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Needlers complete fourth embroidery, 40-year project

Stitch by stitch, knot by knot–for more than 40 years, a group of women Needlers gathered weekly to embroider giant art works illustrating history and faith. Dedicated in 1974, Churchmen in the New World depicts early Congregational Church history in America, including the first Thanksgiving. Christmas Radiance and The Renewal of Life were completed in 1992 and 2002 respectively.

The fourth and final 16-by-25 foot embroidery, The Summer of the First Amendment, was unveiled and dedicated in Guild Hall on July 15, following the 10:30 service, of Plymouth Congregational Church in Minneapolis. Read the Star Tribune story, "Many stitches in time." The artistry of the Needlers was celebrated in a story by Jason Davis of KSTP-TV. To obtain a reprint of the Congregationalist's article "Forty Years of Needling," contact allisoncj@plymouth.org or call 612/ 977-1269.

Designed by the late Pauline Baynes (an illustrator known for her work on Chronicles of Narnia), this embroidered work of art completes the cycle begun when the first embroidery was hung in Guild Hall in 1974. Key to the Summer images (PDF, 11x17-inch original).

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Summer of the First Amendment at the unveiling, July 15, 2012. Photo by Mark Christman

Rosemary Good sews the final seam, June 18, 2012.

Changing the embroideries, April 2, 2012; Christmas is stored away (with its cover signed by Needlers who worked on it) and Spring arrives.

Below: Mary Carson, who started these embroideries in the 1960s, stitched the American Goldfinch at left; the image at right shows one of the seams from the five panels that were sewn together on March 23, 2012.