Toni Marie Klavin admits she's an addict.
The hospital lab technician from Upper St. Clair craves needlepoint so much she even brings her projects to work so she can practice during lunch.
Now, Klavin has found Beehive NeedleArts, a family-run operation in Mt. Lebanon that's enabled her to take her passion and step it up a notch. Her needlepoint repertoire soon could include stitches such as the Dutch, the double-plaited cross and even the horizontal interlocking gobelin.
"I bought something as soon as I came in," said Klavin, 46. "I love all the designs and colors. And when you purchase a project, a one-hour stitching class is part of it."
Located on Washington Road, the shop is the brainchild of Jessica O'Brien, 37, of Squirrel Hill. Opening her own needlepoint store last month with her mom and three of her sisters was the culmination of a dream hatched years ago.
O'Brien and her family offer 50 different lines of thread and custom-designed, hand-painted canvases.
"Before, all threads were made of wool, silk and cotton," said Katie Fitzgerald, 35, of Peters, O'Brien's younger sister. "Now you have some with metallics, sparkles and combined wool and silk."
The women are particularly excited that they can offer projects beyond the mass-produced variety. O'Brien uses her graphic design skills, which she developed at Montreal's McGill University and honed in her home office, to create canvases her customers request. Examples include golf-club head covers with initials of the owner's name and college, and belts with pictures of favorite sports teams and geographical locations.
All four women cited the chance to work together as a family as the best part.
"That's always fun," said Ashley Porreca, 25, of Wexford. "I was studying to be a (veterinarian technician), but I decided I didn't want to pick up dog poop for the rest of my life. I'm the baby sister, so it's fine."
Jane Burton, 62, of Upper St. Clair, taught each of her daughters the art form and said she's proud of her girls.
"Each of them have different personalities and skills and they're applying them," Burton said. "Katie is more of the business type. Jessica is the creative one. Ashley is a good worker. And I'm the floater bee. I float in and float out."
What will make the venture successful, Burton said, is the lack of sibling rivalry among her daughters. "They share a lot."
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