SBQ: Overdyed Floss or Hand-dyed Fabric?
Posted by Cyn | Filed under Needlework
I’m quite late with the current Stitching Blogger’s Question, which is:
If you had to choose, would you rather spend money on overdyed floss
or hand-dyed fabric?
Overdyed floss, certainly. I’ve only purchased one piece of hand-dyed fabric, and nobody is likely to go, “Oh, wow!” about the effect in the finished piece (although I’m happy, because I couldn’t find any other fabric that was exactly right). I seriously doubt that anyone but another devoted stitcher would ever know that the fabric is hand-dyed.
The overdyed flosses I’ve used, though, frequently lead to incredible effects that are apparent to anyone who views the pieces. They’re usually a joy to work with, as well.
Tags: hand-dyed fabric, overdyed floss, SBQ
SBQ: What do you do with oorts?
Posted by Cyn | Filed under SBQ
The current Stitching Blogger’s Question is:
What do you do to your thread clippings? Do you just scrap them or do
you use them in something else?
I throw them away, as I don’t know what else I would do with them. The only possible use I know of is a vague memory of someone on RCTN using them to fill witch balls (glass fishing floats?). I’m curious as to what other people do with them, though.
Tags: Needlework, oorts, SBQ
SBQ: Balance?
Posted by Cyn | Filed under Needlework
The Stitching Bloggers Question of the Week (really last week) is:
That isn’t really an issue for me, as I haven’t been stitching lately. I really need to go buy some floss so I can get past a stumbling block on my most active current project.
Other than that, the only times I’ve ever really stitched have been when I didn’t “need” to do something else, and usually when I’ve been multitasking. It’s rare that I’m not gaming or otherwise engaged while stitching.
SBQ: Stitching Publications
Posted by Cyn | Filed under Needlework, SBQ
The Stitching Bloggers Question of the Week:
Do you currently subscribe to any stitching publications or have you in the past? (Either in print or online) If so, which ones?
I don’t subscribe to any at the moment, and I rarely buy them off the rack. I have hundreds of them in my stash, and I keep meaning to go through and just keep the designs I’m still planning to stitch, but I never get around to doing it! I stopped buying them because I realized that I haven’t ever stitched one single pattern in any of those hundreds of magazines.
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Tags: cross stitch, magazines, Needlework, patterns, SBQ, Stitching, subscriptions
SBQ: Sick of a WIP?
Posted by Cyn | Filed under Relationships, SBQ
The Stitching Blogger’s Question of the Week 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?
Of course! It has always happened with patterns I chose to do for someone else, though, rather than those I chose because I was interested in them. There are a few WIPs that have outlived the relationships that inspired them, and they may never be finished. That’s a bit embarrassing, but in at least one case I wouldn’t have ever started the piece if I’d really known what an unstable, vicious being the intended recipient was.
Tags: SBQ
SBQ: Blended Threads
Posted by Cyn | Filed under Needlework, SBQ
And another Stitching Blogger Question:
I can’t remember the last time I did a piece that used blended threads. Obviously, I haven’t gotten around to stitching anything by Teresa Wentzler 😉
When I’ve had to use them, I just blend them as the need arises. I keep most of my threads (DMC, definitely) on plastic bobbins, so when I start a project I gather all the colors required and put them on a metal ring. As I cut a length, I wind whatever I didn’t use back on the bobbin for later use, to avoid waste.
Tags: blended needles, blended threads, cross stitch, SBQ
SBQ: Most Complicated Piece?
Posted by Cyn | Filed under Needlework, SBQ
I’m behind on the Stitching Bloqqer Questions, so I’ll do them for the next few days.
What is the most complicated piece you’ve ever completed?
I’m trying to figure out how to judge how complicated someone else would judge a piece to be. Size? Different types of stitches? Embellishments?
For sheer cussedness, though it was worth it, I’d have to say that the Elemental Cosmos piece designed by Witches Stitches probably takes the cake. It didn’t use blended needles or special fibers or stitches, but there were lots of little sections of “three stitches this color, four of that color, one stitch of another” and so on. I had to do a lot of frogging, too, before I figured out some of the tricks of working on black fabric. It’s beautiful, though!
Mélange from Calico Crossroads was the first piece I did that really used a lot of different stitches. I enjoyed it greatly.
Tags: Calico Crossroads, Elemental Cosmos, Melange, SBQ, Witches Stitches
SBQ: Stitching weaknesses?
Posted by Cyn | Filed under Needlework, SBQ
I’m supposed to go telling my weaknesses, in public?
Well, I guess I’ve already exposed them, considering the lists on my site. I adore “different” patterns. If it jumps out from all the cutesy crap, I want it. Celtic knotwork is another one. I haven’t seen too many good pagan designs, so when I do, I pay attention.
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Tags: Celtic, Dexter, Dresden Files, hand-dyed floss, Nease's Needlework, pagan, SBQ
SBQ: Starting Over?
Posted by Cyn | Filed under Needlework
The Stitching Bloggers’ Question of the Week is:
Do you have any projects that you have scrapped and started over? What made you start over from scratch?
I can only remember one, and I restarted it at least twice, maybe three times. It was the Celtic Cross designed by Deb Davis for Y‑Knot Designs. I think I tried starting with one of the corners, but kept finding myself off a bit, so I frogged everything and started from the middle, as I usually do. I still kept getting off by just a thread here or there, so I do think I frogged all that again, then started from the center again but working in a different direction. I’m very pleased with how it turned out, but I think it was the last piece I did on linen instead of evenweave.
Tags: Celtic Cross, Deb Davis, Needlework, SBQ, Stitching, Y-Knot Designs
SBQ: Other crafts?
Posted by Cyn | Filed under Needlework
This weekend’s Stitching Bloggers Question:
Are there other crafts that you have tried and abandoned? Why do you like stitching better?
Short version: Because it’s one of the few visually-beautiful things I’ve ever been good at.
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Tags: Atlanta, beading, bow tying, candlewicking, chicken scratch, crafts, creativity, crocheting, decorating, Design, floss, knitting, meditation, Mercedes, metal, Michelle, paint-by-numbers, SBQ, Stitching, tin punch, Wade