Member Spotlight | Heather Snyder

We love encouraging our members' creativity and while kits are a fantastic and relaxing way to produce a beautiful finished piece, what we really want is for you to feel comfortable creating your own designs.

To help encourage this, we decided to create the Member Spotlight series, to give our members a chance to talk through their creative practice, including their process, tools, and how they build up the confidence to push through any blocks.

Hopefully the answers and photos shared in this section will help you feel inspired to persevere with your own work, and maybe one day to be featured to help encourage other members!

A little about Heather...​

Hello, I’m Heather Snyder, and I live in Vermont, USA. I have been an artist/maker my whole life. I especially love making clothes, drawing, and painting, but I will dabble in anything creative (especially fabric arts) to try something new or get back into something I used to love. I am currently semi-retired, working part-time until I retire completely in 2027.​

I have spent my career as a Graphic Designer, mostly for small sign companies in Vermont. Alongside my design work, I’ve had several side gigs over the years, creating and selling items I love to make. Over the years, I’ve designed and sold unique dolls, watercolor paintings, and crafted items like table runners, embroidered pillows, placemats, and a line of greeting cards.​

Discovering The Fabled Thread about five years ago and joining the Makers Space community have helped me combine all my creative passions: design, fabric, drawing, and painting. I have loved learning a new way to design by following the Freestyle Embroidery guidelines and participating in the yearly Challenges. It has brought me such joy to use all my skills to create a fully designed embroidery piece, including the painted frame! Now when I find interesting things, I think, “Oh, that would make a great embroidery!” I have so many ideas in my head that I had to start writing a list in my sketchbook and sketch them!​

You can find me on Instagram here.

What are you working on at the moment?

Currently, I am working on several projects. 1) I’m finishing my “Story Challenge” embroidery pieces and working on The Sable kit. 2) I’m also sketching an embroidery series I’ve had in my head for a while. These will be the “Postcards: Places I’ve Traveled” embroidery series, taking elements from my travels and turning them into small embroidery pieces. 3) I recently finished several shoe bags for my travels, embroidering my initial “H” on them. 4) I’m continuing my “Year of Stitches” embroidery book(s) I started last year. This is an ongoing project; eventually, I’ll sew them together to create volumes of embroidery stitches in fabric book format. 5) I’m making a linen sleeveless shirt and using the “Embroider your clothing” kit to stitch a carnation on the front. 6) I’m working on a wall hanging design for my sister, currently revising ideas in my sketchbook to combine fabric and embroidery for the final wall hanging.​​

Do you tend to work on one project at a time or have multiple things on the go?

Yes, multiple things going at once. Ha! See above answer! 😊

How do you fit creativity and crafting into your life? Do you find it hard to find the time to make things?​

Good question. For many years, I’ve found it difficult to “consistently” be creative and make things on a daily or weekly basis, especially while working full time and raising my son. I still struggle with this, but recently I’ve implemented weekly guidelines that have helped tremendously. I’ve started designating days for specific creative practices. “Admin. Monday” – On this day, I pay bills, catch up on emails, and handle technical project tasks like pattern drafting, research, and studio tidying. “Textile Tuesday” – On this day, I work on my textile-related projects, like my embroidery projects, and I am currently working through my stash of quilt fabric, making simple lap quilts for gifts. “WIP Wednesday” – On this day, I dedicate time to unfinished or ongoing projects.I still work on creative projects throughout the week, but on these days, I completely dedicate myself to being creative all day.​

Not every week is exactly like this (life does get in the way sometimes!), but most weeks I can make this work. By doing this, I’ve become much happier in my daily life and feel truly able to be productive in my creative life.

Do you keep a sketchbook? If not, do you have other means of practicing, storing and refining ideas?​

Yes, I am a big sketchbook keeper. I usually have several going at once, each for a different purpose. I always bring a small sketchbook with me when I travel. I use it to capture a moment or jot notes from my adventures. Others have been used for artistic challenges and 100-day projects (like the 100 Days of Tea I did a while ago, and want to turn into an embroidery project somehow). My favorite sketchbook is a wire-bound Canson mixed media, 5.5” x 8.5”, 98 lb/160 g. When I start a new sketchbook, I love to decorate the cover before I make a mess inside!

Do you listen to anything or watch anything while you work? If so, does it affect your pace or the kind of work you make?​

Usually, I listen to audiobooks, podcasts, or music. Some great book series I’ve been listening to lately are Detective Karen Pirie, by Val McDermid, and The Joe Gunther Mysteries by Archer Mayor. A favorite podcast I’ve been listening to is “Your Mama’s Kitchen” hosted by Michelle Norris.​

I find that classic jazz music helps me focus. I’ve noticed that if I must think about my work while I am stitching, I listen to music. If I am mindlessly working away, I can listen to a book or podcast. I guess I can only focus on one thing at a time!​

Is there anything that’s caught your eye recently that you can’t get out of your head? A colour combo, artist, way of working, shape...​

Yes! Oh my, I’ve gone down a couple of rabbit holes lately! 1) Renate Müller: Her toys are so beautiful! I love the shapes and colors, and just looking at them feels calming. I want to get her book!

2) Monika Beisner: I just LOVE her illustrations and have been inspired by her art to sketch some embroidery ideas. I bought three Beisner books: “Fantastic Toys,” “Book of Riddles,” and “Secret Spells and Curious Charms”. I have one other on order: “Catch that Cat”. ​

Are there other creatives, artists, cultures etc whose work you come back to often, and what is it about their work you like?​

Milton Glaser, and 1960-70s pop art. The flat colors and stylized shapes. I have this amazing book that I am constantly referring to for design inspo.

Do you tend to plan out a piece in detail beforehand, or do you prefer to make it up as you go?​

Usually, I start with a loose sketch and build from there. If I am working on a fabric project, I start with prototypes or toiles until I get the look I am going for. If I am working on a painted project, I start with a sketch, then sometimes a couple of color ideas, and then work toward the final piece.​​

Do you have a favourite medium (e.g. embroidery, quilting, painting, printing, inks, oils, clay...) and what is it about that medium that you like? Are there any specific tools within that medium that you prefer to use (like a specific kind of pen, paper, ink etc)?​

Sewing my own clothes is a passion I’ve carried consistently since I was fourteen. My grandma made many of my clothes when I was a child, and I loved everything she created. Even in high school, when most kids were very conscious of what they wore, I proudly wore the clothes she made for me. She and my mom began teaching me to use a sewing machine when I was seven. Later, as a young teen, I took a sewing class and made my first piece of clothing: a vest. After that, I was hooked. With guidance from my grandma, my mom, and my 4-H leaders, I started making clothes and never stopped. I have only recently started sharing my handmade clothes on Instagram. I always thought of making clothes as a practical way to get the outfit I want, not as showpieces. But now I believe it’s an art form for me, a way to express myself through the clothes I make. I have a monumental fabric stash that should carry me through the next 30 years or so – I love fabric! I absolutely love the idea of taking a flat piece of fabric and creating something 3-dimensional; it's architectural. It still amazes me that it can be done!​

Watercolor has also been a lifelong love of mine. I have a very early childhood memory of my uncle, an artist, putting an adult-sized shirt on me backward, rolling up the sleeves, and setting me in front of watercolors (tube colors, not cheap kids' paints) and good watercolor paper. He then started teaching me how to paint with watercolor. I use watercolors more tightly, not the loose, flowy way some artists do. I find it is my way to communicate with color. I love my Blick Masterstroke Red Sable brushes. I prefer hot press paper. I think the smooth surface lends itself to my tighter painting style.

How did you first get into your current creative craft/ artform? Has your way of working changed at all since then?​

Creating embroidered pieces is relatively new to me, but it is fast becoming a passion. It lets me use all the art and craft mediums I love to create each piece, and that makes me so happy! Although I have been using embroidery for years to decorate and embellish items like pillows, table mats, and blouses, I have never created an embroidery design as I have with The Fabled Thread techniques.​

Getting inspired by art and artists again, taking those ideas, and turning them into working designs for an embroidery piece is very exciting. This process stretches my brain in a very good way. Exploring different types of art and culture for inspiration in my own art is something I had long forgotten. Although I have always admired art and love going to museums and cultural events, somewhere along the way I stopped using them as inspiration for my own art. At University, I did this as part of practice in my art classes. Once I started working, many creative habits were sidelined, and this was one of them. Now, it’s a joy to go down rabbit holes to discover new and old favorites and use that inspiration to create my stitched pieces! It is becoming a (good) problem to have so many ideas and not enough time to stitch them!