Incoherent Scribblings

SBQ: Heirlooms

This week’s SBQ was suggested by Jennifer and is:

Do you have any pieces that you would liked passed on to future generations as family heirlooms?

Although I would love for any of my BAPs to become family heirlooms, I think of all the pieces that I have stitched the ones that I would most like to become heirlooms are the birth samplers that I stitched for my niece and nephew.

SBQ: Blends

I seem to have taken to posting the SBQ every other week lately but I am going to get back on track… starting next week!

This week’s 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 blend (or tweed) on the fly. However, I have tried a couple of different methods for storing blends if I have a left-over length after I finish a section.

I tried punching holes in a length of cardboard and then writing the color numbers (e.g., 415/503) over the holes once, but for some reason this method didn’t really do anything for me.

Instead I just take the left-over length and wrap it around one of the bobbins that composes the blend. (e.g., In the 415/503 combo I would wrap the left-overs around the 415 or 503 bobbin) Since I usually work on the same project for a few days at a time this works pretty well as long as I don’t have two or more blends using the same colors. When I move on to a different project I either toss the blend or, if the length is still usable, separate the threads and return them to their respective bobbins.

SBQ: Complications

Today’s SBQ was suggested by Jennifer and is:

What is the most complicated piece you’ve ever completed?

Hmmm… I suppose I would have to say “Above the Clouds.” Although “Above the Clouds” didn’t have any one-over stitching or specialty stitches it had plenty of blends, confetti stitching, and quarter stitches… All the things that make TW designs (in)famous.

SBQ: The 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?

Hmm… Let’s do a quick review of what I keep in my DMC Travel Bag first, shall we?

- 1 Stitchbow Binder (I don’t normally use stitchbows, but since one free binder came with the bag I bought some stitchbows to keep extra skeins of 310, blanc, ecru, and 3371 at my fingertips.)

- 1 sheet of paper listing my current rotation

- 2 embroidery hoops (1-4″, 1-5″)

- 1 pair embroidery scissors (with scissor fob)

- 1 mechanical pencil with eraser

- ½ card Rainbow Gallery Petite Treasure Braid in gold (From a finished project, for some reason I haven’t ever returned the card to my stash)

- 3 needles (1 Size 28 Piecemaker, 1 Size 26 Piecemaker, and 1 Size 24 Piecemaker)

- From time to time there is an actual project in the bag as well.

Since I recently cleaned out my stitching bag and put the non-essential items back where they belong, I would have to say that with the exception of the Rainbow Gallery Petite Treasure Braid I currently consider all of the items in my bag essential to my needlework.

SBQ: Downloads

After an inadvertent two week hiatus, the SBQ is back with the following question:

When you stitch a pattern that you have downloaded do you print out the pattern or do you stitch directly from your computer screen?

When I first discovered cross stitch charts online I didn’t just download them, I printed as many as my ink jet cartridge would allow. However, as time went on and I literally found thousands of patterns online I printed charts as I decided to stitch them. I printed charts for much the same reason that I printed journal articles I found online: I believed it was easier to stitch (or read) from paper as opposed to directly from the computer screen.

Then I moved back to the United States.

Now I am sure you are wondering why this is a significant factor in the whole printing vs. stitching directly from the computer screen dilemma and the reason is that when I decided to move back to the US I opted to leave the charts that I had printed out behind. I had the charts downloaded and burned on disk anyway and it was much easier (and cheaper!) to move them that way than try to move a couple of pounds of paper.

I had every intention of reverting back to the method of printing the charts off as I decided to stitch them, but I ran into a slight problem: I had (and still have) no printer at home. There were times when I could access a printer, but of course this never coincided with a time when I was moved by the urge to stitch one of the charts that I had downloaded. Therefore, I learned to stitch directly from the computer screen and have been doing so quite successfully for about a year now.

I still print out charts that I have downloaded now and then when I remember to put the chart on my flash drive, take it to work, and print it out, but these days I mostly stitch from the computer screen.

The only downfall that I have found is that it is extremely difficult to stitch from the computer screen and watch DVDs on the computer at the same time!