Have Your Say

In last week’s Have Your Say we started to unpack some of the ways the Inspirations Community schedule their time with needle and thread. This week we finish unpacking the conversations and hope you’ll find the varied approaches to stitching routines as fascinating as we did as they came across our desks.

‘I stitch whenever I have time. I have a separate room in my house set up as my studio, with a hard and fast rule that I do not bring stitching into other rooms. I work at a table with a Posturepedic chair, proper lighting and a handy magnifier. I listen to music or TV while stitching. I find I can focus, see well and produce more, especially since I don’t have to pack up to make room for other activities!’

‘I get up at 3:45am, go into my sewing room and am faithfully stitching by 4:00am. This is a time when all is quiet, I can plan and organize my day and accomplish so much.’

‘I love to spend time with my husband and after 56 years of marriage and many TV sporting events, I find the sports on TV provide the perfect spot for my stitching and bead work. If there is anything worth seeing it is always replayed at least once so I never miss an important play and we get to spend many hours together, both doing what we love.’

‘A stitching friend of mine tells me that we should lay down a thread every day, so that is my goal. Maybe not hours of stitching, but at least a thread a day. She is so wise!’

‘I use every available minute, including waiting rooms, though the lighting often limits my choice of projects! I also make a concerted effort to have one mostly free day to stitch each week. Being retired helps with that.’

‘I spend most of the time in my favorite spot surrounded by a half a dozen projects in progress with a cup of coffee at hand and the TV on for background noise and although I’ve stitched almost daily since February, not much has been accomplished with needle and thread as I stitch slowly and have been recovering from cataract surgery and a reaction to medication.’

‘I stitch where and when I can. As an owner of a small business I don’t have as much time to stitch as I’d like so it takes me a long time to complete anything. All year long I have been working a series of wool felt ornaments for Christmas gifts. These are simple and folk arty, but lots of fun. I stitch at my library every Friday night with a group of women who knit and crochet while I stitch. I can also frequently be found in the morning sitting in the back of my local Starbucks stitching something. Now that the ornaments are done I am stitching a crazy quilt Christmas stocking for my 1^st grandson which won’t be completed for this Christmas, but at least I’ve started! At home I stitch in front of the TV or the fire. I’ve thought about setting aside a specific time every day, but then it might feel too much like a chore.’

Ana-Maria, Carlos, Helen, Karen, Lynn, Roberta and Sarah we thank you for joining in on the conversation and for pointing us in a new direction that might just help each of us accomplish more with our own needle and thread!