Bio: Julie Thomas or as most know her, the daughter and punching half of The Old Tattered Flag, has been punching since 2003. Julie stumbled upon the craft of miniature punch needle in Liberty, Missouri, had a quick, in-shop tutorial and bought her first, tiny, single strand punch needle pattern. From that point on a deep love of the craft developed. In the past 17 years, Julie has developed a pattern line of over 200 designs for punch needle and has since expanded from the tiny, single strand to punching with six strands. Her patterns are considered to be on the larger side to accommodate the thicker threads. Julie’s designs are offered three ways; rug hooking, punch needle and wool applique. Julie will never classify herself through any one style, though the primitive style is her favorite she sometimes leans toward the more traditional. She loves the muted tones of the primitive style, but sometimes she opts for bold, rich colors in her pieces.
Julie has been featured in Create and Decorate, The Wool Street Journal, Rug Hooking Magazine, Woolworks and is a regular contributor to Punch Needle and Primitive Stitcher magazine. Tattered and Timeless, a book of rug hooking, and punch needle designs will be released in the Fall of 2020.
In 2018, The Old Tattered Flag took ownership of the Ultra Punch Needle®, the #1 best-selling punch needle on the market. Julie has taught punch needle throughout the East Coast, in her shop and also here at Sauder Village.