Creative Corner

Joyce Stanley: The Quiet Art of Needlework

Joyce Stanley shares one of her favorite needlepoint pieces, a detailed design celebrating elegance, style, and the timeless art of hand-stitched craftsmanship.

Colorful windmills, tiny animals, flowers, and holiday scenes line the walls of Joyce’s apartment, each one carefully stitched by hand. For years, needlework has been a quiet creative outlet for her, a craft she picked up as a teenager and continued simply because she enjoyed it. 

“I never really learned it a certain way,” Joyce says with a smile. “I just started.” 

Her process begins with a printed pattern placed beneath the fabric. Using a small tool she calls a “poker,” Joyce carefully punches tiny holes through the pattern before threading a needle and stitching each design point by point. The rhythm is simple but precise: down through one hole, up through the next, repeating the pattern until the picture slowly appears. 

Some pieces take longer than others, especially the more detailed ones. Joyce laughs that she has misplaced a favorite pattern along the way,  something that happens easily when working with small tools and delicate designs. 

Though she doesn’t stitch as quickly as she once did, Joyce still enjoys keeping a project nearby. Her window-side chair provides the perfect workspace, where sunlight pours in and the view stretches across campus. 

“I like this place,” she says, glancing out the window. 

Around her, the stitched artwork tells the story of years spent creating small, careful stitches that turn simple thread and fabric into bright scenes full of life.