Stitchers

Dorothy Waits is an embroiderer on the Georgia tapestry panel. She started stitching in fifth grade, learning the chain stitch, French knots, and chicken scratch, and went on to do a little quilting alongside her mother as a sophomore in high school. While celebrating the 200th anniversary of the Revolution in 1976, Dorothy stitched a small needlepoint pillow of a bear and the American flag from Woman's Day magazine — and fell in love with needlepoint. After college she joined EGA's Dogwood Chapter, where she learned many more embroidery techniques. Dorothy joined Georgia's Tapestry Team in March 2025 because the Dogwood Chapter had been asked to stitch America's Tapestry for Georgia, and she wanted to support her group and contribute to this historic piece. The team was given no instructions, so they used their imagination to determine which stitches would best represent Stefan Romero's painting on linen — a blank canvas with a great deal of brown to fill. Dorothy used the needlepoint tent stitch, long and short stitch, split stitch, modified bullion knots, French knots, and several Bargello stitches to recreate portions of Romero's painting. Stitching in public in the atrium at the Atlanta History Center was a great experience, with patrons returning regularly to comment on the team's progress and offer encouragement. The Atlanta History Center staff was exceptional and very supportive throughout — the team couldn't have had a better place to stitch.