To witness the resurgence of needlepoint in action, simply step inside the new Sunshine Needlepoint store in Ybor City.
We were there in the middle of the day during a typical week, and it was bustling with people — not just women spanning all generations, but dutiful husbands too. In an age when screens seem to dominate our focus, it was nice to see people putting the technology away, reconnecting with this age-old art form and meeting fellow enthusiasts in real life.
This is the whole point of Sunshine Needlepoint, and why Heather Barrow and her longtime friends Elizabeth Lee and Courtney Lang tell us they opened their brick and mortar store. They did it to give people a chance to slow down, go analog and create something really beautiful with their hands — and, if the science is correct, take advantage of the brain-boosting benefits too…