Erica Wilson

About Erica Wilson, 1929-2011: After graduating from the Royal School of Needlework in London, she ventured to America for a teaching assignment that became a singular career. She was the most prominent, and most successful, needlework entrepreneur of the last half of the twentieth century. Her career spanned not just time, but technique: starting with crewelwork, she moved on to needlepoint, "crewelpoint"-crewel stitches on needlepoint canvas-knitting, and quilting, as well as their application to jewelry and clothing. Her flagship store on Madison Avenue in New York City offered her kits and painted canvases as well as needlework lessons. She appeared on WGBH television for two years and made brand alliances with designs for the Franklin Mint and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in addition to regular commissions for needlework and women's magazines. Interview duration: 5 hours. Transcript length: 30 pages. [This interview was conducted in two sessions.