Fill your home with colorful cushions, table runners, and wall hangings inspired by historic folk embroidery from the Mediterranean and beyond. Through the use of just cross stitch and backstitch-you'll be able to create a wide variety of beautiful and useful household items.

For many thousands of years, human beings have been fascinated by ornamenting themselves and their environs, from prehistoric forays into body art and cave paintings, to the intricately woven tunic banding embellishments of the ancient world; from the lavish tapestries of medieval Europe, to our ongoing enchantment with fashion and home decoration—in every environment we have found ourselves, we seek to adorn and decorate, whether it’s a warrior painted for battle, a courtier dressed in the latest fashion, or a barista sporting her newest tattoo. The Start of My Crafting Journey In childhood, I experimented with sewing, crochet, knitting, and embroidery. As a young adult in the 1980s, I was introduced to cross stitch embroidery but found the then-popular sentimental designs too cloying and insubstantial for my taste, gravitating instead towards handcrafts with more historic depth. I dabbled in Amish hand-quilting, American Deerfield embroidery, and Fair Isle knitting, and developed a love for the geometric, stylized, and repeating designs that seemed to make up so much of historical craft. When I had the opportunity in my early twenties to apprentice to a master ecclesiastical tailor, to learn to make Greek Orthodox liturgical garments and paraments, I made the decision to forego college and pursue life as a craftsperson. During the day I would measure, cut, and fit elaborate brocades; and in the evenings, I would unwind with my current knitting or embroidery project. It was my tailoring work that first took me to Greece in 2005, as I sought to research traditional liturgical vesture and infuse my practice with the aesthetics of the Byzantine world. Many subsequent trips followed, as I searched for authentic brocades and finishings. It was on one such trip that I made an incredible discovery that was to take my crafting in a new direction.