Awhile back, I did Stitching the Night Away's blog hop. I intended to do more of them, but somehow missed a bunch of them. So...better late than never.
Also, did you get your Chick-Fil-A today? I did. It was tasty and it was still crazy busy at 9:20 pm.
Prompt #2: Do you use a stand when you stitch? If so, tell us about it and share pictures if you’ve got them. If not, would you like to try using a stand? Do you have any tips or tricks around using a stand versus not using a stand?
Answer: I do own a Ks Creations Z Frame stand. I really do like it. It works well with the Q Snaps. I don't use it as often as I would like because of the girls. I use it on larger projects because they get harder to hold. I used it fairly often on the whitework piece.
As for tips, make sure that you buy a stand that is adjustable in several places (mine has 3 places I can adjust) as this will give you optimum comfort. There is also one screw to adjust to flip the piece around which is handy when switching colors. Also, when doing a larger piece, use hair clips to keep the fabric out of the way.
Prompt #3: Do you set stitching goals for yourself and how do you plan them out? (Weekly, monthly, annually?) What are your current stitching goals (if you don’t mind sharing)?
In addition to setting goals for yourself, do you have a special reward that you reserve for when you reach a stitching goal?
Answer: I generally set yearly goals. You can find the goals for this year in the sidebar of my blog. I don't really have a reward for finishing something. I just am happy that I actually got the piece finished. Right now, I have 2 of my goals completed and 2 to go. I am fairly certain I will have at least 3 done by the end of the year.
Prompt: #4: Do you experience this same assumption from society in general that just because you’re being crafty you’re also driven by some unseen force to be in constant 1950s housewife mode? and then…. Who actually does the cooking and the cleaning in the household? I’d also really like to hear some words from the men in the crowd who stitch on this topic. What sort of societal reactions do you get and what ridiculously wrong assumptions do people make towards you when they see you working on needlework?
Answer: I used to bring my stitching to work. For the last 3 years, I've worked in a cell phone call center. The general reactions were "That's gorgeous," "you have way to much time on your hands," how do you have the patience for that" along with a few people that thought I was born in the wrong era.
I never had a problem with people thinking that I was a 1950 housewife. Until June 22, I was working full time while my husband stayed at home with the 1 and 2 year old and did the cooking and cleaning. It's actually my husband that takes the flack for that. We chose to do one income because if we had two, one income would pay for childcare and the other would pay everything else. Why have someone else raise our children?
Prompt #5:Do you find yourself stitching seasonally or do you just stitch what moves you at the moment? What’s your favorite holiday or season to stitch for?
Answer: I don't really stitch seasonally because Christmas pieces generally have to be started in summer to be finished by Christmas (ie stockings). The exception is Christmas ornaments which I will do in November and December because they are small and can be finished quickly.
I mostly stitch for Christmas. I hope to expand but we don't really decorate our house for the seasons except Christmas.
Prompt #6: Some of us have a favorite chair that we sit in to stitch, others prefer to enjoy a steaming mug of tea while they stitch. Maybe you need to get comfortable and put on your pajamas before you pick up your needle or you simply must rearrange all the sofa pillows before you sit down. Sometimes the ritual is in the clean up when we’re done and everything must go in a certain place. What sort of stitching rituals do you have when you sit down to work on your projects?
Answer: I used to have stitching rituals. They've kinda been thrown out. When I was in college, I would move my little lamp over to my bunk bed and use my little backrest and stitch while watching something on TV. When I had my own apartment, it was the same thing except on a couch. I don't eat while I stitch as that gets things messy but I might have a glass of water nearby.
Now, I just try to get in a little stitching in between keeping the girls out of trouble and out of my needlework.
Prompt #7: What do you do with the floss, thread, beads, and other elements you have left over from full project kits?
Answer: I used to keep the pattern and the floss from the kit in a little expandable file. Then one day I threw it all out. I normally toss the floss as I don't do a ton of kits anymore but if there are beads left over, I will keep them. Same with any specialty items that I might find useful. I just finished a mill hill kit so I put the beads in my bead keeper and used my Dynmo label maker to put the number on them so if I do something else with those, I have them.
Visit all the blogs in this round of the Stitching the Night Away Stitching Blogger Blog Hop:
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