Nancy Buckley’s “Antique Camelback Couch with Fox Hunt Scene” won three top awards: the Eleanor Custis Lewis Award for Best in Show, the Nelly Needlers Award for Outstanding Adapted Design, and First Place. It is believed to have taken more than 20 years to complete. (All photos: Steve Hunt)
Alexandria, VA – Woodlawn Plantation’s 60th Annual Needlework Show, “Craft as Comfort: Joy in Needlework,” brought both comfort and pleasure to those attending its month-long running in March. At an opening reception with family of one of the founders and many of the displayed needleworks’ creators, guests observed, admired, and perhaps were inspired to enter pieces in the future. Woodlawn Plantation and Pope-Leighey House are now on to the public after a winter hiatus.Executive Director of Woodlawn Shawn Halifax and Woodlawn’s Sr. Manager of Finance & Operations Heather Johnson.Kathleen Rankin entered two pieces in the show. She is pictured with her multi-piece entry “My Seven Sewing Friends,“ a hand-sewn Korean basket with multiple smaller pieces also all hand sewn. This multi-piece entry won the Judge’s Choice Award and First Place.Mount Vernon Supervisor Dan Storck presented a special proclamation from the Board of Supervisors to the descendants of Emma “Pinkey” Matheson, a founder of the Woodlawn Needlework Show and the Nelly’s Needlers Volunteer Corps. Matheson’s daughter Torrey Cooke traveled from Connecticut to attend the event in her mother’s honor. Patrick Cooke, Matheson’s grandson and Torrey’s son, came from New York.“Bravery” by Sumira Osterman did not win but drew many admiring glances.
