Nine years ago after I retired from the insurance industry I thought about joining a knitting class. When I mentioned this to my dear friend, Muffy, she suggested that I might find needlepoint more interesting and fulfilling. She told me about Stitch by Stitch, only 10 minutes from my home, where I met Betty and Madalena.

From the beginning, they and the other staff were most welcoming and helpful as were all the other stitchers I met.

As a novice, they suggested that I start with a small project. They helped me choose a canvas, picked out threads and offered advice about the other tools I might find helpful.

Next I signed up for an in-shop class and couldn’t wait to get started. That class was taught weekly by Marina who became my instructor and inspired me.

Marina developed a stitch guide for that initial project and was there every week to help me choose new projects and ways to enhance them with many types of threads, stitches, embellishments and finishing.

Soon I was stitching one or two hours every afternoon which I quickly called "My Therapy Time". Over these past nine years, I have completed many projects and especially love stitching unique birthday, Halloween, Easter and Christmas and/or special occasion gifts for my family and friends.

Stitch By Stitch is a local treasure and I am very happy to be part of this wonderful stitching community.