Stitchfork | Mr X Stitch

One of the delights of being in the stock machine embroidery design biz is seeing crafters take those building blocks and create something extraordinary with them. Which is, perhaps, why I've got this longstanding craft crush on Cathy Sundermann of Pittsburgh, PA, aka Stitchfork, who creates custom monograms for clients. Now, a monogram can be a pretty straightforward affair -- take your initials, arrange 'em according to Ye Olde Monogram Rules, and bam, done. But not in the hands of Stitchfork. Cathy takes monogramming back to its roots, with letter shapes that interact with each other in unique ways. She's clearly influenced by the centuries-old traditions of monogramming (one of her favorite places to find inspiration, she says, is in the monogram designs carved on headstones in old cemeteries) -- but, a self-described "rule follower who breaks the rules," she's passionate about throwing those traditions out the window in order to create designs that express the style and personality of the person behind the initials. This weathervane monogram for NS combines embroidery and ink. TR lives in a cabin over the water on a West Coast Bay, where she's regularly visited by a pair of crows she's named Huginn and Muninn after Odin's ravens in Norse mythology. On the classic side, with interlocking letters and a crown. DAHK SIDE. Yet so classy. Doodling your own fancy monograms now? Me too. See lots more on the Stitchfork blog! ________________________ Gear Threads is brought to you from the offbeat gals at Urban Threads. Created by illustrator Niamh O'Connor, Urban Threads is revolutionizing machine embroidery one edgy, elegant, innovative, and/or offbeat design at a time. Discover the future of digital stitchery at www.urbanthreads.com.