Have Your Say

Your Stitching Space and Some Great Tips

We’ve really been enjoying all of the emails that have been arriving in our inbox in the past weeks. We love the fact that even if it takes you a few weeks to read the newsletter, you’re still inspired enough to write to us. It doesn’t matter how long it takes you to join in on the conversation – we want to hear from you! Even if you want to respond to something that came up in a newsletter from last month or even last year, we welcome all of your comments.

There were a few more people who wanted to share their stitching spaces with us this week. Cécile wrote to us from France to tell us that she was making use of several locations in her house. When her daughter moved out, the vacated room became Cécile’s stitching room where she created a ‘world’ filled with her projects, threads and patterns. However, she still kept the table in the living room to stitch at so she could be with her family while enjoying her time with needle and thread.

Lena Napier loves her attic conversion. At one end is her stitching space, which is filled with light. She sits on her settee, with the BBC playing in the background, the only visitor being her husband with a much welcome cup of tea. Lena says:

‘The best part of my room is the moment I step into it, I relax. It’s like coming home. It’s where I belong.’

On the wall sits a plaque which reads, ‘A quiet time in a quiet place: a daily need for a moment’s grace.’

Fred Sander’s ‘Cubby Hole’

We fell in love with Fred Sander’s embroidery cubby hole. When they built a house, Fred knew he needed a home office with a door he could lock when the children were young. The room was small; just 10m square, so little more than a ‘cubby hole’. As his children grew, Fred used the room for his hobbies and crafts as well, including his embroidery.

However, because the room was so tiny, Fred had the challenge of finding a place for everything. He didn’t like working with hoops, but his frames were too large to fit. As such, he fashioned a ceiling mount to hold his frame!

Even though his children have now moved out, Fred is still using the room. He has his PC and telephone in reach, and the cubby hole continues to retain its very special charm and atmosphere.

A couple of people wrote in with some great tips as well this week.

Tied in Knots by Maria Rita Faleri from Inspirations issue #103

First of all, Eve has been working on Tied in Knots from Inspirations issue #103. She’s come up with an ingenious alternative to the foam board. Using an idea she learned when making friendship bracelets, Eve winds a strip of thick cotton duck fabric around her lower thigh. Using safety pins, she pins the project in place through the duck and her jeans, so that the duck takes the force from the pulling, and the jeans give plenty of stability. She does recommend you avoid wearing your best jeans however, as you may get a small pucker.

There is a downside though. If you have to jump up to get the phone, you might end up trailing string all around the house!

Sherwin-Williams Paint Swatches (Source)

Trudy Snaith also shared a great tip about choosing colours. She suggests taking a sample of the dominant colour for your project to a paint shop. There, you can look through the hundreds of colour cards, most of which offer suggestions for complimentary colours. Best of all, the cards are usually free to take so you can then keep the combination suggestion with your project. As Trudy said, she’s surprised no-one had already thought of it!

Finally, Jodi was inspired by the series of articles about loving your stash which appeared in All Stitched Up! issue #260 and issue #261. Recognising that she was continually buying new stuff because it seemed so much easier due to her huge collection being so disorganised, she has now made an effort to go ‘shopping’ in her own stash. Although her grand plan for a database and complete organisation hasn’t been fully realised, she is on the way and it makes her very happy.

We’re so glad that you’ve all been inspired by our articles. We love your thoughts, your tips and your stories that help to keep the conversation going among our international group of stitching friends.