Stitching Blogger’s Question
Stitching Blogger’s Question – May 2010
I’m so glad that Lee has chosen to resurrect the Stitching Blogger’s Question. This way, I might at manage to post at least once a month.
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 enjoy the process and use it to relax me, but I’m in it for the finish. Granted, I tend to do nothing with those finishes (which reminds me, I need to get my behind to Strawberry Sampler this month with the two projects I picked to have framed), but the bulk of the satisfaction for me is just to say I finished it. The process is important to my sanity, but what continues to drive me is the end product. I firmly believe that this is why I stitch so many smalls. With my limited stitching time, I get the most bang for my buck with small projects. Otherwise, I would have to strangle someone because it takes me forever to finish a large project. I even dread doing medium sized projects nowadays.
Someday, though, I fully intend to stitch all of the Mirabilia’s that I have. I am just going to have to break the design into sections and consider the completion of each section as a monumental finish itself. Someday when I’m able to have that brick-and-mortar needlework shop that I’ve been dreaming of and might actually have a little downtime between customers. Yeah right, who am I kidding? At least I might have some time off to stitch after work? Maybe?
SBQ: Finding Balance
This SBQ is:
How do you balance your stitching time with your other obligations such as work, household chores, etc.?
HAH! You mean there are other things in life besides stitching? I scoff at the idea. But seriously, it’s easy to balance with work because I have to wait until I come home from work to be able to stitch. As far as balancing stitching with housework goes, I’m just not very good at it. I tend to let housework go (and go and go…) until it gets on my nerves to the point where I absolutely must do something about it. Or one of us is out of clothes. Or we’re out of pans for cooking. Or whatever. That’s pretty much my philosophy, at this point in time. A household diva, I am not.
SBQ: Stitching Publications
This SBQ is:
Do you currently subscribe to any stitching publications or have you in the past? (Either in print or online) If so, which ones?
I have never subscribed to a printed publication, nor am I now; however, I do subscribe to The Gift of Stitching, which is an online publication. I have subscribed to this one since its inception and while I have yet to stitch anything from it, I will continue to subscribe to it and enjoy the goodies stashed inside of its virtual pages, even if it’s purely ocular enjoyment. 
SBQ:
This SBQ was suggested by Jan and is:
Do you ever get to a point working on a project that you’ve had for so long, you start to wonder what possessed you to start it in the first place?
Looking at my WIP/UFO list, I think I can honestly answer “no” to this question. When I look through everything I have stitches in, even the ones I’ve abandoned for now, I still like the designs and, for most of them, the desire to finish them someday still exists. For some, though, the original deadline or event has passed and I no longer have the original reason for stitching the piece, so while I can find something to do with it or someone to give it to, the piece falls to the bottom of the list of things to work on. 
SBQ: Stitching Terminology
This SBQ is:
For seasoned stitchers: Define a stitching term or acronym for new stitchers.
For newbies: What stitching term or acronym would you like defined?
I know that this one was already covered by now, but a term I didn’t know for a while was SABLE – Stash Acquired Beyond Life Expectancy. That is SO me! 
SBQ: Heirlooms
This SBQ was suggested by Jennifer and is:
Do you have any pieces that you would liked passed on to future generations as family heirlooms?
I don’t really have any family heirloom pieces yet, I don’t think, as most of the pieces that I’ve finished and kept for myself are smalls. We don’t plan on having children, so I’m not sure who the pieces would get passed to anyway, honestly. My family is very small; Terry has no siblings and I only have a brother from whom I have been estranged for many years. Honestly, as long as my work isn’t thrown in the garbage, I don’t care what happens to it. After all, I’ll be gone, so I’ll never know! I imagine it will end up at an estate sale, though, and hopefully end up with someone who will appreciate my hard work.
SBQ: Handling Blends
This SBQ was suggested by Christine and is:
How do you handle blended threads? Do you kit the blends up before you start a piece, or do you grab what colors you need and blend when the need arises? If you kit up the blends beforehand, how do you store them? Do you have another option for blends to share?
I haven’t had to deal with too many blended threads yet. Probably because I haven’t stitched any Teresa Wentzler designs. For now, I deal with them as I come across them, pulling one length of each thread as I need it.
SBQ: Most Complex Project
This SBQ was suggested by Jennifer and is:
What is the most complicated piece you’ve ever completed?
Since I haven’t finished anything big that I’ve kept for myself since around 1998 or so, I would have to say that my most complex piece was the Welcome Hearts bellpull, with the hardanger and pulled work sections. I gave it away, of course, but will do another for us to keep… someday. An upcoming finish that I would put in this category is going to be Barnabee’s Quest.
SBQ – Stitching Essentials
This week’s SBQ was suggested by Terri and is:
What items do you consider essential to your needlework that you keep in your stitching bag?
Well, first of all, I don’t really keep anything in my stitching bag full time, except for some little projects that I can work on in an emergency. It also depends on which stitching bag you’re talking about, as I have two. My favorite is the Tinkerbell bag I bought at WalMart to try to fit my mid-sized projects better. It’s less tapered at the bottom than my previous stitching bag, so it’s better suited to stretcher bars, though I think I have yet to take a project on bars anywhere to require the bag…
The other is one of the DMC needlework bags. Not suited to bringing many projects anywhere, but I do keep a spare pair of scissors and a spare needle or two in there, though I barely use it at all anymore, except to transport finished projects so that they stay nice and flat.
I keep nothing full-time in my Tinkerbell bag, instead opting to throw my everyday scissors and an Altoids tin (a VSCyberStitchers July exchange gift from a couple of years back), with a needleroll, dololly and marking pins contained within, in whenever I need to take the bag somewhere. Again, it doesn’t go much of anywhere lately, unless we travel somewhere, which also hasn’t been very often.
Geez, I think that this all points to the fact that I need a life? I need to get out of the house more, that’s for sure. I hope to get out and plant some bulbs soon, if the weather stays warm and the ground warms up. I’m concerned about planting them too soon, with the nights still getting cold – below freezing at times. But I may just say, screw it, I’m planting them while I feel like it.
SBQ: Download Stitching
This week’s SBQ is:
When you stitch a pattern that you have downloaded do you print out the pattern or do you stitch directly from your computer screen?
I definitely print everything I download when I go to stitch it. For how I curl up into my stitching spot, there would be no room for my laptop and I think I reference a pattern too much to be able to read it off of a screen. Besides, if you needed to mark where you are, how would you do so if you stitch from a screen?
I’ll be curious to see how others answer this. More specifically, I’m curious if there is anyone who is actually able to stitch directly from a computer screen.
