Needlework has been one of my favorite hobbies

I started stitching when I was 11 years old. My first pieces were a pair of needlepoint pictures: a giraffe (very square) and a tiger (funny perspective), both in orange and black on a green background. My mother still has these... somewhere.

I effectively stopped doing needlework in 1995.

This is a piece I did when I was thirteen. It's crewel work; the girl's braids are real and hang loose behind her head. It's a neat effect.

When I was in High School, in preparation for the upcoming Bicentennial Celebrations, there was a nationwide contest held called "My America". Students submitted poetry, short stories, or crafts. They had to be entirely original. I designed and executed a needlepoint sampler of American "things". I won first place in my class, as well as in my county (and $25 in Bicentenial silver dollars :-) and went on to the state competition, but I didn't win that one. My sampler was displayed in our local library for a while.

In 1981 I discovered cross-stitch! The discipline and neatness of needlepoint with the fabric (and lack of "background") of crewel. I was hooked. My first piece was a wedding gift for a friend - I modified a crewel kit, substituting floss for the yarn and stitching inside the design stamped on the linen 23 stitches to the inch! It was gorgeous. I have photographs (somewhere). If I ever find them, I'll put them here.

I've done many pieces since then. Many, I give away as gifts. Here's one I did in 1993, and kept:

Web Sites for Needlework There seems to be a bunch of craft and needlework related stuff out on the Web. Here's what I've found, so far...

Resourcesf

The WWW Textile & Embroidery Resources page provides numerous (well-organized) links to Resources and Online businessess.

Designs and Designers

Told in a Garden - Marilyn Leavitt-Imblum's designs have gone online!

Nancy Spruance Designs - Nancy's impressive and beautiful Victorians are now on the Web!

A new concept in Needlepoint - Loretta Spears' Mystery Projects.