Steotch Fine Needleart quietly debuted in the fall of 2010, as one of the first designers of modern and ironic cross stitch designs. Picked up early by a small handful of well known bloggers on sites like Boing Boing and Buzzfeed, the site became part of the early-aughts meme industrial complex, churning out samplers to echo memes-of-the-moment like Ceiling Cat, the Double Rainbow Guy, and other long-forgotten subjects of fleeting social media fame.

Steotch reached broader audiences by catching the eyes of Julie Jackson, of Subversive Cross Stitch; and April Winchell, of (now defunct) Regretsy – who named Steotch her favorite Etsy seller, and whose loyal fans began agitating for the release of patterns so they could stitch along.

In 2013, the first Steotchalong was rolled out as an experiment in creating something collectively with Steotch fans. Since then, each year the event has grown significantly in scope and number of participants. The most recent Steotchalongs have attracted thousands of stitchers around the world (you can read more about the history of Steotchalong here).

Emily Fitzpatrick is the main designer and driving creative force behind Steotch. She hosts each year’s Steotchalong live video presentations.

Matt Fitzpatrick handles much of the technical side of Steotch, including the website, and social media management.

They live in Durham, North Carolina, in a house bursting with kids, pets, and cross stitch.