This week’s Stitchquery comes from me! It’s my turn to ask you a question

I love a good podcast. I was looking at my current subscriptions and I suddenly realized none of them are stitching related. I have business podcasts of all sorts, and a few fun podcasts, and a few geeky podcasts, but not a single cross stitch podcast in my listening file.

I went looking for some and I’m coming up with an empty basket here. Read the rest of this entry

This week’s stitchquery comes from Mary about some old stash she has waiting in the wings.

I’ve been away from doing cross-stitch for some time and am wondering how old is too old when it comes to the quality of floss. I’ve had some of my floss stash since the early ’80′s, kept clean and dry in a plastic covered bin.

Should I just toss it and buy new?

Good question, Mary. In this case it sounds like the floss was well stored so my advice is to just dig in and enjoy it! As long as the floss hasn’t been damaged in any way by moths, moisture, or other elements of storage you’re all set. Read the rest of this entry

This question came to my email from Lisa about stitching on Cashel Linen.

Hi, Loretta. When you were stitching your snowflake pattern you twice mentioned that Cashel was not your favorite fabric choice, but you were using it from your existing stash. I’m new to evenweave/linen stitching and mostly just curious if there is a reason you don’t like the Cashel fabrics and if maybe I should avoid them in my stitching projects?

Good question. It’s really just personal preference on my part.

While I’m happy to stitch on just about any evenweave or linen fabric, Cashel is probably among my least favorite. I just find it to be very thin and have too many uneven threads Read the rest of this entry

This question comes in from Sharon here on the blog and it’s a really good question!

I have a question about using the Q-snap or a hoop. Do you stitch on the top side of the fabric or the bottom as it lays in the frame? [fabric to hoop U shaped or inverted U shaped]

I started stitching on the bottom (U), because it was easier to anchor the threads on the back side, when that side was “on top.” My mother, however, thinks I’m doing it backwards. Just curious.

(I know that there is a right and a wrong side to some fabric, but what I’m talking about is the way it lays in the hoop. Is the right side of the fabric on top or down inside the hoop?)

People ask me about this all the time, usually when they see me stitching – because I do as Sharon describes when I’m using a hoop and snap it on in a way that most people would consider to be upside down. Here’s a picture to give you an idea… Read the rest of this entry

This question comes from Christine in our Facebook Community about stitching on linen.

I’m just getting back into stitching and want to try stitching on linen but I read that you don’t use a hoop when stitching on linen. Do you use a hoop?

First of all, always great to see someone getting back into stitching!

Yes, you can use a hoop, a Q-Snap, a scroll frame, etc, whatever you’re most comfortable with. Read the rest of this entry