Etsy Shop Profile: Averylee Designs

I'm beginning to feel human again.  It's amazing how much a good night of rest will do for the body.  Since I am up to an interview today, say "hello" to Sheryl and Peggy, two grandmothers from Oregon who just happen to create some of the prettiest needlecrafts for their Etsy shop Averylee Designs.  They happen to be great friends who met in one of my favorite places....a quilt class!


1. Explain your business partnership.  Our business partnership was birthed from a long term friendship. One that is seasoned with the joy's and challenges that life delivers. All it took for us to begin crafting together was taking a beginning quilt class. Since taking that class we have delighted in each other’s developing artistic skills and started Averylee Designs a year ago with the desire to help others grow in creativity and teach the skills we had to share. Recently we opened an Etsy shop to sell our creations.

2. Where/when did you learn to make such beautiful cross-stitch and needlework? Peggy was introduced to needlework while thumbing through a magazine about twenty five years ago and was inspired to learn the craft. Through trial and error it began to blossom in design and intricacy. Sheryl was first introduced to needlework as a young school girl. In the fifth grade her teacher had each student create an embroidered piece on burlap. She remembers very vividly the owl in the tree she stitched. The other wonderful gift of needlework is that it allows us to relax and have a peaceful moment.

3. What are some of your favorite designs to make?  Peggy chooses design by color. She is always drawn by the seasons and her favorite season is autumn. Sheryl really enjoys the French Country designs with the "hidden treasures", such as suddenly you see a squirrel in the center of the design. 

4. How would you describe your creative process?  The creative process is like an adventure, a discovery process. You cannot be overtly perfectionist when you are being creative. Auditioning each medium or project and then committing to starting and finishing fulfils the intrinsic desire in each of us to be creative.

5. Who has influenced your art the most? In what way(s) did this person influence you?   Both of us believe that creation itself speaks volumes and cries out to be duplicated in likeness. Sheryl also gives credit to her mom who allowed and encouraged her creativity as a child.

6. What does "handmade" mean to you?   Handmade is equal to a personal touch. When we hand stitch a piece we not only spend a lengthy amount of time creating, but we also find ourselves emotionally investing in the piece, curiously wondering who will be the recipient of this lovingly created artwork. 

Is there anything else you'd like others to know about yourself or your shop?   Our greatest treasure are our grandchildren of which our business name is created from. Avery is one of six grandsons that Sheryl has been blessed with and Rylee is Peggy’s granddaughter. If you put the two names together it forms the name AveRYlee.


To visit Sheryl and Peggy, go to their shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop/AveryleeDesigns.