"In 1970, just before my 14th birthday I saw a needlepoint pocket in a craft magazine for teenagers. I talked my parents into going to the one needlepoint store they knew of and, amazingly enough, they had the kit. I bought it.
My grandmother, who was an amazing seamstress, had done needlepoint once and showed me how to do the basic stitch. I was off and running, making about 10 of the pockets from September to Christmas.
Almost immediately, I branched out into doing my own designs, trying Bargello, and learning new stitches.
I haven't stopped since."
"I guess the needlepoint I like best to work on has two qualities.
First, it's unstuffy needlepoint, so that it wouldn't be something which looks dull, boring, and stereotypical needlepoint.
Second, I like pieces which have a bit of whimsy. Many of the canvases for which I do stitch guides, really have that quality and I think our common love of this is why I click with these designers so well."
"On my own, I tend to migrate towards canvases which fall into three categories: arts and crafts, quilts (especially Amish), and Oriental geometrics. Though these days pieces I do for myself get lower and lower on the priority list, even though I reserve Sundays for stitching on them.
I also have an enduring love of Bargello and almost always have a Bargello piece underway. "
"I'm totally turned on by threads and color. I will buy a thread just because I like the color. And when I see needlepoint canvases, I see even the unstitched canvas in terms of threads and stitches.
One thing I love about writing stitch guides is that doing so let's me stitch so many canvases in my mind- far more than I could ever stitch myself."
"I see a completed needlepoint canvas as being a three-way collaboration. There is the designer who painted the canvas. Me, the stitch guide designer, whose job it is to translate that vision into stitches and threads so that it is effective. And finally, there is the stitcher, who, as she stitches, makes changes and adaptations in the guide to make an original piece of work. I try to strike a balance so that the finished piece looks wonderful but is still affordable and fun to stitch."
"I see my guides as being like having a teacher at your shoulder, so that they always have extra instruction and tips to make the needlepoint look better and be easier to do."
"I try to aim my pieces for the adventurous, but not quite beginning stitcher. I think the person who stitches from my guides should either be comfortable with or unafraid of new threads and be willing to try new techniques.
I've worked hard to develop easier ways to do areas of needlepoint which have often been thought of as really "difficult" so that even a beginner can get fantastic results. If I want to do something "hard" in a guide, I will work until I find an easy way to get the same result."
"I have a BA from St. John's College in Annapolis, where I studied The Great Books. St. John's is an all-discussion college, with only one lecture a week. I was pretty much the only person my age who did needlework and I stitched through every lecture.
After college, I got an MLS in Information Science from the University of Pittsburgh and spent my long bus commutes stitching again. One highlight from those years was meeting a woman who was my favorite on Mr. Roger's original TV show when I was little. She was a needlepointer and owned a shop for awhile in Pittsburgh."
"I'm a Life Patron of ANG, a member of the Wine Country Chapter of ANG, and the Internet Chair of the newly forming Cyber Pointers chapter.
I'm also a member of EGA and enrolled in the Design and Color Master Craftsman programs as well as an associate Member of TNNA."
Janet has written a book, Needlepoint Trade Secrets, and can be found online at Napa Needlepoint, or you may read her blog at Nuts-About-Needlepoint.
