When in 1998 the National Council for the Centenary of Federation (NCCF) offered funding for suitable projects to commemorate the Centenary in 2001, the ACT Guild considered various proposals and agreed to support Marjorie Gilby's suggestion that the Guild should offer to work an embroidery for the National Museum of Australia (NMA) which was to be opened in May 2001. The Museum authorities were enthusiastic and the Guild applied successfully for a grant from the NCCF.
Sharon Peoples was delighted to be asked to design a suitable piece and took the title 'The Crimson Thread of Kinship' from a Federation speech by Sir Henry Parkes. The 12m x 75cm embroidery was worked in six 2m sections, each mounted separately, which were then abutted. A red perle thread winds its way along the length of the piece to the sixth panel where it is threaded into a silver needle inserted in the fabric. The design changes from a landscape strewn with Aboriginal artefacts through suburban scenes of houses and roads to a star-strewn night sky. Sheets of paper blow across each panel symbolising the many pages used in the writing of the Constitution.
June Mickleburgh and Margaret Thompson undertook the demanding task of organising the 85 members who worked some 5,500 hours during 2000 so that the piece was ready for display when the Museum opened. The fabric used was Glenshee linen, embroidered mainly in straight stitch and stem stitch with Appleton 's crewel wool.
The Crimson Thread of Kinship was on display in the National Museum of Australia in Canberra from its opening in 2001 until early 2006. Following consultation between the Guild and the NMA, the NMA undertook a project to develop a Flash interactive that would be displayed on the Museum's website.
Through this interactive you can share the story behind the embroidery, learn about the history of needlework in Australia and meet the people who spent thousands of hours creating this magnificent work.
Visit the Crimson Thread of Kinship interactive.
Further reading
Article written by Sharon Peoples for the Friends magazine http://www.nma.gov.au/involve/friends/friends_magazine/past_articles/the_crimson_thread_of_kinship/