SBQ July 29, 2007

To answer stitcherw's question - My BAP is a pattern from Solaria Galleryfor my Dad. Click here to see the many starts and restarts of this BAP. :P

Today's SBQ was suggested by Dani and is:

Have you ever thought of getting a rider on your household insurance to properly cover your stash (some of us have quite an extensive stash that an average household policy wouldn't fully cover) in the case of some sort of damage to your house that would destroy/ruin charts, fabrics, floss, etc?

I don't have anything approaching the amount of stash I would feel needed insurance protection. But it's a fabulous idea to consider for the future. For now, I'll content myself with envy over those of you who do have such copious stash! :)

A question and an SBQ.

I'm looking for advice on stitching with variegated color threads. What I've been doing is finishing each stitch at a time, rather than working in rows. And, I've been stitching the rows back and forth, meaning I stitch one row left to right and then the next one down goes right to left, etc... And, of course, I've been trying to match colors when I anchor and start a new thread.

I'd love to hear how you all work with these types of threads!!

This week's SBQ was suggested by Ish and is:

Which project (finished or in progress) are you most proud of? Explain why.

I don't know that any one jumps out at me. But, I guess I would say I'm pretty proud of my very first piece, as simple (and probably poorly done) as it is. My husband was away in training for 5 months and my son had just been born. I was all by myself and looking for a new hobby, and wanted to make something for my son. I stumbled across some cross stitching chart books at the craft store and combined a few different charts to make this one. So, I guess I'm proud that I found and taught myself something that I've grown to really love. :)

SBQ July 11, 2007 and Stash!

Today's SBQ was suggested by The Wagon and is:

What do you love to do that many people hate? What do you hate to do, but do
anyway?

I used to hate backstitching - and I don't think I was alone in that - but now I kind of love it. I love watching the piece come to life, and it is such a tidy little stitch to do. I also like fractional stitches, now that I've learned not to do two adjacent 3/4 stitches. :P

I can't really think of anything I hate to do (and do anyway) right at the moment...

Yesterday, I received my Stitcher's Closet order! A few, bigger q-snaps and my first overdyed threads! The overdyes are just gorgeous! The colors are so pretty and vibrant and I love the variation.

I got a very small start on a gift I'm working on - really just so I could try out my 6" q-snaps. I love them, I love them, I LOVE them!!! Wow. It is really amazing how much easier it is to get the fabric taut, and that actually seems to help prevent the twisty stitches, too. Plus, they're so much nicer to hold on to than hoops, which tend to hurt my wrist after a while. Oh, how I love the q-snaps. :)

I'm SO almost done with little Nemo. I would have finished the stitching last night if the hubs would have tolerated just one more late night of stitching. Oh well. :P Hopefully, I'll finish up today so I can post a pic!

SBQ July 3, 2007

Do you consider yourself a floss "miser"?

Not exactly. I consider myself a thread-I'm-stitching-with-right-now miser. If I'm on the last few stitches of a color in the section, I will go until my floss is so short that I have to put the needle in, then thread the needle, pull through and do the same again. Really, it would probably be less trouble to anchor and start a new thread. But, what can I say? I'm stubborn. :)

So far, I've only stitched with DMC and Kreiniks, so I've never been all that concerned about wasting thread. I do seem to underestimate what I need when kitting up - so maybe that's a little miserly. But, I don't save floss or worry much about wasting it. I do have some WDW overdyes enroute to me, and maybe I'll be a little more miserly with those...

SBQ June 22, 2007

Today’s SBQ was suggested by Kathryn and is:

When you start a new work do you look for something small, do you look for another huge project or do you consider your UFOs?

I actually only have the one quasi-UFO and I consider working on it all the time. lol So, I'm not sure if that counts for anything. Also, I've never actually finished any huge projects, so I'm not sure if this question really applies to me.

I just took stitching back up after a few year hiatus. And, since I re-started, I've had a backlog of small projects I've been wanting to do for other people. Once I pick up some Q-snaps, I'll get working on my one huge project while continuing my small projects. After that one is done, I probably will look for another big project to start on.

SBQ June 14, 2007

This week's SBQ was mine, actually. But, I'll try to answer it anyway. :)

How do you store your WIPs and other projects that you have kitted
up?

Up to this point, I haven't really had more than one project going on at a time. And I *just* discovered this whole "kitting up" thing thanks to some of your blogs. So, The Elephant in the Room (my borderline UFO) is really the only project I have sitting around. Thus far, I've just kept it in the manila envelope it was mailed to me in. I think I'll be transferring it into a ziploc bag today...

SBQ May 30, 2007

I haven't answered the last few SBQ's because they didn't really pertain to me. Here's this week's question from Kathryn.

How many needles do you use during a project? Have you ever loaded up a needle for every color? Do you use a new needle for every project or recycle your
favorite needle?

I usually have two needles out during a project. If I have enough area with one color to warrant it, I'll load up two needles at a time with that color and stitch one, then the other. If I'm working a piece with small areas of any given color, I still like to have that second needle out to help every now and then when the thread on the needle I'm using isn't long enough to stretch over the hoop to the other side.

I've never loaded up a needle for every color, but I have tried to stitch in rows once so I had about 6 or 7 needles going at any given time - all tethered to the piece of course. Oy. That was a headache, for me.

I have a whole bunch of the same exact needle in a little case and I just pull any given two out when I sit down.

SBQ May 4, 2007

I've noticed a lot of stitching blogs posting weekly SBQ questions and their answers. (I'm assuming this stands for Stitching Blogger Question, but who knows, I only *just* figured out what an LNS was. :P) So, I've decided to jump in on the action.

This week's question seems to be:

How many WIPs (Works In Progress) do you have? How many UFOs (Unfinished Objects) do you have? When does a WIP become a UFO?

Currently I have two small floral pieces that I started years ago, and then tucked into a book. Since then, I've had a daughter and have decided to finish the pieces for her room. This will be a really quick finish, I just need to get to it.

I also have several quilt squares with my daughter's initials that I'm working on - one down, one almost done and one more to start.

I have a quasi-UFO (which I'm calling The Elephant In The Room) that I'm trying to turn back into a WIP. It's been at least 2 years since I've done a stitch.

I don't think I'd consider a project an official UFO until I admitted to myself that I had no intention of picking it back up. Being that I'm quite the optimist, I may never have an official UFO. lol