Take a Stitch Tuesday
Tuesday, February 13, 2007 at 8:47AM | Sharon B | 104 Comments | in Challenges, Hand Embroidery, Needlework, Take a Stitch Tuesday Please read as this is an important proposal to change how the Challenge is run
I know everyone is enjoys the weekly round up of stitching activity. For the most part I enjoy writing it. Early in the week I settle back to read what has been happening but as Sunday approaches it gets more hectic to track each person. Writing the round ups are taking a good chunk of time each week. I fret if people are left out and try very hard to avoid it and as I have said before I think it is a good idea that if anyone gets left out leave a comment with your URL at the bottom of the post then people can visit.
I am aware that I am sometimes skipping people. It is not deliberate. I am using Bloglines to track all updated entries in the blogs and flickr accounts and for the odd feed Bloglines has a hiccup. It does not last long usually and rights itself but can mean that I do not notice someone. Since approximately 200 people have signed up for the challenge it is the only way I track what everyone is doing.
I have something to propose which is an extremely simple solution and I don’t know why I did not think of before.
How would people feel if as they loaded an image to flickr or in their blog they left a comment on the weekly stitch announcement page? In other words when you have done this weeks stitch you come back and leave a comment on this page with your URL so people can click and follow it
That means that through the week as people stitch they can swing back to this page to browse the comments, go to the links and get a little inspiration if needed. One advantage is that it keeps links to all the samples of one stitch together. For those who are new to blogs if you click on the title of this post you will be taken to a separate page. This is called a permalink. It is a permanent link to a single post in a blog. All you need to do is add that page to your favourites and you can return without having to scroll or work your way back through a blog. Also when you are on an individual page you do not have to click on comments to read them as the comments are automatically published at the bottom of that page.
My main reason for writing the round up each week is to make sure people know of the samples other people have done. It is a way of visibly pointing to those who are participating in the challenge. This I think is particularly useful for those people who are not really familiar with blogging communities. Debra Spincic generously runs a web ring for the TAST challenge which is found here and for those who have a Flickr account there is the Take a stitch Tuesday flickr group so between the two I think the network is quite visible.
As I approve comments (I moderate because of spam) they appear in the sidebar. So through the week as people leave a comment about their work the recent comments bar would highlight it.
For those who are in the challenge if the “leave a comment as you stitch” system means there would be no racing for them to post before I wrote the weekly round up, or doing things like trying to figure out the time difference.
If people are a little late under the “leave a comment as you stitch” system there is no reason they can not leave a comment on the stitch announcement that is appropriate. So if you are still exploring last weeks stich just leave a comment on last weeks post.
As I have said writing the round up takes a good few hours and others have offered to help with it. I am quite happy to continue with writing them but I think since the aim is to have a place that links to everyone’s stitching done that week, this is a simple solution it might actually work better. What do people think? Obviously I like the idea as it is back to browsing the blogs rather than hurtling by and worrying if someone has been left out! Leave a comment and let me know what you think.
This weeks Challenge stitch
This week the challenge is a stitch that I know Crazy quilters love. For those who do not know it I hope you enjoy Feather stitch
I was a little pressed for time this week so all samples are worked on Aida using perle 8 thread
As you can see you can add spines to widen the stitch
Spines can be spaced differently.
two rows worked side by side totally changes the stitch
Here is another two rows worked side by side with small straight stitches added
Finally I worked two rows of feather and added detached chain stitches in the spaces.
If you are enjoying this challenge you might be interested in my online class Develop a Personal Library of Stitches which starts on February 20 (next week) .
That’s the Take a Stitch Tuesday Challenge stitch this week … Enjoy!
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Reader Comments (104)
Brilliant idea - I am all for it! Mary :-)
Brilliant solution, Sharon. It gives each stitcher the responsibility to post her own work, in a way that is foolproof. Good thinking!
This is a great idea Sharon, Anything to make it easier for you I say! Go for it. Thanks so much for organising this great project, it is a fab way to work in such a vast and international community of artists.Love carol
Sharon,
I think this is a very good idea. I know I have thought myself how do you keep up with all the different blogs and such to see what everyone has done. I vote for uploading our picture to flicker or post here when it is uploaded to our blogs. MHO, Have a great day, Tina
Sharon, firstly I think anything that simplifies things for you has to be a winner!! so I am happy to do as you suggest. I don't know how you find the time to do all you do, you must be a lot more disciplined than me, VBG. I think I must have ESP as well, I was not at all surprised when our stitch this week was feather. I'm looking forward to snatching a few minutes to play with it later today. I have a theory about the upsurge of CQ too, I will elaborate on my blog soon. Christine in soggy Sydney.
Good idea Sharon and it will free you of a massive workload on Sundays and make us responsible for our own communication.
I also think it is a great idea where everyone can be responsible for uploading their own photos. It assures noone is missed also. I can only imagine all of the time and effort you have put into the TAST when you count the 'weekly' roundups and not even include the stitching portion.
Sharon...this works for me too. So much easier for you I would think and I'm all for that!
Having worked out how to comment (shows how computer illiterate I am) Yes I am all for it as it always seemed such a time consuming thing for you to do.
Sharon, could I possibly add a request/suggestion? You know how at the top of your blog you have a link to Take A Stitch Tuesday, and in that link page you are listing a link to Week 1, Week 2 etc. Would it be possible for you to name the stitch in the link as well, ie Week 1 Herringbone, Week 2 Buttonhole? That way if someone wants to add a comment to say they've finished a stitch sample from one of the older weeks then it's obvious which link to click on. Just a thought.
good Idea Dy - will do!
I think this is a very goed idea! Can I also join the challenge then? I already started:)
Corina
Corina - YES!! Of course this means anyone with website or photo account of any kind can join. I always felt uneasy about insisting on blogs or flickr because of RSS feeds - its more inclusive this way.
I will write a post about it tomorrow but I think its the best way to run it and people seem happy enough to do it.
I think your idea is fine, I certainly will work with it,I love looking at all the different lessons. I was thinking about you on Sunday, wondering how you did all the things you do.... ahhh
I think it sounds like a wonderful idea.
Sharon, That's a great idea. However we can save time for you, you're so generous with it for us!
HUGZ:)
Candi
Let's see if I got this right. I just posted a comment for TAST 6 giving the URL's for my eyelet samplers.
http://mindblogglings.blogspot.com/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/playswithfibers/
So when I finish my feather stitching I post here?
I think that's a great idea, Sharon. I know that writing the round-up is a lot of work for you.
You used to do a "weekly highlight" type of deal, maybe you could do something like that again, where you "highlight" some of the more interesting uses of the stitch. It wouldn't take as long that way and would help people see the possibilities of what the stitch can do. I've already learned so much from TAST. Part of it is just trying new stitches and part of it is seeing people push the stitch in ways I've never thought of. Either way, I'm appreciative that you're running TAST.
Also, I noticed that somebody mentioned something about commenting on older stitches... I know that, for a while at least, you were closing comments to a page after a certain amount of time. Is that still the case?
Sharon,
I think this is a great idea, as I just can't imagine how you find the time to write the round up (on which I spend my best moment on Sundays, by the way). Just reading it takes a long time, so writing it must be even longer.
Anything that lets us have a look at each other's embroidery and that does not stress you too much is most welcome.
Thank you again for setting this challenge up.
Sharon,
I think it is a great idea - you must be hard pressed to say something different about each sample of the same stitch! I usually just go to the flickr TAST site if I am pressed for time. You deserve a break!
LinMoon of http://purple-fan.blogspot.com
Great idea. Anything that makes life easier for us all is fine by me!
Thank you. Good idea!
I also would say that TAST has been the beginning of ATC exchanges! Nice isn't it?
It is a good idea Sharon and it will give you a relief on Sunday! I will see how it works later this week, but I think I understand :)
Great idea.
Hi Sharon, I think that's a good idea, but would it save you even more work if we put our comment to say we've left a sample on the TAST blog? Then you wouldn't have to moderate all the comments on Inaminuteago. it would just mean adding a post each week to the TAST blog for the featured stitch, so we could attach our comments to the right post.
I agree, it is great idea.
I use already feather stitch on my creation made last year (see on http://www.flickr.com/photos/imichalova/180875919/, but I still want to make something more.
Hi Sharon,
I think it's a great idea!
Thank you very much for everything you do! I'm learning so much and having a great time doing it.
good idea. i second the chorus of anything to make your life easier.
Thank you for your time.
neki desu
Hello, Sharon!
I think, this is a really good idea!
Great idea Sharon, anything to help out is fine by me.
http://crazyqstitcher.blogspot.com/
Sharon, I think it's an excellent idea. It would take a lot of the burden off you but still provide a nice round-up/inspiration. I'm all for it! Kate
That's a great idea Sharon.
I've managed to catch up for the last two weeks (and I even have this weeks stitch as well).
http://frog-stitch.blogspot.com/2007/02/tast-catch-up.html
Sharon,
I think it's a fine plan to place the responsibility on us for letting you know that we've participated each week.
Great idea! I'm all for it.
Peggy
Works for me... it would give you a bit of a break.
I actually did some stitching last night and I'm determined to get caught up and stay caught up!
Sharon,
I think this is a great idea, not only will it make things easier for you but also will save time for us. I love to explore all the sites listed in the webring and the flickr sites but it is very time consuming to see whether or not there is anything new added.
I know that you spend a huge amount of time on this challenge and really commend you on doing this for us all.
Susan
http://crazyquiltsusan.vox.com/
A wonderful way to save you all that time,
I ended up making my Brown paper sample into a small vessell, I have loved rediscovering hand stitch, thank you Sharon
http://textiletales.blogspot.com
Fabulous idea, Sharon! All-around relieving, and promotes not only your TAST page but also the Flickr site. I'm all for it!
I think it is a great idea Sharon - having just marked 15 assignments from my students and preparing for teaching next week, I know how busy you must be preparing for teaching at Uni. This way will hopefully give you more time to enjoy everyone's work and to do more stitching yourself.
I have just posted some new and old samples on my blog at http://stitchnpatch.blogspot.com/
Vicki
I really enjoyed working on feather stitch this week. Thanks for organizing this challenge...
http://quiltpixie.blogspot.com
I made a bookmark with stitches from weeks 2, 3 and 4 (those comments are closed, so guess I'll post here!).
I've discussed my entire design process for this bookmark in my blog:
Studio Window
http://cameoroze.blogspot.com/2007/02/take-stitch-tuesday-buttonhole-chain.html
CameoRoze
I think it's a swell idea!! Good thinking...
MC
http://www.needlenthread.com
Great idea Sharon I just have to figure out how I go about it-but I have figured out everything else so why not this.
I've got it --that didn't take long now did it.
Thanks Sharon I'm learning a lot because of you
Doreen I was barracking for you - great!
Hi,
My week 7's challenge is done; again on an ATC form...
http://www.berget.fr/broderie/techniques/challenge_tast/tast.html#epine
Since I am just starting the TAST challenge, I like this idea. I had started a fan block and was using the feather stitch and its variations as a starting point for all the seams. Have posted pics on my blog, http://novasblossoms.blogspot.com
I think this is a great idea too Sharon, I always wondered how on earth you were going to cope with it all and have time to spare to do some stitching yourself and go to bed.
Something seems to have gone wrong with Digital Gran as I'm listed as being De Ann with a Flikr account called Digital Gran. I do have an account but hardly ever use it(smile) I have been doing the stiches every week, so maybe my Bloglines isn't working or something, because I noticed that all my subscribers seem to have vanished. I will have to look into it. sorry about that.
I have posted some feather stitching on my blog at http://purple-fan.blogspot.com
and will also put pix on the flickr TAST group.
-LinMoon
I just posted a feather stitch sampler for this week on my flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/the_elegant_stitcher/. Also caught up on Week 4 (cretan) and Week 5 (chevron) samplers and posted them. They are also on the TAST Flickr Group.
Week 5 includes some stitched tassels - the instructions can be found on Annie's Blog here http://loopylace.com/anniescrazyworld/?m=20060723