Each issue of Needlepoint Now has an article contributed by  June Russell called “From the Bookshelf”.  In the  September/October 2009 issue June Russell featured “Julia Key H. Snyder” (see copy image above).  Why tell you all this?  Well Julia is coming to The Bug!!!  She will be at the shop in February 2011!   She will hopefully she said have her fifth if not her fifth and sixth books out by then.  We carry her first four at the shop…they are:

176 AMAZING STITCHES – BACKGROUNDS & SUCH – CATEGORIES FOR NEEDLEPOINT STITCHES – DARN FILLINGS

If you would like to order:

 BACKGROUNDS & SUCH…

CATEGORIES FOR NEEDLEPOINT

DARN FILLINGS

Here is a copy of the original article featured in Needlepoint Now!

Need a stitch to shingle your haunted house? Or put a brim on your witches’ hat? Perhaps a spider web? Julia Key H. Snyder has a stitch for that.

You’ll find them – and more than 300 additional creative stitches – in the second edition of her book Categories for Needlepoint Stitches published in 2008.  Sized to fit easily in the lap or bag, Julia’s third book organizes decorative stitches in categories the way a needlepoint er in need of a particular effect would look for them.  In the “Animal section, for exampled, stitches are listed first by feathered, then furry appearance.

Julia’s user friendly approach comes from both a lifetime of stitching and more than fifteen years teaching needlepoint for TNNA and at Key Stitches, the shop she co-owns with her mother, Patsy Hardin, Dallas, Texas.  Her love of teaching is apparent throughout the book.  “I try to have good information to go along with the stitch, whether it is different uses or things not to do,” she explained.   She’s also proud of the simplicity of her stitch diagrams.  “I think ours are easy to follow whether you are a new or experienced stitcher.”

Julia’ own experience dates to when she was four years old and her mother worked in a needlepoint shop.  Now, in addition to co-owning a shop, teaching classes and writing her series of  stitch books, she also writes stitch guides for other companies.  And she does it all without being able to see in three dimensions.

When she was young, Julia saw double before her brain trained her eyes to focus only one eye at a time.  Farsighted in one eye and nearsighted in the other , the combination gives her 20-20 vision but no depth perception or peripheral vision.  “I’ve never known any different, so I just compensate,” Julia said.  “I don’t notice it as a handicap at all – I still drive and do everything.”

“My world is sort of like watching TV all the time.  It’s all flat,” she said.  “I don’t want needlepoint to be flat – there are so many different stitches and textures.  So a lot of my stitching is very dimensional.”

Ribbons, beading, even stitching on wire mesh – Julia finds the creative possibilities are endless.  “We love to embellish things and bead, and I even use some of (my husband’s) grandmother’s handkerchiefs.  I reuse things to create new memories,” she said.  “For one of the cupcakes designs from Raymond Crawford I actually used ribbon as icing.”

Collection and adapting stitches, then sharing them with others, is just part of her creative journey.  Many of the stitches in here books are variations of those used by her mother or found in old needlepoint books.  “My books are a collection of stitches that I’ve learned over the years,” Julia said.  “some stitches come from old stitch guides.  I come up with new uses for them.”……….

……….Julia wants other stitchers to use her books to think ourside the box on what they can do with needlepoint.  “Sometimes I use wire mesh or other materials to it dimension,” she said.  “There are so many great things to do and so many great threads – there’s no reason not to what you can do.”