Customer Spotlight #9: Joan Hershberger from El Dorado, AR

This is the ninth in our series Cobweb Corner Customer Spotlight. Enjoy the interview and the fabulous photos chosen especially to share with you. Please comment after reading the interview - the featured stitcher will be thrilled to know you took the time to admire and comment on their craft.

Tell us something unusual about your self: I attended four grade schools, four high schools and four colleges by the time I settled in Arkansas where I work as a reporter.

How long have you been stitching and how did you start? I have been stitching since the mid-1990s. I saw a clock with a cross stitch design that I liked and asked for it for Christmas.

Why did you select the pieces you did to share with us? Grandpa’s Workshop by Barbara Baatz. It was the first larger piece I did. It really was above my skill level. I took a couple years to complete it because I had to put it aside for Hands of Faith by Terrie Lee Steinmeyer.

I really enjoyed doing this piece – after the third time I started it. I kept getting lost in the stitches so I stitched the outline to ground me and then filled it in from there and found it great fun to color between the lines.


The family bookshelf by myself. I designed this 1. to balance another cross stitch picture I found at a yard sale, 2. because I always intended to have a piece with a quote on books 3. because I love books. After I stitched in enough books to fill the shelf, I added family names as the titles of the books.

Do you have a favorite designer or style that you prefer? I find that I keep coming back to 14 or 16 count Aida cloth and the Jannette Crews One-Nighters. The detail in these tiny pieces amazes me and pleases me every time I finish one.

Is there anything you wish would change in the cross stitch industry? I wish all the shades and hues of the same color were sequential.

How often do you stitch and where do you do it? I do a great deal of stitching while traveling with my husband. He likes to drive. I look forward to the time to stitch for miles on end while listening to an audio book. I also go through spells when I stitch at night while sitting in the lounge chair with a bright light on the fabric.

Are you embarrassed to admit to friends and family how much stash you have on hand? Well after my sister helped me sort out my stash – no. I donated kits, floss and Aida cloth to a charity she knows which uses excess craft items to inspire other women of restricted means. She took home a large duffle bag crammed with thread, fabric and kits of various sizes. I received a very nice letter thanking me for my donation and explaining how it would be used.I just like looking at the patterns, kits, threads and ideas. I also collect unwanted cross stitch pieces that others have completed.just to look at and maybe someday use in quilts.

Do you have a favorite quote? You can't do it unless you try.

Anything else you would like to add? If I were to add one bit of encouragement: cross stitching is a hobby. Do it because you enjoy it, not just to have a perfectly finished product. My mentally disabled granddaughter begs to cross stitch something when she visits. She has not finished many items, but she enjoys the colors and the activity and that is the important thing. Enjoy what you are doing and share it with others --- even if it isn't the epitome of perfection.

Thank you Joan! Please post comments/questions for Joan below.