On Monday, I blogged about
one of my favorite author's recent releases. It felt natural to next praise the blog of a friend I made because of that author.
Sara Leigh Merrey is a fellow
Fruitbat (fan of
Christopher Moore). When I first joined the
Boardello, back in 2007, she was one of the regular posters whose style I immediately took to - clever, fun, and caring. At the time, Sara Leigh owned a brick and mortar store,
Scarlet Thread, which sold any and all things needed to do
canvas work for charted and non-charted needlepoint projects.
Now, you have to understand - I flatter myself that I'm talented with words, not my hands. (Uh...you know what I mean.) I can spin a yarn, metaphorically, but the best I've managed to achieve with
actual yarn amounts to a few unevenly knitted scarves. Anyway, this kind of crafting was not my forte, so the pictures she occasionally posted of her gorgeous projects made me green with stitchy envy.
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| "Lois," canvas work by Sara Leigh Merrey |
Then the economic downturn of 2008 happened. Sara Leigh had to close down her shop.
Buzzkill. I bussed my way down to Virginia to lend moral support, as well as hands for helping with the packing up of the shop's contents, one weekend that June. While there, I fell in love with one of Sara Leigh's pieces, which she'd framed and hung in the store. I convinced her to let me buy it and now "Lois" hangs out in my office, to cheer me when the going gets tough.
Sara Leigh was understandably down, but never out - with fellow stitcher and soon-to-be business partner, Dawn, she toiled steadily and faithfully to bring
her shop to the Interwebs, and with it, her
blog.
In
It's a Stitchy Thing, Sara Leigh blogs about, "...all the aspects of canvaswork: the
materials, the
designers, the tools, and the people who do this fascinating needlework." So why do I, a maladroit wanna-be, dig this blog? It's all about the colors, baby. I can't resist the gorgeous pics, the glorious fibers, the geometric patterns and designs:
So, Dear Readers, the crafty among you may enjoy checking out
It's a Stitchy Thing for the scoop on what's hot and happening in the canvas work world. And if the stitching bug bites ya, check out the online store,
Scarlet Thread, where all of the above (and more!) can be found and purchased!
All pictures, except for "Lois," belong to Sara Leigh Merrey and have been posted with her kind permission.
