Have Your Say

In All Stitched Up! issue #274, we asked you where your favourite stitching spot was. Although we mentioned how many creative people work well in cafés, the nature of our art means that it is not always practical to do it at a small table with a cup of coffee balanced precariously near our pristine linen!

Bellissimo by Paola Matteucci from Inspirations Issue #102

That said, we received such a vast array of responses from our community, it proved to us that just about anywhere can be the perfect place to stitch.

Nadine Bond, like many of us, has a special chair with a special table in front of it. It means everything she needs is to hand, and she says she loves the time it affords her to reflect, choose and execute what she has in mind with her stitching.

Embroidery for Nadine has always symbolised freedom from work, both paid and unpaid, and therefore the private time at home is what makes it special.

In fact, having a designated special stitching spot located within the home, was a popular response. Mary Moore loves sitting on her sun porch, especially in cold weather, enjoying the sun shining in and listening to a favourite audiobook. Lois LaPointe also loves sitting in her favourite chair, rocking and stitching, with her husband nearby and her cocker spaniel puppy playing at her feet. It all sounds like bliss.

Renette Kumm’s Bee-Eaters from A Passion for Needlework | Factoria VII

Lise Waring also enjoys being at home, but she prefers to stitch in front of her computer with YouTube videos of concerts or history documentaries playing. The videos are short enough that she remembers to get up and stretch between them (something we should all do, but probably a lot of us forget!). Lise enjoys the fact she doesn’t have to pay continuous attention to the videos, which means she gets plenty of stitching done.

Another fan of stitching at home is Roberta Kenney who likes classical music playing in the background. She recognises that she is easily distracted – especially by new designs and ideas! As such, being at home helps minimise the distractions and the music helps with Roberta’s concentration and rhythm.

Phillipa Turnbull’s Jacobean Hunt from A Passion for Needlework | Factoria VII

Concentration is also something that Eunice finds challenging if she is out and about with her knitting/crochet/craft group. Although she loves being with the group, she often finds she has to reverse stitch when she gets home because all of the chatter disrupts her concentration. Because of that, she says she is definitely most effective at home, but we get the impression that she enjoys the social gatherings too.

There are plenty of other settings which also inspire us. Loree Clark states simply that her favourite place to stitch is in the mountains, near a river or lake. The proximity to nature is definitely something that can be both calming and inspirational.

Stacy Jenks would love to stitch with other stitchers, but with two teenage daughters, one of whom is a figure skater, she has had to settle for the ice rink as her stitching spot of choice.

However, she has discovered that stitching whilst waiting for her daughter has led to lots of curiosity and discussion with skaters who want to know what she is working on.

Finally, Velia asked us hypothetically how she could possibly work at a café when she usually stitches with an enormous number of beads on a felt covered table. She also has to have a five-drawer chest nearby filled with all of her beads and equipment. Furthermore, as she observes, beads tend to flip off the needle sometimes and fly all over the place. Probably not ideal in a coffee shop!

Carolyn Pearce’s Perfect Panises from A Passion for Needlework | Blakiston Creamery

We’re sure that every single one of you could immediately bring to mind your favourite stitching spot, and probably many of you have more than one. Whether you like to stitch in a group, in public, on the bus, in your favourite chair at home or sitting in your back garden, the most important thing is that you are stitching. The location is just a small part of the pleasure. It is the practice of the craft itself which we love so much.