Queens’ rivalry shown in needlework

ORONO – “Subversive Stitches: The Embroidered War Between Mary, Queen of Scots and Elizabeth I” is the subject of a special lecture at noon Thursday, Feb. 22, at the Page Farm and Home Museum at the University of Maine.

Michele Goldman, sociologist and needleworker, will present the talk. The public is invited to the free event. Guests are invited to bring a bag lunch.

Goldman will explore how the two monarchs expressed their animosity toward one another through needlework. Of particular interest is the needlework created by Mary, Queen of Scots while in jail awaiting execution at the hand of England’s Elizabeth I. Both Mary and Elizabeth were needlework and embroidery enthusiasts.

Goldman will show photographs of some of the needlework.

Goldman has been doing needlework for 39 years. She owns and operates a needlework and knitting store in Orono, and is past president of one of the largest chapters of the Embroiderers Guild of America, the Constellation Chapter in Baltimore.

More information is available by calling the Page Farm and Home Museum at 581-4100 or Michele Goldman at 866-3423.

Goldman began studying the history of embroidery when she discovered ornate embroideries could be purchased for little or nothing from secondhand shops. She has studied embroidery and the women who produced them with some of the best scholars on the subject in the world.

More information is available by calling the Page Farm and Home Museum at 581-4100 or Michele Goldman at 866-3423.