Welcome! My name is Pamela Bartnett. I was born and grew up as a Midwestern girl, from Chicago, Illinois. I love the city and always consider Chicago to be my hometown. But for a modern city girl, I had a fascination with the history of our country. I enjoyed reading many of the biographies of our very First Ladies and stories about women who were our foremothers. I developed a strong interest in their way of life and the handcrafts they made. I admired their strength and courage to face all the hardships that life held for them. I learned of a place called Williamsburg, the Colonial Capital of Virginia. I was determined to travel there one day.

From left: Angelica (grand-daughter), Pamela, Caitlyn (grand-daughter).

My dream came true in a most unexpected way. In 1972 I met and married a man who took me to Williamsburg, the city he had lived in and where his mother still resided. My husband Ken and I lived in Chicago for a while where we were blessed with our three children. In 1980 his work took us to Richmond, Virginia. In 1989 we moved to Virginia Beach and have remained. I have enjoyed living in Virginia and being able to visit all the many historical sites here. Williamsburg continues to inspire me as I walk down her streets and dine in her taverns where some of our first Presidents stayed. As I do so, I try to imagine what it was like to have been a woman in those times. As a "modern" girl I am quite sure that I would not like to endure life without the conveniences we now take for granted. However, I am very grateful to them for leaving us such a wonderful heritage of loving gifts from their hands.

My journey as a designer began in the 1980's when I discovered my love for antique needlework, particularly samplers. The beauty and simplicity of the images inspired me, stitched mostly by young schoolgirls during the formative years of our country. I was hooked. I created a line of original sampler designs to capture this heritage.

I consider samplers to be an expression of folk art, and myself, a folk artist as I have no formal training. Over the years, my passion for this art form led me to take up painting and other pastimes our ancestors enjoyed. I have designed a collection of folk art pictures for needlework, many of which are adaptations of original paintings I have done. I hope you will come back and visit me again to see what is new, or rather "new again," and will be inspired to create your own gifts to pass down for future generations to cherish and admire.

Sincerely,