Rosey from Ishkabibble

This week's Blogger of the Week is one of the nicest, funniest people with the strangest blog title that I know!  Even harder to spell than Serendipitous!  A keen participant in all my Blog Hops and our SALs where she wields the shoehorn like an expert martial artist in an obscure martial art using only everyday household objects to defend yourself.  She stitches an eclectic variety of designs from gaming to nature with a fair mixture of feline fun in there too.  You are going to enjoy this interview I am sure.

But before I link to the blog, I do have the small matter of the Winner of the Recent Competition to announce.  There were 12 entrants who all matched the stitchers with their pieces.  Random Number Generator chose Kaye as the winner!  Congratulations to Kaye, please let me know which store you would like your voucher to be from.

And now it's over to Rosey from

Ishkabibble

(yes I did spell that correctly!)

1. Please introduce yourself – name, where you are from, family, pets etc.

Hi there, I'm Rosey, born, raised, and currently residing in Missouri, USA, and possibly from the planet Earth.  I'm forever a country gal housewifey type but darned if I don't like high fidelity technological comforts and all sorts of nerdery.  I have three silly cats (Klondike [B&W], Peanut [snowshoe-ish], and Oreo [B&W #2]) but only one silly husband who is the Best Souvenir Ever from my time in Hawaii.  Unlike the cats, my husband is not named after food.  And yes, we do sing "What would you do-OO-oo for a Klondike -cat-?"

a miracle

2. How long have you been stitching and how did you start?

Well, my first time was back when I was but a Little Rosey, possibly 8-9 years old, in what I am sure was an attempt to make me sit still and shut up.  It didn't go so well as I could neither sit still nor shut up for any reasonable amount of time.  Later, when I became more sedate (cough), I picked it up again from a tiny kit found in a thrift store.  This would've been in 2009 when the Real Stitching started and that little finish hangs as a magnet on my mother's fridge.

don't even think about the back

3. How long have you been blogging and what inspired you to start?  Is there a story behind your blog title?

My first blog was on Xanga, followed closely by LiveJournal -- not quite an early adopter, but still from the time when you had to have an invite code to join.  This was very early 2002/2003.  I still have that journal but it's mainly about life and all the complaints available to it.

I started on blogger in 2011 out of curiosity and a growing disillusionment with the direction LJ was heading.  I had no idea then it would become such a crafty place. As for the title of my blog, who knows what it means; ishkabibble is debatable!  What does it mean to you?  ��

beads.

4. How would you describe your stitching style? Are you a serial starter, a rotator, a OAAT (one at a time), highly organized, random and eclectic, etc.?

"Frugal."

I'm glad I'm not totally alone here but I hate having many projects going at once; three is about my limit for cross-stitching. I will have a few crochet and/or knitting things to break up the wrist movements.  An unfinished project is a nightmare for me; it's always, always, always in the back of my mind and sends me into a downward spiral of not working on anything at all.  Sometimes I will get overwhelmed with my few current projects taking too long so I keep a stash of tiny "emergency" kits handy.  If I need a morale boost, I will open and finish one

pusheen loves you

5. Do you have a favorite designer or style of design you are drawn to?

SODA Stitch.  I guess I might like cutesy stuff.  Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery.  Definitely bright colors.  Stoney Creek.  I love having sets of things!  A towel for every month, and possibly every holiday?  Oh, yes, please.  Nerdy stuff also attracts me like a moth to a flame.  Daffodils, just surround me in daffodils.  I've very found of Mucha artwork/style and have been slowly saving up to buy one of the delightful Disney Princess Mucha sets available on Etsy.  I greatly adore vintage/antique designs, whether it's needlework, sewing, or furniture!  However, this weirdly doesn't apply to primitive designs.  I wonder why?

coming soon to a photo near you: nine

6. Which piece are you most proud of in your collection?

Probably any of the Final Fantasy pieces.  I make the patterns myself and ignore most of them, stitching basically by whim and growing experience.  A wall of FF pieces is my goal, abetted by my enthusiastic husband.  Luckily, there are (as of this post) 15 "main" games so a wall is highly possible.  I could even build the wall when they're all framed!  I have FFVII and VIII completed, and III on the stand, haunting me.  It's very close to completion.  Very.  You're gonna hear some high-pitched squeaking soon.  The exclamation points, they are coming.

remote for scale?

7. What has been your worst stitching disaster?

That stupid fabric pen that wasn't a fabric pen.  You source out your fabric for a piece (which is hard enough living in the middle of nowhere), mark the center with what is supposed to be a fabric pen but is really the permanent marker sitting next to it, and of course there is to be no stitching is in the center so well that whole piece of fabric is now TOTALLY USELESS.  It's not even that bad!  Just a tiny blue dot!  I can use the fabric for something else!

But I'm still mad about it.

no markers allowed

8. Which new technique would you like to try, either stitching, finishing or another craft?

Oh, you know, only everything.  I'll get around to tatting one of these days.  And that sewing machine isn't going to fix itself (although it's old, it might).  Bobbin lace looks fascinating.  This is where the random and eclectic comes in.  I will pick up a hobby on a whim.  I think I'd really like to make a biscornu someday.  And try hardanger.  I've had my first experience with making a flatfold; that was fun!  I like stained glass, too.  Ooo, and maybe woodworking!  The sky's the limit!

boo

9. Do you have a box of finished-but-not-fully-finished pieces? Or is everything FFO'd? What's your favorite way to fully finish a project and what do you do with them?

Yes, I have a few finished-but-not-fully-finished pieces, most of which are waiting for the Perfect Frame or the Money for the Perfect Framing.  One of the weird things I have with crafting in general is that I can't just do it for fun, no matter how much I enjoy the process.  The finished piece must have a purpose or a goal or place to go.  So smaller stuff tends to get finished off quickly unless it's waiting for the rest of the the smaller things to be finished all in one go. My favorite way to finish something is to have it nicely framed, possibly with a fancypants mat.

eventually a cube

10. Which of your projects most represents "you"?

Is there a project out there with a person flailing about while being surrounded by cats, daffodils, computers, books, and video games?  Oh, and brownie sundaes.  That might represent me.

this is my life

11. Tell us a secret about yourself. Or a joke. About anything!

I was probably a whirligig in an alternate life.  And possibly this life.

12. Anything you would like to add?

All these weird spellings, what.  Sticking U's where they don't belong and omitting the neglected Z's.  Scandalous.  I fixed them.  'Merica.

peace out

Haha, it's called The Queen's English!  Got to love your little rebellious ways, with your independence, writing the date backwards and randomly dropping letters.  America is SUCH a teenager at times LOL.  But just to show there are no hard feelings I have worked hard and sourced the ideal chart for you.  I've run it through Pic2Pat so I can email you a copy too!

The Ishkabibble Flail with Added Cats.