The goal of Thistle Threads is to bring back techniques from the past in a manner that appeals to the embroiderer of today.

Tricia Wilson Nguyen has been embroidering since she was a little girl. By day she works as a engineer for a Boston based consulting firm, by night an embroidery teacher and designer.

Often people ask me how I got my start. I have been embroidering since I can remember - I come from a long line of really creative women who embroider, quilt or sew. The bug really bit me when I was about seven or eight after my mother discovered that I was "furthering" her projects when she was out of the room. After that we often worked side by side at Embroiderer's Guild meetings. Then came a series of Youth Talent contests which allowed me to finally join the guild. I started teaching embroidery as a freshman in high school and was immediately attracted to historic and folk embroidery techniques. Hardanger and Japanese Embroidery being my early favorites.

When I went to college at MIT, my roommates discovered my embroidery halfway through the year (I had hid it - afraid of the potential beer bashes!). Soon I had taught almost twenty of my house mates (men and women) to embroider and the group launched on a series of really crazy group projects. They included a three foot wedding sampler that I designed and twenty people stitched, large friendship quilts, Russian embroideries, etc. We were young and nuts! Many of them are still stitching and several have become very accomplished teachers in their own right.

I got serious about teaching and building skills when I went to graduate school in engineering. With my fiancé halfway across the country, I had plenty of time to hone skills! I have always been attracted to the combination of historical information and embroidery. Embroidery is always worked in the context of the culture of the embroiderer and that knowledge really enriches the teaching experience. I have studied in depth Ukrainian Nyzynka, Norwegian Hardanger, English Tudor and Stuart embroidery, and American samplers. The national costumes of the European and Asian countries are fascinating to me. You can see all these influences on my embroidery designs.

For the last few years I have been combining my engineering career with my embroidery knowledge in a field called "electronic textiles". It's a very high tech twist on using metal threads to make electrical devices. It has led me into an in depth study of goldwork, needles, history and collaborations with manufacturers and museums. Currently I am on sabbatical from my job to follow my husband around Europe every other month. He has an opportunity to run a group in Germany and my son and I are traveling with him often (that is me a few weeks ago with my trusty luggage - it contained all my and my son's clothes and as many embroidery book purchases as I could stuff in!) Our frequent trips to Germany have been a great excuse to explore English and European embroideries, museums, history, and materials. My poor 3-year old can already identify the differences between quilts, samplers, and embroideries from our museum hopping and is on first name basis with many curators.

It has been a wild year! Keep checking, I know you will see some great and really exciting developments from all this travel soon!

Many of you have heard me talk about Kris in my classes. She is one of the unsung heroes that help me bring you quality products. Kris is my main model stitcher, kit packer, and the person who sets all of my teaching kits up in an exquisite manner. Kris is an award winning embroiderer and a teacher in her own right. If you have the chance to take a class with her, take advantage of it! She is a sweet and patient person. I feel blessed to be able to have her as part of my organization and know that she will take center stage in her own way in a few years.