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Count Your Blessings |
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| Designer's Name: Kathy Moss | |
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Location: Rockport, MA
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We appreciate you taking the time to participate in our Friday Feature Kathy! Would you begin by telling us a little about yourself and your family?
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When did you first become addicted to needlearts and do you remember the first design you created?
Oh my gosh! “Addicted” is truly the adjective to describe my love for needlearts!! My mom taught me to knit when I was 8 year’s old, and I was hooked. I’ve done it all: knitting, crocheting, embroidery, needlepoint, quilting, and especially cross stitch! From that young age, I always had a needle in my hand! I can remember my teacher’s in high school allowing me to stitch in class, during their lectures, and they loved watching the process and the finished outcome! I didn’t care how crazy it looked, I was just so happy to be creating! (I am currently trying to figure a way to walk and knit at the same time. I am training for the 2-day, 40 mile Avon Walk for Breast Cancer, and those long walks get tedious!!! I’ll let you know if the knitting/walking thing is a success!) The first project I stitched was an embroidered piece called “It’s The Berries.” Check out my website at http://www.CountYourBlessingsXstitch.com to see a picture of it! I truly cannot remember the first design I created myself. I’ve been designing for so many years, unofficially, that graph paper & colored pencils were my tools in the beginning! Now, with computers, it has automated the designing process, and made it so much more fun to create.
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Would you share with us how you came to receive a letter from the President of the United States of America? I am so proud of this!! On September 12, 2001, like the rest of the world, I was so distraught over the events that happened the day before, that my only means of solace was with needle and thread. So I prepped a HUGE piece of cross stitch fabric and started stitching a letter to the President. I just started “writing.” This was a helpful way for me to release my grief and to feel constructive during such a helpless time in our lives. So I stitched. And stitched. And stitched. The finished stitched letter measured 24” x 30”! I sewed it into a quilted wall hanging. At the time, the White House had received 150,000 gifts in honor of 9/11 (I called them. They told me this!), so I didn’t want it to get lost in the shuffle. I called our Senator to ask him where to send it, and he suggested I send it to Barbara Bush’s (the President’s mother, who is also a stitcher!) office in Houston, Texas. So I called her office, and a secretary confirmed that she would look for it in the mail and be certain it got to the President. Soon thereafter I received a beautiful hand-written letter from Barbara Bush, with a note from her son, the President! A few weeks later, my phone caller I.D. showed that the White House was calling! It was the Gift Office at the White House calling, needing to know the value of the gift (government protocol), and I told her—“Priceless!”
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New From Count Your Blessings... Family Is Everything This popular new design by Kathy reflects the importance of family in her life. The stitch count is 91w x 65h and the suggested retail price is only $4.00. Mix and match thread colors for the skin and hair color you need to represent your family! |
What are some passions or hobbies you enjoy outside of the needlearts? I love to read—all kinds of books, from fiction to autobiographies, to self-help! I also love to walk and travel. I love anything having to do with technology. I am a member of the Technology Team at our local elementary school, and have been involved in dozens of technology conferences and workshops. I’m also a State Judge for DECA—a high school marketing competition at the State level. There are a lot of wonderful teenagers out there! I also cherish my hospice work. I fall in love with each and every patient, and consider it the greatest privilege of all to share the end-of-life experience with someone and their family.
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Teaching children to stitch is a very important objective in the cross-stitch industry. Could you tell us about your involvement in teaching children and how the students have responded? We should ALL be dedicating ourselves to planting seeds for the future of the cross stitch industry! I have made it my mission to teach as many people—young and old—how to stitch. In the last several years, I have taught over 650 children how to cross stitch. I go into our local elementary school and do a “Show and Tell” for all the 5th grade classes. Then I come back the next week with a “kit” for each student to learn to cross stitch. I teach them everything from threading a needle, to how to start their first stitch, to following a graph, to ending their project. The boys, as well as the girls, are completely taken by this hobby! It’s a sight to see, at recess, a playground filled with boys and girls STITCHING!!! I love it! My promise, to these kids, is that I will make every single thing they stitch, into a pillow or wall hanging. Many kids and parents still tell me how much they love it, and that their finished treasures still adorn their room—long after they’ve moved on to middle school and high school! I am known in town as “Mrs. Moss, the Queen of Floss” (hilarious!) and I’m committed that no student will ever pay for cross stitch supplies. I have received wonderful donations from DMC, cross stitch shops across the U.S., and some out-of-pocket expense, to assure these new stitchers do not have to pay for a thing. This is my gift to the future of our industry, and I am glad—and proud—to pass on this passion! My next mission is to teach cross stitch to the kids at my daughter’s college! It’s never too late to get them hooked!
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The Count Your Blessings line of designs includes a wide variety of seasonal designs. Is there a particular season of the year you enjoy more than others? Oh, gosh….if you ask me during each season, I will name THAT time of year as my favorite! I lived in New England and the mid-West as a child, then moved to California when I was 12 years old. Somehow, that first Thanksgiving in CA, sitting at the dining room table in shorts, just didn’t do it for me! So now, with my family, we are back in New England (we moved here when our oldest child was about to enter 2nd grade), and I am happy, happy! I look forward to each season, and have a great appreciation for the next season to come! I think I’m the only one in our little New England town, that does a Snow Dance every Winter! I love the snow! It’s a true sign of God’s gift for beauty!
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Has your website proven to be a valuable tool in marketing your designs and would you recommend designers or shop owners who don’t currently have one to think about having one done? Absolutely!!! In this day and age, if you don’t have a website, you are WAY behind the times! I know some designers or shop owners are a bit intimidated by websites—or the management of one—but if you don’t want to design and maintain it, pay someone who will! It is well worth your investment. The internet is the wave of the future, and it’s never going to turn back! My website is truly an expression of who I am and what I believe in. I hired a web designer friend to create all the “nuts and bolts” of it, but I had a hands-on approach to what I wanted it to look like. It had to be a reflection of me, and I was on top of each and every decision in its outcome. I love being able to maintain and update it myself (remember, I’m a technology junkie!), and I cannot imagine conducting my business without it.
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What advice would you give to an up and coming designer looking to get her/his designs published? First and foremost, read, “Publish Your Patterns” by Nancy Restuccia. This book was invaluable to me when I was at the grass roots stage of Count Your Blessings, Inc. I would never discourage anyone from following their dream of publishing, however I would caution this: It is more work than you will EVER imagine! Be sure you are able to devote a lot of time and start-up costs to this endeavor. It’s not for the weak, I can assure you! I also think it is invaluable if you have some marketing background and a very good knowledge of technology. I design each and every aspect of my patterns on my computer, in my home office. I have complete and total control of the look and the outcome, and this should be of utmost importance to a new designer. I also suggest that you do not hire-out for someone to stitch your samples. Much of my designing is done in this order: 1) On paper, 2) On the computer, 3) Stitching the item myself. It is during #3 that I “tweak” my patterns. Again, this is a hands-on approach. I am very particular about how my designs look, and I want to be the one who is still creating until I’ve stitched it to perfection, in my eye. I also want to say that new designers are always welcome in this industry! There’s always room for great patterns, and I—for one—am still a huge fan of other designers! So, not only do I design, I still enjoy the great choices of other’s patterns, as well. And lastly, I would like to suggest that you write a complete business plan and be ORGANIZED! This job creates a lot of paperwork, and if you’re behind the 8-ball from day one, you’ll be lost. So stay on top of things, and remember, this is not a hobby once it becomes your business! It is a business. If you’re willing to shorten your time on the hobby and lengthen your time on the business, you’re heading in the right direction! You can do it!!
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If you weren’t able to create cross-stitch designs for a living, what do you think you’d be doing? I would love to be a talk-show host or a newscaster. I would also love to be a labor and delivery nurse. And I would LOVE to be First Lady (okay….THAT’s not going to happen!). I wish I could clone myself and live 5 lives. There’s just not enough time….
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Would you mind sharing a favorite recipe in closing? I am so glad you asked me about a favorite recipe!!! As previously mentioned, I am in training for the 40-mile Avon Walk for Breast Cancer, in memory of my dearest hospice patient, Meg, who died last July. As a fundraiser I have created a Count Your Blessings Cookbook! I asked friends and family to send me their favorite tried-and-true recipes—only ones they make repeatedly for their family—hoping I’d get about 50 recipes. I got 280 recipes!!! So, with the help of my husband, kids, and the most devoted friends around, we printed, bound, and wrapped 534 of these cookbooks! If you can believe it, 400 of them sold in 2 days! There are limited copies, so while supplies last, you can purchase them from my website. And remember….100% of the profit goes to the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer! One of the many recipes I included in my cookbook is my all-time favorite: Friendship Tea. So here it is! May it warm your heart this Winter. I thank you for this opportunity to share a bit of my life with all of you. FRIENDSHIP TEA (Special Blend for a Special Friend) 1 jar powdered Tang (about 1 lb.2 oz.) 1 packet powdered Lemonade Mix (or about 1 cup) 5 cups Sugar (yes, it’s sweet, but oh, so good!) 1 cup powdered Instant Tea 1 TBS Cinnamon 1 TBS Ground Cloves Mix all together in big bowl. To serve, put a heaping teaspoon of Friendship Tea into a cup of steaming hot water, & relax & enjoy!!! This is my favorite tea! I love to give this as a gift. I put it in a mason jar, cut a square of scrap fabric, & put the fabric around the top, tie with a ribbon, and you have a beautiful presentation!
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