We are excited to have an outstanding group of instructors sharing their designs and talents with you.
Please note that cameras or recording equipment may only be used in a classroom with the instructor’s permission.
Ann-Marie Anderson-Mayes, Sorrento, WA, Australia
Ann-Marie is a specialist canvaswork (needlepoint) embroiderer based in Perth, Western Australia. She has taught regularly in Australia, online and overseas since 2012 and had designs published in Needlepoint Now (2022) and Needle Pointers (2016). Ann-Marie believes in building creative confidence so that everyone can discover the joy of making and creating. Her love of colour inspires her to stitch with rich, vibrant colour palettes.
She is also in love with the history of embroidery. Every stitch is an echo of an action that has been repeated by countless artisans and craftswomen for centuries – the humble needle and thread connect the past, the present and the future. Her passion for geometry and numbers is clearly expressed in her embroidery designs, and she gets great joy in sharing her passion.
Ann-Marie’s Website: https://beautifulstitches.com.au/
Terri Bay: South Carolina, United States of America
Terri, a teacher and designer from South Carolina, began teaching Ukrainian whitework at Nordic Needle’s retreat. One class led to another, and now she has taught Ukrainian whitework, Hardanger, pulled and drawn thread and blackwork at the Embroiderers’ Guild of America (EGA) National Seminar, American Needlepoint Guild (ANG) Seminar, Embroiderers’ Association of Canada/Association canadienne de broderie (EAC/ACB) Seminar, National Academy of Needlearts (NAN), Regional Seminars, chapter workshops, and various retreats and other fun events. She was honoured to be featured as the Designer Across America in the June 2018 issue of Needle Arts Magazine and has had designs in Needlepointers and Just Cross Stitch.
Terri is a member of EGA, EAC/ACB, ANG, and the National Embroidery Teacher’s Association (NETA).
Terri’s Website: https://www.terribayneedleworkdesigns.com/
Kim Beamish: Ontario, Canada
Kim is a certified instructor and counsellor with the Embroiderers’ Association of Canada/Association canadienne de broderie (EAC/ACB). She holds a Mastercraftsman in Counted Thread from the Embroiderers’ Guild of America (EGA). Kim has taught classes and workshops for EAC/ACB and EGA. Her passion and curiosity for embroidery have led to her exploring many media and needlework techniques. Two designs have been recently included in the Hand Picked Collection series by Inspirations Studios. Many of Kim’s designs have been featured in magazines and books worldwide such as A Needle Pulling Thread, Cross Stitch Christmas, Just CrossStitch, Stitch, Whitework Inspirations and Inspirations magazines.
Kim’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/craftycreationsbybeamish/
Stephanie Bonneau: Chester, United Kingdom
Stephanie is a UK textile artist specializing in hand embroidery. She divides her time between creating new pieces, bespoke commissions and teaching. Throughout her career, Stephanie has worked for prestigious multinational design houses in Paris and London, such as Atelier Lesage, Chanel, Christian Dior, Valentino, Armani, Burberry and Tamara Ralph.
Stephanie founded her own atelier, Atelier Saint Clare, to create her own embroidery designs. She also founded a school, École Saint Clare, to transfer her knowledge. Stephanie is now creating beautiful swatches for her clients’ new collections. Her inspiration is jewellery and nature, and she loves creating hand-painted pieces embellished with delicate embroidery and crystals. Her favourite techniques are tambour beading and goldwork.
Stephanie’s Atelier Saint Clare Website: https://ateliersaintclare.com/
Emma Boughton: Wilshire, United Kingdom
Emma is a Royal School of Needlework (RSN) trained embroidery tutor, author, artist, and fabric designer based in Wiltshire, UK. Emma graduated from the RSN Apprenticeship in 2009 and the University of the Creative Arts in 2012, specializing in hand embroidery, fabric dyeing, screen printing, and digital fabric design.
Her passion lies in creating distinctive designs for embroidered boxes, and in 2019, she published her book Embroidered Boxes: Techniques and Projects. Her embroidery designs are offered under the name Fairy Wren Embroidery.
In 2023, Emma received a Developing Your Creative Practice Grant from Arts Council England to support a blackwork portrait project that she is deeply passionate about. Recently, she was accepted into the inaugural cohort of RSN Fellows (FRSN), a new professional association for tutors and alumni of the RSN, recognizing their dedication, skill, and love for embroidery.
Emma’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fairy_wren_embroidery/
Betty Caskey: Alberta, Canada
Betty lives to create, and textiles have been her greatest love since she was a very young girl and began sewing doll clothes from fabric remnants. Betty’s studies in colour, design, dying, textile applications, hand-stitching and machine-stitching have all contributed to her unique designs.
For the last 45 years, fibre, paper, dyes, paints, ribbon, and fabric (especially silk) have presented inspirational challenges to her. The satisfaction gained from manipulating this media is rivalled only by the joy she feels when she shares this passion with others. Colour and texture are the most important ingredients in her work.
Betty’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yayagrandma1946/
Natalie Dupuis: Québec, Canada
Natalie holds a Master’s Degree in Education and has taught as a classroom teacher and a teacher trainer in Toronto, Paris, and London, where she lived for many years. After having children, she combined her love for teaching and her passion for embroidery and now teaches metalwork and surface embroidery.
She obtained her needlework and art training at many locations in England and North America. Natalie has been invited to teach and lecture for the San Francisco School of Needlework and Design, the Embroiderers’ Association of Canada/Association canadienne de broderie (EAC/ACB), the Embroiderers’ Guild of America (EGA), the Crewel Work Company, and Blue Bonnet Studio.
In 2020, she developed a virtual needlework school for in-depth online learning of history and colour theory combined with goldwork.
Gail Harker: Washington, United States
Gail is a Canadian who resided for 20 years in Britain. While there, she completed the City & Guilds of London Institute Diploma in Design and Embroidery with Distinction and earned the senior qualification of Licentiateship (LCGI).
In 1994, after a thriving career teaching at colleges in the UK, she moved to North America and founded the Gail Harker Center for Creative Arts, first in Oak Harbor, WA. and then in La Conner, WA. She has been teaching for over 30 years in America and is passionate about art, design, and embroidery.
She is the author of five embroidery books and has also published and taught numerous courses through her business, Gail Harker Center for Creative Arts. Gail offers a number of live-mentored online courses.
Gail Harker Center for Creative Arts: https://gailcreativestudies.com/
Wendy Innes: Alberta, Canada
Wendy began her needlework journey at the young age of seven under instruction from her mother, who taught her basic embroidery stitches. She was lucky to have inherited her father’s artistic gene, which runs strong in his family and has contributed greatly to her love of design work.
Her early passion has evolved over the past 40 years, and she has won a number of awards and accolades, beginning with the receipt of the first ever clothing and textile award in high school. Wendy has continued to be recognized for her art with recent designs published in Inspirations magazine and their Handpicked Collection books.
In 1996, Wendy purchased a needlework store in Calgary, In Stitches, which she owned and operated for over ten years. Wendy has taught many classes in all forms of needlework, with a special passion for stumpwork.
Elizabeth Janzen: British Columbia, Canada
Stitch and fibre have been means of exploration as far back as Elizabeth can remember – the feeling of inner joy that stitching brings and the eagerness to create has never left her and has been a constant companion throughout most of her life.
While living in France from 2005 to 2013, she was introduced to boutis and learned this traditional stitching technique from contemporary masters of the craft.
Since 2011, Elizabeth has been an active member of France Boutis, contributing to their magazine and exhibiting her work at the Salon National du Boutis in France. Elizabeth’s work is original and her designs adhere strictly to the guidelines of traditional boutis.
Elizabeth’s Website: https://seamsfrench.org/
Heather Lewis: York, United Kingdom
Heather is a professional hand embroidery artist and tutor based in York, UK. She graduated from the Royal School of Needlework (RSN) apprenticeship course in 2002 before taking up a full-time position as a tutor and studio embroiderer, where she gained valuable experience working on a great variety of commissions along with teaching for the RSN in the UK and USA.
She is the author of two embroidery books: RSN Embroidered Boxes and Ecclesiastical Embroidery. In 2023, Heather was honoured to be part of the RSN Embroidery studio team that worked on items for the Coronation of Their Majesties King Charles III and Queen Camilla.
Heather now teaches embroidery to many groups and produces her own range of embroidery kits, often combining several different techniques within her designs. She is passionate about passing on her skills to all levels of ability, both beginners and experienced stitchers alike.
Heather’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heatherlewisembroidery/
Diane Mugford: Ontario, Canada
Diane has been stitching since she was a young girl and got the beading bug in the 1990s.
She is proficient in many techniques in beading and embroidery; bead embroidery became her way of combining her two loves. She has taught workshops at the North Shore Needlearts Guild in North Vancouver, BC, at the American Needlepoint Guild (ANG) Portland’s chapter Fall Festival in Portland, Oregon and at Embroiderers’ Association of Canada/Association canadienne de broderie (EAC/ACB) seminars.
Her articles on peyote stitch were published in A Needle Pulling Thread magazine in 2011.
Mike Parr: Ontario, Canada
Mike is a textile artist and teacher with a lifelong passion for embroidery and history, and he has over 35 years of experience in crewel and surface embroidery.
Mike is known for his designs in stumpwork, goldwork, and whitework. He has contributed to Embroidery Canada and Inspirations magazines and frequently teaches throughout North America.
In 2016, he founded his own business, Mike Parr Embroidery Designs. Mike’s primary focus is creating embroidery projects that draw on art and history for their inspiration.
Lorene Salt: Ontario, Canada
Lorene is an award-winning stitcher, and her favourite medium is canvaswork. She is a graduate of Ryerson Polytechnical University in the Fashion Merchandising and Design program.
She is also an avid beader and jewellery maker. She has completed the Basic, Intermediate and Advanced Canvaswork courses through the Embroiderers’ Association of Canada/Association canadienne de broderie (EAC/ACB).
She has taught at EAC/ACB and American Needlepoint Guild (ANG) National Seminars, numerous guilds and shops, as well as a variety of online seminars.
Lorene enjoys watching a piece come alive through colour and texture. She lives in Aurora, Ontario and is a member of EAC/ACB, Embroiderers’ Guild of America (EGA), and American Needlepoint Guild (ANG).
Lorene’s Website: https://lorenesaltneedlearts.com/
Diane Scott: Ontario, Canada
Diane is an accomplished stitcher in various techniques but especially likes canvaswork. She was introduced to the threaded needle and all its possibilities when she lived in Nova Scotia and joined the Marigold Guild of Needle Arts.
She has had a variety of teaching opportunities in Canada – the Creativ Festival in Toronto, Fibre Potpourri in Olds, Alberta, multiple Embroiderers’ Association of Canada/Association canadienne de broderie (EAC/ACB) Seminars (2015, 2017, 2021, and 2025), and with the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto.
She has taught several original projects at her guild’s annual retreat. She joined the Toronto Guild of Stitchery in 2011 and has taught programs and several in-house workshops there.
