I got the amazing opportunity to attend the International Organization for Lace’s (IOLI) convention in Mesa, Arizona. It is no secret that I am very interested in needle lace, so it was an easy choice to take the Kenmare Needle Lace class from Nora Finnegan. The in-person class was small, because the bulk of the students were online. It was great to be with the teacher in-person, since I already took an online needle lace course with Maggie Hensel Brown.

This particular class was a one-day, Wednesday class offered at the convention, so it needed to be a small project. It was nice to finish the piece and have something to show off at the final convention dinner.

The biggest take-away from the class was using the wire with needle lace to make a 3-D flower. The wire was a little difficult to tack down, but once the cordonnet was in place, I used it just like thread. I ultimately put a pin backing on the piece, so it could be worn.

I rarely work with lace and beads. This was one of the surprises from the class that I really liked.