More Black Belt Stitching Wizard Stuff

Friday, June 01, 2007

SBQ for May 30th & June Goals


Q : How many needles do you use during a project? Have you ever loaded up a needle for every color? Do you use a new needle for every project or recycle your favorite needle?

A : Most of the time I'll work with just one needle when stitching. However if I'm working on a project that has many colour changes/blends I will pre-load needles. I've done this with many Teresa Wentzler projects such as the sails on Tradewinds, pretty much all of Peacock Tapestry, and I'm currently doing this on The Castle . As pictured to the left is my "needle minder" for The Castle. I take a strip of any fabric from my stash ... usually something that's not big enough to stitch much on. I place a long piece of maksing tape down the left hand side. As I load a colour into the needle for the first time I write on that tape with a fine point sharpie marker the symbol and the colour(s) from the key of the design. As I need certain colours if they're already on my needle minder I just pull it off the fabric, and park it back when I'm done. The reason I write the symbol and colour numbers on the tape is so that I don't have to refer back to the design's key. This is they system that works best for me.

As for needle use... once it starts to feel yucky or make that squeaking noise when going through the fabric then out it goes. Otherwise I'll use the same needle over and over. Mind you I'm picky on how they feel so I do throw quite a few out. My favourite needle to use is Piecemakers... I recommned them to everyone... try them out! I'd say they feel like a hot knife cutting through butter! Heaven!
Stitching Goals....
May Recap :
Finish current page on Noah's Sub - Yes!
work on The Castle - Nope .. focusing on too may other things
Stitch one ornament - Did three!
Stitch one freebie - Yes
Get Neighbourhood RR ready to go - Done!
Get Band RR ready to go - Done!
Get Ornament RR ready to go - Done!
June Goals :
Work on Noah's Sub
Stitch one ornament
Stitch a Freebie
Stitch on Chrisanne's Instant Gratification RR (band RR)
Stitch on next Neighbourhood RR that shows up
My Irises are in bloom! Two weeks ago my dwarf irises started opening up... just as they have finished my standard sized irises have started blooming. This one is "Rock Star" which I added to the iris bed last year. This year its spread nicely and has quite a few blooms!
Today I'm home with a migraine. I woke up with one, I know when I wake up with a migraine there's no point in trying to go to work. I know its going to be bad when I wake up with it. I've slept for about 5 hours this morning. My meds have taken care of the pain for the moment. But I still have the nausea and I "don't feel right". So I'm trying my best to catch up on my online stuff as I can... and maybe try to stitch a little... hopefully without having to frog later!

12 comments:

Lynne said...

(((Dani))) I completely understand about the migraines. Hang in there.
I Love your Iris!! Would you take a picture of your whole bed sometime, Please ! My old Iris bed is the next one the DD's and I are going to revamp.

Julie said...

Hi Dani, I can relate to the headaches. I get them every so often. I'm glad you were able to rest and the medicine has helped.
Please keep sharing the flower photos, I enjoy seeing them.
Thanks for visiting my blog.

Dawn T. said...

I hope your migraine leaves you quickly. The flowers are so pretty:)

Von said...

Dani, that's an ingenious way to make a needle minder!

Hope you're feeling better soon so you can have a great weekend!! (Gorgeous irises, btw!)

Jennifer said...

Sounds like a great system!!

Beautiful flowers!! Hope you feel better!

BeckySC said...

What beautiful Iris :)

claudia said...

Your irises are beautiful!
I hope you are feeling better...especially for the weekend, nothing worse than feeling bad on a weekend.

Kathy A. said...

Hope the headache goes away soon. It is awful to suffer like that. Have a great weekend.

stitcherw said...

I really like the needleminder system that you use, simple but effective at keeping them straight and easily got at. I'll have to remember that for my next large project.

Your Iris is beautiful, I love the way that flowers bloom in the spring, always so pretty and colorful. I hope your migrane is gone by now and that you can enjoy the weekend.
Sue

Mary said...

Great pictures.
Thanks for the idea of how to organize many needles at a time for a large project. I have often thought of doing it but just couldn't find the easiest and less expensive way to do it. Your way makes so much sense.
Mary

Heather said...

I've never even heard of using a bizillion needles for each color until the SBQ, how interesting. I may have to try this out someday! I can see how it saves time in the long run.

Pretty flowers! I love the Iris :D

Unknown said...

It's good to see your simple needle system. I couldn't put my system in the same post as my SBQ answer because all that stitching was in Nevada and I was not. I do hope more people learn to use prethreaded needles. I think it makes complex projects so much faster.