Online Studio

Connie took her first class in goldwork embroidery in 2019 at the SF School of Needlework and Design. Finding herself drawn to the shine and shimmer of the materials and the joy that embroidery brought her as a pastime, she decided to take more classes and started training in tambour beading. Soon she had learned enough techniques to experiment with beads and sequins and started creating designs of her own. A small collection of her first designs came in the form of greeting cards, of which the butterflies design has been adapted to regular needlepoint in an online class with EGA for 2023. Her hope is to train further in tambour beading and to continue to create new art pieces to inspire, open up and to bring to new people who are yet to discover the joy of embroidery.

Katherine Diuguid is a studio artist specializing in hand embroidery, dressmaking, and textiles. Her current work investigates color theory and color interactions within stitching, especially goldwork embroidery. She has taught embroidery and textile workshops both nationally and internationally. She held a tenure-track position at North Carolina State University (2012-2017) until deciding to focus fully on her studio embroidery. She has been awarded artist residencies at the North Carolina Museum of Art (Fall 2017) and Penland School of Crafts (Winter 2018 and Winter 2019). Additionally, Katherine has had the opportunity to work on special projects for Durham Cathedral (UK) stitching Panel 10 of the new Open Treasures Cope and for the Art Institute of Chicago stitching a sampler based on their beautiful Burgo de Osma Altarpiece. www.katherinediuguid.com

Kurdy Biggs is a counted canvas designer, teacher and owner of Threedles Needleart Designs. Kurdy holds a Level II teachers’ certification from NAN. Her geometric designs have won numerous awards from EGA, ANG, NAN, TNNA and Woodlawn. She has been published in Needle Pointers, Needlepoint Now, and Cross Stitch and Needlework. Kurdy has taught for EGA, NAN and ANG national and regional seminars and in retail shops. Visit www.threedles.com for more information.

Lorene Salt is an award-winning stitcher. Her favourite medium is Canvaswork. She is a graduate of Ryerson Polytechnical University in the Fashion Merchandising and Design program. She has also completed the Basic, Intermediate and Advanced Canvaswork courses through EAC. She is an avid beader and jewellery maker. When designing, Lorene enjoys watching a piece come alive through colour and texture. Her classes reflect her passion for needlework as she shares her knowledge and expertise with her students. Lorene has been teaching since 2010 in both Canada and the US at the National level as well as at Guilds, Stitching shops and a variety of On-Line classes. She has completed three commissions and has pieces hanging in three countries. She lives in Aurora, Ontario and is a member of EAC, EGA, and ANG.

Natalia Frank is a self-taught stitcher and an award-winning needlework miniaturist. Her stitching journey started in her late 20’s with cross-stitch, and since then she has been discovering and studying other types of needlework. Attention to details that was borrowed from working in law enforcement institutions have brought her interest into Petit Point; she tried it and has been hooked ever since. What sparks her interest in Petit Point on silk gauze is that it is a challenge to depict as many details as possible in 1 square inch. Today she is lucky to be able to share her passion of Petit Point and the knowledge of working with silk gauze she gained through trials and errors with wonderful people, teaching small groups and individual classes at shows, seminars and in her little studio shop.

Dawn Donnelly is a mixed-media artist who enjoys incorporating other forms of art within needlepoint. She holds a teacher certification in canvas with the National Academy of Needlearts (NAN) and teaches nationally and locally for NAN, American Needlepoint Guild (ANG), and Embroiderers’ Guild of America (EGA). Dawn has been recognized for her excellence of work in numerous exhibits. She spends her time volunteering as membership chair and registrar for NAN, treasurer for NETA and president for ANG’s Magnificent Obsession Chapter. Several of her articles have been published in Needlepoint Now and Needlepointers. www.threadupdd.com

Carolyn Standing Webb has a degree in education but finds needlework much more rewarding to teach. She grew up in a home where art was a part of everyday life and creativity was encouraged. An EGA member of our Wasatch, Salt Lake City Chapter, she has been a needlework designer and teacher for over twenty years, teaching on the local, regional and national levels. She has a line of patterns available in retail stores. Several pieces of her work have been published in books and magazines and she has won a number of prizes for her needlework. She has her Master Craftsman in Counted Thread. Her goal is to share with her students her love of needlework and to help them relax and enjoy it.

Judy Borreson Caruso stitched her first BDE piece in 2008 and fell in love with the beautiful threads. Now she designs and teaches BDE locally, regionally and internationally. Recently, Judy taught the EGA Online Studio class, Beginning BDE. Judy has taught BDE at the BDE International Guild Seminar for the past twelve years. She also teaches in the Madison, WI area and has taught at a Heartland Regional EGA workshop. Judy is a member and past president of the Madison Area Chapter of EGA and a member of the BDE International Guild.

Sarah de Rousset-Hall is a professional embroidery artist and teacher based in West Sussex in the United Kingdom.

Sarah graduated from the Royal School of Needlework’s Future Tutor Programme in 2020, where over 3 years studying at Hampton Court Palace she learned a wide variety of embroidery techniques including Goldwork, Blackwork, Whitework, Crewelwork, Silk Shading, Canvaswork, Applique, Stumpwork and Box Making. She also spent time in the RSN’s commercial studio learning conservation and restoration techniques.

Since graduating, Sarah has taught regularly for the Royal School of Needlework and elsewhere, both in person and online as well as working in the RSN Studio and taking on private commissions and art pieces. She also volunteers with the Broderers of St Paul’s Cathedral in London.

In February 2022 Sarah exhibited three art pieces at The Worshipful Company of Broderers Exhibition: The Art of Embroidery at the Bankside Gallery in London. Her Blackwork portrait of David Bowie, worked during her training is also currently on display at the exhibition celebrating the 150th anniversary of the RSN at the Fashion and Textile Museum in London.

Hailing from South Africa, Hazel Blomkamp is the author of 8 – going on 9 – books. She has designed, written about and taught embroidery and beadwork for more than thirty years and is best known for her less conventional approach to embroidery and Crewel embroidery, in particular.

Emma Broughton is a graduate of both the Royal School of Needlework Apprenticeship (2009) and The University of the Creative Arts (2012). Specialising in hand embroidery as well as screen printing and digital fabric design.

She is the Author of ‘Embroidered Boxes’ book published in April 2019.

Under the name Fairy Wren Embroidery, she teaches embroidery and box making classes, and offers a wide range of embroidery kits and undertakes commissions with her unique designs. Embroidered box making is her true passion because it combines her love of embroidery with 3D construction.

Julie Carmen joined the Embroiderers’ Guild of America in 2019. She has a Master of Library Science with a Certificate in Archives earned in 2009, from Emporia State University. The major focus of her embroidery research includes over 25 years of Laid Work, applied to two main 13th Century illuminated manuscripts, focusing on the musical instruments played from this time period, and from the Portugal, Spain, and Northern Africa geographical areas. She fell in love with the easy process of Laid Work, applied to the historical images, which produces a relaxation feeling like coloring; instead of paper and crayons, she uses embroidery floss on fabric. The easy approach of Laid Work is a way to share the images she finds intriguing, with the vibrant colors of embroidery. She is interested in merging digital images with textile enhancement, to share this fascinating combination of fiber art with historical art. Giving history this fiber quality can offer insight to the changes of societies, cultures, and traditions over time.

Kurdy Biggs is a counted canvas designer, teacher and owner of Threedles Needleart Designs. Kurdy holds a Level II teachers’ certification from NAN. Her geometric designs have won numerous awards from EGA, ANG, NAN, TNNA and Woodlawn. She has been published in Needle Pointers, Needlepoint Now, and Cross Stitch and Needlework. Kurdy has taught for EGA, NAN and ANG national and regional seminars and in retail shops. Visit www.threedles.com for more information.

Lizzy Pye is an embroidery tutor first and foremost, classically trained on the Royal School of Needlework Apprenticeship. In 2009 she was lucky enough to be one of the final six graduate Apprentices, finishing with a Distinction and very sore fingertips! She is proud to be a Royal School of Needlework tutor, and also teaches a lot of her own classes and private students. She is passionate about passing on her skills through teaching, and preserving both skills and heirlooms for future generations to enjoy. She has worked on some fascinating projects over the years, including the Duchess of Cambridge’s wedding gown and embroidery designs for the Royal Opera House. She was commissioned to write the Royal School of Needlework’s Essential Stitch Guide: Whitework, published in 2012, and in 2020 Crowood Press published her second book: Goldwork Embroidery, Techniques and Projects. Lizzy also runs an online shop through which she sells the embroidery products with which she loves to work, alongside her own range of embroidery kits.

Merrilyn is an internationally renowned hand embroiderer, designer, author and teacher. Magazine articles of Merrilyn’s work are regularly featured in publications in USA, Australia, and New Zealand. Merrilyn opened her first needlework shop in 1978. With an artistic heritage and a passion for hand work this was the starting point for a long creative and rewarding journey with needle, threads and fabrics.

Raven Fagelson learned to cross stitch as a child from her father.  She loves teaching, especially that “Ah ha!” moment when a student grasps a new skill. Raven holds certificate in Technical Hand Embroidery from the Royal School of Needlework and a master craftsman in crewelwork but enjoys stitching many style, especially historic surface embroidery. Raven is a EGA Certified teacher in Surface Embroidery and Crewel.

Pat is a professional needlecraft designer, writer, lecturer, and instructor. Her designs and articles, which span an array of topics from traditional needlework techniques to current knitwear trends, have appeared in many books and magazines including Piecework, Vogue Knitting, Knit Simple, and Australia’s Inspirations Magazine. She loves to teach, and has taught sold out classes in knitting, crocheting, embroidery, and Dorset button making for years. The author of ten yarn craft books; her newest book Crafting Thread Shawl Pins was published in March of 2022. Her history, reference, and project-based title Creating Dorset Buttons will be published in winter 2022-23.

Pat lives with her family in New Jersey, is a member of the Monmouth Chapter EGA and is the president of the Bergen Knitters Guild. She always scans her workroom floor for needles before she takes a single step. Please visit Pat at www.YarnWhirled.com and @ YarnWhirled on Instagram.

Her website is www.YarnWhirled.com

J. Marsha Michler is a nonfiction author of 13 printed books, and 8 self-published eBooks on the topics of crazy quilting, embroidery, silk ribbon embroidery, wire jewelry, and knitting. Her quilts have won awards at quilting shows, and her work has been featured in national magazines and other publications including our Needle Arts magazine. Holding a degree in Business Marketing, and three-quarters of a degree in fine arts, summa cum laude and dean’s list, she has taught classes on crazy quilting, embroidery, and wire jewelry. She actively pursues crazy quilting, embroidery, fiber spinning, knitting, fiction and poetry writing, ballroom dancing, stone wall building, and resides with her husband and dog in the beautiful and inspiring foothills of Southern Maine.

J. Marsha Michler is a nonfiction author of 13 printed books, and 8 self-published eBooks on the topics of crazy quilting, embroidery, silk ribbon embroidery, wire jewelry, and knitting. Her quilts have won awards at quilting shows, and her work has been featured in national magazines and other publications including our Needle Arts magazine. Holding a degree in Business Marketing, and three-quarters of a degree in fine arts, summa cum laude and dean’s list, she has taught classes on crazy quilting, embroidery, and wire jewelry. She actively pursues crazy quilting, embroidery, fiber spinning, knitting, fiction and poetry writing, ballroom dancing, stone wall building, and resides with her husband and dog in the beautiful and inspiring foothills of Southern Maine.

Merrilyn is an internationally renowned hand embroiderer, designer, author and teacher. Magazine articles of Merrilyn’s work are regularly featured in publications in USA, Australia, and New Zealand. Merrilyn opened her first needlework shop in 1978. With an artistic heritage and a passion for hand work this was the starting point for a long creative and rewarding journey with needle, threads and fabrics.

Kim is a member of The Embroiderers’ Association of Canada, Embroiderer’s Guild of America and the American Needlepoint Guild. Kim is an EAC Certified Teacher in Counted Thread. She has her Mastercraftsman in Counted Thread with EGA. She is a counsellor for EAC. Kim enjoys designing pieces in a variety of techniques. She enjoys teaching as well as learning new techniques to incorporate into her designs. Kim has taught many age groups the enjoyment of needlework. Her pieces have been exhibited in the United States and Australia. She has won awards for her designs in Canada and the United States. Kim has had many designs published throughout the world including Inspirations and Just Cross Stitch magazines , and the books A Cross Stitch Christmas and Whitework Inspirations.

Merrilyn is an internationally renowned hand embroiderer, designer, author and teacher. Magazine articles of Merrilyn’s work are regularly featured in publications in USA, Australia, and New Zealand. Merrilyn opened her first needlework shop in 1978. With an artistic heritage and a passion for hand work this was the starting point for a long creative and rewarding journey with needle, threads and fabrics.

Sarah Pedlow is an artist working with embroidery and cultural preservation. In 2009 while in Budapest for an artist’s residency, she visited the Ethnographic Museum and fell in love with the traditional clothing and embroidery. The visit inspired her to seek out women who stitch a particular style called Hungarian written embroidery in Transylvania, Romania, and start the education and preservation project ThreadWritten in 2012. She has been lecturing and teaching cultural embroidery workshops since 2014 and now leads stitching retreats in Europe. Residencies in Iceland; Oaxaca, Mexico; and Holland, as well as embroidery study in Ukraine and Portugal, inform her current practice. She holds an MFA from Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University, and a BA in Studio Art and French Studies from Scripps College, Claremont, CA. Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, she moved to Amsterdam, NL in 2019 where she now lives and works. You can find her artwork at sarahpedlow.com.

John has been stitching for over thirty years and loves to teach and share almost as much as he loves to learn. Canvas work with the variety of opportunities is his ground of choice. His teaching assignments have included national ANG seminars, Callaway, retail shops, EGA regional seminars and individual guilds (ANG and EGA). John is the twice President of the National Embroidery Teacher’s Association, NETA. He is also a member of EGA’s Fiber Forum.

Celeste Chalasani is a designer who specializes in stumpwork and teaches at chapter workshops and at regional and national seminars. Celeste has been published in Needle Arts, Piecework Magazine, and GPR Designers 2012.  

Celeste is enrolled in the National Academy of NeedleArts (NAN) Teachers’ Certification program. “Teaching Stumpwork is a labor of love for me. I am passionate about sharing what I know. I approach teaching from the understanding that different people learn in different ways. I strive to provide clear written instructions with step by step color photos, orally explain the technique with color coded visual aids, demonstrate stitches and techniques, and work one on one with each student as they practice their techniques.”

 www.celestechalasani.com

Needle Arts Profile: Celeste Chalasani

Judy Borreson Caruso stitched her first BDE piece in 2008 and fell in love with the beautiful threads. Now she designs and teaches BDE locally, regionally and internationally. Recently, Judy taught the EGA Online Studio class, Beginning BDE. Judy has taught BDE at the BDE International Guild Seminar for the past twelve years. She also teaches in the Madison, WI area and has taught at a Heartland Regional EGA workshop. Judy is a member and past president of the Madison Area Chapter of EGA and a member of the BDE International Guild.

Sandie Cormaci-Boles has a passion for learning and sharing her knowledge about all forms of embroidery but particularly counted work, samplers and the history of needlework. She has taken many courses and classes from the Embroiderers Guild of America (EGA) and the American Needlepoint Guild (ANG). She has been designing and teaching embroidery professionally to children and adults since 1992.

Katherine Diuguid is a studio artist specializing in hand embroidery, dressmaking, and textiles. Her current work investigates color theory and color interactions within stitching, especially goldwork embroidery. She has taught embroidery and textile workshops both nationally and internationally. She held a tenure-track position at North Carolina State University (2012-2017) until deciding to focus fully on her studio embroidery. She has been awarded artist residencies at the North Carolina Museum of Art (Fall 2017) and Penland School of Crafts (Winter 2018 and Winter 2019). Additionally, Katherine has had the opportunity to work on special projects for Durham Cathedral (UK) stitching Panel 10 of the new Open Treasures Cope and for the Art Institute of Chicago stitching a sampler based on their beautiful Burgo de Osma Altarpiece. www.katherinediuguid.com

Arlene Cohen spends one half of her life as a middle school math teacher and the other half as a needlework designer and stitcher. Under the name WorksByABC (yes, her initials really are ABC), she designs and publishes cross stitch, blackwork, and canvas work patterns. She has also had cross stitch patterns published in Just Cross Stitch and XStitch magazines. You may have seen pictures of Arlene’s sixth grade students during a five-year time span when she was sharing in Needle Arts about her work with teaching students how to cross stitch for a community service project. Hundreds of Kissing Pillows were created by these students and given to deploying troops. A stitcher for her entire life, Arlene has also won numerous awards at ANG Seminars and at Woodlawn.

Jacqui Clarkson has taught for EGA, ANG, quilt guilds, a Fine Arts college and museums in Canada and the United States. Her workshop and lecture topics range from Sashiko, threads, to historical aspects of needlework. She has designed pieces for national thread and fabric companies, and for national magazines and needlework books. She has been published in the ANG magazine. Jacqui is a Journeyman Level II in the Master Teacher Program of ANG. She has served in leadership roles within local and region level of EGA and ANG.

Terri Bay, a teacher and designer from South Carolina, began teaching Ukrainian Whitework at Nordic Needle’s retreat. One class lead to another and now she has taught Ukrainian Whitework, Hardanger, Pulled and Drawn Thread and Blackwork at the EGA National Seminars, ANG Seminars, NAN, Regional Seminars, chapter workshops, and various retreats and other fun events. She was honored to be featured as the Designer Across America in the June 2018 issue of Needle Arts Magazine and will have a design in Needle Pointers in the fall of 2021. Terri is a member of EGA, EAC, ANG, and NETA. www.terribayneedleworkdesigns.com

Dawn Donnelly is a mixed-media artist who enjoys incorporating other forms of art within needlepoint. She holds a teacher certification in canvas with the National Academy of Needlearts (NAN) and teaches nationally and locally for NAN, American Needlepoint Guild (ANG), and Embroiderers’ Guild of America (EGA). Dawn has been recognized for her excellence of work in numerous exhibits. She spends her time volunteering as membership chair and registrar for NAN, treasurer for NETA and president for ANG’s Magnificent Obsession Chapter. Several of her articles have been published in Needlepoint Now and Needlepointers. www.threadupdd.com

Terry Dryden has been teaching and designing for more than twenty years. Her training in art and architectural and landscape design have inspired her designs which range from delicate florals to bold geometrics and bargellos. She is continually exploring new ways to combine color, texture and stitch, and encourages her students to also expand their knowledge of new materials and techniques to personalize their work. She is a nationally recognized ANG Master Teacher and teaches at EGA and ANG Seminars, regional guilds and local needlework shops. Her designs and “In Stitches” column have appeared in NeedlePointers and Needlepoint Now magazines.

Jennifer Riefenberg is an accomplished needle artist, meshing her love of the arts into new and varied mediums. She enjoys teaching, both the technical skills and the pure love and joys of art and creativity at the national, regional, and local levels. Jennifer holds teaching and judges certifications through NAN as a teacher/designer and judge as well as being on the board as the Assistant Director of Judging. She has won numerous awards for her needle art and other artwork to include a piece accessioned into the permanent collection at the Gregg School of Art & Design at North Carolina State University. Jennifer is also an artist with other mediums to include painting en plein air (from “life”) and photography and is a winner of national and regional awards with her artwork as well as her embroidery.