August SBQ Answers with Pictures

 Are you male or female? A Mother's Arms by Mirabilia

Describe yourself: She Who Plants Kindness by Janlynn

How do some people feel about you? Spring Queen by Mirabilia

How do you feel about yourself? Lady of the Flag by Mirabilia

Describe your interest: Cross Stitcher in Residence

Describe your best friend: Charmed Golf by Hinzeit 

Describe where you currently live: Hearts of America - NYS

Where would you rather be? Taj Mahal by Chatelaine

Describe what you want to be: Be Wise by X's and Oh's

Describe how you live: ABC Lessons by Lizzie Kate

Describe how you love: The Kiss by Mirabilia

Share a few words of wisdom: Why Hoard Gold by Dragon Dreams

Now use a title to say good-bye: Life's a Stitch by Lizzie Kate












The SBQ for August challenge was to answer the questions using the titles of designs. I only used designs I have in my stash.

July SBQ

1. Do I stitch because I want to be alone or do I end up being alone because I stitch? This a paraphrase of the question but gets to the heart of it. When I began to stitch ten years ago I did it to keep my hands busy during long faculty meetings. While I like to grab some quiet time with my stitching I also stitch in a variety of different settings such as soccer games, waiting for an appointment, or by myself in my stitching chair. So I would say neither statement is true for me. I do  however find it relaxing at the end of a busy day or first thing in the morning to sit quietly and stitch and reflect on what ever is currently going on in my life.

2. What are the characteristics of my ideal stitching group?
Ideally I would like the group:

• to have a mix of ages
• have light but fun conversation ( not gossip) 
• or discuss current issues
• and  feel comfortable enough to share our stories
• feel free to help each other
• share ideas and techniques
• laugh a lot
• celebrate together
• meet either in a shop or a public meeting space

I like the idea of it being like the old fashion quilting bees you read about.

Stitching Bloggers Question - June

Each month Lake Stitcher  will pose a question for each of us to answer either in your own blog or as a comment on her blog. You may also post your answer as a comment to my blog if you choose.  This month the SBQ is:


Tell us about something that you have stitched or plan to stitch for any father in your life.  Maybe it’s for your father, your father-in-law, your children's father, your grandfather, your godfather, or someone who was or still is an important father-figure in your life.  Why did you choose this particular piece of stitching?   Tell us the story behind it.

The only father I have done any stitching for is my husband. I have done four pieces for him. The first one I did for him was in recognition of his favorite pastime for the last 9 years, golf. When my husband undertakes to learn a sport it becomes a consuming passion. This is what happened when at the age of 50 he decided to give up his every day basketball league in favor of a sport that was less demanding on his joints. Our 11 year old son had just been to golf camp,  introduced him to the sport, and a local legend was born. In recognition of his passion for playing golf and becoming good at it I stitched him a small design called "I love Golf"from an issue of Just Cross Stitch Magazine. It was his father's day gift in 2004.

  And because a simple one part question is never adequate, let’s go some more:
Often times we identify our love of needlework and our skills with our mothers or grandmothers or other women.  It’s understandable because often they were are first teachers or role models.  Now let’s think about our stitching life as it relates to our dads.  Is there anything about our approach to stitching that we can recognize as traits of our fathers?  For instance, does your dad (or any other important man in your life) have an approach to one of his interests that you can observe and think, “Hey….if I substitute the word “needlework” for “fly fishing”, we’d be pretty darn similar!”  So tell us about it.

My dad has been involved with electronics most of his adult life. He is meticulous and organized whenever he was building some electronic quizmo. I spent many hours as a teenager watching him work on the delicate small components and learned much from him about how to plan a project, collect your materials and tools, set up your work location, working carefully and precisely, and cleaning up when the project was done. Much of this knowledge applies very well to my needlework and I use it everyday. His other  axiom was "measure twice cut once" for household projects. This is a practice I employ in cutting fabric but also in checking my stitching where you often need to count twice before proceeding.