Hello and welcome to the Sharp Needler.
My name is
Margaret Cobleigh* and I am an 'off-the-grid', sharp needle-wielding
left-handed hand embroiderer. Over the last several years I have greatly
enjoyed reading the embroidery adventures of many stitchers from all
over the world. I thought it was time to stop lurking and share my
projects as well.
I am primarily self-taught and have
been embroidering since I was a child way back in the 20th century. I
learned surface embroidery stitches from the instructions in commercial
needlework kits. (I'm not sure I'd recommend that as a learning method
for a beginner!) In spite of that I became a decent surface embroiderer.
In the early part of this century I began taking classes and have been
exposed to all sorts of interesting techniques, tips, and tricks from
various teachers. I am extremely grateful to have had the opportunity to
learn from these gifted individuals. My embroidery improved with every
class.
I have had several opportunities to teach including a couple of classes on Mary Corbet's Needle 'n Thread (the best embroidery site on the Web). I have also taught classes for my local EGA chapter Muchas Manos de San Diego.
You
might be wondering what an 'off-the-grid' embroiderer is. Well, to me
that means that I don't work on gridded designs so you won't find
projects involving cross stitch or needlepoint here. They have never
fallen into my interest area although I always enjoy seeing what others
do with these techniques. I know nothing about thread counts and I
almost always use a sharp needle! I plan to share the various
projects that encompass my embroidery interests including surface
embroidery, goldwork, stumpwork, etc. I am very interested in adaptation,
especially of antique designs particularly from the Society Silk era
and also the occasional original design. I prefer and generally work with
natural fibres such as wool, cotton, linen, and especially silk.
My other goal is to provide technical information on how I do things. I try to think about what I wish someone had told me when I was learning and then share. This means that posts can become very embroidery-geeky, but that's what I am, an embroidery geek! I love embroidery, am endlessly fascinated by it, but try not to be too doctrinaire.
Please
join me on my ongoing embroidery journey. This blog is focused on my individual projects, but I do occasionally post other related items on Pinterest and my Instagram feed. I welcome your
comments/questions on my projects either via blog comments or email.
About the Cats
I am an unabashed cat person and my cats are encouraged to participate in almost everything I do. Though they aren't necessarily the best embroidery helpers, they are often nearby sleeping or supervising. Sometimes, they will show up on a post usually because they got in the way somehow. For the cat people out there here is a little bit about the cats.
* Pronounced COBB-lee.
Summer 2024: Google ended its email subscription service in 2021. I believe I've found a replacement, but haven't had time to test it. I have been stitching a little bit here and there and have some posts ready for when the email subscription is active again. Fingers crossed, I'll have time to rouse this blog out of its dormancy sometime this year.