Cleopatra’s Garden by Catherine B. McEnerney

In May of 2002 I made the trip to Grand Rapids, Michigan for the EGA Great Lakes Region Seminar, following the lure of silk and metal thread work as taught by Kay Stanis. Cleopatra’s Garden was a four-day class, and I have made no design changes to the piece.

This piece uses a variety of silk and metal threads on a sponge painted #24 Congress Cloth ground. A combination of Zwicky, Soie Crystale and Japanese flat silk are used for the Vertical and Horizontal Hungarian border, the Rice Stitch and for the satin stitching done over padding (both self padding and felt padding). Japanese #1 Gold is used for satin stitching and for pattern couching and Kreinik Braids are couched throughout.