Blue Ridge Mountains, North Carolina · Est. 2017 · Founded by Cheryl Westbrook
Cheryl Westbrook has been stitching needlepoint stream of consciousness for over 20 years -- whimsy, monsters, animals, sassy wit, her sons' childhood drawings, the full fantastical contents of her imagination -- in a small village in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. In 2017 she and her sister and niece sat on a bed and figured out how to share it. Mommani Threads was born: hand-embroidered needlepoint canvases translated into velvet and organic cotton sateen pillows that are more living art than mortal decor. Each piece is touched by at least five people before it reaches your home. You can feel it.
The name comes from a 60 Minutes segment Cheryl Westbrook watched years ago about Italian mammonis -- men who happily live with their mothers well into adulthood. Her sons were toddlers at the time and she never wanted them to leave. She misspelled it into her email address and never looked back. Today those sons -- now grown, still involved -- contribute their artwork, their impressions, and their support to a brand built around their mother's hands.
Cheryl has been stitching needlepoint in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina for over 20 years, beginning with a Christmas stocking for her son Sawyer that she designed herself on the encouragement of a local shop owner. Her canvases are original and stitched stream of consciousness -- whimsy, pop art, fantastical animals, sassy wit, music, nature, her sons' childhood monster drawings rendered in meticulous wool. In 2017 she and her sister and niece sat on a bed together and figured out how to share them. The solution was unconventional: rather than reproducing the work in China, Cheryl's needlepoint designs would be digitally translated onto private-label fabrics -- luscious velvet and organic cotton sateen -- and hand-sewn by local artisans in North Carolina. Everything from beginning to end made in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
The result is a collection that Bergdorf Goodman showed at a Libertine Trunk Show, that appeared at a Gucci pop-up at Art Basel, and that has shown up on Disney+ and the SyFy Channel. Each piece is touched by at least five people before it reaches your home. On a registry, a Mommani Threads pillow is the object that makes guests stop mid-conversation and pick it up -- and then ask how on earth you found it.
