Award winning Reindeer

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My mother & I have belonged to the Daughter's of the American Revolution (DAR) for about 10 years. Last year we decided to enter their art competition for member daughters. In a way it is also an essay contest. So, this year we spent a bit more time in composing our essays that accompany the photographs of the art.

Since this years entries have just been submitted on the state level, I thought I would share my award winning entry from 2013. The theme was something like honor our heritage today... I don't recall the wording. This is what I wrote:

In December 2004, I was at a friend’s house for a holiday party. My daughter Fiona, then 3 ½ years old, & another little girl were bored, so our hostess brought them some paper & crayons. One picture Fiona drew was of the stuffed reindeer toy sitting on the couch with her. I am always on the watch for new embroidery patterns, & had just started embroidering my daughter’s drawings. I immediately thought this one would be perfect. Deciding to use a basic outline stitch in only two floss colors, I tried to mimic the simplicity of the line drawing in embroidery. The child-like fabric bordering the embroidery is subtle. The fabric on the back of the pillow is bold and graphic.
This pillow now graces the living room sofa every holiday season as a family heirloom in the making.

Blue ribbon redwork reindeer embroidered in brown & red

Showing the backing fabric of the pillow

I won the blue ribbon for NY State in embroidery, & advanced to national, but did not win at national. Maybe this year! The above 2 images are of the blue ribbon pillow. & it won a red ribbon at our county fair this past August.

This is one I did in traditional redwork

Redwork is a style of embroidery. Though, traditionally, rendered in red (hence it's name), you can stitch it in any color you want. In the reindeer below, I used 3 colors.

Wall hanging using brown, tan, & red

This one is stitched in blue...

Given to my daughter's grandmother- This reindeer was stitched in blue

Ribbons at the fair

I am very excited to report that my embroidery won 4 ribbons at the Washington County Fair this year! Since this is the 1st time I have ever entered anything in the fair, I am very pleased.

Embroidery display in Handmade and Homegrown Bldg

Embroidered portrait one 3rd place

 I wish the redwork, embroidered portrait of my wonderful daughter would have placed higher, but 3rd is great. It is a lovely piece that I am really proud of. I think competition in that particular category was pretty stiff. Plus, redwork only requires a few stitches, so it's not the best for showing off what the stitcher can do. The comment I received from the judges was that the picture appeared too large for the frame & I should have used something to keep the fabric flat in the frame. Fair points on both counts.

Holiday reindeer pillow took home 2nd place

 This reindeer pillow is the same pillow that took 1st place in the NY State DAR competition this spring. I am happy it received recognition from 2 different organizations!

My "We Can Do It!" pillow took home a blue ribbon

 I am proud of both of my 1st place entries. The "We Can Do It!" poster from 1943 has become an iconic image. I even have a lunchbox that features the image. I adapted the poster to create this embroidery pattern & have stitched it a few times.

The redwork quilt below is another original design. The patterns are based on 5 portraits, one of my daughter & the others of her 4 cousins from their 1st birthdays. It is a wall hanging that, I think, my mother loves as much as I do.

Redwork quilt of my mom's grandchildren came in 1st place