Archive for the Category ◊ SBQ’s ◊

July 2010: Stitcher Blogger Question…
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• Wednesday, July 14th, 2010

This month’s SBQ is actually a group of questions that kind of all go together as a theme. I’m going to address each portion separately.

Stitching is an activity that tends to be solitary. Sometimes I wonder if we choose stitching because we are more comfortable with pursuits that we do alone, or does our stitching cause us to be loners? So what do you think?

I am a loner by nature, although as I get older I’m finding myself trying to break out of my need for alone time because I’m a bit too extreme with it.  I don’t think my enjoyment of stitching caused me to be a loner, though – I’ve always been that way. So perhaps it’s because I’m comfortable with pursuits that I do alone.

However…

I find that stitching is honestly one of the more social things I do. Yes, I work on my individual pieces, but I’m usually stitching while sitting next to my husband watching TV (or he’s playing video games), or I get together with other friends who stitch. So solitary stitching time for me really isn’t the norm.

Since we’re stitching alone most of the time, it seems to me that we get great joy from coming together with other stitchers. It can be such a good feeling when we find a group of people who speak our language and understand our stitching excitement and passion. But since not all stitchers are perfect, not all groups can be perfect either. So…if you could create your own perfect stitching group, what characteristics would make it perfect?

For instance, would you all be near the same age, or would you like your group to span a generation or two? Would you enjoy political or religious discussions while you stitch or would that make you shy away? Would you like a big group or a small group? Those are just a couple of variables in groups…tell us what’s important to YOU.

This is a harder question for me – a few of my alumni sorority sisters and I have a comfortable, very casual stitch ‘n bitch group going, and it’s a perfect blend of stitching and socializing. The absolute ideal group for me would probably be a little bit broader – both in age and in crafting interest. But it would need to be a blend – a few people my age, a few people older. I find, however, that as a woman in my mid-30s I trend toward the younger group of stitchers. I’m slowly entering the age where I’m finding more people my age, but it seems that cross stitch trends a bit older. As far as group size – I’m not sure. I know I’m personally much more comfortable in super small groups, but I can’t see where a larger group (say 20-40 people) would necessarily be bad – especially in a guild format where individuals take turns teaching techniques and such.

I know I would run away screaming from any political or religious-themed group. My experience with them is that stitching groups with that type of conversation tend to combine the two and tend to trend conservative and Christian (usually evangelical) – and I wouldn’t fit well in either of those. I don’t mind a snark/bitch fest at get-togethers but I think that’s something better left to close friends.

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Stitching Blogger Questions are back!
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• Wednesday, June 16th, 2010

I have a couple of rotation updates to post (as well as my TUSAL, which keeps getting forgotten), but first… SBQs  are back, thanks to Lee (woo hoo)!  I’m a month behind, of course, so here’s two questions to get me caught up…

First, May’s question:

Suppose we say that there are two types of stitchers.

There are those who enjoy the “process” of stitching. They stitch for stitching’s sake and if something gets finished, so much the better, but it’s not necessarily the end goal. Primarily, it’s the application of needle and thread to cloth that makes them happiest.

Then there are those who are “project” stitchers. They move steadily through their projects, certainly enjoying their stitching time, but finding their greatest joy in the completed stitching.

If you had to pick one to describe yourself, which type of stitcher would you be? I imagine that we could all say that we fall somewhere in between, but really think hard about this and try to pick just one. And once you’ve decided whether you’re a Process or Project stitcher, tell us if your recognize that approach in other parts of your life.

I’m definitely a process stitcher. I celebrate my finishes, of course, but I just love stitching – I love the journey, the movement of it, the stillness of mind that it brings me. I spend so many hours in complete multitasking chaos at work that the physical act of stitching is a blessing. I’m able to focus on ONE thing.

Because it slows my world down for a little while, I’m also able to remember the moments better. I can’t remember all of them, but when I look at the pieces I’ve finished (and the ones still chugging along at their own paces), I remember where I was in life and usually remember at least an evening or two working on that particular piece. The best example of this with my stitching is Teresa Wentzler’s Castle, which I stitched over a period of about ten years – I remember nights stitching in my dorm room with college friends, then later years curled up in my little studio apartment with The X-Files on as background noise, and even later as I moved in with my husband-to-be. I finished the piece a couple months after we moved into our house. So it made a huge swath of life transitioning with me… and it makes me smile when I look at the piece and remember the journey marked by all of those little X’s.

And June’s question…

Tell us about something that you have stitched or plan to stitch for any father in your life. Maybe it’s for your father, your father-in-law, your children’s father, your grandfather, your godfather, or someone who was or still is an important father-figure in your life. Why did you choose this particular piece of stitching? Tell us the story behind it.

And because a simple one part question is never adequate, let’s go some more:

Often times we identify our love of needlework and our skills with our mothers or grandmothers or other women. It’s understandable because often they were are first teachers or role models. Now let’s think about our stitching life as it relates to our dads. Is there anything about our approach to stitching that we can recognize as traits of our fathers? For instance, does your dad (or any other important man in your life) have an approach to one of his interests that you can observe and think, “Hey….if I substitute the word “needlework” for “fly fishing”, we’d be pretty darn similar!” So tell us about it.

This is a bit tricky – I’ve honestly never considered doing any of my needlework for my dad or any other father figures in my life. I think possibly he might not appreciate it that much, although he has a love of carpentry, so I could be wrong on that. It’s just never crossed my mind to do any stitching for him.

As far as being similar – I’m already well aware that I take after my dad in a lot of ways. I do think that the quiet hours of working on a hobby with my hands came from the blend of what each of my parents enjoyed doing when I was a child. My mom did a lot of sewing. My father was often out in his woodshop. Both hobbies, of course, have heavy use of handwork. So I don’t doubt that some of my patience and enjoyment of solitude comes not just from my mom, but my dad.

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SBQs
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• Thursday, July 13th, 2006

I’ll be doing a stitching update this weekend– probably Sunday. Erich’s dad celebrates his birthday this weekend, and Erich’s taking him out for a full round of golf starting at 9 a.m. I, on the other hand, will be avoiding the forecasted 90+ degrees and humidity and will spend the day stitching in front of the TV.

So yeah… stitching updates & photos Sunday. For now: SBQ’s. :)

June 14, 2006: How many cross stitch books do you own and how often do you use them? I actually do not own any books dealing with technique for cross stitch. To date, I really haven’t done enough specialty stitch work where I’d need one. If I need to reference anything, I just head to the ‘net. I do own some collections books, though– Teresa Wentzler’s fantasy collection (which got a ton of use as I backstitched The Castle), her Christmas collection, and a beautiful Asian motifs book that Jason and Jen gave me for my birthday (in which I already am scoping for a project late next year once I get some obligation stitching done).

June 21, 2006: Have you ever used a magnifying glass while stitching? If so, did you find it helpful? When I was in elementary school, my mom would have me stitch in front of her magnifying makeup mirror so that she could see what I was doing to help me. She was in denial of her need for glasses at that point. :) I don’t currently use one, but I’m thinking of purchasing one for the over-one stitching I have over several projects these days to help me stitch them a bit faster.

June 29, 2006: What do you do with your charts once you’ve stitched them? Do you keep them or dispose of them? If you keep them, do you organize them in a way that is different from the way you keep your unstitched charts? I work from photocopies so I can highlight as I go. Those get tossed in the trash. I do keep the originals if they’re in good shape. (my original copy of The Castle is so battered it will be tossed… but I have it anyway in the collection mentioned above). Right now, I don’t really have enough completed charts to organize them differently– but I’ll probably create a binder of them at some point.

July 5, 2006: What is the biggest mishap you have had with your stitching material (i.e. spillages)? In March of this year, about half a bottle of Diet Coke that I hadn’t twisted closed properly spilled all over The Castle in my work bag. Thankfully, I noticed it very quickly (probably a half hour after it happened) and immediately soaked it once I returned home. I soaked the entire piece in a 9×13 glass baking dish with some Dawn soap, gently rinsed it, and placed it flat on a towel to dry. All of the damage came out. :)

Considering how often I stitch with an open glass of soda next to me, I’m very lucky.

July 12, 2006: Since you started blogging, have you noticed any difference in your stitching habits? Tell us about them. For me, it’s not a change in my habits– it’s just completely opened the doors to new avenues in stitching that I’d otherwise not know about. My blog wasn’t created for stitching– it was created to help me work through some things in my head back in 2001. When I started stitching again at the end of 2004, it was just one of those life topics I started including in my writing. :)

The connection to other stitchers is wonderful- the encouragement keeps me going. Feedback has been so helpful– through responses to my blog entries, I learned about the Rotation Stitchers board, and started stitching in a rotation style. I’ve discovered many new designers. I learned about Silkweaver Fabrics. I learned (finally) that no, you didn’t stitch everything on evenweave like you did on Aida (aka “over one”). And starting later this year, I’ll be participating in a stitching round robin for the first time.

Above all, I’ve met a ton of stitchers worldwide with whom I can connect on a hobby that gives me a ton of satisfaction. And that’s the best part of all. :)

- Mel.

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Stitcher Blogging Question
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• Wednesday, May 31st, 2006

It’s shocking… I’m up to date! :) Here’s today’s SBQ:

Do you collect charts by one particular designer, yet have never stitched anything by that designer? If so, which designer and why do you collect the charts but have not yet stitched any of them?

I have two small collections. The only reason that I haven’t stitched them is because I’m working through some old pieces that I really want to finish first. The two designers are Mirabilia (Nora Corbett) and Calico Crossroads (for the cat designs). I do intend to stitch them someday. :)

I seriously need to open up a stitch shop, though, if I want to have the time to do all of these, though!

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Feeling Crafty
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• Wednesday, December 14th, 2005

It’s crafty day! Due to NaNoWriMo last month, I wasn’t participating in the Stitcher Blogging Questions on a weeky basis. I also didn’t have my camera to post updated photos of my work, so I’ll have those updates, too. :)

Measi.net was being extraordinarily cranky with photo uploads last night. I finally gave up at 11:50 p.m. and moved everything onto my old Kodak Gallery account. Over the weekend, I’ll work on posting photos and updating my Work in Progress (WIP) pages on the site, since they haven’t been updated since before my house move. For now, though, all of my updated WIP photos are here.

I’ve been working almost exclusively on The Castle this month and have ditched my rotation for the time being. I’m so (-oooo) close to finishing. The tail is almost completely done. Then I have a small section of rocks to do, and then a mess of backstitching. It definitely won’t be done by the end of the year, but the end of January is very feasible, and I’d love to get it done to start 2006 off with a great finish.

The week between Christmas and New Years will most likely be spent between stitching and sorting through all of my projects to prep a plan for 2006. I already know that 2006 has two wedding samplers (so far!) that are must-completes. Everything needs to rotate around those for now.

Onto some of my backlog of Stitcher Blogging Questions…

9/28/05- Have you ever just quit a project while in the midst of it? (We’re not referring to UFOs (unfinished objects) here, rather projects that you know that you’ll never work on again.) Why? What did you do with it – throw it out, give it away, put it away?

I’ve had two projects that I’ve completely stopped. One was put away, but eventually thrown away because it became damaged. The other was just tossed immediately. I didn’t like how it was looking at all.

10/6/05- When you have almost finished a pattern and start thinking about the next one to stitch, how do you select it? (a list, most recent purchase, etc.)

Ironic, since I’m focusing on this right now. First comes any “obligation” stitching (for example, the wedding samplers I know are in-line). Then I go to my list of projects that I’ve kitted with all supplies. Since I love Teresa Wentzler’s designs and have a dozen or so that I want to stitch, any TW project I finish will almost certainly be replaced with another TW.

10/12/05- How do you `non-hoopists’ who use a rotation system handle it (as it seems to be lot easier if you are in good terms with hoop)? Do you have several scroll frames? Do you use Q-snaps or maybe something completely different? Or do you just have one or two big projects and others are small enough to be kept in hand while stitching?

I usually prefer a hoop, but a couple projects just won’t work with one, so I’m adjusting. One project is on a scroll frame. The other is an in-hand project. If I were to move into stitching on multiple projects on hoops or stretcher bars, I’d probably adjust my rotation so I had a travel piece on a hoop for my commute and keep the larger scroll frame pieces at home to work on in the evenings.

10/19/05- Do you mark or hi-lite your patterns or can you follow them without any markings? Do you make copies to mark up, or do you mark originals?

I make copies of all of my projects to work from. I usually set the photocopier so that the pattern is enlarged and easier to read. If it takes more pages to copy, it doesn’t matter to me. My photocopies and the original pattern are then kept in poly envelopes with the tie-button closures to keep everything together. (Kitted patterns that I haven’t started have the bobbins of thread enclosed in the envelope, too).

As I go, I highlight. I can follow without markings, but when working the more complex patterns, it’s so much easier to work with a marked copy.

I then use the original copy to follow for backstitching (but don’t mark it as I go).

10/26/05- Have you ever stitched something as a gift and later realized that receiver doesn’t respect your stitched gift a bit (for example it’s never on show, or you have other reason to suspect that it may even be nonexistent or at least placed in some dark storage room corner)? If so, what have you done? If you’ve been lucky enough to avoid such people what would you do if it’d happen to you?

Hasn’t happened yet. But to be honest, I don’t see myself doing a lot of gift stitching for people that aren’t either stitchers or knitters themselves—people who will appreciate the time that goes into making something by hand.

11/2/05- If you have stitched for a while, can you usually pick out the DMC colors you need from memory when you go to your LNS? (For example, you know that 610 is a brown.)

(LNS, for those reading and not stitchers, is a Local Needlework Store)

Not all, but there are a couple strings of numbers that I know. The 500 greens that are common in TW projects. The 790’s that are my favorite colors of blue. The 3345-48 string of green because I have TONS of them for some reason in my excess stash and probably won’t ever have to buy them again in my lifetime. I usually just bring a written list to the store, though.

11/9/05- When comparing large projects versus small projects, which do you get more excited about finishing?

Definitely larger projects, due to the time involved.

***********

More SBQ questions in tonight’s entry to get me caught up on questions! :)

~ Mel.

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Stitching update
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• Thursday, September 22nd, 2005

This week’s Stitcher’s Blogging Question:

9/21/05: What is the most challenging specialty stitch you have ever stitched?

To date, it’s a toss up between a lazy daisy (I never get them to look right), and a really clean solid block of satin stitches (I also never get them to look right).

I don’t do a lot of pieces that have multitudes of specialty stitches– Egyptian Sampler is my first real sampler with them. But I’m thinking that eventually I’ll want to start picking up all of those Victoria Sampler state/province hearts because each one focuses on a specific stitch.

——-

My stitching this week is going well. I’m plugging away on The Castle again, and doing a lot of little filler work on the rocks– all of those one to five stitch sections of a single color that you really can’t do correctly until you get all the other colors around them done. But those few stitches just make the entire project look closer to being done. I’m seeing a concrete definition of the outline of the dragon’s spines as I form those quarter stitches that divide rock from dragon.

Yesterday, as I plugged a few of these stitches in and took a look at the big picture, it struck me– this project is getting done. I have several hundred more stitches to go, but the overall picture is far closer to being done than to being started now. I have a tail, a smaller rock section, and some water ripples– and it’s done.

This project has been in my stash for nine years. I still remember purchasing it, and the comment of a woman at the shop– “Those blended stitches are a pain in the ass. It’s going to take you a couple years to do this, and it’s so frustrating. Do you really want to commit the time?”

Hell yes I do (did). The blends were a bit of a pain to get used to, but now that I have a system down, they’re not that bad. I just label a bobbin with that blend’s symbol on the chart, and keep a supply of those colors together. No problem.

I have to laugh– that woman was so serious about how evil this project would be. And now I look at my stash, and how many unfinished Teresa Wentzler pieces I have to plug through. By her account, all of my stitching is completely evil.

I’ll take it. :)

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Stitching update
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• Thursday, September 22nd, 2005

This week’s Stitcher’s Blogging Question:

9/21/05: What is the most challenging specialty stitch you have ever stitched?

To date, it’s a toss up between a lazy daisy (I never get them to look right), and a really clean solid block of satin stitches (I also never get them to look right).

I don’t do a lot of pieces that have multitudes of specialty stitches– Egyptian Sampler is my first real sampler with them. But I’m thinking that eventually I’ll want to start picking up all of those Victoria Sampler state/province hearts because each one focuses on a specific stitch.

——-

My stitching this week is going well. I’m plugging away on The Castle again, and doing a lot of little filler work on the rocks– all of those one to five stitch sections of a single color that you really can’t do correctly until you get all the other colors around them done. But those few stitches just make the entire project look closer to being done. I’m seeing a concrete definition of the outline of the dragon’s spines as I form those quarter stitches that divide rock from dragon.

Yesterday, as I plugged a few of these stitches in and took a look at the big picture, it struck me– this project is getting done. I have several hundred more stitches to go, but the overall picture is far closer to being done than to being started now. I have a tail, a smaller rock section, and some water ripples– and it’s done.

This project has been in my stash for nine years. I still remember purchasing it, and the comment of a woman at the shop– “Those blended stitches are a pain in the ass. It’s going to take you a couple years to do this, and it’s so frustrating. Do you really want to commit the time?”

Hell yes I do (did). The blends were a bit of a pain to get used to, but now that I have a system down, they’re not that bad. I just label a bobbin with that blend’s symbol on the chart, and keep a supply of those colors together. No problem.

I have to laugh– that woman was so serious about how evil this project would be. And now I look at my stash, and how many unfinished Teresa Wentzler pieces I have to plug through. By her account, all of my stitching is completely evil.

I’ll take it. :)

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Stitching Updates/SBQ #’s
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• Wednesday, September 14th, 2005

I’ve been neglecting my questions, so I’m doing some catchup today on the SBQ’s for the past few weeks.
But first, a couple updates on stitching, sans photos… (the photo below is not mine… it’s a downloaded image for complete project reference)…

I finally am wrapping up my rotation on Egyptian Sampler this week. The center three figures (Horus, Osiris, and Isis) have all of their basic stitches completed. The eyelet stitches in the headpieces are not done– I’ll do those when I do a backstitching rotation. Over the weekend, I began working the over-one cartouches in the center panel. I’ve never done over-one work before, and I’m finding that doing them on raw-style linen is very, very tricky, since the individual squares are so uneven.

I’m at a bit of a decision point. I’ve completed my goal for this rotation (which was the stitches on the three figures). I’m thinking that perhaps, since I’ve taken so many weeks to complete this rotation, maybe I should hold off on the cartouches, and focus just on those next round. With how many counting mistakes I made just making the left-most cartouche ring, I imagine that the four cartouches might actually take an entire 10-hour block of time.

I think I have an organized approach to how I’ll go about completing this piece, which makes me feel very good. Since I’m working this piece on a scroll frame (which is driving me insane, but that’s a rant for the SBQ below) due to its size, I’m going to work horizontal sections of the entire piece. So both birds will be done at the same time, and matched sections of the border will be done together. Now that I have those three figures done, I can appreciate how big the final piece is really going to be. Each of the god figures is just about the length of my hand, from middle figure tip to wrist joint.

In any case, I’m happy with what I’ve done so far. And it’s going to look amazing when done. :)

For the trip to Maine this weekend, I’m going to bring along The Castle. I’m stitching it on-hoop (what I feel most comfortable with), and despite all of the blended threads, it’s an easy piece to port around. I do have a very good chance of finishing it by the end of the year, which would thrill me to no end, so I’m pushing to really get some work on it. Other than Ivanna’s wedding sampler, this really is the piece I want to focus on. Depending on what happens in the next month or so, I may drop my rotation for a bit and just work between those two pieces exclusively until The Castle is done.

We’ll see…

Anyway, onto the Stitching Blogger Questions…

9/14/05: Do you stitch for events like weddings, engagements, or other things that might not last? If you have been unlucky and the two people broke up, what happened to your stitched gift?

Ivanna’s wedding sampler is the first special celebration gift I’ve ever stitched. Thinking about a break-up to me is a bad-luck thing, and I simply don’t do it. I realize such events happen in life– both Erich and I are children of divorces (both sets of parents married at least 20 years), but I’m not going to focus on the negative because it’s counter-productive and just seems… wrong… to me. If anything, as I stitch her sampler (and next year, my own), I’ll be trying to infuse the stitches with good tidings for the years to come.

9/07/05: Which way do you stitch (/// and then \\\ or \\\ and then ///)? Can you (or if you haven’t done it before, do you think you could) change the way that you stitch temporarily if it is asked of you?

I stitch /// then \\\. If I were asked to change my stitching for a specific project (like a stitching round robin) to match the owner’s stitches, I know I could. I’ve stitched both ways, and really only stitch the way I do because it was the way I decided to align my stitches to keep them going the same direction. If I were asked to change, it would probably be easier for me to just turn the fabric 90 degrees so I’m stitching sideways. I’ll stitch in my normal direction, but the end result would be reversed. *shrug*

8/31/05: What do you use to hold your fabric while you stitch? A hoop, a Q-Snap, a scroll frame, something else, or do you stitch in hand? Have you always used just the one thing or have you tried one or more of the others? Which do you like best? Why?

I prefer a hoop. No discussion. It’s what I learned on, and I simply feel more comfortable with it. I was thrilled… THRILLED… to take the plunge and try plastic hoops this year, rather than the cheap balsa wood ones from Michael’s that I’d been using. I even have an old metal hoop that my mom gave me when I first started stitching. But I keep it more for my stitching history’s sake and as a novelty, since I haven’t seen one on the shelves in years. Due to how nasty metal hoops stain fabrics, I won’t use it.

But I have about a half-dozen plastic hoops in different diameters, each a different color so I can quickly tell them apart. They’re durable and easy to tighten. I love ‘em.

I bought a scroll frame and lap stand, after seeing Michelle’s work on her frame. As I mentioned above, I’m using it for Egyptian Sampler, but I’m finding it very awkward to work on. For one thing- the fabric does NOT stay tight on the frame. It’s constantly loosening, and amounts to really being stitching in-hand with the assistance of a frame to hold it up. I’ve tried rolling it in different ways to see if anything helps, but it’s just not working.

And sadly, the lap attachments for the frame are just BARELY wide enough for my hips to fit in. I have a fat ass, and the lap stand really forces me to stay in ONE position as I stitch. I’m debating a floor stand because I know there are many larger projects, like Egyptian Sampler, that would work better on scrolls so I don’t have to wrestle the extra fabric out of the way. But I need to figure out how to keep the fabric on the scrolls better.

I’ve never tried Q-snaps. Since my hoop works fine, I haven’t had a reason to try them. I have tried stitching in-hand before. For really small projects on stiff Aida cloth, I don’t have problems with it. But otherwise, I’d find it difficult to keep my stitches clean.

Gotta get back to work…

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Stitching happy dance
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• Saturday, August 06th, 2005

I’ve finished my first piece since 1996. :) It’s little, but it’s quite cute… and the photo honestly sucks… I’ll have to redo it in the morning when I have better light. New photo added. :)

Fire Elemental Dragon by Dragon Dreams. It’s a freebie pattern on their website, and the first of five in the series that I’ll be stitching. Air, Water, Earth, and Spirit are the other four.

It’s so nice to have a finish. Adding some really little pieces into my rotation was definitely the right idea. At this point, I may finish all five by Christmas, which would be fantastic. And with The Castle coming along nicely, too, it could be a very big year for me stitching-wise.

—-

And since I didn’t get to my Stitchers’ Blogging Question on Wednesday due to an absolutely horrid day at work…

8/3/05: Have you hand-dyed your own fabric? Why or why not? Would you like to try to do so? No, I haven’t. Until a month ago, I really wasn’t in a living situation where I could have even thought of doing so– renting an apartment doesn’t lend itself to a lot of creative fabric work. :) Now that I’m in my house, it’s more of a possibility, although I don’t expect to do my own anytime soon. I’m enjoying the professional work in my fabrics-of-the-month too much!

—

I’ve been working furiously on Egyptian Sampler this week. I should be finishing my current “official” rotation on it sometime next week/weekend, but I think I may work on it for about 20 hours to really get some work done on it. I’d like to get the center three figures done (save backstitching), and possibly the outline frame. I’ll get a photo up of it sometime after I finish its rotation round.

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A plethora of stitching stuff…
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• Thursday, July 28th, 2005

Yay! I found my uploading cable for the camera. This is a good thing. :) So lots of updates tonight…

First off, I have two weeks of Stitchers Blog Questions to answer… for some reason, I’m not getting the questions in my mailbox, despite being set up for individual mail on the group. Gotta love free email sites. *sigh*

Anyway… July 20, ’05: Have you ever done a color conversion? If so, what did you think about your results and would you do it again? If not, would you like to try
someday? I have not yet done one, but definitely want to. Being a bit isolated in my stitching hobby until this year, I didn’t realize it really was possible to do them. But then I saw variants of The Castle by Teresa Wentzler, and absolutely loved them. While I doubt I’ll get around to it for many years, I’d love to do a conversion copy of The Castle someday on a dark fabric. At some point, I’ll definitely be trying it on some project.

July 27, ’05: What is your most unique/interesting stitching quirk? (This could be
something concerning the way you stitch, how you organize your stash, etc.) Since I really have nothing to compare it to, I’m not quite sure what my most unique quirk is. I suppose in the age of q-snaps and scroll frames, my preference for old-fashioned hoop stitching, perhaps? Or maybe the fact that I almost always stitch patterns upside down, and then flip them right-side up to backstitch (out of instinct). I don’t have a real method to my organization yet, given that we’ve only been in the house for a month. Perhaps I should readdress this question come December or so. :)

Okay… thus endeth the questions for this week… now onto photos of my last rotation, which lasted from March 1st until the end of May… and then I had a “floating” session on The Castle, which lasted all of June.

Egyptian Sampler restart after one rotation. The linen looks a lot better (and more authentic) than my original start. I’ll be working on this again come next week. Stitching on extremely uneven linen is tricky, but this piece is going to be worth it when complete!

The Castle after my normal rotation in April, but before the June floating focus. I’m now working on the rocks at the bottom. They dragged on this rotation.

The Castle after the floating focus in June… which included a 10-hour backstitching stretch, plus a lot of little color fill-ins in the rocks. The rocks didn’t seem quite as bad this time… but I didn’t have a lot of stitching time, either. The rock line is now down to the spine of the dragon tail in a few spots. I’ll be completing the rest of the rocks above the dragon tail in my next rotation round.

Cats on a Staircase after work in May. The stairs are the trickiest part, since it’s stitching white-on-white. I’ve been having a ton of problems with miscounts on this piece, and spent a good portion of the last round frogging stitches that I did four years ago. *sigh* Thankfully it didn’t destroy the whole piece, but it wasn’t fun.

Smoky Mountain Cats after work in May. Stitching this project is easy– it’s large swaths of the same color. However, the thread is craptacular and keeps breaking. And unfortunately no DMC options were given with the kit. So this might wind up being one of those frustration pieces due to the materials.

That’s the last rotation round. I started my new rotation on July 15th, and decided to get a couple small pieces into the rotation so I could perhaps see a finish sometime this year. It’s a bit disheartening to be in July of these rotations without a complete project to show for it… particularly since I technically haven’t had a finish since 1996 (eep!).

So this rotation, I’m doing this:

1) NEW: Elemental Dragons- Fire (Dragon Dreams)
2) Egyptian Sampler (Teresa Wentzler)
3) Cats on a Staircase (Bucilla)
4) NEW: Astrology Sampler (Witches Stitches)
5) The Castle (Teresa Wentzler)
6) Home is Where the Cat Is (Leisure Arts)
7) NEW: Apache Wedding Blessing (Kooler Design Studio)

The last piece is a wedding present for my friend (and sorority sister), Ivanna. It won’t be done by her October wedding date… but I’m going to be working as fast as I can on it so she can hopefully have it sometime next spring.

The Elemental Dragons are a freebie set of patterns on Dragon Dreams’ homepage (located under samples). I decided to work on the Fire dragon first, but have kitted all five. To my delight, it has stitched up extremely fast. This is eight hours of stitching, as of the end of my commute time tonight:

All of the cross-stitches are done. I’m now doing the backstitching, and should have my first finish by the end of the weekend. (yay!) I’m stitching this on Silkweaver’s 28ct. Golden Promise cashel linen. The rest of the dragons will also be on 28 ct. fabric… some evenweave, some linen, but all are Silkweaver.

Onto the next rotation! :)

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