Guest Blogger: Suzanne Hicks

I’m Suzanne and I love needlepoint! I have a wonderful 17 year-old daughter, Anna Clare, and two sweet dogs, Holly and Winston, at home. My love of stitching began with crewel embroidery at the knee of my Grandmother when I was about 6 or 7 years old. I’ve been a “crafty” one all my life. While I still love all forms of sewing and needlework, etc., needlepoint is my favorite by a landslide. I had an idea about needlepoint but in my mind’s eye, it was a very boring craft using weird bulky “itchy” wool to created little slanted stitches on a warped piece of rug canvas. But then I moved to Lubbock and found out that it “ain’t my Grandmother’s needlepoint anymore”. I learned about modern needlepoint in 2005 in a beginner class taught by the lovely Sara at Pocket Full of Stitches! I’ve been needlepointing almost daily ever since! I am addicted to needlepoint! PFOS got it right when they called it “Stitcher’s Anonymous”.
I love to see what other people stitch so I’ll share a few of my favorite pieces with you…

And here are a couple of my favorite needlepoint things…I’ve been struggling with how to store my stash and I finally found the perfect spot. I found an old Library Card Catalog from a local antique store…it’s perfect and holds all of my threads, stretcher bars, beads, and other supplies. Of course I color-coded my thread drawers! And we can’t overlook another favorite fixture in my house…the “Ort Jar”….where all of my scraps become a work of art….Love it!

 

From the family member’s point of view…Clare says:
My mother is obsessed with needlepoint! I remember when she bought her first canvas…a Dancing Rainbow Santa in primary colors. She took one look at that cute Santa canvas and imagined a whole different color scheme….PINK! That’s what I love about my mom; she puts her own unique fingerprint on every single piece she touches.

My mom is so obsessed with needlepoint that she “speaks needlepoint” in our everyday life. I don’t actually needlepoint, but I hear about it 24/7…seriously…I can spot the basketweave stitch from a mile away, over-dyed thread is my fav, and I can actually tell the difference between 14 pt and 18 pt canvas. Who designed that piece? Well, there’s a good chance I just might be able to tell you.
In our house, instead of “Hello, come in and have a seat”…, it’s “Sorry that the sofa is full of needlepoint…do you mind sitting on the floor?” Or instead of “Come in, how are you?”, it’s “Come in, would you like to see my needlepoint collection?” Or…”Oh, well, would you like to see them all again?” Truth is, her needlepoint really is impressive and most of us don’t mind at all. In my eyes, my mom is pretty much the best stitcher in the world (I mean, c’mon… did you see her Santas?…or that wineglass stitched totally in beads?) Bottom line: I love my wonderful mom and am glad she found something she loves almost as much me. So if you ever get the chance to meet or stitch with my mom…don’t pass it up!

Suzanne & Clare Hicks
You may have spotted Suzanne's beautiful stitching previously on the blog - she stitched the Ewe & Eye & Friends reindeer that we featured here on May 15th. Check it out for more inspiration!