Stitchers

Michelle McPheron is an embroiderer on the New Hampshire tapestry panel. A resident of Salem, Massachusetts, she has been stitching for three to four decades. She learned cross stitch from her mother and, about ten years ago, won a week-long retreat at the San Francisco School of Needlework and Design, where she began learning surface embroidery, goldwork, stumpwork, whitework, and mounting; since then she has taken countless classes through the Royal School of Needlework, the Japanese Embroidery Center, and various teachers, and now stitches nearly every day. Her needle arts span beading, cross stitch, canvaswork, counted work, goldwork, pulled and drawn thread embroidery, surface embroidery, and lace making.

She jokes that her hands are "all over" the New Hampshire panel — she finds the repetitive stitches meditative and is especially proud of her work on the quill. Michelle joined at Carol's invitation, intrigued by the challenge, and though she doesn't live in New Hampshire, working alongside the volunteer stitchers gave her a deeper understanding and respect for the state's history — including the Abenaki history she came to know through the afternoons she spent with those who donated their time. Her hope is that the nation survives another 250 years and that the work done here is remembered.