​

​

The Project

In February of 2024, Stefan Romero, the director of the America's Tapestry project, reached out to me seeking a Connecticut State Director for the project. While many other original states had an Embroidery Guild of America (EGA) chapter willing to head up their state, our state did not. What we lacked in embroidery skills (while we offer wonderful embroidery classes with Beverly Army Williams, we are not solely an embroidery organization), we knew we could make up with community involvement!

​

In April of 2025, our 3' x 4' linen panel arrived. With the help of Sue Polumbo of the Pioneer Valley EGA chapter, and Beverly, I plotted an approach. There were many more lines to cover than we were expecting, and the panel was designed as a painting, not a typical embroidery design!

​

​

​

The Design

The content of the Connecticut panel was determined by Stefan, the Old State House, and us (with the help of students present). It featured Hannah Bunce Watson, one of America's first female editors, our importance as the Provision State, and Prince Simbo with the 7th Regiment, an integrated regiment out of Connecticut. You can learn more about them here.  

​

The final design was created by Sarah Naidich, traced on to linen by Stefan, and sent to us to be stitched!

​

The Approach

One of the most wonderful things (though at times quite stressful) about this project is how it grew organically over the past year. I admittedly knew very little about embroidery beyond basic stitches and learned a lot as we went-- like how 1 square inch of embroidery takes 1 hour! Due to all the little motifs in our project, we were able to divide and conquer early on with "slips". The individual houses were traced off onto new linen, paired with DMC floss donated by the project, and mailed out to interested stitchers from all over the state. I'm not sure we would have finished without this approach!

​

While those were being worked on, the panel was set up for the summer in the small kitchen/storage room of our studio. Embroiderers filtered in and out every week, adding a couple of hours of stitching here and there. Slowly, we started to see the panel come to life!

​

In August, we began bringing the panel out into the community, focusing on public libraries, historical houses, and cultural art centers. We wanted to make sure our panel was truly stitched by members of the community, representing Connecticut's residents today. This meant we had the honor of teaching people of all ages to make their first stitches, and we met truly expert stitchers along the way!

​

You may have seen the panel at:

• Charter Oak Cultural Center, Hartford, CT

• Hartford Public Library, Hartford, CT

• Nathan Hale House, Coventry, CT

• Noah Webster House, West Hartford, CT

• Butler-Cook House, Hartford, CT

• Raymond Library, East Hartford, CT

• Scoville Public Library, Salisbury, CT

• New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, CT

• Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT

• New England Regional EGA Regional Day, New Hampshire

• Thistle Needleworks, Wethersfield, CT

​

In between stitching at the studio and community partners, some of our very dedicated stitchers took the panel home for "homestays" where they would frequently put in 30 - 40 hours over a week or two to put finishing touches on different sections. 

​

Along with surface embroidery (back stitch, chain stitch, etc.), we also feature incredible counted embroidery on the soldiers by Sue and her EGA friends, applique, ribbon embroidery, felting, wool couching, and painting by local artist Hannah Jackson. 

​

Was it a labor of love? Yes. Did it make us want to pull our hair out sometimes? Also yes. You don't work on a project of this scale for only a year without wondering what you are thinking! But the honor of sharing the stories depicted and meeting the wonderfully talented and generous people who worked on the project won out every time. 

​

What now?

The panels are all in the DC metro area to be framed! The first exhibit opens this June at the Muscarelle Museum, and you can find the rest of the confirmed travel dates here.  

​

At this time, we don't have a Connecticut exhibition location, but I'll let you know when we do!

​

It's a Wrap!

Thank you to everyone who helped with this project, cheered us on, and supported us along the way. We're excited to take a breather and can't wait to see it when it makes its way to New England.