Hello, I’m Maria Teresa

[Photo: Maria Teresa at her work table, or holding a finished piece]

I was born in Milan, and I live in Rome with my family. As a young girl I spent my summers in Milan with my mother and my grandmother, and I remember sitting beside my grandmother, enchanted by her hands and by the things she made. I drew next to her for hours, and my mother kept every one of those drawings. I didn’t know it yet, but that’s where my designs began.

My very first design was a sampler dedicated to the two most important women in my life, my mother and my grandmother. I still keep it in my own collection.

I founded MTVDesigns in 2002. Over the years my style has changed, and today my heart is in early American and primitive needlework: old samplers, folk houses, black cats, tulips and stars, and small pieces finished by hand, like pincushion drums, pinkeeps and little pillows. I love designs that become something you can hold and use, so every chart includes my finishing instructions.

I stitch my designs on my own 32 count Bisquit Linen, which I hand-dye myself, and I choose Weeks Dye Works threads for their warm, gentle tones. I always say that every color has its own personality, and I spend a long time choosing the ones that belong together. Every chart lists the Weeks Dye Works colors with a DMC conversion.

My work has traveled to shows in Italy, in France and in the USA, at the St. Charles and Nashville markets, and I’ve donated some of my designs to the Embroiderers’ Guild of America. Today my charts are carried by needlework shops across the US and the UK.

Thank you for stitching with me. I hope my little houses and cats find a warm place in your home.

Maria Teresa

[To confirm: mention of family / husband and daughters; older shows (Abilmente, Italia Invita, Aiguille en Fête)]