Midnight Whispers design by Sian Fish.The Dead Unicorn Society design by Sian Fish. Blackwork is our topic this week and our guest is Sian Fish of The Urban Stitches. The show is sponsored by the Embroiderers’ Guild of America and Sassy Jacks Stitchery. Sian Fish is a self-taught stitcher and designer who loves to work in the macabre/gothic world of needlework design. But not all of her topics are focused on the “dark side.” She has a unique talent for putting a different twist on “regular” topics. No matter what the subject is, it’s almost alway worked on black or gray ground with black threa ..read more

Design by Lita O’Hara.Ornaments by Lita O’Hara.Lita O’Hara, the Nashville Needlepointer and Patron Saint of Chaos, is our guest this week. Lita is a self-taught painted-canvas designer and project finisher. In our conversation we learn about her design process, what it was like to paint those first canvases, and how her finishing business evolved. To keep sanity in her life and to be able to deliver quality product, she keeps her customer list to a limited number. That allows her to get to know what they like and prevents late nights trying to meet holiday deadlines. Throughout the conversatio ..read more

Elizabethan Treasures from Linda Barry, considered by Jean to be one of the best whitework samplers ever published. It’s Midweek Chat week and Beth and Gary connected through our respective internet providers to talk about eyeglasses and what we learned from Kelly Lea Teske, supporting Ukraine designer Ekaterina at stitchyprincess.etsy.com, selecting projects vs. being influenced by stitching friends, projects we have that need to be at the top of the pile, stitching in groups vs. alone, whether we could produce an exhibition with our finished pieces, stitching lights/magnifiers, group project ..read more

Kelly Lea Teske with needle, thread, and her favorite stitching glasses.It’s hard to stitch if you can’t see well and, for most of us, seeing well requires a good pair of glasses. This week, in a show sponsored by CyberPointers, Kelly Lea Teske returns to help us better understand how to make the most of our next visit to the eye doctor and the optician. Kelly first joined us in a Sept. 2, 2023 show we did with Rinda Just. The topic of that show was macular degeneration and other vision issues. This time, we learn that, as is so often the case, a successful visit starts with communicating what ..read more

The Birdmen Cometh design from Little Robin Designs.Grace Gill 1838 sampler from Little Robin Designs. She creates top-flight cross stitch designs, reproduces intriguing antique samplers, designs original samplers, and has started designing punch-needle art. This week’s Fiber Talk guest is Robin Mayer of Little Robin Designs.  In addition to learning about her design approach, how she became addicted to samplers, and her preference for the primitive design style, we get some thread-storage ideas that might help all of us and will definitely help those whose needlework acquisitions have mo ..read more

A design by Ekaterina from Ukraine. Support her at stitchyprincess.etsy.com.Jenifer returns for a Midweek Chat after a long hiatus. So much fun to catch up. Our topics this week are helping Ekaterina from Ukraine (stitchyprincess.etsy.com) by buying a chart or two (Thanks Cissy Bailey Smith), the new Avlea Folk Flourishes and Work Bag kits, Jenifer’s Temari and Sashiko stitching, slow stitching, Domestika classes, how we decide what projects to buy, and a new segment called Would You Rather. Join us Easter Sunday for a stitching hour at 2:00 p.m. Eastern on the Fiber Talk YouTube channel. Sund ..read more

A selection of designs by Joana Augusto.Octopus design by Joana Augusto.This week we are joined by the Cross Stitch Geek, Joana Augusto. The show is sponsored by Avlea Folk Embroidery and the new Folk Flourishes kits. Joana is a long-distance runner, scientist, and a cross-stitch designer who loves converting cross stitches into science-themed designs. In our conversation we learn about her origins in Portugal, moving to Canada, doing PhD research on pilot-whale behavior, and how she became a cross-stitch designer. She creates beautiful, approachable designs that stitchers at all skill levels ..read more

Folk Flourishes designs by Krista West.One of the Avlea work bag designs.It’s been four years since we did a full interview with Krista West of Avlea Folk Embroidery and much as happened since that initial conversation. This show is sponsored by Sassy Jacks Stitchery, sassyjacksstitchery.com. When we first talked to Krista, Avlea was in its infancy. In the time that has passed, Krista has made Avlea into a significant contributor to the art of needlework, while carving out and establishing a niche for needlework that is used on a daily basis instead of framed and hung on a wall. The history an ..read more

Fibonacci Swirls Wild Berries version, designed by Olivia Hartshorn.Mary Parsons sampler from The Unbroken Thread.It’s Wednesday the 13th, much more positive than a Friday the 13th, because we get to talk about needlework. Our topics this week include a different way to learn history, being creative with counted-canvas designs, what we’re learning from the CyberPointers project Fibonacci Swirls, the new path to needlepoint design that Mercedes Bowyer has carved out of needle arts, our Nashville picks from the March 6 Stitch Hour, and the benefits of attending national seminars, beyond taking c ..read more

Embroidered slippers from the Royal School of Needlework collection.Tambour jacket from the Royal School of Needlework collection. Dr. Susan Kay-Williams, Executive Director of the Royal School of Needlework, returns this week, along with RSN Curator Dr. Isabella Rosner, in a show sponsored by Sassy Jacks Stitchery. Our topic for this sixth visit from the folks at the Royal School is digitizing the entire Royal School of Needlework collection. This is the second, along with the RSN Stitch Bank, project that promises to significantly change the knowledge base needleworkers have at their disposa ..read more