Diane Forney, Pugs and Siamese Cat Designer Katie Molineaux Wilson

Stop anyone on the street, ask him to look at photos of the exhibit winners and he will recognize this rug of two pugs and a Siamese cat as needlepoint. The rug uses tent stitches to create a utilitarian object, which is the origins of our needle art, but the exquisite design and realism of the animals is a more modern take. We have great artists designing needlepoint for us these days. The Pug Rug won a third place ribbon in the Painted Canvas Without Stitch Guide/Non-Professional category.

Pamela N. Cornutt My Feet are Under the Sea Designer: Elizabeth Turner

These needlepoint slippers are also fairly traditional, although few of us would be brave enough to wear them for fear of damaging the Caribbean blue background with its tropical fish and red stars. Still, non-stitchers would recognize this as needlepoint. The "My Feet Are Under the Sea" slippers took an honorable mention in the Painted Canvas Without Stitch Guide/Non-Professional category. It also won the Small Masterpiece Award.

Mary L. Tod, Intersections Designer: Sharon G  

Barbara Bass Electric City Designer: Sharon G

  But when it comes to these two designs, we are moving from traditional tent stitches into abstract art. The man on the street is not going to call these needlepoint, but they are. The first piece, with the three intersecting lines, won a second place ribbon in the Painted Canvas without Stitch Guide/Non-Professional division. The stitcher used ANG's Stitch of the Month Web site pages to choose stitches, and used beads, silk and metallic threads to interpret the angles and curves. The abstract rendition of a city, which won a second place in the Painted Canvas With a Stitch Guide/Non-Professional category, overlooks the ocean with the sun high above. It is also stitched in a huge variety of stitches using beads, silk and metallic threads. I am just sorry that you can't see them in person as I did. No camera will capture the sheen and play of light on these pieces that adds to their contemporary appeal.

So what is needlepoint going to be like in the 21st century if it is moving from the traditional to the abstract? It is becoming stitchers choosing traditional stitches and applying them in a non-traditional manner. Look at this piece, stitched entirely in tent stitches, but with the tomato red hand-dyed background left mostly unstitched to make it an essential element in the overall design, the skyline of the city of Florence.

Nancy Pardue, Friense

To tell you the truth, the choice of the ancient and historic Italian city as subject matter is perfect for this piece. It won the Princess Grace Award (given for the best design rendered all in tent stitches, the most traditional stitch for needlepoint) as well as first place in the Adaptation/Professional category. Applying traditional stitches to a traditional subject in a totally new way is the direction that needlepoint is going now. Florence never looked so good in needlepoint!

Need more proof of how needlepoint is evolving? Look at these two portraits of Asian women. Oriental themes are classics in needlepoint. Except for Christmas, Halloween, floral patterns, and designs made to appeal to children, there are probably more oriental designs than any other subject matter in most needlepoint shops. Yet, these two portraits are totally modern.

Vicky DeAngelis, Kobukuro Designer: Lee’s Needlearts, Inc

The black and white tote bag looks simple, doesn't it? It won first place in Painted Canvas Without Stitch Guide/Professional and it deserves that win. To me it appears that each element of the finished bag balances and echoes every other element, whether it is the ivory silk lining, the black and white striped trim, the diamond shapes of the quilted body of the bag or the perfectly formed tent stitches which covered the design. I can't think of any other way to stitch this painted canvas that would make it look better, or any other way to finish it that would improve on the final result. This piece is perfect. And despite its having been stitched all in tent stitches, no one would confuse it with the Victorian spray-of-flowers chair seat that was needlepoint in 1960. This is modern needlepoint, all right. No question about that!

Donna Halpin, Chinese Lady With Cats Desinger: Lee’s Needlearts, Inc

  The Chinese lady is drawn in a cartoonish style, and she is posing with her cats, not something one would associate with a more traditional Asian portrait. The cats, her face, most of her pink robe and the red chair appear to be in tent stitches (although I think her face is reverse tent). However, the tall table seems to be a mix of skip tent, chain stitches and Nobuko. She wears beads in her hair and earrings, and there is what appears to be a needle lace flower in her hair. The real tip-off that this is 21st century needlepoint is the background, a very lovely darning stitch in what appears to be pearl cotton that doesn't cover the background at all. Open stitches that reveal the underlying ground fabric or painted canvas are one of the hallmarks of today's needlepoint style. Throw in the use of metallic threads, beads and other 3-D attachments, and a mix of stitches, and this piece defines what you are likely to find in needlepoint today. "Chinese Lady With Cats" took home the President's Choice Award and also second place in the Painted Canvas Without Stitch Guide/Professional division.

Tom Thayer The Views of the City of Kyoto, Japanese Mid-Edo Period

A third Asian piece in the exhibit is this traditional kimono, which copies an image from a book of Kyoto as it was in ancient Japan from a book.  But the stitcher of this ambitious project (a gentleman who started this when he was 77) is not the traditional needlepointer, and his traditional subject was made much less so by the fact that this was his first attempt to work on 18 -count canvas with a transferred design using stitches besides tent stitch. Modern needlepointers are almost always this adventurous, no matter their age or sex, but few stitchers tackle anything this large (almost four feet high and between two and a half and three feet wide) or complex in their careers these days. Modern stitchers simply don't have the time. This piece won honorable mention in the Adaptation/Non-Professional category.

Most of the pieces I've talked about so far are painted canvases, but painted canvases aren't the only style of needlepoint. Ever since Jean Hilton amazed us all in the 1980s with her complex geometric forms, charted needlepoint (or counted thread, as we refer to it most often in the needlepoint world) has been the flip side of working with painted canvases. Maybe I'd better consider some charted pieces before definitely stating that specialty threads, complicated stitches, and open areas define what needlepoint is like in the modern era.

Ro Pace, Three of a Kind

The diamond-shaped geometric in muted autumn shades is typical of charted work in its confident handling of many colors in complex interlocking patterns. In my experience, people who enjoy counted thread often are very bold in their use of color and very adept in mixing shades. This piece also incorporates negative space very well, making the ivory canvas behind the design a part of the whole pattern and enhancing the shapes upon it. This piece won a third place ribbon in the Original/Professional category and also took home the Creative Inspiration Award.

Lee M. McLeron, Marissa’s Weather Vanes Designer: Peg Dunayer

The long rectangle of quilt -patterned stars won first place in the Class Projects/Professional division. The stitcher choose chose black canvas behind the stars as an important part of the design and also used traditional design elements (quilt patterns) stitched in an unusual mix of threads that seem to be overdyed copper-colored pearl cottons, ecrus and a silvery thread I can't identify. Which reminds me, I haven't mentioned the impact of overdyed threads on needlepoint in the last twenty years. These lovely threads have made color choices easier for stitchers (pick an overdye you like, then mix it with flosses in 2-3 shades from the overdyed skein) and have enhanced thousands of pieces of needlepoint.  

Elizabeth Schwab, Venice Revisited Designer: Ro Pace

This counted thread piece was stitched in two parts, which isn't rare these days. The border's empty center was then removed to reveal the second canvas mounted behind it, which has the central motif. Each half of the design uses the same unusual color combination of browns, pink and sage green, and has open areas that add the cream of the background to the design to enhance the corners and the central motif. The open areas, sophisticated color choices, the number of delicate and elaborate stitches chosen and the double canvas combination marks this piece as contemporary needlepoint with a capital C. It won the First Time Exhibitor Award and was entered in the Independent Project/Non-Professional division.  

Kathryn Myers, Copper Line Designer: Susan Reed

I mentioned overdyed threads and their impact on our art above. Take a look at these counted thread pieces, each executed with a mix of overdyed threads and solids to complement the main coppery color. They all use open areas, and complex stitches, and have various types of attached 3-D areas. This piece seems to be stitched on a marbled needlepoint canvas and has what seem to be fabric borders tied down with a French knot in each corner. It won a third in the Class Project/Professional category.  

Donna Halpin, Royal Oak Designer: Caela Conn Tyler

The winner of a second place in Class Project/Professional, this piece added a stitched leaf appliqué and two small rocks to the design. These attachments add considerable charm and interest to this piece.

Nancy Demko, Maroon Santa with Deer Designer: Amanda Lawford with Stitch Guide by Tony Minieri

Such separate stitched elements are common to needlepoint these days. Check out this stand-up Santa, a traditional design if I ever saw one, who is holding a toy elephant that was stitched, stuffed and attached to the main design. He also carries real brass bells, the present he is holding has a real French ribbon bow, and there's a star charm attached to the tip of the Christmas tree. Completing the 3-D look is his fur trim, thickly stitched to add a lush touch to Santa's outfit. I should mention that this stand up is around two feet tall, so all this attached detail doesn't overwhelm his large figure. This won honorable mention in the Painted Canvas With Stitch Guide/Non-Professional section.

Stand-up figures are very popular these days. Two others that won awards are this charming little girl dressed as a witch for Halloween and the very elegant Aladdin standing in the entrance to his fancy tent.

Julie Storick, Stitchy Witchy Designer Shelly Tribby

  The child-witch's attachments are more subtle than the big Santa's, from her padded fake nose to the quarter-moon ornament around her neck, her orange bow and the padded cat, wearing its own Halloween costume, at her feet. She and her cat won honorable mention in the Painted Design Without Stitch Guide/Non-Professional section.

Pamela Harding, The Sultan Designer: Amy Bunger

Aladdin's turban with feather, the golden lamp he still clutches despite having his wishes granted, and even his cheeks and nose and hands are all padded. The tent awning over his head is also padded, and sports twin gold chains holding back the flaps and a gold chain-stitch edging. Aladdin is the picture of expensive formality yet he is very modern, despite being a fairy tale because of all the embellishment. Plus, it is only recently that the silk threads needed to dress him are widely available to most needlepointers, whether they are royalty or not. This stand-up gentleman won a first-place ribbon in the Painted Design With Stitch Guide/Professional category.  

Michael Moss, Fuss

The stand-ups and Asian portraits we have seen point to another trend in needlepoint in 2007: stitching people. Software available to us these days allows us to translate favorite photographs into charts which can be stitched to capture forever the love between a woman and her dog as they take a winter's walk along the beach. Even though the piece below uses traditional tent stitches, its subject matter and how it was created dates it squarely in our century. This piece won honorable mention in the Adaptation/Non-Professional category.

Philip E Bush, Always There Designer: Jean Monti

The next portrait shows love at the beach also, this time between a barefoot father and his small son he carries across the rocks. Again done all in tent stitch, the intricate shading of this piece is probably based on computer analysis of an image. If you are here online enjoying this exhibit, you already know how the Internet has enhanced our needlepoint, but these portraits show how the computer has enabled us to capture feelings from photographs in thread. The depth of feeling in this piece, combined with its technical skill, probably won it second place in the Adaptation/Professional division as well as a Judge's Choice ribbon.

Lois Kershner, Pigeon Point Lighthouse

You can see some of the same spirit at work in this lighthouse seascape, probably done from a photograph but executed with a great number of stitches instead of being turned into a chart to be done entirely in tent stitches. The lighthouse itself is slightly raised against the sky and the ocean and meadow grass are sketched in a variety of stitches with overdyed threads providing light, shadow and highlights. I believe the rocks are appliquéd painted Ultrasuede or something similar. The technical skill needed to pull off this piece garnered it the second place award in the Original/Professional section.

Cara Hayes, Monhegan Evening

It has a lot in common with this seascape, which also uses many stitches, some on top of others, and blended colors to add dimension and details. It is framed by more stitching, which completes the design nicely. This lovely glimpse of a traditional Asian fishing boat won the third place award in Adaptation/Professional.

Barbara Ewbank, Soft Floral Designer: Deux Amis

Despite all this modern needlepoint, there were a few pieces at the Baltimore exhibit that any needlepointer from the early part of the 20th century would recognize. This purse, for example (which won third place in the Painted Design Without Stitch Guide/Professional category). Needlepoint purses were popular in the 1940s through the 1960s and this crewel purse would look right at home. Except that it isn't crewel, —it is needlepoint. One of the hallmarks of needlepoint these days is that we are taking old forms and reinterpreting them using non-traditional needlepoint stitches.  

Mary Lynn Ingram, Bee Bag

This pocketbook and coin purse set takes medieval strapwork (the border), the Napoleonic bee motif from France, and a beehive crewel pattern, and mixes them into a thoroughly modern black and gold shoulder bag. The artistry behind this won the Independent Project/Professional section's first place ribbon and the Wearable Art Award.

Susan G Goss, Plight of Fancy Designer: Julia Line

Samplers are very traditional, but, again, this sampler is executed in cross stitches on linen topped by back-stitched details, in modern bright colors. Of all the winners, this is probably the most traditional except for its size and clarity of detail. Perhaps in 200 years it will have faded to resemble its ancestors but right now it is clearly a reproduction sampler. It took an honorable mention ribbon in the Independent Project/Non-Professional group.

On the other hand, no one is going to mistake the piece below for a 19th century piece of needlepoint!

Brenda Ramsdell Opera Singer Designer: Ashley Canvas with Stitch Guide by David McCaskill

Or this:

Susan G. Goss Rosemarkie Designer: Julia Line

Once you get over Brunhilde's belting out Wagnerian opera (not surprisingly she won both a first place ribbon in the Painted Design With Stitch Guide/Non-Professional category and the Maryland State Award, plus she also took the People's Choice Award), you should compare her to the sampler with its mix of Celtic cross, tiled patterns spilling out in an X shape, and blackwork strawberries. The two pieces have a lot in common. Each repays careful study. I could not live with the opera singer personally but I greatly admire the details in her beautiful gold bracelet, the gold edging on her white eyelet white blouse, the simulated wood grain frame with its brass studs, the subtle red curtain with its tiebacks and, of course, the dexterity with which the stitcher handled the huge gold breastplate Brunhilde wears. It is all too easy to just to focus on the bra jutting out an inch and the plaited yellow braids framing her open mouth, and not notice just how masterful the details are on this piece. Bet you didn't even notice her fake eyelashes.  

The Celtic strawberry sampler also has the same masterful detail that's easy to overlook. I think I could live with this piece for a very long time before I discovered everything it has to say. It is mostly stitched in an overdyed thread that shades from gray into browns to end up golden before cycling back into darker shades. I think the blackwork is done in a very dark plum color. Blackwork was wildly popular with the Elizabethans but this is not a reproduction piece. It mixes the strawberry from traditional samplers with the Celtic cross and Celtic knots and then stitches everything with the most modern of threads on rose pink needlepoint canvas. Look carefully at this one and watch the movement of the overlapping tiles that point to the knotwork of the cross's center while being decorated with their own knotwork mazes. The strawberries with their curling stems echo the gold curlicues that break up the straight lines of the pattern. The design is magnificent and the stitching impeccable. This won the first place ribbon in the Independent Project/Non-Professional category. And it almost won my I'd Take It Home If I Could Award, awarded by me to the piece I'd pick up and cart home if I was allowed to take Just One. Almost.

Eelaine W. Evans Facing the Storm

This doesn't look like traditional needlepoint, either. I always have a soft spot for original designs that are pieces where we try to spread our wings and create something from our inner souls. This piece is hard to see in photographs or in person since it is basically white on white. It's a swan egg. See all of those feathers? I hope you can see the varied stitches, all in shades of white and ecru, on the body of the egg, which floats over blue waters, indicated by the beads and couched blue threads below it. This piece won honorable mention in the Original/Professional division and a Judge's Choice ribbon.

Joni Stevenson Starshine

Our final picture is a piece inspired by astronomy photos taken from the Hubble Space Telescope and elsewhere, which places it squarely in the late 20th and early 21st centuries when we can see via technology how beautiful the universe is and how small a part we play in its magnificence. This is a rather small piece with a spiral nebula recreated in metallics on black. The center is very precisely stitched and the tiny sparkles flying out into space may be tiny beads or perhaps simply very thin metallic French knots. This piece won first place in the Adaptation/Non-Professional category, a Judges Choice Award, and took home Best in Show. It is indeed a star.

Joni Stevenson Morning Has Broken

But the piece I'd Take Home If I Could isn't this piece, but another by the same stitcher, entered in the Original/Non-Professional category. Since my personal award is the only one it received, there is no photo available, so close your eyes and imagine a tree-lined lake with a small canoe in the middle. A man paddles the suede appliqué canoe from the back with his black and white dog as passenger in the front. The interior of the canoe seems to be tent stitches, which contrast with the random-stitched water reflecting the color-washed sky and the layered tall evergreen trees in the background. The stitcher wrote in her stitcher's statement that this piece was inspired by family trips to the lake when no one but the dog would get up early to go fishing with her husband. I adore it. You see, 21st century needlepoint is, above all, personal. Stitchers are putting pieces of their lives, their emotions, and their interests on needlepoint canvas using a variety of techniques, threads, stitches and attachments. Twenty-first century needlepoint is eclectic, personal and full of emotion. The pieces showcased here are just a small representation of what needlepoint is today. It is so much more than it has ever been before—I think needlepoint might be becoming art.