| Marilyn Leavitt-Imblum | |
| Birth Name: | Marilyn J. Leavitt |
| Birth Date: | August 1, 1946 |
| Birth Place: | Youngstown, Ohio |
| Death Place: | Newark, New York |
| Nationality: | American |
| Field: | Embroidery Design |
Marilyn Leavitt-Imblum (August 1, 1946 – August 14, 2012) was an American cross-stitch embroidery designer known especially for her Victorian angel designs.[1] Her designs were published under the business name Told in a Garden, with product divisions of Told in a Garden, Lavender and Lace, and Butternut Road.
Marilyn J. Leavitt was born August 1, 1946, in Youngstown, Ohio,[2] where she attended Ursuline High School.[3] She was the daughter of Marcella (née O'Toole) and Earle Leavitt. She had one brother, Bruce.[4]
Her professional design career began in the 1960s, working as an advertising and fashion illustrator for Strouss and Hartzell, Rose and Sons.[5]
Leavitt-Imblum began publishing embroidery designs around 1986, when she showed her original design "The Quilting", depicting an Amish quilting bee, to the owner of a local needlework shop who told her that if she graphed the design the shop would sell it.[5] The first 25 copies sold almost immediately. Within a decade, her Victorian angel designs were considered among the most popular cross-stitch designs available.[6] In 2000, she publicly stated her opposition to the unlicensed sharing of needlework patterns on the Internet.[7]
She was married three times and had six children: Jeff, Nora, and Elizabeth Adams, Corriander Master "Corrie Ferenchak”,[8] and Matt and Sarah Imblum.[2] She had multiple sclerosis but did not widely publicize the fact.[5] She died on August 14, 2012, in Newark, New York, aged 66.[2]
Her daughter Nora is an artist and fellow cross-stitch embroidery designer, under her married name, Nora Corbett.[9] [10]