I love Cheryl’s designs so much and I thought you would too, that I wanted to learn more about her. We did an email interview and now I want to see even more of her great designs.
Can you tell us more about your stitching background? How did you
learn to stitch? Do you havea favorite kind of project?
I’ve been stitching ever since I was big enough to hold a needle without putting my eye out.
My earliest memory is actually kindergarten, when my mother presented me with an old, small metal shortbread tin filled with balls of pearl cotton, some needles and even-weave cloth. I can still remember the smell of the cotton mingled with the metallic odor of that box!
My stitching education was guided by my mother, both grandmothers and one great-grandmother, and at their knees I learned to do needlepoint, various types of embroidery, drawn-thread work, knitting, crochet and quilting. I am the very first person in my family born in the USA and I am 1/2 Spanish (mom is from Spain) and 1/2 Canadian (dad is from Toronto), so I was exposed to a wonderful variety of needlecrafts, including Tenerife lace-making,
blackwork, crewel embroidery, etc. The reality is – if it’s worked with a needle or hook of any type, I’ve probably done it!
Around age 12, I started designing my own patterns because I just wasn’t finding what I was looking for. By the late 70′s I was in high school and had discovered needlepoint, and haven’t put it down since. My very first needlepoint project was a horrible bargello sampler in hideous 70′s colors. Hey – it was hip at the time!
My professional career started around 1978 when I started stitching models for a local needlework store. After college, I dabbled in quilting and other crafts and began designing for major women’s publications including Country Living, Family Circle, Woman’s World, and dozens others – I lost count at over 1,000 articles and designs for publication.
In 1986, after the birth of my second child, an editor put me in touch with the folks at Coats & Clark/Anchor, and I designed for them for over 20 years, promoting Anchor and Coats products in major publications. They are like a second family to me.
In addition to all those how-to articles, I have also written 13 how-to books (including Needlecrafts for Dummies, Quilting for Dummies, Easy Heirloom Embroidery and others), plus one cookbook and Family Reunions for Dummies (a quick search of my name on Google or Amazon.com will bring everything up). I’ve also presented and taught at trade shows, including the Singer Sewing Academy where I taught next to Martha Pullen – what a treat!
I’m also a artist and illustrator for the creative industries (examples areon my personal web site at www.cherylfall.com), specializing in needlework. In my spare time I like to paint in acrylics. I’ve also designed and licensed lines of fabric for quilting, paper party goods, kits, calendars, etc.
From 2003 to 2006 I developed and hosted a PBS Plus Television series called The Creative Life with Cheryl Fall, which aired nationally across the US as well as in Canada, Puerto Rico, and Guam.
In late 2006 I retired from heavy-duty designing (the TV series kicked my butt) and I returned to needlepoint – my first true “creative love”.
I became the new guide for the About.com needlepoint site in August of 2009, and this has been a perfect fit for me, as my husband and I travel often. I can enjoy guiding needlepoint aficionados from virtually anywhere as long as I have an internet connection!
In fact, many of the early projects posted on needlepoint.about.com were designed and stitched while in France, Luxembourg, London, Belgium or Switzerland as I accompanied hubby while he spent 5 months in Europe on business (it sounds more glamorous than it really is – imagine living out of a suitcase, going from hotel to hotel for weeks or months at a time… I spent a lot of time in the hotel bars, where the only English I would hear until hubby returned from work that day is “Vood you like zum nuts?”).
My favorite projects are those that are relatively portable. My workbag is with me wherever I go!
What are your favorite threads?
I have so many favorite threads, depending on what I am working on. I love to experiment with variegated threads in projects. I love the random shading patterns. Metallics are a blast to work with, and silk is oh-so-stitchable. But, my favorite daily-use thread is still wool.
Your projects cover a wide variety of styles. What are your main
influences?
I live in the Pacific Northwest, near the Columbia River Gorge, and I’m surrounded by beauty and diversity – plus we travel quite a bit now that we are empty-nesters. Honestly, there really isn’t any one thing that influences me. I like to keep my eyes and heart open and let inspiration guide me.
Do you have a dream needlepoint project you’d like to do and what is it?
My dream needlepoint would be a full-scale tapestry featuring a sugar maple in full autumn color – sized at least 4×6 feet – that I would display on the wall as art. My last name is Fall, and anything with autumn leaves floats my boat.
What is your biggest needlepoint challenge?
My biggest needlepoint challenge is to try to get all of the ideas in my head adapted to patterns that I can share with others. There are just too many ideas floating around in my noggin!!!!
The other biggest challenge is just finding supplies. I would like to try and help get needlepoint back in vogue, and encourage shop owners to carry the appropriate supplies. It’s getting harder to find product. There’s more to needlework than knitting and cross stitch, for goodness sake!
You can follow Cheryl’s needlepoint designs (and find a ton of useful information at http://needlepoint.about.com.
Related posts:
[...] I’m a daily reader of Cheryl Fall’s needlepoint blog over on About.com. So I was thrilled to learn a bit more about her from Janet Perry’s designer profile. I’m just knocked out that someone with Cheryl’s background is sharing her expertise and designs with us for free! We’re so lucky. You’ll enjoy the interview. Go see it on Nuts About Needlepoint. [...]