Stitching in the Midwest (FKA Stitching in Sunny Cal): Questions from another blog that gives some insight of this blogger

What was your first cross stitch project and how old were you?
My first cross-stitch project was on a potholder that my Grandmother gave me to do. I'm sure she took out the stitching after I went to bed because I never saw them again. She also had me practicing X's on gingham material and I spent a lot of time sewing on snaps, hooks and eyes.

What is your favorite thread/fabric color?
It depends on the day and time. I generally love warm colors - I'm an autumn person, the rich reds, blues, greens, purples etc. But every once in awhile I have to break out of the warm sensation and go with some really wild colors, reds, oranges, yellows and yes bright purples!!

What is your favorite stitching tool or accessory? Why?
My favorite tool or accessory.....hummmmm that is a hard question, probably my favorite tool is for pulling small threads behind others on the back of your project. Not sure what it's called, but I've had it for over 15 years and would be lost without it. It is called, My Favorite Tool and is in sterling silver, I lost my threader :( that matched.

Do you have furbabies that “help” you stitch?
Not at the moment, but we've had cats and dogs. My cat, Ms. Kitty who lives my daughter right now is a little thief, she tends to take full skeins of silk thread from my stitching room. I'm not sure what she does with it because I find them in a day or two, and they generally untouched and in tacked, but covered with cat hair.

Where is your favorite place to stitch?
I love my craft room at our house in KY, unfortunately we now live in CA, and I don't have a lot of options, so I stitching in the small living room. Don't have my stitching chair anymore either, that too is in KY and is a rocking chair I got while expecting my son - had to jump over several couches and chairs at a dock sale at JC Penney's, but I got my chair!

What was your most difficult stitch project?
The Baptism was my most difficult because of all of the thread changes. It is done thanks to the help of a very good friend and I love it. It hangs in our bedroom.

What would cause you to throw away an unfinished project?
The only project that I ever toss was a wedding sampler I started when I got married to my first husband. It was a stamped sampler and while I would think from time to time that I could finish it up and give it someone else, I ultimately decided to toss it. My second husband & I have been married for over 28 years, you'd think I'd start one for us, but figured it was bad luck to stitch one for yourself. Actually I've NEVER stitched anyone an actual wedding sampler - if I stitch something from friend of family it's a picture or sampler That is the only UFO that has ever been totally abandoned.

What is your STASH weakness?
It has to be threads, I love different threads, especially silks and variegated in warm colors. Since finding silk threads, I rarely ever use cotton anymore, which is why I started doing band samplers and probably why I started to do painted canvases.

Do you have a LNS near you?
Close is a relative term. There are lots of shops within a 50 miles radius of where I live, almost all of them are needlepoint shops. While I have lots of needlepoint canvases and enjoy doing them, counted cross stitch is my first love, so I miss not having a shop with recent charts. But I can really indulge in my thread obsession at the needlepoint shops.

How old is your oldest WIP?
My oldest WIP/UFO is a needlepoint that I started back in 1974, wow, almost 40 years!! I should pull it out and finish it up one of these days LOL I interchange WIP and UFO because I work off and on projects, sometime they sit for years and then I pull them out and work on them either till I get bored with them again, or until they are done. The oldest one was going to be a Christmas present for my Mom, I guess it's a little bit late, maybe this year or next???? I'm blessed with parents in good health.

How many projects do you actively work on and do you have a rotation schedule for them?

I am currently working on 5 projects in kind of a rotation. My SpiritDancer, Leigh's Dragon, Train needlepoint belt, My Iris and Fans-counted needlepoint and Queen Elizabeth the I, which is another counted needlepoint on-line class. That is the tip of the UFO iceberg - I really need to pull them all out again and take pictures and prioritize them. I know I have a wizard that I really want to get finished that I should put back into my stitching bag.