Hey Rachel! I recently got the Cocoknits Maker’s Board and I love it for holding cross stitch or knitting charts. It works great for taking stitching while traveling. I also have started listening to Haptic and Hue podcast. I love it, too! Thanks to you and Sue for sharing your love of the fiber arts. 💗
My absolute favorite scissors are the little $2 colored plastic handle and cover ones from hobby lobby! I swear I walk out with at least 1-2 pairs everytime I go in. Great for knitting and cross stitch! Also, my 5 year old Rachel LOVES when I watch! She gets so excited to see Rachel :)
Thank you for spending time with us. I enjoy you two so much. One thing I wish I would have known is don't buy a ton of fabric until you find your favorite to stitch on, linen or aida.
Hello from Alberta Canada. I’ve received my first month of the 18 count Aida club. That fabric is outstanding! Thanks to you Rachel for the serging and all that you do and to Sue for her awesome dying. I’ve just ordered a piece of Covered Bridge as didn’t think I could wait for 3 months to get another piece!! Another great video today.
So glad I found your channel. I am just getting back into cross stitching and trying to teach myself to stitch in hand. I will look forward to any tutorials you can offer. Love all the tips as well and the beautiful work you two show.
Oh my gosh, such an information filled episode! Of course, your works are all so beautiful! Rachel, you've inspired me to get a makers board and rulers, it'll be so helpful to keep my place on stitching charts, as well as holding my knitting patterns. I'm going to start listening to Haptic and Hue, it sounds so interesting! And always nice to have something to listen to when I'm between audiobooks. Sue, I completely understand how horrible it was living near that factory. I grew up in Wawa, Ontario, and back in the day, before they raised the stacks and installed (better) filters at the sinter plant a couple of miles north of town, it was terrible. The wind was predominantly from the south, but if from the north, we had to cover the lettuce in the garden because the sulfur in the air burned the leaves. I'd walk 5 minutes to school, and when I got inside, I hacked for 15 minutes after breathing that acid. We, not so strangely, had quite a number of cancer cases in town.
I love your tangents. It’s one of the things that makes your channel so great. Conversation between friends, interesting topics. Just love it❤️. And while I was watching I finished Artful Offerings “Love is Patient” OMG. You have to stitch this one. It is so fun and just adorable. Have a great week, you two!
Love everything again! Just pulled out Mary Morgan again for the nth time. I don’t need to start anything else (on repeat). It is now in my stack again! I also need Sassy Jacks squirrel! Plus plus the starter kits for my son and husband… Love the podcast you’ve suggested and haven’t yet but will get Worn!!! Oh my gosh you guys get me so excited. Sandy 🤗❤️😘
Thank you Rachel and Sue for another wonderful episode! Always fun to listen and always filled with interesting topics. I already listened to one of Haptic and Hue podcasts and I;m hooked thank you for such a wonderful find!!!
I don't know if it would help you, Sue, some dyers sell ornament packs. All those fabrics that have the little spots on it, can still be sold (realizing Rachel would have to chop them up) I love buying those for the variety and the options to start ornaments quickly. Some of us would be willing to buy them as large pieces, calling them seconds and maybe reduce price just a little bit. I love listening to the two of you and so inspired to get more stitches in. Thanks for sharing your time and talent.
Since you are interested in textile history, you’d probably enjoy Six Know-It-Alls on UA-cam. They are six women who are experts in different fields of antique quilts and textile history. They take turns presenting mystery quilts and forensically all try to discuss the clues they interpret of each quilt’s history. It really emphasizes the need to label our needlework, by the way.
Thank you so much for answering my question from the previous podcast! Another very informative episode! I am indeed a Knitter, but have picked up stitching here and there in the last few years due to Sue talking about it on the Legacy Knitz podcast :-) And have recently become obsessed with it. Still figuring out preferences in how to stitch, which count and which materials. It would be wonderful to see a short clip of both of you stitching. Greetings from the Netherlands! Kathrin
Thanks for the great question for us to discuss! We will try and make a video soon showing how we each stitch. I’m no perfectionist…but enjoy the process ;)
Rachel, after listening to the podcast I listened to the Haptic and Hue's episode about the Canadian quilts....fabulous. I live in rural Nova Scotia. The area has had a very long history of quilt making, and is still very much an active art. I am now interested in discovering any history that I can find on the Red Cross quilts. Thank you for specking of the audio podcast. I am really enthused to listen to all the episode. As always, I enjoyed you and Sue in this episode. The tips in the beginning were particularly good. Hugs for you and Sue.
Oh it was so good to listen to you girls today! Just downloaded Worn - I had an audible credit that was about to expire! And Haptic and Hue, yes please! Sourdough- I was early pandemic starter girl and still going strong! Please share your chocolate bread recipe!
Got your 18 count aida club beautiful just bought two new pieces of aida and can't wait to purchase a kit with aida in it from you.Thank you for giving us such beautiful aida to make our stitching dreams come true. Hugs&Stitches Betsy in Maryland
Brilliant! A cross stitch calculator! I get so frustrated when I am not sure of the finished piece and fabric is so precious. Love you guys together ! Also, I have tried to purchase you LFA linen several times but always sold out..😌
Fabric is in such high demand all-around right now. Best way to get alerted about new LFA Linens/Aida in the shop is through the Treehouse Fiber Arts Newsletter (sign up on my home page at www.treehousefiberarts.com). So glad I could share the cross stitch calc with you!!
I’ve only embroidered on printed linen or Aida but I inherited unfinished embroidery from my mom’s projects and they are from the 80’s & 90’s and she made basting stitches on her linens and made a graph to know where to stitch so it’s easier to count. It’s very interesting to me and I’m interested in finishing some of her work. Even though some of her embroidery do not have the pattern attached to the linen, think I can come up with things to embroider to fill the empty spaces and make a beautiful scenery, design or sampler to hang or give as a gift to a family member.
0h my gosh…. I am new to your channel and you guys are great! I love all the hints and tricks and WANT that Mary Morgan kit in 16 count Aida. I am an Aida stitcher and joined your fabric club after watching last video. So excited to get my first piece. I appreciate that your online store carries samplers with aida. I haven’t done any samplers because they are always on fancy linen and I have never used linen. I look forward to more videos and for that Mary Morgan kit to be back in stock. Those colors are right up my alley.
Mary Morgan will hopefully be back in stock by mid-week - just waiting on a restock of all that amazing floss!!! everything else is ready to go. And thanks for joining the Aida Club!!! We hope you will love it! Rachel
Oh so much good info!!!! Love the stitching tips that you wished you knew when you started out- I found myself saying "I do that!'- just because it works and your flow of stitching doesn't get interrupted - thank you! Love the podcast discussion- have to give a listen to Haptic & Hue- especially interested in the story about the samplers!
Sue, are you aware that there is an active mill in Stafford Springs, CT? The American Woolen Company is there. They make wool fabric. No, this is not an advertisement, haha! I was just surprised to discover it.
This is Rachel - This is where I'm at so far with storage - I have a drawer for my DMC. I have ziplocs that I've marked by hundreds - liked 100s, 200s, 300s, etc. all the floss goes in the appropriate bags. I leave them on my tags from the project. It's kind of a mess, but at least with the bags, I've narrowed things down when I'm on the hunt. Need a better system. With my dyed flosses, I keep them on the tags and on large rings by maker. So all my Weeks on one, CC on another, etc. I try to keep them alphabatized by name on the rings for easy searching. I, however, am trying by color family with my CCs because I seem to be converting a lot and that makes it easier when I'm searching. Silks are in another drawer. Don't have many yet so no rhyme or reason with them for now :)
Something I wish I'd known.... I thought that it would be easier to use 'bigger' fabric (so a 32 count as opposed to a 40 count) but that meant using two strands of thread for the coverage. However I found that its much easier to get a better looking cross with one strand! As long as you have good light and magnification, it's easier to get a better looking finish with one strand on a 'tighter' fabric than it is using two strands on a 'looser' weave fabric. I wish I hadn't been frightened of higher count straight off... thanks for the floss tube!!
Rachel, I would so love for you to do a video on stitching in hand (and soon!)! My Mary Morgan kit from you is scheduled to be delivered on Monday 💃. I do stitch in hand but have never worked on a piece so big. Would you please show how you handle such a big piece of fabric? Sue, it was so interesting to hear you begin your thread with an away knot. I do that for embroidery but never thought to use it for cross stitch. I’ve been using a loop start. Wondering if you know of any cons in using the loop method? I also found it interesting that you both start on the right. I am a lefty and start on the left…I’ve spent my whole life reversing instructions.
I always learn something when I watch your videos! As a lifelong learner, I LOVE it! Thanks for the podcast recommendation--I'll have a listen after this video. Per your recommendation (on discord I think), I've got Worn on audible ready to listen, I just have to finish a couple of other books first. I'm teaching a super-advanced senior in an independent study and she has me busy reading through books in a light speed. We are reading 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and then The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende--because The House was influenced by 100 Years, per my student, when she informed me I needed to read 100 years first, lol. You know, in case you want to read them :) I started thinking about clothing more this past year in general. I turned 45 and everything changed. At least it seemed like it :) My mom was declining with her dementia and I felt like I needed to really connect to my family heritage. I come from a family of quilters and needle artists -- mostly crochet and tatting. They also made a lot of their own clothing through the ages. I spent the spring and summer collecting fabric from estate sales, friends of friends, and quilt and fabric shops in small KS towns. I also purchased patterns for clothes I saw and loved on IG (an aside, have you heard of #memademay? I 'believe' it was an initiative in the UK for people to make clothes to wear during the month of May -- it might have stemmed from a UK clothing TV show, but then it carried some throughout the pandemic). And then I got busy planning a marriage, got married, got him moved in, and didn't sew a thing! It's been a pretty crazy school year so I haven't yet returned to my plans, just stuck to cross stitching, but plan to get back to my grand dreams once summer rolls around again :) I'm hoping that maybe after I learn how to quilt, etc, I'll be invited to family events again. Now, being the black sheep of the family with my cross-stitching, I only get a pity invite every once and a while. Lol, I'm just kidding. Kind of ;). Enough of my rambles. . . thank you again for an interesting video!
Rachel here - LOVE LOVE LOVE House of spirits and 100 years of solitude! Read them in my 20s and fell in love with both authors. Have you read Isabel's Paula of Of Love and Shadows? Also Stories of Eva Luna? I love her earlier stuff the best. And Gabriel's Love in the time of Cholera. So good. We will have to keep chatting about books over on discord :) Loved hearing about your "heritage textile" journey! Sounds like you have some great stuff to use in your quilts!
Another lovely morning stitching and watching you two fabulous gals. Your Mary’s look fabulous….but now I have to go find that 9 stitches versus 10 in the borer. UGH! I will be creatively pattern changing to account for that, because I did 10 all around. 😭 Also adding that podcast to my studio sewing que, totally sounds right up my alley!
A wonderful informative episode ladies. Rachel you are a wealth of history and detailed information. Your pears and your lovely house piece will make a nice vignette. Sue there is so much you can do with sourdough besides loaves of bread. I make English muffins that are so much tastier than store bought. The Lemon Apron is the site I used for the recipe. Time consuming in that you make the dough and it proofs for a long time, sits overnight in the fridge and then proofs again once the muffins are cut. With the left over dough from them I make a pizza crust. With the discard I make pancakes with the recipe from Tastes of Lizzy T site.
Loved your video! I went to audible and bought The book Worn. It is such a great read. I’m so torn on watching floss tube or listening to the book. Thank you for all you do for us!
I love your pears! I have one started! I wish I had known when I first started out crossstitching that patterns would go out of print. I also wish I had realized that each shop has its own flair in what they carry in their shop. I really had not visited shops that had the sampler reproductions back in the 1980s and 1990s. Sue, when I have to do uncomfortable medical procedures, I start thinking about my crossstitch or what I should put on a certain piece of linen. I prepare ahead of time so I know what project will be my mental focus piece. 🤷🏻♀️
One thing I did not know is if there are two colors in the DMC I.e. 620/587 means you need to use one strand of each color. I found some awesome hoops at Hobby Lobby that have the ridge in the hoop that really holds your fabric. I have a lot of scissors but want to check out the ones you are carrying Rachel. I put them on a lanyard and hang it around my neck.
Yes, great tip!! Did you get a Morgan Hoop? Those work well for punch needle too. Need to try the lanyard thing - those would be great with a lanyard, I think, because they have a built-in point protector on them. Will have to try that out....
Thanks for sharing another great video! OMG the clothes line..... there is nothing fresher smelling than bed sheets and blankets dried on a clothes line! There is absolutely no way to even remotely come close to that smell in a bottle! It permeates the whole bedroom! I don't have a line now so I dry my sheets over the handrail of my deck. Hurry up spring and sunshine I want fresh sheets!
Love your videos! Could you speak more of how you make your x"s when not going back and forth, to make them look their best? I am an old stitcher coming back after 20 + years. Only tip I heard is starting your x in the corner furthest away so you don't get that long leg in your x. I had never considered that years ago. I was just trying to make the best use of my floss and not waste it.
I very much enjoyed your video, but as I watched I was knitting a new sweater (New Leaf) while wearing a handknit sweater (the Paulie cardigan with Neighborhoodfiberco yarn) and handknit socks, with a handknit shawl on my legs, I kept wishing that you would identify your handknits - I think Sue was wearing the Shift cowl, but Rachel, what was your sweater pattern? I have been following Haptic and Hue on IG, I really have to start listening. Worn sounds like an interesting book- another one you might be interested in is All That She Carried by Tiya Miles. Looking forward to your next video.
Hi Trudy! My sweater is based loosely on Isabel Kraemer's Ingrid Pullover (had to check my ravelry, its been a long time since i knit it!). I used Swans Island All American Sport for the body, and a skein of Freia Handpaints for the Yolk. Made the sleeves 3/4 length because of lack of yarn (!) but I learned that I love 3/4 length sweaters for shoulder seasons. Loved hearing about all your handknits! Rachel
Trudy, one more thing - I heard about that story (the book you mentioned) on an episode of I think the Sew What podcast. I didn't know there was a book about it so I'm so happy you mentioned it.
I make sourdough bread all the time (and have for 9 years) but never a chocolate loaf. Where did you find you recipe? I am obsessed with sourdough as well and I can tolerate much better than regular bread. My starter came from a German farmer and dates back to her grandmother who was in Germany. SOOOOO my starter has been around for many hears.
Many thoughts… Sue I’m so glad you’re not going to frog that piece on the 40 count. That is a sign that you have not completely lost your mind. I just watched the section where Sue said 18 and 36 of the same because 18 is half of 36. Sue, a new stitcher has no idea what you just said. I know what you meant was that The stitches on 18 count Aida and 36 count linen are same size because on the linen you are going over 2 threads you’re going over to Threadz and on the 18 count Aida only going over one thread but please clarify that
Yes, we do all over 2 unless the pattern calls for otherwise OR we are feeling a little crazy and want to make a really tiny cross stitch - then it's over ! But Yikes! For now, for me (Rachel), it's over 2
"Loop" is a method of securing the first stitch when using two threads. Fold a length of floss in half to create a loop, come up through the back, then through the front creating the first part of the x, and feed the needle through the loop. Jean Farish Needleworks #6 15:50.
Hey Rachel! I recently got the Cocoknits Maker’s Board and I love it for holding cross stitch or knitting charts. It works great for taking stitching while traveling. I also have started listening to Haptic and Hue podcast. I love it, too! Thanks to you and Sue for sharing your love of the fiber arts. 💗
Never change your opening music, ‘Clowns in Car’. I get the biggest smile when I hear it.
hee hee, I love it, too. However I said the wrong name for it! It's actually called "Drunks on Bicycles" !! Good grief....even better....
My absolute favorite scissors are the little $2 colored plastic handle and cover ones from hobby lobby! I swear I walk out with at least 1-2 pairs everytime I go in. Great for knitting and cross stitch!
Also, my 5 year old Rachel LOVES when I watch! She gets so excited to see Rachel :)
Oh my goodness, please tell hello to Rachel from me, Rachel :)
Thank you for spending time with us. I enjoy you two so much. One thing I wish I would have known is don't buy a ton of fabric until you find your favorite to stitch on, linen or aida.
Great tip!
Hello from Alberta Canada. I’ve received my first month of the 18 count Aida club. That fabric is outstanding! Thanks to you Rachel for the serging and all that you do and to Sue for her awesome dying. I’ve just ordered a piece of Covered Bridge as didn’t think I could wait for 3 months to get another piece!! Another great video today.
Thanks all around, Verna!!
So glad I found your channel. I am just getting back into cross stitching and trying to teach myself to stitch in hand. I will look forward to any tutorials you can offer. Love all the tips as well and the beautiful work you two show.
Oh my gosh, such an information filled episode! Of course, your works are all so beautiful! Rachel, you've inspired me to get a makers board and rulers, it'll be so helpful to keep my place on stitching charts, as well as holding my knitting patterns. I'm going to start listening to Haptic and Hue, it sounds so interesting! And always nice to have something to listen to when I'm between audiobooks. Sue, I completely understand how horrible it was living near that factory. I grew up in Wawa, Ontario, and back in the day, before they raised the stacks and installed (better) filters at the sinter plant a couple of miles north of town, it was terrible. The wind was predominantly from the south, but if from the north, we had to cover the lettuce in the garden because the sulfur in the air burned the leaves. I'd walk 5 minutes to school, and when I got inside, I hacked for 15 minutes after breathing that acid. We, not so strangely, had quite a number of cancer cases in town.
I love your tangents. It’s one of the things that makes your channel so great. Conversation between friends, interesting topics. Just love it❤️. And while I was watching I finished Artful Offerings “Love is Patient” OMG. You have to stitch this one. It is so fun and just adorable. Have a great week, you two!
Thanks, Helen! You make us feel better with our tangents! Agree - That Love is Patient is so adorable.
So many interesting things ….tales of textile, silk city of the world and wax cloth. Glad I did not miss today! Thank you
Love everything again! Just pulled out Mary Morgan again for the nth time. I don’t need to start anything else (on repeat). It is now in my stack again! I also need Sassy Jacks squirrel! Plus plus the starter kits for my son and husband… Love the podcast you’ve suggested and haven’t yet but will get Worn!!! Oh my gosh you guys get me so excited. Sandy 🤗❤️😘
Thank you Rachel and Sue for another wonderful episode! Always fun to listen and always filled with interesting topics. I already listened to one of Haptic and Hue podcasts and I;m hooked thank you for such a wonderful find!!!
Rachel love your pairs just beautiful 😍 and Sue your stitching is gorgeous 😍!
I don't know if it would help you, Sue, some dyers sell ornament packs. All those fabrics that have the little spots on it, can still be sold (realizing Rachel would have to chop them up) I love buying those for the variety and the options to start ornaments quickly. Some of us would be willing to buy them as large pieces, calling them seconds and maybe reduce price just a little bit. I love listening to the two of you and so inspired to get more stitches in. Thanks for sharing your time and talent.
Since you are interested in textile history, you’d probably enjoy Six Know-It-Alls on UA-cam. They are six women who are experts in different fields of antique quilts and textile history. They take turns presenting mystery quilts and forensically all try to discuss the clues they interpret of each quilt’s history. It really emphasizes the need to label our needlework, by the way.
I will need to check that one out! Thanks!!!
Can’t wait to get my order Rachel. And thank you for answering my email about the sewing method. Loved this podcast!! 💜
Thank you so much for answering my question from the previous podcast! Another very informative episode! I am indeed a Knitter, but have picked up stitching here and there in the last few years due to Sue talking about it on the Legacy Knitz podcast :-) And have recently become obsessed with it. Still figuring out preferences in how to stitch, which count and which materials. It would be wonderful to see a short clip of both of you stitching. Greetings from the Netherlands! Kathrin
Thanks for the great question for us to discuss! We will try and make a video soon showing how we each stitch. I’m no perfectionist…but enjoy the process ;)
Rachel, after listening to the podcast I listened to the Haptic and Hue's episode about the Canadian quilts....fabulous. I live in rural Nova Scotia. The area has had a very long history of quilt making, and is still very much an active art. I am now interested in discovering any history that I can find on the Red Cross quilts. Thank you for specking of the audio podcast. I am really enthused to listen to all the episode. As always, I enjoyed you and Sue in this episode. The tips in the beginning were particularly good. Hugs for you and Sue.
Very neat, Penny! Please do share if you find anything interesting about your area and the Red Cross quilts!
Oh it was so good to listen to you girls today! Just downloaded Worn - I had an audible credit that was about to expire! And Haptic and Hue, yes please! Sourdough- I was early pandemic starter girl and still going strong! Please share your chocolate bread recipe!
Got your 18 count aida club beautiful just bought two new pieces of aida and can't wait to purchase a kit with aida in it from you.Thank you for giving us such beautiful aida to make our stitching dreams come true. Hugs&Stitches Betsy in Maryland
When i'm doing my "closer" work on Sue's beautifully dyed Aida, I am always oohing and ahhing. I really need to stitch on it asap. -rachel
I love your sweater you made. Absolutely beautiful colors.
Brilliant! A cross stitch calculator! I get so frustrated when I am not sure of the finished piece and fabric is so precious. Love you guys together ! Also, I have tried to purchase you LFA linen several times but always sold out..😌
Fabric is in such high demand all-around right now. Best way to get alerted about new LFA Linens/Aida in the shop is through the Treehouse Fiber Arts Newsletter (sign up on my home page at www.treehousefiberarts.com). So glad I could share the cross stitch calc with you!!
I’ve only embroidered on printed linen or Aida but I inherited unfinished embroidery from my mom’s projects and they are from the 80’s & 90’s and she made basting stitches on her linens and made a graph to know where to stitch so it’s easier to count. It’s very interesting to me and I’m interested in finishing some of her work. Even though some of her embroidery do not have the pattern attached to the linen, think I can come up with things to embroider to fill the empty spaces and make a beautiful scenery, design or sampler to hang or give as a gift to a family member.
Love this!
Love it as always ladies. Your Saviours Praise is stunning, Rachel. Makes me want to start mine.
Thanks, Sarah :) I'm so happy I've gotten the urge to keep going with it.
0h my gosh…. I am new to your channel and you guys are great! I love all the hints and tricks and WANT that Mary Morgan kit in 16 count Aida. I am an Aida stitcher and joined your fabric club after watching last video. So excited to get my first piece. I appreciate that your online store carries samplers with aida. I haven’t done any samplers because they are always on fancy linen and I have never used linen. I look forward to more videos and for that Mary Morgan kit to be back in stock. Those colors are right up my alley.
Mary Morgan will hopefully be back in stock by mid-week - just waiting on a restock of all that amazing floss!!! everything else is ready to go. And thanks for joining the Aida Club!!! We hope you will love it!
Rachel
Oh so much good info!!!! Love the stitching tips that you wished you knew when you started out- I found myself saying "I do that!'- just because it works and your flow of stitching doesn't get interrupted - thank you! Love the podcast discussion- have to give a listen to Haptic & Hue- especially interested in the story about the samplers!
I am looking forward to snow - been too hot and dry this year.
I love you guys and do not care how long you go. You keep it moving from topic to topic. Love what you are carrying in your shop.
Thank you so much :)
Sue, are you aware that there is an active mill in Stafford Springs, CT? The American Woolen Company is there. They make wool fabric. No, this is not an advertisement, haha! I was just surprised to discover it.
This is Rachel - This is where I'm at so far with storage - I have a drawer for my DMC. I have ziplocs that I've marked by hundreds - liked 100s, 200s, 300s, etc. all the floss goes in the appropriate bags. I leave them on my tags from the project. It's kind of a mess, but at least with the bags, I've narrowed things down when I'm on the hunt. Need a better system.
With my dyed flosses, I keep them on the tags and on large rings by maker. So all my Weeks on one, CC on another, etc. I try to keep them alphabatized by name on the rings for easy searching. I, however, am trying by color family with my CCs because I seem to be converting a lot and that makes it easier when I'm searching.
Silks are in another drawer. Don't have many yet so no rhyme or reason with them for now :)
OMG. I ordered the little zipit pouch. Absolutely perfect. I love it for my little stitching tool pouch!!
Glad you like it as much as I do! Thanks for the purchase!
Something I wish I'd known.... I thought that it would be easier to use 'bigger' fabric (so a 32 count as opposed to a 40 count) but that meant using two strands of thread for the coverage. However I found that its much easier to get a better looking cross with one strand! As long as you have good light and magnification, it's easier to get a better looking finish with one strand on a 'tighter' fabric than it is using two strands on a 'looser' weave fabric. I wish I hadn't been frightened of higher count straight off... thanks for the floss tube!!
Great tip and advice!! Thank you!
Rachel, I would so love for you to do a video on stitching in hand (and soon!)! My Mary Morgan kit from you is scheduled to be delivered on Monday 💃. I do stitch in hand but have never worked on a piece so big. Would you please show how you handle such a big piece of fabric? Sue, it was so interesting to hear you begin your thread with an away knot. I do that for embroidery but never thought to use it for cross stitch. I’ve been using a loop start. Wondering if you know of any cons in using the loop method? I also found it interesting that you both start on the right. I am a lefty and start on the left…I’ve spent my whole life reversing instructions.
Hi Sue! Stitching in hand video in the works. Love your questions - we will discuss on next episode!
Was really hoping for a video. Didn’t disappoint.
Love this video. I’m eager to find the podcast you mentioned. Your recommended stand sounds wonderful too. You ❤️❤️🍒are both inspiring!
I always learn something when I watch your videos! As a lifelong learner, I LOVE it! Thanks for the podcast recommendation--I'll have a listen after this video. Per your recommendation (on discord I think), I've got Worn on audible ready to listen, I just have to finish a couple of other books first. I'm teaching a super-advanced senior in an independent study and she has me busy reading through books in a light speed. We are reading 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and then The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende--because The House was influenced by 100 Years, per my student, when she informed me I needed to read 100 years first, lol. You know, in case you want to read them :)
I started thinking about clothing more this past year in general. I turned 45 and everything changed. At least it seemed like it :) My mom was declining with her dementia and I felt like I needed to really connect to my family heritage. I come from a family of quilters and needle artists -- mostly crochet and tatting. They also made a lot of their own clothing through the ages. I spent the spring and summer collecting fabric from estate sales, friends of friends, and quilt and fabric shops in small KS towns. I also purchased patterns for clothes I saw and loved on IG (an aside, have you heard of #memademay? I 'believe' it was an initiative in the UK for people to make clothes to wear during the month of May -- it might have stemmed from a UK clothing TV show, but then it carried some throughout the pandemic). And then I got busy planning a marriage, got married, got him moved in, and didn't sew a thing! It's been a pretty crazy school year so I haven't yet returned to my plans, just stuck to cross stitching, but plan to get back to my grand dreams once summer rolls around again :) I'm hoping that maybe after I learn how to quilt, etc, I'll be invited to family events again. Now, being the black sheep of the family with my cross-stitching, I only get a pity invite every once and a while. Lol, I'm just kidding. Kind of ;).
Enough of my rambles. . . thank you again for an interesting video!
Rachel here - LOVE LOVE LOVE House of spirits and 100 years of solitude! Read them in my 20s and fell in love with both authors. Have you read Isabel's Paula of Of Love and Shadows? Also Stories of Eva Luna? I love her earlier stuff the best. And Gabriel's Love in the time of Cholera. So good. We will have to keep chatting about books over on discord :) Loved hearing about your "heritage textile" journey! Sounds like you have some great stuff to use in your quilts!
Thank you so much for putting this tutorial together! Awesome
Another lovely morning stitching and watching you two fabulous gals. Your Mary’s look fabulous….but now I have to go find that 9 stitches versus 10 in the borer. UGH! I will be creatively pattern changing to account for that, because I did 10 all around. 😭 Also adding that podcast to my studio sewing que, totally sounds right up my alley!
Your borders connected with what you did so you’re perfect 👍🏻. Happy Sunday stitching!
A wonderful informative episode ladies. Rachel you are a wealth of history and detailed information. Your pears and your lovely house piece will make a nice vignette. Sue there is so much you can do with sourdough besides loaves of bread. I make English muffins that are so much tastier than store bought. The Lemon Apron is the site I used for the recipe. Time consuming in that you make the dough and it proofs for a long time, sits overnight in the fridge and then proofs again once the muffins are cut. With the left over dough from them I make a pizza crust. With the discard I make pancakes with the recipe from Tastes of Lizzy T site.
Thank you!!!! I have been dying to make English muffins.
Love the podcast and the ending music!
Thank you so much for the Haptic and Hue suggestion. I am going to listen to it right after this video.
Hope you enjoy it!
Loved your video! I went to audible and bought The book Worn. It is such a great read. I’m so torn on watching floss tube or listening to the book. Thank you for all you do for us!
I just finished the Cotton Section - Yikes. I need an entire wardrobe assessment and edit!
Your videos are always entertaining and educational. Thanks..
Thanks for watching!
Thanks so much for sharing!
Crazy Annie’s website shows tons of the new market designs!
Ooh, thanks for the tip! Off to look that up!
I love your pears! I have one started! I wish I had known when I first started out crossstitching that patterns would go out of print. I also wish I had realized that each shop has its own flair in what they carry in their shop. I really had not visited shops that had the sampler reproductions back in the 1980s and 1990s. Sue, when I have to do uncomfortable medical procedures, I start thinking about my crossstitch or what I should put on a certain piece of linen. I prepare ahead of time so I know what project will be my mental focus piece. 🤷🏻♀️
I love all your advice!!
Sue, the new linens on Rachel’s site are beautiful. I hope those are coming in the future Aida club.
Hi Patricia, there is Aida in those colorways already in the shop if you’re interested!
@@flosstoss221 I checked and the 18 count were gone. Thanks.
One thing I did not know is if there are two colors in the DMC I.e. 620/587 means you need to use one strand of each color. I found some awesome hoops at Hobby Lobby that have the ridge in the hoop that really holds your fabric. I have a lot of scissors but want to check out the ones you are carrying Rachel. I put them on a lanyard and hang it around my neck.
Yes, great tip!! Did you get a Morgan Hoop? Those work well for punch needle too. Need to try the lanyard thing - those would be great with a lanyard, I think, because they have a built-in point protector on them. Will have to try that out....
This video was great! Some place along the way I missed the sourdough info - would you share were you get your starter. Great podcast ideas.
I Carol……my starter is from Ballerina Farms
Thanks for sharing another great video! OMG the clothes line..... there is nothing fresher smelling than bed sheets and blankets dried on a clothes line! There is absolutely no way to even remotely come close to that smell in a bottle! It permeates the whole bedroom! I don't have a line now so I dry my sheets over the handrail of my deck. Hurry up spring and sunshine I want fresh sheets!
Love your videos! Could you speak more of how you make your x"s when not going back and forth, to make them look their best? I am an old stitcher coming back after 20 + years. Only tip I heard is starting your x in the corner furthest away so you don't get that long leg in your x. I had never considered that years ago. I was just trying to make the best use of my floss and not waste it.
Thanks Leesa! Sounds good - I am no perfectionist but we will try and share how we stitch in hand
I very much enjoyed your video, but as I watched I was knitting a new sweater (New Leaf) while wearing a handknit sweater (the Paulie cardigan with Neighborhoodfiberco yarn) and handknit socks, with a handknit shawl on my legs, I kept wishing that you would identify your handknits - I think Sue was wearing the Shift cowl, but Rachel, what was your sweater pattern? I have been following Haptic and Hue on IG, I really have to start listening. Worn sounds like an interesting book- another one you might be interested in is All That She Carried by Tiya Miles. Looking forward to your next video.
Hi Trudy! My sweater is based loosely on Isabel Kraemer's Ingrid Pullover (had to check my ravelry, its been a long time since i knit it!). I used Swans Island All American Sport for the body, and a skein of Freia Handpaints for the Yolk. Made the sleeves 3/4 length because of lack of yarn (!) but I learned that I love 3/4 length sweaters for shoulder seasons. Loved hearing about all your handknits!
Rachel
Trudy, one more thing - I heard about that story (the book you mentioned) on an episode of I think the Sew What podcast. I didn't know there was a book about it so I'm so happy you mentioned it.
I make sourdough bread all the time (and have for 9 years) but never a chocolate loaf. Where did you find you recipe? I am obsessed with sourdough as well and I can tolerate much better than regular bread. My starter came from a German farmer and dates back to her grandmother who was in Germany. SOOOOO my starter has been around for many hears.
Wow Margo! Your starter sounds so impressive!!!
How do you store your floss when a project is done? Do you keep them on tags? I'm a newer stitcher and not sure what to do
Many thoughts… Sue I’m so glad you’re not going to frog that piece on the 40 count. That is a sign that you have not completely lost your mind. I just watched the section where Sue said 18 and 36 of the same because 18 is half of 36. Sue, a new stitcher has no idea what you just said. I know what you meant was that The stitches on 18 count Aida and 36 count linen are same size because on the linen you are going over 2 threads you’re going over to Threadz and on the 18 count Aida only going over one thread but please clarify that
Thank you….I would have stayed for longer…never worry about length.
You say 36 is the same as 18 ct Aida I assume you are stitching over 2. Are you also stitching over 2 on the 40 ct?
Yes, we do all over 2 unless the pattern calls for otherwise OR we are feeling a little crazy and want to make a really tiny cross stitch - then it's over ! But Yikes! For now, for me (Rachel), it's over 2
😍❤️❣️
What does loop your thread mean?
Hi Aggie, Hmmmm....did we say that? lol what was the context?
"Loop" is a method of securing the first stitch when using two threads. Fold a length of floss in half to create a loop, come up through the back, then through the front creating the first part of the x, and feed the needle through the loop. Jean Farish Needleworks #6 15:50.