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Phyllis Stafford has been a needle worker all her life and used her expertise knitting and sewing for her ten children,. Her interest in miniatures started in the late '70's when she began the challenge of finishing a doll house for her youngest daughter. Trained by her original teacher, her grandmother, to be meticulous and accurate at any craftsmanship, Phyllis strived to produce miniature rooms that were authentic in size, era and material.
During years of mastering the woodworking and architectural aspects of the dollhouse and many subsequent room boxes, Phyllis found the miniature market to be lacking in one area. Authentic detailed carpets. Soon she began attempting to make what she could not find.
After much research and trial and error, Phyllis produced what she had been looking for. Using her now trademark formula of single strand DMC cotton floss on 40 silk mesh (1,600 stitches to the square inch) stretched on a light-weight wooden frame. Phyllis literally began drawing with needle and thread. The finished carpet proved to have accurate dimensions, intricate detail and a realistic wool-like sheen, an authentic miniature of the original carpet.
Presently, in business for more than 20 years, Phyllis still draws with her needle and thread using designs found in art magazines or auction house catalogs of life size carpets, tapestries and mosaics. She then charts the carpet on a computer and manually puts the kits together. Anyone familiar with Phyllis' designs and kits knows the masterpiece quality fo the finished piece.
Phyllis has received many awards for her work and has been featured in Nushell News and Miniature Collector Magazine. In 1994 The International Guild of Miniature Artisans http://www.igma.org/ awarded her the status of Fellow which is given to an artisan that has been judged to have achieved excellence in their field.
In recognition of Phyllis Stafford as one of the finest artisans in miniature needlepoint, The Kathleen Savage Browning Miniature Collection Housed at Kentucky Gateway Museum Center http://www.kygmc.org/ in Maysville, Kentucky, purchased and displays many of her carpets. Her most intricate piece, The Wine Press Tapestry, resides here.
Phyllis and her work can be seen at the shows she attends. Please see Show Schedule and on Samllismo http://smallisimo.com/.
for her next calendar event.