I have been drawing & painting most of my life. I majored in Art in High School but then got my college degree in Geology.   Until I began a business in 1991 (Counted Illuminations) to sell my mother's needlework designs, quilting and sewing were my hobbies. I stitched my first linen piece in 1992 after discovering my local needlework shop and falling in love with the designers “Shepherd’s Bush” and “The Drawn Thread”.
    I designed my first piece in 1996 and it feels like I’m drawing again but with fabric and thread. I like to design anything to do with nature and gardens. Cottages, flowers, trees and sheep are favorites. I usually start with a rough pencil sketch and then go directly to my designing software. I may browse through my gardening and ornamental design books for an idea for a motif or border. I don’t scan anything, I like a design to be slightly stylized and a bit abstract. I stitch all my designs myself as they change a great deal as I stitch them. I love to use overdyed threads for leaves and trees and such. They give a lovely effect that just can’t be achieved with solid color thread.
    I am lucky to be able to work at home at something I love. My husband is retired and he has enthusiastically joined me in the business, handling most of the accounting, kitting and order fulfillment. The final product stitchers see is all my own work, from the design to the graph, the photo, the instructions and diagrams. I work very hard to make these the best that I can.

to be continued....