SBQ

How did you get started stitching? Was there a person that inspired you?

I've always been "crafty" - I could knit before I went to school, and I had my first stamped cross stitch kit given to me when I was 6 or 7 - it became my first UFO :o)

My mum, especially, was and is a stitcher, and my gran and great gran were very good knitters and dressmakers. Mum taught me the basics at a very young age, and was quite unhappy with the way we were taught needlework at school - and the fact that the standards expected were rather lower than hers! I think because of the way stitching was taught, and because I never felt I could match up to my mum, I didn't serously do any embroidery until I was in my early twenties. I bought a kit (of Piglet, from Winnie the Pooh) for my sister's birthday, intending for her to stitch it. My mum said to me that it would be a waste of money, as my sister would have no interest in it. I was broke, and had no money to buy her another gift, so I set to and - up against a tight deadline - finished the kit! And from that moment, I was hooked...