Stained Glass Magnolias

Inspired by the stained glass on the back door of my mother’s 1960s cottage in the North Carolina mountains. Moving there has always been a dream of hers, so when I saw the magnolia stained glass on the back door of her new home, I knew I wanted to turn it into a needlepoint design.

Magnolias have been a popular subject in American stained glass since the late 19th century. The flower was particularly well suited to the medium, with its large petals, dark green leaves, and distinctive shape. Louis Comfort Tiffany incorporated magnolias into several of his stained glass works, using opalescent and textured glass to create dimension and capture the natural variation of the flowers. His magnolia windows helped establish flowers and other natural subjects as some of the most recognizable imagery in American decorative glass.

This design takes that long tradition of magnolia stained glass and brings it into needlepoint, inspired by one particular window and the place it now belongs.

• 4” x 4”
• 18 mesh Zweigart canvas
• Hand-painted canvas
• Canvas only; threads are not included

Because each canvas is hand painted, slight variations in color and brushwork are to be expected and make each piece unique.