Franklin Square Gallery plans First Friday event for Nov. 5

Forget the footstools. This is not your grandmother’s needlepoint. The designs, wall-art pieces, pillows and ornaments featured at Franklin Square Gallery’s First Friday event on Nov. 5 reflect the latest trends in needle arts. 

The public is invited to visit Franklin Square Gallery throughout the day and then attend the evening reception from 5-7 p.m. as part of downtown Southport’s November Gallery Walk. Admission is free. Two other local galleries, Lantana and Art at 211, will also participate in the evening Gallery Walk.

For this First Friday, members of Why Knot Stitch? will be on hand all day, explaining their artistry and demonstrating their work. The focus on the art of stitching will continue during the evening reception. Their needlework will be under the spotlight, along with paintings, pottery and handcrafted gifts by the Associated Artists of Southport, at this monthly event. More than 120 local and regional artists will participate.

The members of Why Knot Stitch? are part of the American Needlepoint Guild and meet regularly at the Brunswick Center in Southport, sharing their art and forging friendships. Together they are working on a canvas titled, “Good Friends Gather Here.” They come from Southport, Oak Island, Sunset Beach, Elon, Shallotte, Wilmington, Little River, S.C., and as far away as East Boothbay Harbor, Maine, and Jackson, Miss.

For this project, they circulate the canvas, each adding stitches, incorporating just the right touch of imagination and ingenuity. The finished piece will be framed and donated to the Brunswick Center as a “thank you” for hosting the group. This year’s donation to Brunswick Center’s gift shop is needlepoint greeting cards, each a unique work of art.

The group recently celebrated its first-year anniversary. 

“Needlepoint is a timeless way to capture love, beauty, and peace,” said president Susie Lupton. There are currently 28 members and all needlepoint stitchers are invited to join, whether new to stitching, or interested in sharing ideas, experience or skills. 

The monthly meeting is on the second Thursday of each month and the stitch-ins on the fourth Thursday.

Franklin Square Gallery is a cooperative community gallery behind Franklin Square Park in downtown Southport, two blocks from the waterfront. The historic building, a former schoolhouse and town hall, is itself an attraction. It is open daily from 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday through Saturday, but will close for the winter on Dec. 18.

For more information on gallery programs, call 457-5450 or visit its website at www.franklinsquaregallery.com.