Magic City by Donna Halpin

Starting with a line-drawn canvas, and a love for foreign architecture, my goal was to have each building stitched with different stitches and different threads. Each building was to have perspective and distinction, but to not have any characteristic which would make it more significant than another.

The canvas, drawn by Jinice, offered a stitch guide, and some thread selections, but as many who know me would attest....I am known for changing threads and stitches. And change them I did. My selections varied from Pebbly Perle to Lacquered Jewels, from Watercolors to Neon Rays....and with a few beads here and there....more than 25 different stitches and more than 30 unique threads were used in total.

I have a substantial stash of threads, and always buy more than I need. However, when I was nearing completion, and had approximately half of the border stitched, I reached for the next skein of thread, only to discover that it was a dye lot nowhere near the original skeins. By posting to an online discussion group, and requesting that specific dye lot, my request was routed to Lois Caron (the owner of Caron Threads). Imagine my surprise and gratitude when I received an email from her offering to match the dye lot from colors in their current inventory if I would just send her a length of the thread I was stitching.

Sure enough, within a short period of time, I had sufficient (and matching) threads to finish the piece, and while the city reminds me of foreign cities I've visited....the friendship offered by others willing to search out a skein of thread has made this piece a reminder that stitchers throughout the world make any city a "Magic City".