SBQ - Owning LNS/ONS

Today's SBQ is:

Do you dream of running your own LNS/ONS? If so, tell us about your
dream. If not, tell us about your cross stitch dream… maybe you dream
of designing, dyeing your own floss or fabric, etc.

I'm not creative enough to design patterns or dye floss or fabric but I would love to own my own needlework store...how fun would that be? Way more exciting than my current number crunching job that is way too far away from where we live. It would be very cool to be able to work with all the different fibers, fabrics and charts everyday although I might have a problem making any money cause I'd want to keep it all for myself. Hence, it being an unrealistic dream for me to think about opening a shop...especially when DH wants to move to the middle of no where to own a farm. Would be hard to get people to a store that's in the middle of field that's located in the middle of nowhere. LOL

SBQ - Finishing

Today's SBQ was suggested by Carol and is:

Do you have any good internet links to tutorials for your favorite
finishing techniques that you would like to share?

Here are a few sites that I use...

• Tips and Tricks - has some good finishing techniques about 3/4 of the way down the page
• Cleaning, Mounting & Framing - a great site on how to clean, mount and frame cross stitch
• Fabric Finishing Techniques - has a number of different ways to finish fabric

SBQ - To Knot or Not

Today's SBQ is:

How do you secure your thread when you begin a new one? Specifically,
do you or have you ever used a waste knot?

When stitching with two threads, I almost always use the loop method. When not using hte loop method, I'll leave a tail long enough to weave under the stitches or I use a waste knot. When stitching with one strand, I always use a waste knot.

To perform the loop method you cut the strand twice as long as desired for stitching. Fold the strand in half, and insert the cut ends in the eye of your needle. The folded end is at the opposite end of the strand. Come up through the fabric, leaving the loop on the underside. Make your first stitch. Bring the needle down through the loop in the folded end of the strand, and pull until loop lies flat against the fabric.

To perform the waste knot method you tie a knot in the end of the floss. Thread the needle and draw the floss through the top of the fabric near the edge. Bring the floss up through the back of the fabric in the desired starting spot and begin stitching.

SBQ: Tis The Season

This weeks SBQ is:

Do you stitch Christmas ornaments? If so, how many do you stitch each year and for whom? If not, why not?

While I always have the best of intentions each year to stitch ornaments for all the kids each year but somehow it nevers seems to work out...might have something to do with our family expanding every couple of years so there is usually a baby running around which seriously cuts into stitching time. I do participate in the Ornament exchanges at the CrossStitchCrazy board. We do two exchanges a year there...one in July and one now so I always stitch two ornaments a year and receive two surprise ornaments in exchange. I love it!!

SBQ: About Floss

Today's SBQ was suggested by Jan and is:

How many different brands of "complete" embroidery floss sets do you own? How do you keep track of it? (i.e., spread sheet program, index cards, palm pilot, etc.)

I have a complete set of Six Strand Sweets. I'm about 20 short of a complete set for DMC. And no where near a complete set for anything else...WDW, GAST, etc. I have spreadsheets where I try to keep track of what I have/don't have but I still can never seem to find the color that I want when I need it even though I know I have it. I think there are floss-raptors in my house that make off with it. LOL

SBQ: What's in a Name

This weeks SBQ was suggested by Lee and is:

How did you decide on the title of your stitching blog? Was it random,
or does it have a special meaning to you or about you?

My blog is not just about stitching, it's about my whole life and what goes on in it. The title of my blog...An Abundance of Blessings...reflects the family aspect of my life in that I have many blessings in my life in the form of my DH, all my kids and all the blessings that He gives us that enable us to live our life the way we do.

SBQ: Halloween Edition

This weeks SBQ was suggested by Carol and is:

If you were to come across a sampler chart that caught your eye and
appealed to you, would you or would you not stitch it if it had a
morbid or "creepy" saying on it? If not, why?

I think it would depend on how morbid or creepy the saying was. If it's a Halloween type creepy, then yes, I would definitely stitch it as I love Halloween designs but if it was some saying that was just digustingly morbid then no, I probably wouldn't stitch the saying but I would probably still the design as long as the two could be separated.

SBQ - Which Way?

This weeks SBQ was suggested by Vash and is:

Which way do you stitch, i.e. do you stitch /// followed by \\\ on top, or the other way around \\\ followed by ///? Are you left- or right-handed and do you think that this affects the way that you stitch?

I always stitch /// then \\\. I'm right handed but I don't think that has affected the direction that my final stitch goes. I can stitch both ways, just prefer the way it looks with the top stitch going \\\.

SBQ - Mistake Breaks

Today's SBQ was suggested by Sharon and is:

When you find yourself making a lot of mistakes in various stitching
projects do you find it better to muddle your way through or do you
take a brief break from stitching? If you do take a break, how long do
you take?

Usually when I find myself making a lot of mistakes in a project it's better for me to put that project aside and pick up another to work on for awhile. I find that the more I try to muddle through, the more mistakes I make, especially if I'm making counting mistakes. Usually I'll have some goal in mind to get done on the piece I switched to...like finish the tree, or outline the houses, etc...before switching back to the piece that was giving be problems. But if I've finished that goal and I still feel like I'm frustrated with the initial piece, I will do some more work on another piece until that frustration passes. The only time I don't put a piece aside and will muddle through is if I've made a significant counting error that will cause me more time trying to remember what I did wrong. I know that will cause me way more frustration than muddling through to get the piece back to a spot where I can just pick it up again. I did this with my Mother's Bliss piece...had stitched a couple extra rows about 20 rows before I realized it. That ended up putting me off a couple of columns as well. There was no way I was ripping out all that stitching so I took the time to fudge it back past the point of where I'd made the error that way when I picked it back up again it was clear sailing for me. But other than that type of instance, I will just put it aside for awhile and work on something else.

SBQ - Stitching Statistics

This week's SBQ was suggested by Elizabeth and is:

How many pieces have you stitched? Out of these, how many have been
for you? How many have had specialty stitches or other techniques
besides cross stitch?

Oh gosh...how many pieces have I stitched? That's a toughie as I've been stitching for 25+ years. Doing a quick tally from my webshots album that shows my stitching for the last 5yrs, I've stitched ~170 pieces. This counts individual pieces, as well as, round robins and square exchanges. Most of them don't have specialty stitches although I'm not sure why as I love stitching specialty stitches. The one I like the best that has specialty stitches is a Shepherd's Bush piece that I can't seem to find a pic of in my album. Hmm, wonder where it got to. You can see my stitched pieces for the last several years here.

SBQ - Let's Share

This week's SBQ was suggested by Carolyn and is:

How do you share your finished pieces with others? Do you frame them, scan and/or photograph them, or do you have another method that you would like to share?

I always scan my finished pieces and post them in my Webshots album. It's my one central place where I can keep track of everything I've stitched over the years.

There are three main ways that I share my work:

1. I'm a member of a great cross stitch board, CrossStitchCrazy , where I will post my finished projects (along with my wip's) for my friends there to see. We are a great source of encouragement to each other.
   
2. I post update pics here in my blog.
3. I will take projects to my friends and familys house, as well as work, so that they may see in person what I've accomplished...sometimes pictures just don't do the pieces justice.
   

I'm notoriously bad about framing my work unless it's a gift but I do have a few framed pieces hanging here in my house. The rest are waiting patiently in a storage bin for me to get the $ to frame them.

SBQ - WIP Travel Keepers

This weeks SBQ question is:

What do you keep your WIPs and other stitching supplies in when traveling?

I have multiple tote bags in varying sizes that I put my WIP's in when traveling. I have the WIP's usually in a zippered project bag or a zip lock bag as the pic shows (along with some type of book to read). My stitching supplies can usually be found in smaller project bags or right in the same project bag as the WIP...it just depends on how big the project is. I have one tote bag in the car all the time (that's the Noah's Ark bag in pic) so that I'm always assured of having something to work on if I get hung up somewhere unexpectedly. The other totes I'll grab depending on whether it's a long trip or a short trip. I also have a zippered mesh bag that I use quite frequently if I know I won't be walking around much.

SBQ - Organizing Fabric

This weeks SBQ question is:

Do you have an organizational system for your fabric? If so, what is
it? If not, what do you store your fabric in?

How do people store their fabric, especially those small but
potentially usable pieces? Do they sort by count? How do they label it
or otherwise know what each piece is?

I have all my fabric in the bottom drawer of a cabinet that my DH finished for me (the rest of the cabinet plus another one is devoted to the rest of my stitching supplies). The fabric is arranged by size then by color name. Most reside in the original packaging that I bought the fabric in. I don't think you are supposed to leave them in the plastic bags but I'm not sure how I'd identify their size, count, color name otherwise. I have my aida and opalescents as separate sections but I don't make any distinction between the different types of evenweaves and linen...they all get mixed together according to their size and color.