The Exemplary 2026
Quetzalcoatl by Sandy Switzer
1st Place, Non-Professional Non-Original with Instruction

I stitched “Quetzalcoatl” in a pilot class taught by Diane Herrmann in January of 2021. Diane’s design was inspired by a Guatemalan weaving on a woman’s blouse, called huipil. The design on the huipil, which was the inspiration for her canvas design, is a depiction of a feathered serpent (Quetzalcoatl) on the front and sleeves of the blouse. Since Diane’s canvas design is meant to represent the huipil she admired, I decided to keep the integrity of her design by finishing the canvas on a Traditional Thai shirt jacket called a Mor Hom shirt (typically made of cotton that is indigo dyed). It was extremely difficult to find a black Mor Hom shirt since they are commonly indigo dyed. After a few visits to Thailand, my mother was able to obtain one for me and I finally was able to complete my vision after five years!