Customer Spotlight #13: Linda Adams aka CrossStitchNerd from State of Washington

This is the 13th 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.

Click each picture to see larger detail.

Tell us something unusual about your self: Well... I used to be an executive. I put myself through college with four kids at home. Graduated, passed the CPA exam the first time around and went to work for a large accounting firm. After a nasty divorce and having kids grow up some, I moved to small town America to be with the man I fell in love with (after thinking I would never want to "be with" anyone again. I went to work for a smaller firm here, still in the accounting field, until I had to leave the workforce due to nasty doctors telling me horrible news. Just kidding, the doctors weren't nasty, just the news was. I had to leave the workforce so that I could undergo chemo and other treatments that pretty much knocked me on my butt. I had always loved drawing, painting, creating, etc. I always kept myself busy. Not working left me with too much time on my hands, too much to think about, low physical energy and in the need of something to occupy my time. So I decided to cross stitch like a maniac. After filling my house with finished tapestries, pictures and such, I filled my family's homes. When the disability ran out, I started to sell some of my work and expanding into making finished cross stitch cards, bookmarks and patterns. That is where I am now

Why did you select the pieces you did to share with us? I choose these pieces to share because I love the Fantasy side of art. I love things that are down to earth and natural. The first piece "The Earth Goddess" was designed by Claire Crompton. She is nurturing and loving - I felt compelled to stitch her. The second is the "Waterlily Fairy" designed by Joanne Sanderson. Fairies seem so full of life and when added to flowers, seem both beautiful and encouraging. The third is something I stitched up for the holidays. I found the chart in an old magazine and it is called "Tree Cheers." I am unsure who designed the pattern, but the cute little cub pulling his Christmas tree is so adorable I couldn't resist him. The last one is from a pattern that I designed and created for Bob's Dad's Birthday. We are both Leos and he is going through his own battle with cancer so I made this for him - some added courage and strength.

Do you have a favorite designer or style that you prefer?
I guess I keep coming back to the designs that have a bit of magic or fantasy around them. Things that are cheery and can take us away from our problems or worries for a little while. I also love to stitch Native American art. My house is filled with them. Some of those I've designed myself and some were from kits. I really don't have a favorite designer - what I stitch really depends on my mood when I start.

Is there anything you wish would change in the cross stitch industry? ... ummm.... what I would change.... I would love for it to be easier to obtain the type of material that you want - especially in retail stores. To try and find the right stitch count and type of fabric I want can be somewhat difficult at times.

How often do you stitch and where do you do it?
I'm almost always stitching. I always have a project going. Mostly I stitch in my living room. When my life partner is home, he plays his video games (x-Box) and I sit there stitching. Of course he has laughed at me when I have taken smaller works to do while we are fishing. I have to keep busy. Cross stitching saved my life.

Are you embarrassed to admit to friends and family how much stash you have on hand? Embarrassed, no.. not really. My family knows how much I enjoy cross stitching and what it means to me. Bob actually encourages me to try bigger and better things and has purchased much of the material that enables me to do so. Of course, no one has seen the stash I have tucked away of materials.... lol

Do you have a favorite quote? My favorite quote is from a Jackson Browne song, The Pretender... "When the morning light comes streaming in, we get up and do it again." We do it no matter what has been thrown at us! I did it through almost three years of treatment and now I do it knowing that I AM... I am a mother, grandmother, spouse (sort-of), cross stitcher and cancer survivor.

Anything else you would like to add? Once cleared medically, the economy was such that I could not find a job in my career path. So I changed paths. Now I enjoy my art and am thankful for the time given to me to share it with others.

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