CUT KNIFE — Each year, more than 200 women gather for the Embroidery Association of Canada seminar, bringing along a piece of work to display for the seminar’s theme. Cut Knife's Embroidery artist, Marcella Pedersen, attended this year’s event and brought home a few prize ribbons for her work.
The Embroidery Association of Canada held the five-day seminar in Richmond, B.C., from May 5 to 10. The theme for the 2026 seminar was Pacific Dreams, and Pedersen placed third for her piece, Serenity Blessings. Pedersen noted that she was dreaming of peace and quiet in her retirement years at Long Lake, B.C., on Vancouver Island. Pedersen first started the project during a class in 2016 with Margot Kerney, set aside for 10 years and was finally finished this past winter.
The artist also took home second place in the Viewer’s Choice category with another thread painting picture, Lighthouse Blessings, which was stitched from a photograph and techniques taught by Joy Gill.
“I don’t know what the competition was like, but I was pleasantly surprised and pleased to get second,” said Pedersen. She also entered a T-shirt with mirrors and a coin for ‘show-and-tell’ to showcase the India Rabari embroidery and mirror work she learned from Mugdha Dongare.
Pedersen has been attending the seminars since 2010, collecting more than 12 awards over the years. At this year’s seminar, Pedersen attended two classes by Wendy Innes, learning stumpwork and 3D techniques, and hopes to finish both pieces over the next few months.
Seminar attendees also got the chance to take a day to tour the city or work on unfinished projects, shop during a market evening, learned the history of embroidery from textile artist, designer and hand embroidery teacher, Mike Parr.
Pedersen is already looking forward to next year’s seminar, to be held in St. John’s, Nfld., and in Quebec in 2027.
