Monica Pratt is our guest this week. She is owner of Welcome Stitchery, a needlework store located in Crystal Lake, IL, northwest of Chicago. Monica and her staff recently celebrated 29 years in business, putting them among the oldest local needlework stores in the hobby. Starting out primarily as a cross-stitch shop, Monica has built Welcome Stitchery into a complete needlework operation that offers a large array of charts and canvases, more threads than they have room to display, a very large selection of ground cloths/canvases, a regular schedule of classes, and a very-busy custom-framing department. We hope you enjoy hearing about Gary’s favorite shop and how they’ve succeeded for almost three decades.–Christine and Gary
Listen to the podcast:
You can follow Monica and Welcome Stitchery through their various online channels:
We hope you enjoy this week’s chat with Monica. We’re always looking for guests, so let us know if there is someone you’d like us to have on the show.–Gary and Christine
Have stopped at Welcome Stitchery a couple of times when traveling through Illinois. Wonderful shop overflowing with patterns, fibers, fabric, gadgets, etc. Very friendly, helpful staff!
Cathy,
Agree on all counts. Thanks for listening.
Gary
Hi Gary and Christine-
I heard about your Podcast via the Nordic Needle Newsletter when they were guests in June. I have since “binge listened” to all your shows, thoroughly enjoyed them and eagerly look forward to the next one. Thanks so much!
Among other non fiber related hobbies, I needlepoint, cross stitch, sew/quilt and weave. My strong preference is for charted designs. I have completed Tony Minieri’s “Stars” as well as David McCaskill’s Background Sampler 1. I have enjoyed smaller projects by Laura J. Perin also. I think it would be great if you could have some of these designers as future guests on your podcast.
Thanks again for a wonderful podcast!
Nancy
Nancy,
Thanks for listening and we’re glad you’re enjoying the shows. Thanks, also, for the suggestions. I’ll add them to the list.
Gary
Loved listening to this podcast! Monica and her staff have always been extremely helpful each and every time I visit! Great shop with awesome finds!
To me, a trip to Welcome Stitchery is likened to “coming home”. Monica is amazing, the staff always friendly and helpful.
You can usually find exactly what you need, and if not they will order anything for you.
I can’t believe I have been coming here for almost 20 years, it is definitely my “go to ” shop for stitching, and sometimes just to say “Hi”. Great podcast, Gary!!!