Ever since the Bermuda Guild of Stitchery decided to bring-in famed stitch designer Tanja Berlin, people from overseas have been emailing and telephoning to say they want to come to Bermuda just to attend Ms Berlin?s workshops.

?People from abroad have been calling and saying they are willing to sign up with our guild just to attend this one event,? said Gail Rego, Bermuda Guild of Stitchery president. met with Ms Berlin shortly after she arrived on the Island. She came with a large suitcase filled with her needlework projects. Some of the projects in her suitcase were goldwork ? a type of multi-dimensional stitching worked with metallic thread. There were also pictures of animals and birds stitched with ?thread painting?, an uncounted form of embroidery that blends different coloured threads.

?Bringing Ms Berlin to the Island has been a two-year process,? said Mrs. Rego. ?When it came down to it, it was very hard for us to decide if we wanted her to teach the goldwork, or the thread painting. Already we have guild members who want her to come back next year. In the end we decided on the goldwork.?

Ms Berlin has taught embroidery all over the world and has had some of her designs featured in magazines and books. She is originally from Dorset, England but now lives in Calgary, Canada.

?I trained at the Royal School of Needlework,? said Ms Berlin. ?When you tell people you are going to the Royal School of Needlework, people often look at you funny, because not a lot of people in England have heard of it. I only found out about it because I was at art college, and the stuff I was doing was very modern, and I like more traditional stuff. I trained in renaissance art in school, and all my stuff is really realistic.?

The Royal School of Needlework is prestigious. Only a handful of new students are accepted each year to the three-year embroidery apprenticeship programme. Ms Berlin was one of eight students to be accepted, and one of only four to graduate.

After university she became ?saturated? with embroidery and decided to take a break and see the world. While picking snow peas in Australia, she met her future husband, a Canadian.

?Now I teach classes at the Embroiders Guild,? she said. ?I am doing about 15 different weekends at different guilds. I also go to the United States and teach for the Embroiderers? Guild of America.?

She said the Bermuda Guild of Stitchery actually has quite a number of members in relation to the population of the Island.

?There are 55 members in the guild here, and a population of 60,000,? she said. ?In Calgary we have 85 members in one guild to a million people. In England there would probably be a small guild in each city.?

In Canada she teaches classes of about 20 women in them. She usually makes up her own kits to give to her students. In her seminars her students have a choice of four or five of these kits to work on.

?In most other stitching workshops students don?t get so much choice,? said Mrs. Rego. ?That?s one of the reasons we liked Tanja.?

Most people stitch to relax, but how does a career stitcher relax?

?I read a book, but I don?t often get the chance to read a book because there is just not time,? she said. ?I am pretty busy teaching classes, and running a business through a website I designed. I like to hike. We are near the Rocky Mountains so my husband and I camp and hike and in the winter we go skiing.?

She said she does have to adjust her teaching practices to suit the culture.

?North America is very good because the workshop students order my kits and get the whole package,? she said. ?In England you just bring the supplies and the students do their own designs.?

Although her sample stitching projects look very difficult, she said she teaches her workshops to all levels.

?When I first arrived in Canada I realised that most of my embroidery techniques that I teach were unheard off by many stitchers or very little practised in Canada, I also discovered that the students were enthusiastic to try these new techniques,? she said.

As a result her classes are formatted with the beginner in mind. This doesn?t mean that the classes won?t be challenging for the students who are a little more experienced, just that it will be fun for newcomers also.

?I understand that the techniques I offer are unusual and I am willing to help people learn them and not to keep the knowledge of these wonderful techniques secret for myself,? she said.

Ms Berlin said the type of embroidery she most enjoys is thread painting.

?It is a free embroidery,? she said. ?It is not counted. I draw the design onto the fabric and use a picture and diagrams to follow. You shade rows of different colours together to make a realistic picture.

?It uses long and straight stitches. It is a little bit more difficult because you have to judge where you want to put the stitch.?

She uses thread painting to stitch commissioned portraits of people?s pets.

Although hobby stitchers tend to give their projects away as gifts, she said she has to keep hers to use in her classes.

?I have 60 pieces or so at home,? she said with a laugh. ?Yes, I am in danger of running out of wall space.?

Some of her designs have been featured in the Australian stitch magazine, Inspirations. She also has five embroidery articles in a book called ?The A-Z of Thread Painting?. It is part of a series on different sewing techniques.

To learn more about Ms Berlin or to order a kit, go to http://www.berlinembroidery.com/ or telephone 403-274-6293.

To join the Bermuda Guild of Stitchery and attend stitch-ins, meetings, and take other workshops like this telephone 236-3410.