Introducing Sharon Quick

Today's posting has as guest blogger Sharon Quick, or Sharon QuickStitcher as you may know her from the ANG email list. I recently saw photos of some of Sharon's stitching on our guild website and asked her if she had time to tell us a bit about her work. Sharon graciously replied in the Q&A session below we did via email. My questions are in black and Sharon's answers italicized in blue.

Sharon, I know you only started needlepointing in 1998 and that you picked Susan Portra's classic Spirit of the Southwest as your first piece. This isn't exactly a beginner's design. Had you done other forms or needle work that helped you conquer this lovely design with no experience? Or was ignorance your friend as you didn't know it was supposed to be an advanced design?

My mother taught me embroidery when I was about 10 years old (many moons ago). I put it aside for several years. One day in about 1992 I stitched a cross stitch piece on Aida cloth, but I was disappointed in the results, so I set it aside. In 1996 I went to Iowa to visit my parents, and I saw a cross stitch on the wall that Mom had stitched - an Indian with a dream catcher in the background. I looked at it and said, "Mom, that is beautiful. Since I know you won't give it to me, I guess I'll have to stitch it myself." The next day off we went to Amana, Iowa, to the needlework shop, of course. As we went up the steps into the shop, there was Susan Portra's Spirit of the Southwest hanging above the cash register. I said, "That's what I'm going to stitch!" Mom said, "You're not going to spend $25 for a pattern!" And I replied, "Yes, I am." I purchased the pattern, along with the pattern for the Indian I had admired so much, and away we went.

When I returned to California, I began looking for the threads I would need, and wished I had purchased the kit that had been offered to me for a mere $50. I wouldn't have dared spend that much money in front of my mother. It was a blessing and a curse that I had to find out where the needlework shops were in the Los Angeles area. Silly me, I went directly to the Rainbow Gallery warehouse. A kind person there gave me one card of thread and directed me to a couple of shops in the area. I'm sure I spent more than $50. Since that fateful day, I have found nearly every needlework shop in the Los Angeles area, as well as many others.

Immediately I began stitching, following Susan's instructions to the letter. I could hardly put it down. Each new stitch and/or thread was like turning the pages of a great book. I didn't want to do anything else. I had no idea that this was supposed to be an advanced piece. I just read the directions and followed them (ignorance can be bliss!) Before I had even completed the piece (it took me three months), I was looking for my next pattern. And, yes, I did stitch that Indian with the dream catcher. I stitched lots of counted pieces before discovering hand painted canvases. I believe that counted experience gave me the knowledge of how to stitch with different threads and what the stitches would look like in different fibers.

Your Corn Kachina design won third place at the Indian Wells ANG Seminar of 2008 in the painted canvases with stitch guide class (the kachina stitch guide was by David McCaskill). I was even more taken with your Walking to the Moon piece from Sundance Designs, which shows a woman wrapped in a clock walking toward the full moon. It won Honorable Mention in the Painted Canvas without a Stitch Guide area. I stitched a similar design and found it fascinating but I had instructions because it was a free class through the Caron website. How did you choose the fabulous stitches for each section of this piece?

I studied the canvas Walking to the Moon thoroughly before beginning to stitch. I wanted to have movement in the sky and her cloak. I saw the background sky as clouds; the prominent moon is even overshadowed by clouds. The focal point was the woman wrapped in a cloak, with lots of movement of the cloak and skirt. I chose stitches that would move the eye left and right. I thumbed through stitch books for hours before settling on the stitches. The moon is stitched with a combination of Soie d'alger and Accentuate. The change in colors comes from the paint showing through the lighter stitches. I decided that for the skirt I wanted cotton, as this was not a person of great means. I selected floss, and picked stitches that would emphasize the folds of the skirt. For the cloak I chose Impressions for its blanket-like finish. The cloak has several "stripes" of color, I chose one stitch for the stripe and changed only the colors, mixing colors within a section of the stripe if I could not find the right color in that thread. I have had requests for my stitch guide, and it is available for purchase.

Have you taken lots of classes? Or do you just stitch constantly to reach this level of achievement?

Yes, I have taken a LOT of classes. I am President of the San Bernardino Chapter of ANG, and our chapter has been blessed with Pat Correz, who knows all the teachers and schedules classes almost monthly with a nationally known teacher. I try to take classes in a variety of techniques from different teachers so I can learn different ways of doing things. I've been to three ANG Seminars, and also take classes from David McCaskill every other month, Susan Portra four times a year, and Brenda Hart once a year. In addition, I am the CyberWorkshop Committee Chairman for ANG, so I have a part in selecting the CyberWorkshops, and learn from the classes by reading the lessons as they are given. I also stitch some of their projects as part of the class. I stitch every day, at least 4 hours/day.

Are you from a family talented with needle arts?

My mother did all kinds of needlework, cross stitch, crochet, knitting, sewing, crafts, etc. I've tried most of them, but needlepoint is my favorite. My sister is a full time quilter. Actually, the three of us even have collaborated on a project. In 1998 my mother came to California to visit, and I taught her some basic Brazilian embroidery stitches. She loved this so much that she started taking lessons when she returned to Iowa. Over the next five years she stitched each lesson on a muslin quilt block. When I visited her in 2003, she showed me a box stuffed with 72 blocks - each more beautiful than the last. She wanted to make a quilt, but did not feel she was up to doing it herself (she now 84). I had just finished taking some beginning quilt classes, so I volunteered to sew the pieces into six window pane style quilts - one for Mom and one for each of us five children. I then sent the quilt tops off to my sister in Iowa. She is completing the quilting. I have received mine back from Mom all quilted, and I just love it.

Why did you start finishing needlepoint? Obviously your sewing machine is your friend. I've seen two of your finished pillows. They are beautifully done with subtle finishing details, not flashy trims. Do you have a finishing philosophy? {Readers, note that Sharon sent me several examples of finishing for you to enjoy. In most cases the stitching was done by other people.]

My dear mother also taught me to sew on a treadle sewing machine. At first I just drew lines on a piece of paper and followed the lines with no thread in the needle. When I mastered that, we moved on to sewing clothes for school. By the time I entered 7^th grade I had already made a lined wool suit and all my clothes for school that year. That's how I spent the lazy days of that summer. I've sewn many things since then, including new covers for the pull out bed/couch that was in the studio apartment where my husband and I lived when he was in the Navy.

I began finishing needlepoint because I was stitching so many pieces that I could not afford to have them finished professionally, and I knew I could do it myself. I started out slowly, and after I had done a few of my own, I offered to do some for a friend. I now am finishing for my local LNS. I am not trying to compete with the big finishers, as I keep my finishing simple, yet elegant, and try to work to achieve the look that the individual wants in their piece. I do not have the room, nor access to all the fabrics and finishing accessories that big shops devoted to finishing are able to obtain. I spend mornings on the computer creating stitch guides for myself and designers. I do finishing in the afternoons, and stitch in the evenings.

Which guides do you have for sale and where does one buy them?

I have stitch guides for several pieces that I stitched for myself. I am particularly proud of Walking to the Moon (or also called Going to the Magic Place). Other guides are the 12 Vases by JP (C-566); Sprinkler Flowers by Shelly Tribbey (FL20); Kaylene by Ewe and Eye (EW-1007); Louise by Ewe and Eye (EWE-98); Stitching Club by Melissa Shirley; Dreidel Girl by Ruth Schmuff(1284); Night Ride by Shelly Tribbey; Desire by Lani; and Chef on a Bike by Alice Peterson. These stitch guides can be obtained directly from me.

You will soon be seeing my name on stitch guides from Needle Deeva, Trubey, and Dede Ogden.

What is your favorite designer? And what is your favorite book about needlepoint? What's your very favorite finished piece of needlepoint?

My favorite designer - boy that's a tough one! David McCaskill always marvels that my canvases come from such a wide range of designers and styles. I own canvases for many levels of difficulty. The ones that I take to teachers are always demanding - something unusual that has some motif in it that I really don't know how to approach. That's how I learn - by asking questions. Sometimes I pick out a very simple canvas just to enjoy without having to think too much while I work on it.

I have several shelves of needlework books. The ones that I keep handy when writing my stitch guides are Stitches To Go, Suzy's Portable Stitches, and the Amazing Stitches series, as well as all Brenda Hart's books. When I want to dig deeper I go to the book shelf and pull one of those dealing with a specific technique. If I'm ever too tired to stitch, I pull a book I haven't looked at for a while and read through it again. I find all kinds of new things in there, or things that I've forgotten.

My favorite piece of needlepoint is Susan Portra's Spirit of the Southwest. I loved stitching it, and it is a wonderful reminder of where my journey into needlepoint began.

What are you stitching right now?

Today, I am stitching on a Mindy design. Actually, several of us at our LNS, Queen Anne Stitches in Santa Clarita, CA, are stitching it. We picked this piece as a "Hoo Haa" group project. We select a canvas, and we collaborate on what we might do with it. Then we each choose threads and stitches. We just started this piece 2 weeks ago, and we are going off in all different directions. It is great fun to see how this will turn out. This is our third group project.

I'm also stitching on a Christmas Tree by Trubey that would make a great class for beginners. I plan to present it as a class at my second LNS, Enchanted Unicorn, in Redlands, CA.

I have several pieces that I work on a little at a time to include: Gay Ann Rogers' Hollyhock House, Scotch 'Ya, the Menagerie online class, the Mystery Stitchalong with CyberPointers chapter, Rebecca's Nativity which is another Hoo Haa class, and several others.

I have a huge number of UFO's. I'll get back to them some day. I just can't resist that next wonderful project/design coming out.

Blog readers will remember the Stitching Whimsies ladies and their Hoo Haa projects that customers of Queen Anne Stitches do as a group, ordering multiple copies of a painted canvas and each stitching it in their own way. You guys have done the Stitching Ladies and the Funky Forest if I remember correctly. It must be a great deal of fun to stitch together.

Thanks so much for agreeing to an interview and sharing lovely photos of all your beautiful work.

Jane/Chilly Hollow
Main blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/chillyhollow