This profile is reprinted with permission from Nordic Needle‘s newsletter.
“I’ve been drawing, painting, sewing, and stitching all my life. While I enjoy all types of stitchery, I’ve always been partial to working on canvas – which is why the majority of my designs are canvaswork designs. There is something so exciting about starting a new design on a crisp, blank piece of canvas that it always makes me eager to keep stitching.
“There are so many tantalizing possibilities, so many ways to interpret an idea, especially with so many delicious types of threads, canvases, and embellishments we have to stitch with these days. Color, composition, and pattern are all important elements of my work. Color – and the use of variegated threads – is how I started designing the miniature quilt patterns in my needlework ‘American Quilt Collection.’ Combining quilt patterns with luscious overdyed pearl cottons has certainly become an addiction with me! Once I started stitching them, I simply couldn’t stop.
“And once I started working with variegated threads, I found more and more uses for them, so now using variegated threads in most of my designs has become an important part of my signature design style. Abstract geometrics are another stitchery passion of mine. I love to combine easy stitches in unusual ways to create unique composite stitches that can quickly fill those blank spaces on a canvas.
“Blackwork, too, is another favorite technique that I’ve experimented with and incorporated into many of my floral collages. I find blackwork patterns endlessly fascinating and adaptable to all sorts of projects.
“I started my own stitchery design company in 1994, and have been designing non-stop ever since! I’ve taught classes for EGA and ANG guild groups for many years, and now have branched out into my own series of cyber classes. My designs have appeared in all the national stitchery magazines.
“You can also visit my blog, ‘The Two-Handed Stitcher‘ to read about my thoughts on stitching, as well as get glimpses of my on-going stitchery projects. I’m on Instagram, too, at #ljperindesigns, posting pictures of my current projects, as well as flowers from my garden.
See all of Laura’s designs on her website.
About Janet M Perry
Janet Perry is the Internet's leading authority on needlepoint. She designs, teaches and writes, getting raves from her fans for her innovative techniques, extensive knowledge and generous teaching style. A leading writer of stitch guides, she blogs here and lives on an island in the northeast corner of the SF Bay with her family
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