There's a particular kind of person who calls Liza Minnelli a friend, quotes Madame Defarge, and still finds time to hand paint her own needlepoint canvases between takes. Parker Posey, the actress often crowned the queen of indies, is exactly that person, and she joined us on Oh, Stitch to talk about it.

Having Parker on the podcast was literally a dream come true! We loved learning just how deep her stitching roots actually go, how much of her philosophy on creativity, patience, and craft would sound like something we've been saying on this podcast since episode one.

Two Grandmothers, Two Crafts

Parker's needle and thread story starts with her grandmothers. Her mother's mother, Nani, used to study the clothes at Neiman Marcus and go home to recreate the patterns herself, sewing dresses and mending things in front of the TV with buttons and thread scattered everywhere. Her father's mother, Granny, taught her to embroider, and Parker still describes the stitches like dance steps, small intricate movements that circle back on themselves.

She doesn't embroider much anymore, but she carries that same instinct into needlepoint now: the repetition, the beat of a stitch, the grounding feeling of doing something with her hands while her mind goes somewhere else entirely.

Liza Minnelli's "Just Do Jazz" Philosophy

One of our favorite moments from the conversation was Parker's story about meeting Liza Minnelli, who spotted her needlepoint and mentioned she used to stitch too, choosing whatever colors and patterns she wanted with zero rules attached. Parker loved that approach, and it tracks. She talked about being drawn to needlepoint specifically because the pattern is already laid out for you. No decision fatigue, no counting, just the ease of following a line that's already there.

It's part of why she never quite took to knitting. Too much math, too many choices, not enough of the meditative calm she's after.

Needlepoint as an Instrument, a Set Companion, and a Tool for Listening

Parker compared her needlepoint practice to a musician picking up a guitar, something she reaches for on set during the long stretches of waiting around. She's carried it through years of White Lotus press, and she pointed out how strange it feels to no longer be talking about that show after so long.

She also shared that her Victoria Ratliff quotes ended up hand stitched onto needlepoint canvases sold on Etsy, and yes, she's seen them (she even bought one for herself).

But the part that stuck with us most was how she talked about needlepoint as a way of listening inward, of sitting with a stitch long enough to hear whatever voice comes up, whether that's a calm one or a stressed one. She credited the pandemic with cracking that door open for a lot of people, the same moment that made room for sourdough starters, The Body Keeps the Score, and a much bigger cultural conversation about slowing down.

The DIY Spirit Runs Deep

Somewhere in the middle of talking wallpaper (a House of Hackney pattern she loved enough to hang herself) and admitted to once patching drywall using a puzzle piece method that no professional would ever recommend. It's the same instinct that shows up in her needlepoint: if something is worth having, it's worth figuring out yourself, mistakes and all.

Rapid Fire, Stitch Style

We always close the show with a quick round of needlepoint either-ors, and Parker's answers landed close to home:

Basketweave over continental
18 mesh
Stitches in hand, never on bars
Multiple projects going at once
Embrace the imperfections, no frogging

Every single answer matched our own, which felt like proof that the slow stitching mindset tends to attract the same kind of person no matter where you land in life.

Listen to the full episode of Oh, Stitch for the entire conversation, including Parker's take on Holly Hobby, her handmade hope canvas, and why she thinks needlepoint deserves its own slow media moment.

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