About Us
Meghan Brennan
Meghan Brennan, the shop owner and partner of Coast Needlepoint, LLC has been as avid needlepointer, sewing and needle artist for over 17 years. Having a needlepoint store where students could come and create pieces of art and family heirlooms has been a life-long dream. Meghan's entrepeurial skill extends beyond needlepoint as her past career consists of cancer nursing and starting a biomedical company to help prevent breast cancer. She continues to pursue her cause as well as her education. In her free time, what little there is, Meghan is a full-time PhD student at UCLA. Meghan has a keen skill of color matching and selection-let her know what you need and she will help pick your colors. Her love of stitching continues to grow as she expands her needlepoint business and experience.
Fay Haverly
Fay Haverly has been a stitcher for over 30 years. She has extensive experience working in needlepoint shops around the country including Hawaii and California. She has a vast expertise in merchandise buying and customer service. Fay is well known and respected for her work as a proofreader for Needlepoint Now, a national needlepoint magazine with over 10,000 distribution and published 6 times per year. She has attended many workshops and classes and is familiar with many different instructors including Amy Bunger, David McCaskill, Joyce Lukomski and Judy Souliotis to name a few, and of course Susan Portra. She excels in customer service and assisting individuals with textile selection, stitch guides, blocking and finishing needlepoint canvases into their final product. Fay is truly the brains behind the Coast Needlepoint operations. Fay will be teaching a beginners workshop, Let's Start at the Very Beginning, as well as Fun with Fundamentals, to help reinforce and educate new and seasonsed stitchers about some key fundamentals associated with needlepoint art. In addition, Fay will be providing a stitch guide to our stitch of the month club and workshops for those as well. Lastly, if ever in need a stitch or two, stop on by and Fay will help you out.
Margaret Bendig
Margaret Bendig, is a nationally known and recognized needlepoint instructor. She has been featured on the cover of Needlepoint Now many times with her exquisite charted designs. Margaret has been desiging and teaching since the 90's. She is well known throughout the country at AND and EGA. We are pleased to have Margaret teach classes as well as workshops. Margaret will be offering a workshop once a month at Coast Needlepoint as well as some web-based workshops. Come take part in a 1-day workshop of her own design, such as Helen's Star or Dazzle. She will also be guiding us through a holiday club every other month of the Assocaite Talents Holiday Train, have it finished in time for Chirstmas. Coast is also thrilled that Margaret will be again teaching her canvas embellishment classes, on Thursdays. Come learn about needlepoint with Margaret. As she says "If you are not having fun, we are doing something wrong." We are so happy to have her here.
Susan Portra
is a contemporary needlepoint designer, teacher, lecturer and author. Susan has created stitch guides for numerous needlepoint designers such as Terry Enfield of Juell Designs, Peter Ashe, Liz, Melissa Shirley, Julia Needleworks and Sandy Gilmore. She has taught needlepoint around the country for over 25 years. Susan has conducted 8 needlepoint cruises taking her around the world and joined with many stitchers. With workshops and teaching national seminars for the Embroidery Guild of America and the American Needlepoint Guild in the 80's and 90's, her students and designs continue to take top honors in needlepoint competitions all over the country. Her Infinity (charted design on a marked canvas) and Tibetan Boy (painted canvas) designs were award winners at the American Needlepoint Guild Seminar in Tucson, September 2006. Susan will continue to teach 35 hours of class per month in the store front as well as provide private instruction and 2 workshops annually.
