Already across much of the world the New Year is upon us, and here in California we have only a few hours of the old year left. As they say, 2013 is definitely in the rear view mirror at this hour.
I am starting the New Year off on a good foot: by the end of this evening I will have canvas cut for a new project and I intend to spend much of the day tomorrow starting it. I have thread, scissors, lots of new gadgets and many hours waiting for me to pick up my needle.
I also have a new toy and I am on my way to Apple in the afternoon for a lesson on using my new toy. Yes, I've at last given up my old people's phone in favor of an iPhone which I already don't know how I lived without.
Nice that I have a chance to work on both of my favorite activities on New Year's Day and hopefully it will be a harbinger of good things to come in 2014.
So Happy New Year! May your days be filled with beautiful threads, wonderful colors, perfect tension and projects you love.
Gay Ann
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Friday, December 20, 2013
The Year of The Stitch has started for me
I've been neglecting everything since I finished E-Week's Mail Jail because I decided the next year is truly The Year of the Stitch for me. I need to stitch for my next E-Week and beyond, I want to stitch because my fingers twitch for time with my needle, and so guess what: I'm going to stitch. Simple as that.
I began a new design, one using threads new to me and I've incorporated some new accessories into my stitching life also. I've been auditioning stitch patterns with the new threads and for my style of stitching, auditions mean a lot of rejections, so I stitch and rip, stitch and rip, stitch and rip.
For ripping, I've been using my favorite tools: a Bohin Seam Ripper (I know, fast but dangerous), a Boo Boo Brush and a pair of tweezers. I love the Bohin Seam Ripper. I can rip an area twice as fast as with my favorite scissors and four times as fast as with a garden variety pair of scissors. Yes, I'm careful; over the years I've learned it is important to tilt up the little blade and proceed carefully.
The Boo Boo Brush helps a lot, and so do the tweezers. I have the most precise tweezers imaginable, but after half an hour or so, my hand cramps from holding them. I just learned about a new pair of tweezers made by Bohin with a long handle. Usually long handles are easier on one's hands, so I am anxious to try the new tweezers. I ordered them a while back and they should arrive shortly, I plan on trying them straight away and then reporting on them on Queendom Website.
Those are my favorite tools for ripping. If you would like to see photos of them and read more about them, visit Queendom Website and click on 'Stocking Stuffers' on the yellow navigation bar.
For quick reference: www.GayAnnRogers.com.
I've been sewing massive numbers of pearls to my new design. Pearls always come with teeny tiny holes and tiny holes always mean #12 or #15 beading needles.
I struggle with threading any needle -- after all these years, I still struggle. I live with a trusty threader nearby, but who has had a threader fine enough yet tough enough to thread a #12 beading needle.
Guess what! I found one! It is super! Glides right through the eye of a #12 beading needle, and I suspect it is fine enough too to thread a #15 beading needle. So far, as I only have a single one of these threader treasures, I haven't been willing to try it on a #15 beading needle for fear of breaking my only one.
So I've ordered 15 of these threaders (all for me), and soon as I have my new ones, I'll test the extra fine side on a #15 beading needle. Heavenly if it will work!
In addition to the threader, I have looked at small clips for hemming linen, wonderful scissors made for metal threads, gold scissors with extra large and therefore comfortable finger rings, and an array of other accessories to make my stitching life more organized and efficient.
These tools all came to my attention at the beginning of December and MacSoph and I decided we should post all of them on Queendom Website as 'Stocking Stuffers for Stitchers'. Each day we post a new one.
As time has gone on, people have been writing and asking, am I planning to sell all these accessories? The answer is no, because I'm personally all involved in The Year of the Stitch and I don't want to be in Mail Jail again.
But Kate said she would sell them all.
So if Santa leaves some money in your Christmas Stocking on Christmas Morning, save it till December 26 when all these lovely accessories will indeed be for sale on Queendom Website.
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and all the best for 2014, The Year of the Stitch!
Gay Ann
I began a new design, one using threads new to me and I've incorporated some new accessories into my stitching life also. I've been auditioning stitch patterns with the new threads and for my style of stitching, auditions mean a lot of rejections, so I stitch and rip, stitch and rip, stitch and rip.
For ripping, I've been using my favorite tools: a Bohin Seam Ripper (I know, fast but dangerous), a Boo Boo Brush and a pair of tweezers. I love the Bohin Seam Ripper. I can rip an area twice as fast as with my favorite scissors and four times as fast as with a garden variety pair of scissors. Yes, I'm careful; over the years I've learned it is important to tilt up the little blade and proceed carefully.
The Boo Boo Brush helps a lot, and so do the tweezers. I have the most precise tweezers imaginable, but after half an hour or so, my hand cramps from holding them. I just learned about a new pair of tweezers made by Bohin with a long handle. Usually long handles are easier on one's hands, so I am anxious to try the new tweezers. I ordered them a while back and they should arrive shortly, I plan on trying them straight away and then reporting on them on Queendom Website.
Those are my favorite tools for ripping. If you would like to see photos of them and read more about them, visit Queendom Website and click on 'Stocking Stuffers' on the yellow navigation bar.
For quick reference: www.GayAnnRogers.com.
I've been sewing massive numbers of pearls to my new design. Pearls always come with teeny tiny holes and tiny holes always mean #12 or #15 beading needles.
I struggle with threading any needle -- after all these years, I still struggle. I live with a trusty threader nearby, but who has had a threader fine enough yet tough enough to thread a #12 beading needle.
Guess what! I found one! It is super! Glides right through the eye of a #12 beading needle, and I suspect it is fine enough too to thread a #15 beading needle. So far, as I only have a single one of these threader treasures, I haven't been willing to try it on a #15 beading needle for fear of breaking my only one.
So I've ordered 15 of these threaders (all for me), and soon as I have my new ones, I'll test the extra fine side on a #15 beading needle. Heavenly if it will work!
In addition to the threader, I have looked at small clips for hemming linen, wonderful scissors made for metal threads, gold scissors with extra large and therefore comfortable finger rings, and an array of other accessories to make my stitching life more organized and efficient.
These tools all came to my attention at the beginning of December and MacSoph and I decided we should post all of them on Queendom Website as 'Stocking Stuffers for Stitchers'. Each day we post a new one.
As time has gone on, people have been writing and asking, am I planning to sell all these accessories? The answer is no, because I'm personally all involved in The Year of the Stitch and I don't want to be in Mail Jail again.
But Kate said she would sell them all.
So if Santa leaves some money in your Christmas Stocking on Christmas Morning, save it till December 26 when all these lovely accessories will indeed be for sale on Queendom Website.
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and all the best for 2014, The Year of the Stitch!
Gay Ann
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
