Celebrated for her talent in the needle arts

Margaret Briscoe ~ 1934-2007

Margaret Ann Briscoe of Libertyville was recognized across the country for her expertise in needlepoint, both for her innovative original designs and work as a certified judge.

In 1991, she won a national award for her two-dimensional piece that featured the Chicago skyline, as seen through an overlay of a Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired window. It was exhibited at the American Needlepoint Guild's national convention, held that year in Oak Brook.

Her colleagues, however, remember a more sentimental favorite: a design of a lop-eared rabbit, lovingly created for her granddaughter, Kainna, that featured almost lifelike fur.

"If you asked anyone in our guild, that was the one they would remember," says a friend, Judy Sommers of Libertyville.

Mrs. Briscoe passed away Aug. 16 after a two-year battle with cancer. The 19-year resident of Libertyville was 73.

Samples of Mrs. Briscoe's work fill her home, and those of her children, from pillows embroidered for grandchildren and whimsical animal pieces, to artistic blackwork embroidery, featuring complex designs on a white canvas with black silk stitching.

"I think my mother found needle art to be a wonderfully creative outlet," says her daughter, Marcia Malin of Davenport, Iowa. "She loved to design blank canvases or work from painted ones."

Mrs. Briscoe was born and raised in Glendale, Calif. When she began college at the University of Southern California, she studied art, and initially her creative pursuits leaned more toward painting.

However, after she married, her mother-in-law, Mary Jane Briscoe, hooked her, so to speak, on needle arts. Mrs. Briscoe never looked back.

"The more she got into it, the more she wanted to learn," says her husband, Joseph Briscoe. "She was continually taking classes and wanting to learn new things."

Mrs. Briscoe became active in local needlepoint guilds and eventually followed the lead set by her mother-in-law -- who was a founding member of the American Needlepoint Guild -- and participated at the national level, first as an exhibitor and later as an officer and certified judge.

Locally, Mrs. Briscoe helped to start the Lake County chapter of the American Needlepoint Guild, and her most recent project had been to help launch the Needleart Appraisal Program. Since being certified as a judge by the National Academy of Needlearts, Mrs. Briscoe found her services to be in big demand, judging everything from national exhibits to the DuPage County Fair.

Besides her husband and daughter, Mrs. Briscoe is survived by sons Terry (Sharon) of Vernon Hills and Bill (Nicolle) of Chicago, as well as five grandchildren and one great-granddaughter.

Visitation for Mrs. Briscoe will begin at 1 p.m. Saturday until the 3 p.m. funeral service at Burnett-Dane Funeral Home, 120 W. Park Ave. in Libertyville.