SBQ Catchup

Due to the holidays and other real life issues (such as my back putting me back on mostly bed rest) I fell behind on answering the SBQs posed by Renee. I will post the question and the date, with links to the original on Renee's blog.

Nov. 8, 2007: When you have to frog out stitches, do you reuse that thread or do you
start over with a new strand? For me it depends on a few things: the condition of the thread after being pulled out, the type of thread, the length of thread that was pulled out. If the thread itself is worn or frayed, I do not reuse it. Metallics or blending filaments I do not reuse either. If I only had to pull out 1 or 2 stitches, the thread is too short and thus I do not reuse it.

Nov. 28, 2007: This one is a rather long one, here is the original post. There is background to this question that aids in understanding the question. For ease of reading my blog I have typed the questions asked followed by my answers.

1. What would your stash tell others about you? Most likely that I have eclectic tastes that range from traditional designs to fantasy from easy designs to very complicated or very large designs. It would probably be obvious that my favorites are Teresa Wentzler, Lavendar and Lace, Passione Ricamo, Heaven and Earth Designs and other designers of fantasy based charts that tend to be complicated in nature or quite large.
   
2. Have you thought about what you’d like done with your stash after your death? I would like my stash to go to another stitcher, someone who would use the materials and enjoy them.
   
3. Would your family know what to do with it (your stash) or recognize its value? They probably would as I talk about cross stitching quite a bit.
   
4. How well organized is your stash –would someone be able to come in and put together a sale easily, or would it require lots of organizing work ahead of time? As my stash is not extremely large it is fairly easy to keep it organized. (Though it is growing quickly now LOL) I try to keep it organized so things are easy for me to find, however unless the person going through my stash knows what they are looking at they may not find it to be what they would consider well organized.
   
5. What would you like to see done with the funds collected from such a sale, i.e., should funds go to your family, to a charity or charities of your choice, to a charity or charities of your family’s choice, etc.? I would prefer my stash to go to another stitcher who will use it, free of charge. However, were my family members to actually hold a sale of my stash I would like to see the money go to a charity of some sort, preferably one having to deal with helping child victims of sexual abuse.
   
6. Are there certain items in your stash which are rare and highly desired by stitchers that might make a much larger amount of money if sold on eBay? I am not aware of any that are rare or highly desired.
   
7. Have you done anything to designate which items are the more valuable ones so as to guide your family in how to handle them? No I have not. I had not considered something like this as of yet. But it sounds like a good idea.
   
8. Who would you tell your family should handle such a sale so that they don’t have to do it themselves? I would reccomend that my family have a friend of mine, who is also a stitcher, handle dealing with my stash if a sale were to take place. My friend is well versed in the various materials a stitcher has in their stash, what they are worth and how they are used, so she would find it easier to set prices for the items.
   
9. Have you done anything to make these thoughts known to others, either through discussions or through a codicil to your will? No I have not but this SBQ has certainly raised some questions I have not considered and I do think setting down instructions would be a good thing to do.
   
10. Have you ever attended a similar sale of a passed stitcher’s stash? How did it make you feel? Did it encourage you to make any changes in your stitching lifestyle? I have not attended a sale of another stitcher's stash before. However I have gone through the stash of a friend who stopped stitching and I think my feelings would be similar. Viewing the charts, threads, fabrics and embellishments that the stitcher chose would tell me a lot about the person. I found myself feeling very close to my friend through her sharing her stitching with me. I was saddened that she was no longer stitching, but heartened by the fact that she was not getting rid of her stash "just in case". I would guess that were I to be going through the stash of a stitcher who has passed away I would be saddened by the loss, curious as to the stitcher's personality and life events and I would feel that I shared something with him or her. I would be honored to have the stitcher's stash items to add to my stash as I know that the items that go into a stitcher's stash are often items that hold great meaning for that stitcher or in some way touch the stitcher either sentimentally, amusingly, sadly, happily, and many other emotional responses.
    

This was quite a long SBQ and it raised many thoughts in my mind. It caused me to look at my stash and think about it in a way I had not done before. For me, my stitching is a very important part of how I am (similar to my writings) and many of my charts elicit specific emotional reactions or remind me of a past experience. I know roughly how much money I have spent on my stash, but this series of questions made me realize that my stash has more value than just dollar signs.

Dec. 5, 2007: What tips would you give to a new stitcher to help her stitch faster
and neater while still keeping it enjoyable? I would tell a novice stitcher to use short lengths of floss to cut down on fraying, knots and tangles. I would reccomend he/she use thread heaven for the same reason. I would also recomend that they start out with a small chart that they really like and to do some practice stitching on a separate peice of fabric. I would include horizontal rows, vertical rows, quarter stitches (all 4 directions), three-quarter stitches and backstitch as these are the most common stitches in most beginner charts. Practicing those stitches will help the beginner feel more confident while they stitch their chosen project. I would also tell him or her to ask any questions that they have or ask for help if they need it or just want it because I would be glad to help them learn.

Dec. 12, 2007: Do you do anything special to your threads before putting them through
your fabric to make them more manageable? I use thread heaven thread conditioner on my threads as I have found it to be very helpful in cutting down on fraying, tangling and knots.

Dec. 19, 2007: Have you ever helped anyone else learn to stitch? Have you ever helped
anyone learn a new stitch or technique? I have helped 6 people learn to stitch in the last 7 years. I have helped 3 or 4 people who already knew how to stitch learn how to stitch over 2 threads or how to do specialty stitches, add beads, couching and similar things.

Dec. 26, 2007: Did you receive any stitching-related gifts for the holidays? Yes I did and posted pictures of them in prior blog entries.

(FYI: each question is either a link in and of itself or has a link within it back to Renee's blog so you can see the original question, her answer, and access links to other bloggers who answered the question)

Well, that catches me up with all the SBQ's that I did not answer. I really enjoy the SBQ's as they provide information about how other stitchers do things and this helped me to feel better about my stitching and made me realize I am no longer a beginner stitcher yet I am not an expert either. I have really enjoyed reading other's answers to these questions and have learned a great deal from them. Thank you Renee and all those who submit questions to her for creating this SBQ series!