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Fiber Talk Midweek Chat, 7-10-19

Debbie Rowley’s Glitz and Glamour Citrine design.

We’ve found the middle of the week again and Debbie Rowley and I set out to do a show offering tips for beginning stitchers. The show ended up being an interesting discussion about topics such as project difficulty, how many tools we actually need, and maximizing stitching time. We enjoyed having the discussion and hope it will get you thinking. Sunday’s guest is Ilke Cochrane of Mabel Figworthy’s Fancies. Don’t forget Fiber Talk needle minders and the various discounts available at Sassy Jacks.–Gary

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Debbie Rowley’s Autumn Leaves design.

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I hope you enjoy this show. I’m always looking for guests, so let me know if there is someone you’d like me to have on the show.

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1 thought on “Fiber Talk Midweek Chat, 7-10-19

  1. That was a really lovely chat guys – and I couldn’t agree more when it comes to the “what we need” comment. I stitch everything in hand, and only ever use a hoop if I really must – but when it’s just crosses, I sew them right up onto the fabric. I don’t own a magnifier, don’t have any fancy tables or set-ups at all, just some fabric & thread, needles, a sharp pair of scissors and I’m good to go. I’ve been on flights with just needle, thread & fabric (where the scissors were confiscated), and I had to resort to biting threads off…!

    One thing I’d like to add to the list of recommendations for beginners is “just have fun”. So many folks that contact me worry that their work isn’t neat, they’re afraid of making mistakes, and want it to be perfect the first time round. And I always ask: Are you entering it in a big competition? No? Then who cares that it’s not perfect? So the back’s a bit loopy, so you missed a few crosses – just be proud that you completed something, and that you actually made this yourself. With time you’ll get better, and when you see the errors in your work, look up a youtube video on how to avoid that in the future. Ask a friend or someone in a craft shop that can help you – but don’t worry about it when you start out.

    One thing that probably is to blame for this fear of imperfection (and I count myself here) is that we as stitchers love presenting our work in the best possible way: we share perfect rows of crosses, immaculate (double sided?) backs of work, and in the meantime we can make people quite insecure about what they stitch themselves. I’m really curious what you guys think of this: should we show our errors as we do our triumphs?

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