Confessions of a Cross Stitcher

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Cecilia
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Re: Confessions of a Cross Stitcher

Post by Cecilia »

I can relate to most of these confessions although I don't lick my threads to thread the needle, I normally 'fold' the ends over, hold it tight between thumb and forefinger and it normally goes through OK. And I never knot my threads and I'm not a great fan of HAEDS though I admire the amount of work that goes into them.

My one 'big' thing is that I never tell people if I'm stitching a gift for them just in case I drastically miss the deadline. That way I can buy something else and give my stitching to them for another time or I have actually given the sitched item to someone else if that person's birthday/special occasion fits better with when I finished it. :oops:
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agi
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Re: Confessions of a Cross Stitcher

Post by agi »

Serinde wrote:I have probably done, or am doing, everything confessed to so far. It's a relief to know I'm in such good company.

I've been doing a fair amount of research lately on 15-16th century needlework, and a nagging question formed in my mind: WHO EXACTLY MADE ALL THESE RULES?? You know, the "start in the centre", "work from the top down", "don't take threads over distances on the back", "no knots", "stitches are only formed 'this' way"... because professional embroiderers were doing all these things (and probably worse) in the Elizabethan period, and you can bet that your average household linen was stitched much the same way. I have it on good authority that Anglo-Saxon gold work "technique" in modern terms was atrocious. Which didn't stop it being absolute objects of desire at the time, and bought by anyone with any dosh.

So, who made these rules? Well, perhaps "made" is too strong; try "codified". The friends we love to hate, of course: the Victorians! :doh: Stop feeling guilty, stitchers! :dance:

Serinde, you are my queen :king: :king: :king: :wub:
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dalronix
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Re: Confessions of a Cross Stitcher

Post by dalronix »

Pengwenn wrote:
4. I now have to have a needle for every color I'm using for a project.
Although just a beginner in CS, I've already starting doing this too: bags of 25, 50 or 100 gold-plated needles cost just a few dollars on eBay. I use a 1" thick piece of packing foam as a needle cushion.
~: Ron :~
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grub72
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Re: Confessions of a Cross Stitcher

Post by grub72 »

Ok this sounds like fun,, ok mine are
1. i dont care what the back looks like
2. i keep my wips on frames hoops and dont loosen them
3. i keep needles in the aida
4. if i am too lazy to do back stitch then i will artline them in with fine point texta
5. if i make too many mistakes i will pull it all out and start again ( according to my daughters)
6. i will start charts then not finish them for a very long time
7. I leave my corner messy sometimes i clean it up
8. My corner can be about 1/2 of the lounge room
Ok i cant think of anymore
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carolanne
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Re: Confessions of a Cross Stitcher

Post by carolanne »

Well, I don't think there is anything left to add. I also have some of these habits, to each their own. :wink: :wink: :wink:
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Sarah Gixxer
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Re: Confessions of a Cross Stitcher

Post by Sarah Gixxer »

Hehe, this is an amusing thread. As for me......

I have so many HAED charts that I know they will probably take me 20 or 30 years to stitch, by which time I expect my eyesight won't be able to cope with either the charts or the 25 count fabric.

If I run out of thread and have maybe 2 or 3 stitches to do with it, I substitute the closest alternative I can find rather than wait to buy more.

I made myself a chart from a photograph of my much loved motorcycle, stuck all the pages together to make one huge chart which was then impossible to handle, made a horribly large mistake which would have meant me frogging virtually half of what I had stitched (the design was 80% done) so I gave up and binned it and carefully didn't talk about it ever again to anybody who knew I was doing it :oops: I WILL stitch that bike one day :)

I have had UFOs that I abandoned for more than 10 years before eventually finishing them.
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fiddler
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Re: Confessions of a Cross Stitcher

Post by fiddler »

This is a great topic.I do everything mentioned before. One thing I did when using Magic Aida started on the wrong side!!! I wondered why the lines were so faint but by the time I noticed I had done to much to start unpicking So just carried on. Will make sure I don't do it again. :roll: :roll: :roll:
kouneli
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Re: Confessions of a Cross Stitcher

Post by kouneli »

1. I have MANY WIPs that I just don't have time for since I'm busy with others.
2. I hate having to give up my recliner.
3. I will stitch late into the night, even if I have to get up at 6am the next morning.
4. I don't care about the back.
5. I will sometimes get knots and just leave them at the back rather than starting a new thread lol.
6. I don't remove the hoop at the end of the day.
7. I bring my cross stitch almost EVERYWHERE with me except to class. (and I'm surprised I don't bring it even then).
8. Most of the cross stitches I do end up being presents.
9. Recently, one cross stitch went from being a Christmas present to a birthday present.....and yet another one went from being a birthday present to a Christmas present. (Can't you tell I often make timing mistakes...particularly for large pieces).
10. I have dog/cat hair in many of my pieces....Though I do "sticky" them out from the front, I'm sure if someone in the future looks close enough, they could determine the DNA of my pets. lol
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Mystonique
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Re: Confessions of a Cross Stitcher

Post by Mystonique »

[1. I can go for months without stitching and then get annoyed at myself for the time I wasted.
6. I do sometimes think of social occasions as lost stitching time.]

Yup this is me. I watch tv then get angry at wasting that time I could have been stitching but sometimes it's almost like I'm scared to pick it up and do it. And I do sometimes get annoyed when someone invites me out when I've planned to stitch. I get especially frustrated if I go somewhere with my stitching thinking I'll get time to do some (movie marathon or once when I was assisting a friend with an Affidavit) and I am not given time to stitch !!!
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Pippa
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Re: Confessions of a Cross Stitcher

Post by Pippa »

Well, I don't think I'm the only one who makes mistakes now! I too don't give one thought to how the back of my work looks, as long as the front is okay & who says we have to start in the centre, I never do! I also lick my threads, do knots sometimes to start & change the colours because I don't like the ones the designer has chosen, One thing I'm cured of though, is buying more magazines, I have enough designs etc to last me till I drop off this earth, so won't waste anymore money on them. I nstead I'll spend it on threads, Aida & Bling. There, now I've told youall! Happy Stitching girls! :ratherbe: Pippa.
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imogenX
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Re: Confessions of a Cross Stitcher

Post by imogenX »

I'm new to the forum, but I knew I had to join after reading this thread. So many unknown kindred spirits!

1. I spend as much time fantasizing about stitching as I do actually stitching. (either planning my next project, learning new finishing techniques, lamenting "wasted" travel/meeting time, etc)
2. I can stay up until 5am stitching and not regret it the next day.
3. I hate finishing, and avoid it for weeks. Even though I love the way it transforms the piece into a true work of art.
4. I love to troll ebay for vintage kits, even though I've never actually bought one.
5. I get annoyed at movies or TV shows that aren't purely dialogue because they force me to look up from my stitching.
6. I really wish I could stitch faster, but can't sacrifice the quality of my stitches. (and I've been OCD about the back of my works)

My new resolution after reading your confessions is to STOP caring so much about the back of my work. You're right - no one looks at it, and I waste SO much time planning my needle's course. I don't even photograph it for my OWN memories. Time to let it go.
-Imogen

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Puzzley
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Re: Confessions of a Cross Stitcher

Post by Puzzley »

:oops:

Here goes:

- I drool over the HAED's...and have never purchased one for fear I will start and never ever finish it.
- I am terrible at finishing any project. Including the baby cross stitch I started last year when I was pregnant with Olivia. Who is now 9 months old...its still sitting in my closet waiting to be done. I kind of have the urge to finish it now...especially since baby #2 is almost here.
- I do not give a hoot about the back of my projects. And its usually pretty obvious I don't give a hoot.
- I've taken up sewing. So stitching has taken a back seat sadly. Time to change up crafts and go back to stitching!
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efhawks
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Re: Confessions of a Cross Stitcher

Post by efhawks »

Just had to post...

I'm sitting in a seminar about cleft lip and palate and all I can think about is how much stitching I could be getting done while listening to the speaker...

Seriously, it's bad!
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Re: Confessions of a Cross Stitcher

Post by T1Pumper »

1. I really don't care about the back of my stitching

2. I move my stash around from one place to another to "look" like I have reorganized the room but really you just have to look for it in another spot.

3. I am a procrastinator

4. I like to sleep...sometimes I feel that I am still a teenager.

eta: I don't buy kits. I think they are pretty but I don't want to sort through the floss they give you and I am afraid I will run out
Last edited by T1Pumper on Wed Sep 19, 2012 9:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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adastra
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Re: Confessions of a Cross Stitcher

Post by adastra »

1- I keep buying kits even though I have about 7 years worth of kits still untouched, in a drawer, abandoned and gathering dust.

2- I only buy kits that are life like and very complicated. (I don't like cartoonie type kits, though I will do them as gifts if that's what they like).

3- I am a stickler for photocopying my charts. I never touch the original and I have every chart for every piece I have ever stitched (I have no idea why because of my next point).

4- I hate stitching the same kit twice.

5- I always put a stitch in the completed work that is completely out of place and different so that I know it is mine. I don't tell anyone about it, either.

There are probably more but I'm oblivious to them.

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carolanne
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Re: Confessions of a Cross Stitcher

Post by carolanne »

I have no need to put a stitch in out of place on purpose. It always happens without planning. There are always 1 or 2 or? "original" stitches.
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lisa2469
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Re: Confessions of a Cross Stitcher

Post by lisa2469 »

Love this...

Doctor, I think I have a problem...

1). I never wash my finished piece, always make sure to wash my hands before I touch my project.

2). I don't like kits - hate to organized the thread - the one or two times I did purchase a kit I spent hours trying to figure out what threads were what colors - nothing was marked - just tied together in one big mess of thread.

3). I don't care too much how the back looks as long as you can't see the mess from the front - lumps from knots or dark threads in open spaces.

4). I always put my needle down when I change colors - on my bed, on the arm of the sofa (I've gotten in trouble for that one more that once with someone putting their arm down on my needle - ouch!) and I can't remember in the 15 seconds it takes to get a new thread where I put it !!! Then spend 5 minutes trying to find the needle. Not to mention how many times I have lost them on the carpet - most found but not always.

5). I try to hide what I bring home from DH so I don't have to fess up how much I spent - even to the point of making sure I use cash to hide the paper trail...I know sad.

6). I have UFO's that are about 20 years old.

7). I never baste or tape my edges - I just pull off the threads if they start to bother me.

8). If I use a wrong color for 1 or 2 stitches I just stitch over them with the right color.
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Nats
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Re: Confessions of a Cross Stitcher

Post by Nats »

Love this thread

1. It does not worry me if I use the wrong colour thread no one should know

2. I also lick the thread to thread up the needle

3. my needle always gets put in the side of the chair or anything which is near when changing colours

4. at the moment I have about 7 projects on the go
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mimers
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Re: Confessions of a Cross Stitcher

Post by mimers »

tiffstitch wrote:I have a lot of the same confessions most of you do, don't care about the backs much, too much stash, stay up late to finish pieces, etc.

New confessions:
1. I lose needles a lot. My husband tends to find them with his feet. :oops:

2. I leave my projects on Qsnaps, just loosened.

3. I used to mark original charts, I don't anymore, but I have worn through original charts from folding and unfolding

LOVE #1. I do the same

Um... didn't know you weren't supposed to keep projects on the Qsnaps? Do you mean you take out the fabric every time you finish stitching?

My confession -- I'd rather be cross-stitching... always!
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LaraAmber
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Re: Confessions of a Cross Stitcher

Post by LaraAmber »

1. My entire stash fits in two boxes on the shelf in my closet.
2. I've never used any thread but DMC.
3. I told the optometrist today when he said "your vision is fine, why do you want glasses" that I needed them for cross-stitch. So the rest of the visit he referred to them as my cross-stitch glasses.
4. I have no idea if my backs would be considered "neat" or "messy".
5. I actually worried that one day people wouldn't be able to tell which works were mine because my last initial changed when I got married. (I stitch my initials and the year about 4-10 rows below the bottom right border of the design.)
6. I can remember every piece I've made, but not the names of the people who got them.
7. I convinced my husband I needed a Bernina sewing machine...to finish the raw edges of my cross-stitch fabric. (When we move into a real house in a few years it will get more use.)
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