Visitors to the EGA website have the pleasure of browsing thousands of different embroidery and needlework pieces housed in our various online galleries. We have created these collections over several years of Fiber Forums, Golden Needle Awards ceremonies, National Exhibits, and other community events and gatherings.
All told, there are hundreds of needlework pieces hosted on the EGA website for the education and inspiration of needleworkers everywhere. Our online embroidery galleries provide a space to appreciate and enjoy EGA member contributions to the needlework community at large.
Fiber Forum Galleries
Originally organized in 1992, EGA created Fiber Forum for EGA members interested in creating and exhibiting original embroidered works showcasing traditional and contemporary techniques.
New members may join Fiber Forum each year through submission of an original embroidery piece. Academic and professional needlework artists in the field then consider the piece based on aesthetic and technical achievements. Jurying occurs in March of each year. Upon acceptance of the work, EGA members may become Fiber Forum members with an annual membership fee of $25. You can find out more in the Fiber Forum page here. The purpose of Fiber Forum is to encourage each artist to set a creative challenge and then meet that challenge through a work of art.
Every year, EGA posts a gallery of juried Fiber Forum artworks. Browse the 2017 – 2023 Fiber Forum Galleries here.
Golden Needle Awards Galleries
Each year EGA members submit their best original, non-original, and adapted works for the Golden Needle Awards, which are exhibited at EGA National Seminar. The Golden Needle Awards are open to all forms of creative needlework and all levels of expertise.
The Golden Needle Awards always loosely follow the theme of National Seminar. In 2023, the theme was “Stitch Party,” with needleworkers artistically interpreting their idea of a stitch party. As “Preserving Needle Art” is the theme for 2024 National Seminar, so will the entries for the Golden Needle Awards follow the preservation theme. Yearly themes are highly interpretive, so for 2024 a stitcher might create a piece depicting jam preserves or a piece that reuses deadstock fabric.
The Golden Needle Awards bestow first, second and third place ribbons for the categories of Canvas, Counted Thread, Surface Embroidery, and Beading. Judging takes into consideration aesthetic quality, application of materials, complexity, concept, form, innovation, professional quality, and use of the needle.
Golden Needle Award galleries for the last several years can be viewed here.
National Tapestry: America The Beautiful Gallery
In 2003, Judy Jeroy began designing and painting the five canvas panels that would become our National Tapestry: America The Beautiful.
The National Tapestry depicts the natural diversity of life in America in five panels. The tapestry not only depicts the flora and fauna of our nation. It also represents the work of hundreds of needleworkers all across the country.
The National Tapestry remains on display at EGA headquarters in Louisville, Kentucky, for all visitors to visit in person. However, EGA also maintains a gallery of images for the National Tapestry. View close, detailed views of all 5 panels and learn more about the National Tapestry in our gallery here.
Stitched by Our Members Gallery
EGA members create gorgeous needlework projects all year long, yet many of these works of art remain unseen. Whether stitched as part of an Individual Correspondence Course, Group Correspondence Course, as independent work on a Petite Project from the Petite Projects Library, as part of our monthly EGA Stitch-a-Long group on Facebook, or in response to projects featured in Needle Arts Magazine, our members are always busy stitching beautiful things unbeknownst to the general public.
We’ve created an online gallery called “Stitched by Our Members” to raise awareness around these artworks and share them with a wider audience. View the online Stitched by Our Members gallery here. If you have pictures of EGA projects or courses stitched by you, we’d love to add them. You may email pictures for this gallery to news@egausa.org.
Through the Needle’s Eye Gallery
The Through the Needle’s Eye Gallery exhibits a selection of the best of EGA member’s artistic and technical, original and adapted works. As we say, “It is through the needle’s eye that EGA embraces both traditional and contemporary needlework while expanding the perception of embroidery as an art form.”
The selected pieces for the 22nd Through the Needle’s Eye Exhibit were displayed for 6 months in a live gallery at EGA headquarters in Louisville, Kentucky in 2023. The virtual exhibit was launched at our National Seminar in Boston and is available here for all to experience. A gallery from our 21st Through the Needle’s Eye Exhibit is also available here.
Tour the virtual gallery for Through the Needle’s Eye here.
Asian Fusion Gallery
The Asian Fusion Gallery features needlework from East Asia, South Asia, and Southeast Asia, as well as works from needlework artists inspired by those regions. The live Asian Fusion exhibit opened in March 2020 and was on display until September 2020. Embroidery artist Eleanor “Lea” Stark’s original Asian-inspired embroidery designs, which were donated to EGA by her daughters after her passing, fueled the original exhibition. The online gallery has since grown to encompass Asian and Asian-inspired embroidery from EGA’s permanent collection.
View the Asian Fusion Gallery here.
Stitches Across the EGA Website Gallery
Visitors to the EGA website will notice selections of beautiful needlework embroideries represented across all pages. We frequently receive inquiries regarding these pieces—who made them, what they are called, and where they might be found. As a result, we created an online gallery to feature those pieces for interested visitors who want to learn more about them.
View the Stitches Across the EGA Website gallery here.
Storr Miniature House Gallery
Mary Lou Storrs donated the Storr Miniature House to EGA in 1988. It turned into a national project, with members from 11 EGA regions participating in crafting and customizing the interior of the house. The Storr Miniature House is on permanent display at EGA national headquarters in Louisville, Kentucky, but to provide wider recognition for the finely detailed work, we also created a virtual online gallery.
View the Storr Miniature House Gallery here.
The Permanent Collection Gallery
EGA’s Permanent Collection is the largest online gallery on the EGA website. Comprised of more than 1,000 pieces, the collection is used for education, exhibition, reproduction, and study. The goal of the collection is to showcase as many techniques, cultures, and historical eras as possible to further our mission of inspiring passion for the needle arts. A selection of the Permanent Collection is featured on the EGA website here, but viewers can also browse the entire collection online here.
Browse EGA’s Permanent Collection Gallery here.
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