Tale of a Shooting Star…

This SBQ was suggested by Ternezia and is:

If you were a cross stitch designer, what would your design style be?

When you figure that I have considered trying to become a designer, it should be too surprising to know that I’ve thought this out already. I have a list of design categories that I would design. Mostly, I like symmetrical designs, so that’s probably the direction in which I would head first. However, I’ve often thought of doing larger landscapes based on photos that Terry has taken. I wouldn’t want to infringe upon HAED’s territory, but it would be large designs like that in order to do justice to the photos.

This SBQ was suggested by Jennifer and is:

What proportion of your stitching is for your own personal use versus gifts?

This used to be an easier question to answer because I used to participate in exchanges. This year, though, I decided not to sign up for any exchanges, except for the birthday/Christmas exchange and the Seasonal Dragons round robin. That means that whereas, in the past, my stitching would be 80% or more for other people, now it is more for me. I still make gifts and the like, but I am keeping more than I have ever before. With my stitching rate slowing to a crawl, I think this is probably a good thing. 🙂

Do you railroad?

Yes, err… sort of. Not in the traditional sense, but I try to be aware of how my threads are laying when I am stitching. I can’t explain it, but I make sure that the threads are laying side-by-side without having to railroad or use a laying tool. It’s a technique that doesn’t produce 100% perfect results, but it doesn’t interrupt the flow of my stitching or take me any longer to stitch (not that I notice, at least; I’m already a slow stitcher), so it works for me. 🙂

This SBQ was suggested by Ternezia and is:

What for you means to achieve mastery as a stitcher?

This is an interesting question and I’ve read a lot of intriguing answers. This is a tough one for me to answer because I never thought about it. Stitching is supposed to be relaxing, but I guess there is some sense of mastery when you’ve been stitching for a long time.

Not to sound egotistical or anything, but I do consider myself to be somewhat of a master. I model stitch for a prominent designer, I can pick up speciality stitches with no problem, my backs are neat and I have no problem modifying colors or a design itself. That has to get me at least close to mastery.

This SBQ was suggested by Jennifer and is:

What are your favorite online stitching supply sources?

I am my own favorite ONS, thanks to this year’s business venture, One Star’s Light Needlework Supplies.

Other favorites in the past have been The Silver Needle and Stitching Bits & Bobs. However, I vastly prefer my own customer service. 😉

Would you ever stitch one of your BAPs a second time? (This does not include starting over because of mistakes, bad fabric, etc., rather stitching something from the first stitch for a second time.)

Considering I barely get BAPS done a first time, this would be an emphatic NO. One and done is my motto. 🙂 But seriously, it does take me so long to finish a BAP that I would never want to spend that much time to do it again.

This SBQ was suggested by Jennifer and is:

How did you get started stitching? Was there a person that inspired you?

“Let’s start at the very beginning. A very good place to start.”
Let’s see. I started stitching sometime around the age of 11, I think. My mother taught me and I think my first stitched piece was a little owl. I remember that I stitched several Precious Moments designs, once of which had a birdcage and I made my long stitches too long on the cage bars, so they got really loose and floppy. I have a picture of myself on the couch as a little kid, hoop and needle in hand. 🙂

I guess I would say that my mother inspired me, but she hasn’t kept up with it. Teresa Wentzler’s Rapunzel did her in. 😆 Now, all of the stitching bloggers out there provide me with inspiration. There’s no shortage of it, that’s for sure!