Stitch People Stars: Hillary Nestrick

We are incredibly happy to introduce you to our newest Stitch People Star, Hillary Nestrick! We first met Hilary when she joined our Stitch People Academy and she became one of our rising stars. Hilary’s charm, enthusiasm and skill floods out of her work and we just had to know more about her.

Tell us a bit about yourself!

I’m a SAHM to two awesomely crazy kiddos, Aiden (10) and Brianna (3), and wife to an amazing guy, Brian. We moved to Christiansburg, VA in July of 2012 from Ithaca, NY after my hubby accepted a job with a software company here. It’s been the best 7 years of our lives!  We have two pets, Cooper, our rescue dog from Puerto Rico, and Jack, our kitty I rescued right before my hubby and I started dating! My favorite food is hands down sushi!! I had weight loss surgery in November of 2018, so that was an amazing new chapter in my life. I’ve lost almost 70lbs since surgery day, and have gained SO much more in terms of overall health and energy!  My main hobby is cross-stitching! I’ve been stitching for just over three years so, I’m relatively new to the cross-stitching world! 

Tell us about your business! 

I just launched my little business this week! I’m running this right out of my living room, which is also why I decided to start it. I wanted a way of making income that would work around my full-time job of being a SAHM and something that I would enjoy doing. I decided to name my business Keystone Cross Stitch because the street I live on is called Keystone Drive and our lives changed so much for the better when we moved here. The logo for my business is a keystone arch of different bright colors. I chose them for two reasons; I’m a major lover of colors, especially different bright colors and they are colors frequently used in the patterns of my favorite designer on Etsy (Satsuma Street)! 

How did you first come across the Stitch People book?

I found the Stitch People book on Amazon in 2017 when I was looking for cross stitch pattern books to add to my Christmas list!

What was your first Stitch People piece and how did it go?

My first Stitch People piece I finished was a mermaid door hanger for my daughter’s bedroom. The stitching part went awesome, but I’m still trying to figure out how to finish it….that part was more complicated that I thought! LOL

What have you enjoyed about making the portraits?

I love the entire creative process from designing the pattern to the actual stitching! 

What’s been your favorite piece so far?

My favorite piece so far is hands down the Halloween portrait I created. I had so much fun picking out which characters and background elements to use and how to make them work together for an awesome end result!

Where is your favorite place to stitch?

I like to stitch either in the living room or my bedroom with a show from the ID channel on the TV for background noise.

How have you developed your cross-stitching skills?

I’ve forced myself to slow down and take my time. Stitching isn’t a race and my impatience in the beginning would cause many mistakes and knots and made it take longer to finish a piece. Now, I have less mistakes and knots! I also read up on tips and watch tutorials when I can. Lastly, I’ve worked really hard to quiet that voice inside my head that sometimes has me second guessing myself. I allow myself to be confident in my work, which in turn has made me a better stitcher!

What advice would you give to people just starting their cross-stitching journey?

Don’t get stuck inside your head. Just enjoy the whole process and never let this become work. Let it be your way of achieving Zen!

Where can we see more of your work?

I’ve just created a page on Facebook and an Instagram account! 

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