A Feathered Year ~ The Story Behind the Stitches
Anabella’s Needleart
A Feathered Year™
The Story Behind the Stitches
Some collections begin with a color palette. Some begin with a sketch or an idea
that simply won’t leave you alone.
A Feathered Year™ began a lifetime ago.
Long before I ever designed a cross stitch pattern, long before Anabella’s, and
long before I could have imagined living here in the mountains of North Carolina,
there were birds.
It Started in Miami Beach
I grew up in Miami Beach, and when I was a little girl, we had
two parakeets. I loved those little birds so much.
There is something about loving an animal when you are a child that stays with
you. You remember the sounds they made, their little personalities, and the way
they became part of the rhythm of home. My parakeets were part of my childhood,
and I think they were the beginning of a love for birds that has followed me
throughout my life.
After my mother died and we moved to Buffalo, I wasn’t able to have birds anymore.
But the love for them never went anywhere.
I simply had to wait.
And Then There Were Birds Again
When I got married in 1984, one of the things I finally could
do was bring birds back into my life.
And I did.
I brought home two cockatiels.
Years later, when I married Terry and we raised our children, birds were once
again part of our family. We had more cockatiels, including
Max and Mo, whose names still make me smile.
Through different homes, different seasons, and different chapters of my life,
birds kept finding their way back to me.
Maybe that is part of why I have always noticed them outside, too.
Then I Came to the Mountains
Today I have the extraordinary privilege of living in the
Smoky Mountains of North Carolina, in a neighborhood that is
also a bird sanctuary.
Sometimes I think the little girl in Miami Beach would hardly believe it.
Birds are everywhere here. They gather in the trees, visit the feeders, and
provide the background music to ordinary days. I get to watch the seasons change
not only by what is blooming or what color the mountains have become, but also
by the birds that appear outside my windows.
And Then There Is Buddy
Buddy is my cardinal.
Of course, I realize Buddy hasn’t technically signed any paperwork confirming
that he belongs to me. But he visits me every single day, and
after a while, a bird who shows up that faithfully earns a name.
He has become one of those little constants in my life—the flash of brilliant
red outside the window that makes me stop what I’m doing for a moment and look.
And perhaps that is what I love most about birds.
They make us look. They make us notice.
And Then There Is Bella Fiorella
Inside my home, there is another very special bird.
My Quaker parrot, Bella Fiorella. Fiorella is my maiden name and I thought it was a perfect fit for the new member of our very Italian family.
And today, September 27, Bella turns 12 years old.
Twelve.
I couldn’t have planned a more appropriate day to bring this collection back if
I had tried.
Because there are also twelve designs in A Feathered Year™—one
bird for each month of the year.
Sometimes the timing of things just feels right.
A Feathered Year™ Takes Flight Again
Some of you may recognize these birds.
I originally created this series a couple of years ago, and it became a popular
collection. I’ve wanted to bring the birds back for some time, but I didn’t want
to simply pull out the old patterns and put them back on the shelf.
Anabella’s has changed.
I’ve changed.
And I wanted these little birds to come home in a way that felt like the
Anabella’s of today.
So they have a new name:
A Feathered Year™
Twelve Months • Twelve Birds
There are twelve designs, each celebrating a different month and season. The
original cross stitch designs remain intact. I haven’t
redesigned the birds that people loved. Instead, I’m giving the collection a
beautiful new home, with new covers and presentation that celebrate the story
behind them.
And we’re beginning exactly where we are.
October.
Golden leaves. Burnt orange. Wheat and warm neutrals. That unmistakable feeling
when summer has finally stepped aside and autumn has settled in.
And one little bird sitting quietly among it all.
More Than a Collection of Birds
Looking at these twelve designs now, I realize they tell a much longer story than
I understood when I first created them.
There is a little girl in Miami Beach who adored her two parakeets.
There is a young woman who finally had a home of her own and promptly filled it
with two cockatiels.
There are years of raising a family with Terry, with Max and Mo becoming part of
the household.
There is a woman who eventually found her way to the mountains of North Carolina,
where birds now surround her every day.
There is Buddy arriving outside the window.
And there is Bella Fiorella inside the house, turning twelve years old today.
Maybe that is why I keep designing birds.
They have been quietly flying through the chapters of my life for as long as I
can remember.
So today, on Bella’s 12th birthday, it seems especially fitting to begin
another trip around the calendar with twelve of them.
Welcome to A Feathered Year™.
We’ll begin with October.
And then, one little bird at a time, we’ll stitch our way through the year.
Where Every Stitch Tells a Story.
