A few summers ago, I set out to stitch my way to a Master Craftsman in Crewel certification from the Embroiderers’ Guild of America. This week, the director of the program sent me an email, short and sweet: “Congratulations, Erin. You are a new Master Craftsman!”

What a thrill to realize this goal. It has taken me nearly five years to stitch (and in more than a few cases, restitch) six distinct projects. I have spent hundreds of hours researching the history of crewel work, exploring the mechanics of color usage, and developing my design skills. I have learned, practiced, and mastered a wide collection of embroidery stitches. And I have learned a few things about myself along the way.

For one, the journey, not the accomplishment, has been the game changer. In his book The Way of Excellence, best-selling author and life coach Brad Stulberg sums up my feelings well: “There is no greater illusion than thinking the accomplishment of some goal will change your life. What will change your life is who you become in the process of going for it.” So, before I share my portfolio, let me share a few ways the journey to Master Craftsman has changed my life.

Becoming a Master Craftsman

First, I have been reminded that creativity is our birthright, and finding its expression is a uniquely human endeavor. The very first verb in Scripture is create: “In the beginning, God created . . .” Furthermore, a few lines down, we learn that God created all of us in his image; we reflect his nature. In other words, we were designed with the desire to create!

There were days of stitching when I absolutely, 100-percent did not believe this. Those were the days when my seam ripper saw more action than my needle. To be sure, self-doubt and negative self-talk traveled with me on this journey, but in the end, the creative spirit wins out. We cannot contain it because it is part of our DNA. Witness the evidence in the projects below.

Second, I have learned not to confuse perfection with skillfulness. The pursuit of perfection can lead to frustration and feelings of inadequacy. The slow accumulation of skillfulness, however, is empowering. It builds confidence, and it opens a path to new possibilities. Too often I hear novice (and even seasoned) stitchers characterize their work as “not very good,” or lament that they “could never accomplish” a particular technique or standard. If the aim is perfection, then such estimations may be true. But if the target is skillfulness, then the journey can be wholly satisfying and achievable, filled with discovery and joy.

Which leads me to a third life lesson, the value of perseverance. I quit my Master Craftsman trek more than once along the way. The reviewers had me revise and refine several of my pieces. In fact, they flat out rejected my final project and sent my second attempt at the final back for additional adjustments. Those were humbling inflection points. Each time I was tempted to give up. But instead, I sat with the corrections for awhile (sometimes a long while). Then, I found a different perspective and moved forward. I am a better artist because of the course corrections and my own perseverance, which, to paraphrase Victor Hugo, is the secret of all triumphs.

My Master Craftsman Portfolio

Without question, completing my Master Craftsman program feels good, and I consider it a great honor to have earned this distinction. I will admit that within 10 minutes of receiving notice of this milestone, I thought to myself, “I need a new goal!” (A restless spirit is material for a future blog post.) Though I accomplished the mission, the journey continues. Still, for the moment at least, I would like to marinate in this achievement and share with you my Master Craftsman in Crewel portfolio:

Just prior to starting my Master Craftsman program, our family relocated from Southern California to Northern Virginia. I chose a palette reminiscent of colonial American tradition in a nod to my new home. Stitches used include buttonhole, chain, long and short, outline, French knot, seed, laid/couched, and closed fly.

I received an Honorable Mention for this piece at the 60th Annual Woodlawn Needlework Show.

I stitched this design (provided) in shades of indigo and saffron. These are among the homespun colors common to Early American needlework. To offset a smaller palette of colors, Early American needleworkers used creative stitching techniques to give their designs texture. Stitches used include herringbone, Roumanian, outline, pattern darning, whipped backstitch, buttonhole, satin, flat, French knot, and seed.

This piece is featured in my article, “Indigo: The Indispensable Color of Early American Crewel Design” in the Summer issue of PieceWork magazine.

I titled this piece “Up, Up and Away!” It is inspired by the Royal Vauxhall balloon designed by the pioneering British aeronaut Charles Green. In 1836, Green piloted the balloon a record-setting distance of 480 miles in a mere 18 hours. Each balloon features its own textural pattern. I used a total of 20 stitches to create this design, including detached woven picot and French knots for the grasses and detached buttonhole scallops to embellish the central balloon. To attach the fluffy clouds to the canvas, I used simple stab stitches.

I write about this piece in the March 2004 issue of NeedleArts, the official magazine of the Embroiderers’ Guild of America.

This piece is stitched with Appleton wools on linen twill. I selected a color palette of greens, golds, browns, and reds to capture the vineyard in its transition from late summer to early fall—the chardonnay fruit is turning but has not yet fully ripened. In addition to long and short stitch, you’ll find stem, satin, laid/couched, French knots and whipped backstitch.

A Day in the Vineyard received First Place honors in its category at the 62nd Annual Woodlawn Needlework Show.

For this step, I researched needlework and textiles of the Jacobean period and wrote an essay describing how my research inspired my design. You can read about my research in my earlier post “The King of Crewel: A Study in Jacobean Crewelwork,” here on the Embroidery Artisan blog.

The first garden adorned my home in Southern California for more than 20 years. In the mild Mediterranean climate, I enjoyed wild sage, lavender, yarrow, oak and pepper trees . . . and an abundance of Western gray squirrels. In my second garden here in Northern Virginia, the subtropical climate changes with the seasons and includes wonderful things like Black-eyed Susans, Virginia sweetspire, blueberries, and flowering dogwood trees. And still, the common variable remains . . . the energetic squirrels!

This final piece is stitched on linen twill and worked in a combination of Appleton and Bella Lusso wool. The design features a warm, earthy color scheme of analogous colors, matched with a few complementary accents. The style of my piece (though not intentional; it just sort of happened organically) is reminiscent of works by Georgiana Brown Harbeson, considered by many to be the “First Lady of modern stitchery.”

So there you have it—six projects, four and a half years in the making. This journey has ended, but the bigger one continues. Follow me on Facebook and Instagram and subscribe to the Embroidery Artisan blog to see what comes next. And bring a friend!