I stumbled across half a dozen videos the other day, and they're what's sparking this blog post. Erica Wilson was someone whose work I first came across in a small way in Cathy Callahan's 'Vintage Craft Workshop' book. In it she gets different crafters to recreate seventies designs but with a modern slant. There're projects involving raffia, hessian, papier-mache, macrame and lots more, including embroidery.
The chapter on 'Stitching: Crewelwork, Craft Kits, and Applique' included a brief note about a lady called Erica Wilson.
The chair's shown in this photograph, and I can see why the stitching captivated Cathy Callahan so much. It's fabulous.
Erica Wilson's name stayed in my mind, so when I was snapping up a few secondhand embroidery books, wanting to learn more about the craft, I happily bought one of hers. (It's a great book, by the way. Dated, obviously, but very comprehensive.) All of which led me in the meandering direction of YouTube where I discovered a handful of episodes of Erica Wilson's TV programme for the American channel PBS.
Erica was born in England in 1928. She studied at the prestigious Royal School of Needlework in London, and moved to America in 1954 to teach. So successful, Erica taught classes, lectured and led seminars all over the U.S., and she went on to write sixteen books. Her TV series was shown on both sides of the pond, and I bet there are still plenty of stitchers who remember them fondly. She died in 2011, and her obituary in The New York Times was titled 'Erica Wilson Dies at 83; Led a Rebirth in Needleworking'.
I think this is my favourite of the videos featuring Erica' work on YouTube. It might be a seventies design, but it'd fit into plenty of modern interiors. If you've got a tea (or coffee) break planned, why not settle down on the sofa with a cuppa and give it a watch? I think you'll be glad you did!
Hello! And goodbye, at least for now. The blog's on hold for a little while as I'm easing myself into 2026 gradually. I'm still stitching and reading and enjoying life with Badger the cat. Even though he treats my sofa like a giant scratching post!
Here's Badger, looking like the little cutie-pie he is. He's settled in so well, is absurdly affectionate and eats anything and everything I put in his food bowl. The only fault I can find is that he likes to sharpen his claws on the side of my sofa. This is despite having two scratching posts, one of which is part of a cat tower that's taller than I am! I may have to try trimming his claws, but I don't know how Badger will react to that. Anyway, expect to see more photos of him, so sorry in advance for any of you who aren't feline fans. Apart from gazing in admiration at the cat I've continued to experiment with embroidery. I really can't decide whether this mainly pink piece of stitching is something I like or just a dog's dinner of a mess. This is another embroidery I've been stitching. Frankly, at the moment it looks like it should be lobbed straight into the bin. I'd painted with a mix of watercolour pa...
The days are marching by at record speed, and I've finally - possibly - bought all the presents I need to buy and written all the Christmas cards I need to send. I decided not to put up a full-sized tree this year as I'm convinced Badger the cat would simply view it as a climbing frame, and I'd find it toppled on a daily basis. Instead, there's a small green tree, and a simple white twiggy one that has lots of vintage baubles dangling from it. To be honest, I prefer the twiggy one, so the green tree might be permanently retired from now on. I've not gone crazy with the decorations, but there are various strings of fairy lights that look so pretty when they're lit. I have - between internet shopping and baking mince pies - made a little fishy pin cushion, decorated with seed stitches, French knots, chain stitch and stem stitch. I'm on the look-out for grey tweedy material to make another fish as I think that'd look better than plain ...
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