New Cross Stitch Designer

I thought it would be appropriate to introduce myself and encourage you to explore specialty stitches. My name is Colleen of Follow the Leader Designs. FTL Designs is a new cross stitch design company that will (hopefully) be in your LNS by the beginning of next year. I will be attending the 2007 Nashville Market in February and look forward to marketing my pieces to LNS. I have been stitching for over 20 years and enjoyed this past time so much I decided to make a career of it. Most of my designs use specialty stitches with hand dyed fabrics and threads.

Many people shy away from specialty stitches because they feel they are too hard, the directions are too difficult to understand or they just need hands on teacher. I have fallen in love with specialty stitches and my goal is to give each stitcher a bit more confidence when attempting and creating these fine stitches. The texture of a SS piece alone should give each stitcher a jolt to step out of the box and just give it a try.

I encourage you to try something different. Pick a spot on a current piece you are working on and give it a little distinction. Use a smyrna, rice, rococo or satin stitch. You will be amazed at the difference in the design and your new found abilities to personalize your pieces.

I look forward to hearing about your changes and how the stitches made a difference in your work. I will be posting a design by the end of the weekend showcasing the differences between a strictly cross stitched piece and a piece that has been jazzed up with SS's.

Stay tuned.....