About Us

Needlepointers.com results from a mother/daughter team passionate about handicrafts. Annette Rosanelli and her daughter, Chris Rickert, inherited their love of crafting from generations of women, including their grandmother and great-grandmother. For the two, crafting is a way to spend quality time together.

Some of the crafts the pair enjoy include counted cross stitch, sewing, knitting, crochet, embroidery, machine embroidery, quilting, and needlepoint—all crafts that involve using a needle. So, it was no surprise that this duo used the word needle in the site’s name. Since they wanted to share information about their favorite crafts by providing helpful hints, tips, and suggestions, they chose pointers to complete the website’s name. Put the words together, and you will have Needlepointers.com!

In October 2011, Annette and Chris launched their YouTube channel, Needlepointers. Since then, it has blossomed into a thriving community with over 112,000 subscribers, 850 videos, and 18 million views. You can find our videos, photos, and written directions for many projects by clicking the YouTube link at the top of the page or visiting our YouTube channel. Don’t forget to subscribe to stay updated with our latest videos.

Chris serves as the site’s webmaster, designer, and programmer, while Annette locates all of the content and links enjoyed by Needlepointers.com’s guests since September 1998. Both create the video project tutorials our visitors enjoy. They constantly strive to improve the technical and creative aspects of the website and welcome your comments.

Annette and Chris sincerely hope that you, our valued visitors, find joy and inspiration in the videos and tutorials on this site. Your enjoyment is our greatest reward.

Happy Stitching!

Meet the Needlepointers.com Team

Annette Rosanelli
Owner and Content Creator

Annette is one of the content creators behind Needlepointers.com, where she finds and shares inspiring content for our creative community.

Annette's love for crafting began early, as she grew up surrounded by women passionate about handmade arts. At the age of 7, she learned hand embroidery, and by 10, sewing and knitting became part of her life. Since then, Annette's creative journey has expanded to include count cross stitch, needlepoint, crochet, quilting, and various other crafts.

Sustainable crafting is important to Annette and our environment. She is committed to recycling, upcycling, and using everything and anything.

After earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from West Virginia Institute of Technology, Annette spend over 40 years in the accounting profession.

Now retired, she devotes her energy to what she truly loves—crafting and inspiring others. She aims to provide our readers with informative content, creative DIY projects, and tutorials that encourage them to explore their artistic side.

Annette's favorite hobbies are sewing and quilting. When not sewing, quilting, or working on the website, she can be found in her garden, babysitting, reading, or unwinding with a handwork project while listening to music or watching TV.

Chris Rickert
Owner and Content Creator

Chris Rickert's journey as a lifelong crafter began in her childhood. Her dedication to the art of sewing, which she learned through 4-H at the age of 8, is truly inspiring. Over the years, she has explored many crafts, but her heart lies in sewing, quilting, machine embroidery, and crocheting. Her past endeavors include counted cross-stitch and plastic canvas.

Chris Rickert is not just a co-owner and content creator at Needlepointers.com; she is also a technical resource. Chris earned a BS in Computer Science / Business from Lock Haven University and has used her programming skills for over 30 years. Her expertise as a website developer is evident in the code she developed for Needlepointers.com, which she continues to update. Her technical experience also extends to video editing, where she edits the videos for our YouTube channel.

Chris enjoys making instructional videos and tutorials on sewing, quilting, and machine embroidery. She loves to learn new things and has recently started learning the Cricut machine and everything it can be used for. Crochet is a nice take-along craft.

While crafting is a significant part of her life, Chris Rickert enjoys other activities. She is an avid bicyclist, loves to read, and garden, demonstrating diverse interests that enrich her life and inspire her creativity.

Wendy Heim
Writer and Content Creator

Wendy Heim specializes in writing content for our pages, and you can see her work on the many Topic and other pages throughout our site. She has been a crafter and artist since childhood and loves sharing all kinds of crafts and fine arts with you.

Wendy has a Masters Degree in Elementary Education from Central Michigan University and has taught kindergarten and second grade, where she could let her creativity shine.

There is a long line of crafters and artists in her family. Her grandmothers and her mom introduced her to macramé, many types of needlework, sewing, cake decorating, and much more.

At age 13, she completed her first hand-pieced quilt which she and her grandmother quilted, also by hand. Wendy continues to quilt today, though a sewing machine has replaced the handwork!

She currently quilts, does hand embroidery, makes cards, and decorates cakes. She’s adventurous, and you will often find her at a fabric or craft shop looking for new things to try!