In Memoriam Margaret Sherry

This week, the sad news of Margaret Sherry`s passing has been confirmed. Her death is a great loss to the cross stitching community and my heart goes out to her family, especially her children and grandchildren, of whom she spoke so fondly in  this interview in 2012.

Coincidentally, I started model stitching the same year that interview was conducted, and after my test piece, a little giraffe for Card Shop, then-Technical Editor Anne MacGregor`s first commission for me was one of the 6 designs in this calendar:

In a way, that first picture set the tone for the next 6, now 7, years: I feel the same excitement with every new project, the same joy at discovering what I like about each - and it also marked the start of my love affair with those adorable mice of hers and their cute little noses. 😃

This calendar inspired me so much that later I stitched the three little chefs too for my granny`s birthday:

I`ve had the pleasure to work on several of her smaller designs that were the free gifts with various cross stitch magazines:

And only a few months ago, these cats in Christmas stockings were on the cover of The World of Cross Stitching:

More recently, I have finished another picture of hers, but since it hasn`t been published yet, I can`t share a photo - but I can perhaps reveal that this one involves her trademark cats and mice too. And as always, this one was also a joy to work on and I can`t wait to see it in print.

In the statement that Margaret`s daughter released a few days ago, she reassures fans that she plans to continue running The Margaret Sherry Collection with the many, many artworks there are yet to be launched, which is something of a silver lining in this sad time, but there`s no doubt in my mind she`ll be sorely missed by many of us. Rest in peace, Margaret Sherry.