Kendra Anderson wowed the judges at the Golden Needle Awards during EGA National Seminar 2025. Her piece, titled “Hear Ye, Houses Unlimited” won four awards—First Place, People’s Choice, Judge’s Choice, and Best in Show. The accolades were well deserved! Kendra used a multitude of techniques to create Hear Ye, including surface embroidery, stumpwork, Or Nué, and beading, and she imbued her design with thoughtful symbolism and meaning that requires deeper engagement from viewers. “Hear Ye, Houses Unlimited” is the kind of piece you stop and admire, and then admire again, just to absorb the intricate details and considered narrative evident in the techniques and imagery. We talked with Kendra to learn more about the inspiration behind “Hear Ye, Houses Unlimited,” her experience with the Golden Needle Awards, and what she’s working on next.
When did you first start embroidering? How did you learn?
Like many of us, I learned from my grandmother. She was a great inspiration to me. Surprisingly, I also learned sewing and stitching by working on Girl Scout badges when I was a kid.
My first “serious” embroidery was an Erica Wilson crewel kit way back in the 1970s. I really enjoyed those kits.
Then, as a young person, I took a long pause for school, career, and family. I did not get back into embroidery until 1993. I saw a PBS TV show featuring Shay Pendray who was starting a serial based on a kit she had for sale. I got the kit, did the piece, and learned how great embroidery was!
I soon joined EGA and made lots of friends at my local guild. I have been a member for over 30 years. I have attended 22 National Seminars. I have learned from the best teachers over all those seminars.
Do you have a favorite embroidery technique? Why is it your favorite?
I have to say that when people ask this I have a complex answer. I love all techniques, but not all equally. I find people naturally fall into two camps. Those who like counted thread work and those who prefer freeform, surface work. In the first category, I would put needlepoint, cross stitch, Hardanger, beading, Swedish weaving, huck towels, blackwork etc. All are completed on a ground fabric where a charted design can be worked out in a uniform way. Most of these are available as printed charts.
The other school of thought is surface work such as Japanese embroidery, stumpwork, crewel, goldwork, etc. The pattern is drawn on the uncountable ground fabric. Then the artist stitches or appliques pieces onto the ground.
I am drawn to the medieval themed historic techniques the most. I prefer to use a mixture of Japanese embroidery, goldwork, needlelace, and stumpwork to develop my own designs.
Why did you decide to submit “Hear Ye, Houses Unlimited” to the Golden Needle Awards?
My son, Kevin and his wife, Melinda announced their engagement in 2021. I had more than 6 months to complete the piece. I was motivated to tell an embroidered wedding story using a medieval theme.
Your piece “Hear Ye, Houses Unlimited” won First Place, Best in Show, the People’s Choice, and Judge’s Choice in the 2025 Golden Needle Awards. Congratulations! Can you tell us a little more about the piece—the inspiration behind the design, and the techniques you used to create it?
I started with the two figures, King and Queen. I wanted the piece to resemble historic works I had seen depicting a royal couple.
First, I made the figures in stumpwork. Both people are wearing clothing done in corded Brussels stitch. The King’s armor features special couched shoulder pads. The to and fro couched silver thread is highlighted with Or Nue in red-orange silk.
Melinda’s dress is done with silk yarn that I purchased from a silk fabric weaver in Alaska. That yarn was in just the right shaded colors and with the correct thickness to make her skirt.
Next, I made little coats of arms shields showing the Anderson family on the left and the Jenner sigil on the right. Then I created a combo shield combining the two “Houses.”
The Queen holds an interesting item symbolizing knowledge. That book she has is a created tartan plaid. I used the digits of their birthdays to give me the color repeats in the plaid. The King is the warp, and the Queen is the weft. When combined, the various colors and repeats make a unique combination.
People who have been with EGA for a long time may remember this technique. You repeat a color the number of times in the digits of a date (anniversary, birthday, etc) to make the stripes. When you do a wedding couple, you do the warp for one person and the weft for the other person. It was a needlepoint project EGA had at one time, I think.
All the plants and animals are symbols representing their personality characteristics. For example, the owl represents wisdom. The squirrel represents the quick clever trickster, etc. It was a fun design that let me use all the embroidery skills I had with the artistic creativity of the composition.
What advice do you have for those interested in submitting their work to the Golden Needle Awards?
I thought the participation in the display was a good experience. The display is always fun to see at the National Seminar. My least favorite part was packing up a piece framed with glass and sending it by UPS to the organizer. I was a nervous wreck until I heard the box was not sounding like shattered glass when she received it. I think the show committee commented that it was very securely boxed up and had no damage.
Are you working on anything fun right now?
I am currently working on a project consisting of four playing cards. I have the Ace of spades done. I am also doing the King of Clubs, The Jack of Diamonds and the Queen of Hearts. I may or may not do a Joker. The reason for the playing cards is, I am practicing soft shading skin tones for making human faces.
Do you have plans to submit to the Golden Needle Awards again this year or in the future?
I plan on submitting in the future. Most of my pieces take me over a year to create. I do not have anything ready for this seminar. I definitely will submit again, on my own time.
