For sale: 1 handmade needlepoint tapestry depicting the lunar landing

A woman from Port Alberni, B.C., who made a Herculean effort to depictone of humanity's greatest achievements is hoping her creation will soon be loved by a new collector.

Maggie Hansford, 81, spent nearly 14 years and about 2,000 hourscreating her needlepoint masterpiece: a two-by-two-and-a-half metre tapestry depicting the 1969 lunar landing.

The tapestry depicts Neil Armstrong planting the American flag, with a starry sky and Earth in the background.

Hansfordsaid her father originally started the project.

He was born during the Wright Brothers' first flight.By time he was in his 60s and witnessed the 1969 moon landing, he was completely enamoured, she said.

"He loved to fly commercial. He loved to fly."

Watch archival tape of children reacting to the 1969lunar landing:

Children react to the moon landing

55 years ago

Duration 1:41

American astronauts have taken the lead in the superpower space race with the Apollo 11 lunar landing. It's July 1969 and Canadian children have been watching and considering how the expedition will change their world.

But after Hansford's fatherlost his vision in 1986, he passed on the project to her. Shedutifully took it on as a labour of love.

Hansford started the tapestry over again, using different techniques and sparkly thread to craft the scene. The stars, for instance, were intricate French knots superimposed onto the piece.

She finished it in 1999.

"I was quite relieved when I finished but at the same time I was lost. It had taken up so much of my time," she said.

Hansford's piece has been displayed in a variety of different spaces around Port Alberni, including an assisted living home, the museum and a few retail stores.

She's hoping, though, that a interested collector can take the one-of-the-kind piece off her hands as she no longer has room to store it and would love to share the piece with a wider audience.

"I don't mean to sound egotistical," she said. "But to see it, it is breathtaking."

It will mark the end of an era. Due to macular degeneration, Hansford can no longer do needlepoint. But she would love to tutor the next generation.

"I would be willing to at any time. That would be fun."