CUT KNIFE -- The Embroidery Association of Canada/ACB celebrated their 50th anniversary June 6 – 11 in Winnipeg, Man. Ten members of the Regina Stitchery Guild attended from various communities, including Marcella Pedersen of Cut Knife.
More than 200 women attended the week long event held at the Victoria Inn Convention Centre.
Pedersen took two classes, one in gold work (stitching a tulip) and one in stump work (three-dimensional, stitching a crocus in the snow). In addition to classes, there is an exhibition, market and boutique available to members and the public. In the exhibition, there are several categories to show work: Board Challenge, Viewer’s Choice, Group Guild work, Youth, Education and Members’ Show. With the exception of the Original category that is judged, all other entries are by vote of the members and public in attendance.
The Embroidery Association of Canada was founded by Leonida Leatherdale to promote innovation in embroidery. Pedersen participated in the Leonida Leatherdale Award entry and won third prize. The criteria for this award are: all pieces of needlework must be worked with threaded needle, can be any type of needlework, any technique or combination of techniques, any medium or combination of mediums; must demonstrate creativity and “thinking outside the box,” cannot have been entered in any previous national EAC-ACB exhibition, cannot be from a workshop, course, kit, published design or pre-printed pattern.
Pedersen entered her Marco Polo Blessings piece. Her stitching includes stump work, black work stitches (grey sails), wood (hull), snakeskin (net), cotton batten (clouds), and jersey fabric (stretched to make waves). The inspiration for this piece occurred when she attended her husband’s family reunion in 2006. She found out her husband’s great-great-grandfather was the builder of the Marco Polo ship, the fastest ship in the world in 1850, built in New Brunswick. Having already learned a little about stumpwork, it was her dream to rebuild the ship in stitchery for a future family reunion, as a possible fundraiser.
She also entered the Seminar Theme category and won second for Blue Diamond Blessings Hardanger Runner which was not completed to fulfil the theme of “The Stitch Goes On.”
