It was 1995. Deborah Lester had been hand-painting tapestry canvases for a small needlecraft shop in Aberdeen when she was introduced to cross stitch design. The idea that a painted scene could be faithfully recreated again and again in stitches was a complete revelation.

Keen to explore this new medium, Deborah bought her first computer and cross stitch charting program and began experimenting with turning painted ideas into stitched designs.

Sandra Littlejohns — Deborah’s mum — was always eager to try new creative pursuits and soon joined in. Together they taught themselves how to design for cross stitch and soon created their first small collection of patterns.

Deborah sent them to the editor of Cross Stitch Collection, not expecting very much — but the reply came almost immediately. The editor wanted to publish several of them straight away.

It was an exciting moment — and the beginning of Cross Stitch Arts.

Sandra sadly passed away in 2024. Today Deborah continues to share their designs so that stitchers can still enjoy the work they created together.

Deborah Lester and Sandy Littlejohns were regular contributors to several of the UK's leading cross stitch magazines, including Cross Stitch Collection, Cross Stitcher, and Jane Greenoff’s Cross Stitch Magazine.

Among their most recognised work is an unprecedented series of large panoramic designs, each published in three parts across consecutive magazine issues. These richly detailed scenes were created to unfold slowly as stitchers worked through the design month by month. Years later these panoramic designs are still sought after.

The first of these pieces, A Summer Ball, proved especially popular with readers. Its success led the editor of Cross Stitch Collection to commission a further 7 designs in the same wide format, storytelling style, alongside a wide range of other designs including floral studies, wildlife pieces, historical settings, and period costume scenes — all characterised by their colour, detail and narrative charm.

Today these designs are being reintroduced so that a new generation of stitchers can enjoy them.