About The Owner

As a child, I watched my Mama (Linda Jackson) stitch for as far back as I can remember. She learned from her mother and in my teens, Mama taught me. I met my best friend, Craig when I was seventeen and we married a couple of years later. Craig's Mom (Linda Walker) is a stitcher as were his grandparents.  I’m sure you’ll meet Craig, the Moms and my Daddy around the shop later.

In my twenties, I really got hooked on cross stitch. Over the many years since, I've been able to visit several shops and attend retreats hosted in different areas. While doing so, I have had the chance to meet lots of different stitchers who taught me that there are more options than just Aida and DMC. Now, the sky is the limit!

I’ll be the first to admit, I’m not what I would call a technical stitcher.  Like most, I have lots of completed but not finished projects.  Stitching is a way for me to relax and for me railroading, using laying tools, punch needle etc. just isn’t relaxing to me.  You won’t see big elaborate projects that I can turn out every couple of months.  Most of my projects are going to be medium sized patterns that I’ve stitched to give to someone specific.  I will say, in the months leading up to the opening of the shop, I’ve started making sure to stitch projects that are still in print, so that most of my models are still available to purchase.

Craig and I lived in the Savannah area for about 12 years and in 2007 we moved to my hometown of Riddleville, Georgia, in Washington County.  It’s a very rural area just over an hour from Macon and Augusta, but the people are what makes it special.  As soon as we moved, we became active in our local church and not long after we started volunteering with the local fire department.

For many years I have dreamed of opening my own shop or even just hosting retreats in the middle Georgia area.  In 2024, Craig and I decided that it was time for me to make my dream a reality.  With the support of family, friends and some very supportive shop owners, we were able to open the online shop in October of 2025.  Lord willing, a retail space will become available and the brick-and-mortar shop will open in January 2026.

My goals are to introduce new stitchers to the hobby.  I want to give stitchers a brick-and-mortar location in Georgia to purchase supplies.  Also, I want to provide a place where stitchers can go to sit and stich with other people.  If we don’t introduce stitching to others and start teaching the younger generation, soon cross stitch will be a hobby that dies.  Buying from a small shop online is great but there’s no substitute for being able to see a piece of fabric next to the floss to excite a stitcher about an upcoming project.  In Georgia there are a few needlework shops that carry some cross stitch supplies but no dedicated cross stich shops.  I love sitting around with a group of stitchers, and as we work on our cross stitch, we can talk stitching, family, vacations or even other hobbies.

Thank you for taking a look at my bio.  I hope it gives you an idea of who I am and encourages you to purchase with us online or face to face once we are able to open the shop.  In the meantime, if I can help in any way, you can reach me at the shop’s email address (peachstatecrossstitch@gmail.com).

- Melanie Walker