First Place, Non-Professional Japanese Embroidery
Best in Show – Japanese Embroidery (Beverly E. Booker Award)

This design is by the late Master Saito at the Kurenai-Kai Embroidery School in Japan. Clematis was done specifically for Shay Pendray and was one of twelve designs, each unique, done for Shay and her classmates studying in Japan.

I first saw this design in 2017 when Shay used her completed piece as representative of her NAN Shay’s Stitch Buffet class for 2018. I was hooked and couldn’t wait to start which I did as soon as I finished another piece of embroidery.

The design outline as created for Shay is the exact outline in my piece. However, colors and some stitches have been changed to suit me. All stitches, silk threads, techniques and background fabric are common for Japanese embroidery.