Mary Beale: How long have you been stitching?  Who taught you to stitch?

Linda Vinson: " My grandmother first taught me to stitch; chain, satin, stem, French knot, when I was in my early teens. That was a while ago. *grin* I made most of my own clothing in those days and decorated several shirts with my embroidery, but never did a sampler or even heard of cross stitch. I stopped stitching for several years during college, but picked up a couple of small "seed packet" cross stitch kits to decorate my first kitchen when I got married. I dabbled in cross stitch for a while, but really started stitching again in earnest once I 'retired' from full time employment to stay home with my children ten years ago. "

Mary Beale: Do you mainly cross-stitch or needlepoint?

Linda Vinson: "Mostly cross stitch, but counted thread would be more accurate. The more stitches a piece uses, the happier I am."

Mary Beale:  Do you stitch mainly for yourself or others?

Linda Vinson: "Primarily for myself and family."

Linda Vinson: "Probably Darleen O'Steen's Queen sampler and Cranberry sampler as companion pieces. I did the queen sampler as a tribute to Elizabeth I and redesigned the boxer band on the Cranberry sampler to be Henry VIII and his six wives. I'm keeping them, definitely keeping them."

Mary Beale: Which Mary Beale design have you stitched?  Have you stitched more than one?

Linda Vinson: "I've stitched four of the Christmas stockings, 8, 9, 10, and 12. I've also stitched several smaller pieces from the Pocketbook series that I've used for ornaments, mail art, round robin sampler bands, etc."

Mary Beale: Do you have a favorite? Why?

Linda Vinson: "My favorites are the Christmas stockings. I love that they focus on Christ, the real reason for Christmas, and use Bible quotations. The fact that they too are well designed and show a great color sense just put them over the moon. The house on my husband Mark's stocking was expecially fitting, he's an architect."