Hanging alongside the quilts is an assortment of framed needlepoint work depict featuring scenes of lighthouses or cheerful, homey images like wild flowers, animals, spices and stacked teacups. Some of the framed needlework display quaint musings that inspire onlookers to grin and smile.

Stitch & Patch chronicles Catherine Blacka's passion for craft work, which was inspired by the household linens and clothing her mother and grandmother made and gifted to family members. Catherine also began quilting as a young mother and homemaker. "It was lonely being at home, so I began quilting as a creative outlet," she explained. "I made my first quilt for a niece who was graduating high school and then another one for the next niece who was graduating, and the next and the next." explained Catherine, a member of First Presbyterian Church of Howard County.

During a lengthy career as a NASA computer scientist and, most recently, serving two terms as the Presbytery's Stated Clerk, Catherine enjoyed quilting and needlepoint as great way to relax. Now retired alongside her husband, Ed - Catherine's life is less stressful. She now serves as Clerk of Session at First Presbyterian Church of Howard County and still enjoys quilting and needle-pointing for pleasure. Catherine approaches each quilt and needlepoint with the methodical patience of a researcher, experimenting with fabric, color combinations and patterns with a vision in mind but no particular time-frame for its outcome. Her stunning handiwork adorns nearly every room of her Columbia home, as well as the houses of her adult children, family and friends.

"My only problem now," said Catherine, "is that I am running out of places to hang them and people to give them to."