saw Scott Lee on a blog and was intrigued by the complexity of stitches and such, although I admit quite turned off by the colors.  When I heard that the pattern was available for purchase, I did buy it, thinking that I could do something about the colors.  I read Jean's introduction that she was inspired by a rug in her home and that just clicked with me.  The rug under my dining room table is a just a basic floral with a blue background and that became my inspiration.  

I just now pulled out my pattern book to confirm what I suspected, which is I only have partial notes.  As I went along, I know I changed decisions about threads and colors and never wrote it down.  I also found the overall piece a little too "busy" and tried to tone that down both with colors choices and by changing some stitches in the inner parts. 

The biggest thing to know is that I originally stitched all the Jessicas (I believe that is 166 of them) in the border in DMC Pearl #8 in 794.  As I progressed with the piece and began bringing in more blue in the center, I decided that I was really really unhappy with that blue in the border.  Out came all those Jessicas and back in they went with Splendor 1029.  I think with four strands? I knew that if I didn't change that blue, I was never going to be happy - a great lesson.

Here's what I can put together:  for blues, I used a lot of Splendor 1029, with some 1030, and some DMC 793 for the Perle Cottons as needed.  For the tans, it was a lot of Splendor 926, 927, and 928, with DMCs 841, 842, and ecru as needed for some stranded parts and for Perle Cottons.  I used some green and rose (I think both DMC, 316 and 367) as highlight colors, as my rug has, but truly kept them to highlights, again finding the original pattern had too much variety of color for me.

I hope this is helpful!"

It is very helpful, Arlene.  The folks who are interested in trying your version are going to be happy to know all this.  Thank you and Happy New Year!

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com

TNNA Columbus 2012 Wrap Up

While I was hauling water, buying ice and bottled water, lots of folks were posting about the TNNA show than ended last week.   Vicky DeAngelis and Robin King both worked the Needle Deeva Both and taught at a nearby shop, What's the Point?  Here's Robin, talking about her market fun.
http://needlepointstudyhall.blogspot.com/2012/07/tnnacolumbus-2012-wrap-up-part-1.html

http://needlepointstudyhall.blogspot.com/2012/07/tnnacolumbus-2012-wrap-up-part-2.html

Vicky has even more photos of all the goodies we all want to see.  Note the Kirk and Hamilton polar bear canvas in the second link.  I saw that on display at Woodlawn.  Ruth Dilts did a fabulous job stitching it!  If I remember correctly, she won a second place ribbon, too.
http://mostlyneedlepoint.com/06/30/a-little-bling-in-your-life/

http://mostlyneedlepoint.com/07/01/the-market-beat-goes-on/

http://mostlyneedlepoint.com/07/02/keepin-cool/

I've already mentioned Ruth Schmuff's latest designs but she just blogged about them, with photos of everything.
http://www.notyourgrandmothersneedlepoint.com/2012/06/whats-new.html

Katherine's posted her favorites on her blog.  What are your favorites?
http://bootsandbeads.blogspot.com/2012/06/market-goodies.html

Orna Willis has two new counted pieces, one of which incorporates small polymer clay pieces.
http://ornadesign.blogspot.com/2012/07/from-place-of-frustration-and-new.html

http://ornadesign.blogspot.com/2012/07/from-place-of-frustration-second-new.html

Ada Hayden of Eye Candy allowed one of the cross stitch magazines to chart her Candyland Christmas Tree Farm.  Here's the result.  It'll please anyone who doesn't want to stitch the painted canvas version of this.
http://eyecandyneedleart.blogspot.com/2012/06/so-what-else-is-new.html

Finally, River Silks took photographs of the pieces on display at Leigh Designs' booth.  You'll see three pieces I've stitched, including the center three which use River Silks.  Thanks for the photograph. I had no idea how Leigh set up her booth or that three of my models for the company were on display.  I did the two on each end and the center Barcelona.
http://www.riversilks.com/wordpress/?p=1131

Enjoy!


Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com

More About Woodlawn

MaggieB has collected links from folks writing about their Woodlawn exhibit experiences for us to enjoy.  I think MaggieB belongs to Nelly's Needlers, the group that puts on Woodlawn each year. Regardless, I'm happy that she has collected links most of which are from blogs I didn't know about.
http://maggiebsmocks.typepad.com/smocking/2012/06/49th-woodlawn-needlework-exhibition-2012-drawing-to-a-close.html

By the way, there are always terrific smocked dresses shown at Woodlawn.  I never mention them as I'm not really qualified to talk about them but they are all gorgeous works of art.

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com

Glimpses of Woodlawn UPDATED

Third Place, Tara Roberts

Since so many of us live too far to make the trip to see the Woodlawn needlework show, and with 600 items on display, the likelihood of Woodlawn doing another online photo album is right up there with the likelihood of me being elected Miss Universe tomorrow,  I've been begging folks I know exhibited to send me photographs to put on Blog. You've already seen the Fishing Lady (who is awesome!) but I have more eye candy for you today.   Let's start with the unframed Granda (a design by Jane Zimmerman) by Tara Roberts, which is the photo you see above. This won a third place ribbon.  Zimmerman's silk and metal embroidery pieces rely heavily on the play of light across perfectly laid silk so I can't wait to see this one in person.  No photograph can capture that reflective light well.

First Place (2011), Tara Roberts

If you recognize Tara's name, it is probably because she won a blue ribbon at Woodlawn for this beauty (Diamond Delight IV by DeeBee's Designs) last year.

Arlene Cohen

Arlene Cohen (whom you will remember from the Woodlawn 2011 article I wrote about her designs based on a lace pattern she made)...
http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com/2011/04/arlene-at-woodlawn-2011.html

... only sent one piece to Woodlawn this year.  What you see above is Jean Hilton's ScottLee.  Arlene sent me close ups of her color version of this classic design because the photo of the framed version makes the blues too turquoise.

ScottLee Up Close

Arlene wrote this about her ScottLee:  "The interesting tidbit that I have to share about this piece is that I did work on the border first, as in the instructions, but then went a bit out of order. In making color decisions as I went from the most inside out, I realized that the blue that all those Jessicas were stitched with simply wasn't the right shade any more. Debated and debated, but realized that I would never be happy with the finished piece if left as is. So, out came the entire blue border (at some point I counted how many Jessicas that was, but don't remember at the moment) which had been in a DMC pearle and back in with a much softer color and slightly darker Splendor silk. It's the only piece at Woodlawn for me this year."

Arlene's ScottLee Unframed

Here is Arlene's ScottLee unframed.  This is much closer to the actual color.  It's beautiful in those soft blues, tans and creams with a green accent.

If you have a Facebook account, see if you can see this posting which shows the piece Ruth Dilts won a 2nd place for.  I believe it was finished to resemble a snow globe.  Ruth is going to teach this with Joan Lohr at the Columbus trade show in June.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2817488376712&set=o.108537025890131&type=1&theater

If you can't view the Facebook photo, here's one from the TNNA website of classes.  This is a design from Kirk and Hamilton.
http://www.tnna.org/resource/resmgr/Summer2012ClassPhotos/NT112-lg.jpg

Carol Sylvester

My final photograph is one of the three pieces that Carol Sylvester exhibited.  Carol took the photograph before framing.  This is a now discontinued ANG correspondence course design called Oriental Poppies by Pat Van Cleve.  There is still information about the class on the ANG website, although you can no longer sign up for the course.
http://www.needlepoint.org/CorrClasses/classes/oriental.php

Carol sent me links to two other pieces she stitched.  The first link is to a Brazilian embroidery design that won a blue ribbon for Carol.  This is a photo of the designer's model, not a photograph of Carol's design.  I believe the designer is Anna G.
http://users.vcnet.com/annag/AG_4163.gif

Carol writes about the second link which is below--"The page it's on is the gallery for people in the EGA Master Craftsman program in surface embroidery. This was step six, the ethnic embroidery step. It's a shisa cushion. This piece got an honorable mention.  I wanted to complete the program last year, and was awarded my Master Craftsman certification last fall. It will become official at this year's EGA seminar."
http://heritageshoppe.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/normal_Carol_Sylvester_9-10-10-Step5.jpg

Congratulations on becoming a Master Craftsman, Carol, and many congratulations on the ribbons to everyone.  I am thrilled you were willing to share you work with Blog's readers!

Beth Robertson (you know Beth, she's part of the team behind the Stitches for Effect books) won a blue ribbon for an original design at Woodlawn.  She posted a photograph on Facebook.  I hope you can see it by clicking on the link, but if not it is a crazy quilt type design in roses, red-violets and golds.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=3517860744094&set=a.2285787823041.2114467.1199272810&type=1&theater

UPDATE:  MaggieB, whom I think belongs to Nelly's Needlers which is the group that runs the Woodlawn Needlework Exhibit, posted links to articles about the show which ends next Sunday.
http://maggiebsmocks.typepad.com/smocking/2012/06/49th-woodlawn-needlework-exhibition-2012-drawing-to-a-close.html

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com

The Road to Woodlawn UPDATED

The Fishing Lady in the Back of the Car

UPDATE:  Kate has heard that her Fishing Lady won an Honorable Mention ribbon and also is noted in the program as a "piece of interest" one didn't want to miss at the show.  Isn't that great?!


A while back I got a note from Kate Callahan with the above photograph attached. With her permission I’m going to quote our correspondence.  Kate wrote:

"I am just back from Woodlawn having delivered my 2 entries for the show.  The first is the large floral pillow that was sold as a kit at Williamsburg years ago. I never bought the kit, but found the artist who had done them (there were two). The second is the Fishing Lady  - the photo is of her (in the back of a car) when I received her last night.  I chose to put her in a lightweight temporary frame, without any 'long term wear and tear protection' in order to show her at Woodlawn and then at ANG’s exhibit in Philadelphia this fall.

Stitches were everything (!) in tent/basket weave with the exception of french knots for the wool of the sheep. Then, added some other knots for the flower in the lady's hair and at her neck line, the buttons of her beau's coat. Finally, on top of the tent stitched foundation, I added the overstitching/outline stitching thru out the entire canvas, referencing the two pieces (Eunice & Sarah) I sent you the photos of. That last part took a long time - about a month - the Lady herself and the woman on the left looked particularly dead......where ever there are lines for detail - stitched on top...you will be able to really see that when you see her in person.

The pillow is categorized as a 'commercial, traditional canvas work' piece - all tent/basketweave.  Those receiving the pieces today confirmed that what I put on the entry form was appropriate.

Then they turned the discussion to the Lady....On the entry form, I checked 'collaboration/rendition' as I had nothing to do with the actual painting of the design on the canvas.  I did the research regarding the background and history of the pieces, found examples that had elements I liked (and some I did not like) accumulated that information and told the artist what I wanted - I cannot draw worth squat!  Then over the years, I continued the research, was terrified of the canvas, and finally decided how I wanted to stitch it and what with, all the colors to be used, all the over stitching and those undulating layers of grass.  I told the ladies in charge of accepting Woodlawn exhibit pieces all of that.

Well, my friend, the net result is that The Fishing Lady on Boston Commons has been entered at Woodlawn as original piece of traditional canvas work. (!)

As you have said so many kind things and really gave me encouragement I wanted to share this piece of news with you.  Additionally, I have copied the 'artist's statement' that I provided for the show. Finished design is 18 inches by 36 inches and on 18 count.  I stitched her w/ silk, wool, and silk-wool blends....I also used some Kreinik metallics - necklace, buckles, buttons, cords on John's jacket, fishing line and highlights on the fish.

Stitches were everything (!) in tent/basket weave with the exception of french knots for the wool of the sheep.  Then, added some other knots for the flower in the Lady's hair and at her neck line, the buttons of her beau's coat.  Finally, on top of the tent stitched foundation, I added the overstitching/outline stitching thru out the entire canvas, referencing the two pieces (Eunice and Sarah) I sent you the photos of.  That last part took a long time - about a month - the Lady herself and the woman on the left looked particularly dead......where ever there are lines for detail - stitched on top...you will be able to really see that when you see her in person."

The Fishing Lady's Official Portrait

Artist Statement for The Fishing Lady on Boston Commons
(Custom painted by Ann Cram at the request and direction of Kate Callahan)

This piece drew inspiration from the linen canvas patterns drawn by Mrs. Susanna Condy, a widowed Scottish immigrant turned school mistress in Colonial Boston. Adolescent daughters of prominent families with connections to Boston attended Mrs. Condy’s school where they worked stylistically related chimney pieces (so named because they were meant to be hung above a fireplace) circa 1738-1760. Thirty-six examples of these tent stitch pictures in various sizes survive and can be found in such collections as The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston (Eunice Bourne, ca. 1753) and at Winterthur (Sarah Warren, ca. 1740).

Thematically, these pictures rest firmly in the tradition of English courting scenes which by the mid-18th Century made frequent reference to the pastoral ideals of the Georgian era.  The principal design elements of the Boston chimney pieces include courting couples shown in dominant scale set amidst a splendor of flora, fauna and elegant New England homes, all of which are superimposed upon a rolling terrain incorporating idealized portrayals of country life.

In fact, most of these elements pre-date Mrs. Condy’s finishing school by up to a century and borrow heavily from French and English engravings that were popularly known.  Certain elements, however, relate directly to Colonial Boston.  The Boston elements draw reference to the richest man in New England, John Hancock, shown lower left on horseback, perhaps the greatest catch of the day, and the Fishing Lady herself, sitting demurely on the Commons at the center of the piece, with her own catch securely hooked.

The inspiration for this piece sprang from a visit to the climate controlled vaults holding the textile collection at Winterthur.  My husband stood in front of the piece signed by Sarah Warren in 1740, and said, “Make me one of these.”

My chimney piece hangs before you.  The various elements of its design would all be familiar to Susanna Condy and draw details from several of the canvases completed by her pupils, each unique from another.  This piece is in turn unique in its composition and my stitches a tribute to Mrs. Condy’s efforts towards female education in America.

In the book The Age of Homespun (Alfred A. Knopf, 2001), Laurel Thatcher Ulrich relates
‘...yet for all its deficiencies, female education nourished sensibilities ignored in the classical education offered to elite males’...[young girls were taught little more than embroidery, a bit of French and some drawing]…and in stark contrast, a comparison of Eunice Bourne and her brother William…’William graduated from Harvard College in 1743; Eunice attended an unknown Boston school and learned to embroider.  His name and works are long forgotten; hers hang in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.’

********************************************************

Fishing Lady Sources

After reading the above, I asked Kate several questions.  Here are her answers which clarified some of the above for me since I am no expert on 18th Century American needlework.


"I thought you might enjoy seeing this 'screen shot' that I put together. The new photo includes the two main pieces I used as reference photographs - Eunice Bourne is on the top (that photo was from the web) and Sarah Warren is on the bottom (that photo is from a photo copy from a book I have).  I also accumulated several articles from the web and one copy of an article found in a 1923 edition of Antiques Magazine.  Do not forget that once I had her painted in 1987, I became terrified of her! (I was only 30 after all....! started her 13 year later and put her away for another 10 years when my mother died).

I kept referring to Eunice and Sarah's pieces to try to get the 'feel' of my Lady correct - dare we say 'perfect'?

As regards my color choices....for a while I was very concerned that mine was coming out too vibrant.  Well, when we bought our house in Virginia a couple of years ago, my husband began his adventure of furnishing the place.  He is my interior decorator and was determined to furnish this house (brick Georgian, based on Gunston Hall) with the appropriate antiques and reproductions.  One of my Christmas presents that year (given to me well before Thanksgiving because he was too excited to wait) was an English fire screen (stand and all) of the same period - the subject, an urn of flowers with the requisite bugs, squirrel, etc. on a linen canvas.  Up close and personal, there are a few thread bare spots in the piece and the colors have indeed faded - it is a couple of hundred years old after all.....Now comes the best part, particularly for those of us into traditional, historical, needlework - there is no backing on the screen - nothing covering the reverse side of the stitching. It had to have been there and taken off at some point because the colors the screen was originally stitched in have not faded.  They are vibrant and beautiful.  The colors I had begun stitching my Lady with were not off at all!  Nothing like some positive reinforcement - particularly when trying to recreate the feel of a historic piece - confirming that my 'gut' choices that I began this endeavor with were correct!

It was good that so much time passed before I really got 'into' the project though. All of my 'fiber artist' skills were being honed during that time and much more scholarly information became available from all sources.  In addition, my knowledge and appreciation for the significance of these pieces in art, history and society, sky rocketed.  That is the reason I included that last paragraph in my artist statement - validation for all needlewomen of the ages.....particularly those of us who had halfway decent brains but chose to give up careers to raise the kids vs running a company or corp/having a career.   The stigma of being 'just a mom' was very hard - that William went to Harvard and all but disappeared but Eunice is in the MoFA Boston after attending an unknown school is a my polite way of saying 'so there' to all of the condescending folk I've encountered over the years.  Okay off my soap box :)

As you can see.....this was quite a journey.  Our older son asked 'what is the next BIG thing mom?' to which I responded ' I'm not certain there is another one of these in me....!'  His response - 'That's ok mom.....I think this piece is an acceptable Everest for one's lifetime!'

I would not mind at all if you did an article for the Blog or the Needlepoint Group Facebook page.  I am very curious/anxious to hear what other stitchers out there think of her.   I do not know of anyone else who was crazy enough to attempt something like this. Technically, there are not a lot of stitches (tent, French knots, overstitched details) so for some stitchers she would appear to be rather boring (no beads, wild stitches ribbons, etc. as they were not used back then - like my husband, I am a purist). But the history of this genre of stitching, the schools, teachers, social customs of the times,  Colonial New England, the attempt to re-create a 'work of art' as would have been inventoried in a will 270 years ago - all of that kept my mind thoroughly engaged.  And the end result is, to me, something that is just charming and pleasant to look at.  Most people who see her leave with a happy countenance and the comment that they have learned something new about our nation's history or needlework that they did not know before meeting her.  I cannot ask for much more than that."

*********************************
Woodlawn Plantation’s needlework exhibit opens today. I have heard there are around 600 pieces to enjoy, each with its own story. Perhaps it won’t be as elaborate and as long a story as the Fishing Lady’s but there is a story nevertheless. I hope many of Blog’s readers get to participate in the conversation with the pieces and their stitchers that the exhibit provides. If not, Kate’s tale of the Fishing Lady will have to do.




Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com

Woodlawn Exhibit About to Open

The 2012 Woodlawn Plantation Needlework Exhibit opens Saturday, May 12. The judging has already been done, as this article in the Patch shows.  Once you read the article, click on the photo for a slide show of the judging underway.  Many thanks to Tara for posting this link on Facebook!
http://bellehaven.patch.com/articles/behind-the-scenes-of-the-woodlawn-needlework-exhibition-827e31ee#photo-9848933


Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com

Woodlawn Plantation Exhibit Dates for 2012

Despite the renovations that Woodlawn Plantation has been undergoing since last November, the needlework exhibit will go on, just later than usual.  The show will be from May 12 until June 10, 2012 except it is closed on Tuesdays.  Hours are 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. six days a week.  Shops can turn in entries on April 25-27 and individuals can hand deliver their entries on April 28 and 29.  If you mail in your pieces, they have to arrive by April 20.   Here's a link to the brochure which explains it all.
http://woodlawn1805.org/49th-annual-needlework-exhibition/


Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com

WOODLAWN PLANTATION EXHIBIT IS ON FOR 2012!

I was wrong--Woodlawn is going to have their needlework exhibit this year after all. They just need to push it back so that the renovations are finished. Details here.
http://maggiebsmocks.typepad.com/smocking/2012/01/woodlawn-2012-needlework-exhibition.html


Many thanks to everyone keeping me informed!


Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com