Stasi from Bee-mused and Bee-stitching

As you all know, I am always on the look-out for new bloggers to feature here.  Some are new to the world of blogging such as RJ and Mary.  Others have been blogging for much longer and I have just never discovered them before.  The aforementioned RJ and Mary recently celebrated their First Blogaversary with a wonderful party.  I loved the stitching, the stories and the chance to meet some new-to-me bloggers!  I hope to feature a few over the next few weeks.  Our first is the lovely Stasi.  Her blog is such a treat to find, full of stitching (obviously!) and stories of family and retired life.  Clearly something to look forward to!  Please welcome Stasi from

Bee-mused and Bee-stitching

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

Greetings, my name is Stasi Buhrman and I was named after my grandmother, Anastasia....hence the unusual spelling.  I have been married to my soul mate for almost 44 years and have two beautiful, kind hearted daughters.  I made sure they knew how to stitch, and they are both very creative, but have chosen different paths to highlight their talents.    I recently became eligible for Medicare so you can guess how old I am. :)  

I grew up in Baltimore , MD living on the same street for 26 years, then lived in Bethlehem, PA, Cincinnati, OH and Hedgesville, WV.   I currently live in Midlothian, VA, where we moved to be closer to our four grandchildren, two of which arrived in early December from Sierra Leone, Africa after a long four year wait.

When I was in Cincinnati I was fortunate to stumble across a job at a needlework shop, Twisted Threads, where I worked as the manager for 9+ years.  This was a dream come true where I worked for Ruth Sparrow, owner and designer of Twisted Threads and a part of the Trilogy.  The shop closed in 2004 but I miss it and my fellow Twisted Sisters every day!!!

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

I've been stitching for 55 years.  My first recollection was of a card table cloth my grandmother gave me around the age of 10.  My mother had started it as a child and finished two corners.  I undertook the task of finishing the other two corners and was hooked.  I sewed mainly in my teens making a lot of my own clothes and took up crewel embroidery and needlepoint after I was married.  I tried counted cross stitch when my oldest daughter was born and that is what I've stayed with over the years.

Dutch Girl card table cloth

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

I started my blog in January 2012 as a way to connect with other stitchers.  When my husband and I moved to WV we started our own business and I worked out of the home and was alone all day.  We had no local needlework shop and I never found another stitcher  closer than 50 minutes away.  This was a great opportunity to reach out and share with other needlewomen.  The name of my blog came about because I like bee related things and I thought I'd be musing about my first grandchild.

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

I am an eclectic, random, organized serial starter.  Basically I work on what suits me at the time unless I have a gift or class pre-work looming.  I love taking classes and always feel I learn something new, albeit a new stitch, joining technique, finishing idea etc.  I like a lot of different styles and designers....whatever "calls" to me.  I LOVE putting that first stitch in on a virgin piece of linen!!!

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

Smalls are my favorite thing to stitch so my favorite designers are Betsy Morgan, Merry Cox, Sherri Jones and Jackie du Plessis.  I am fortunate that I have a venue, Salty Yarns in Ocean City, MD, within a 5 hour drive that hosts a number of these teachers yearly.

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

I am most proud of The Regal Bee.  This is a piece designed by Theresa Baird of Heartsease Examplar Workes.  I entered it in the Woodlawn Needlework show in 2013 and won a first place blue ribbon in the Blackwork category.  The challenge to this piece was the chart came with no finishing instructions, so I had to pull on what I had learned in my classes with various teachers.

The Regal Bee by Heartsease Examplar Workes

The second one would be And They Sinned by Examplar Dames.  I started this in October 2002, put it aside and finished it in March 2015.

And They Sinned by Examplar Dames

7.     What has been your worst stitching disaster?

I stitched a wedding sampler for my husband and I when we were first married.  I bought the fibers from an on-line store and when I washed the piece, the red ran all over the place.  Lesson learned--I have never washed another needlework piece in the 44 years since.  I was able to salvage it after many tries of rinsing out the red dye--I tea stained the whole piece and that pretty much took care of it! :)

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

I have always wanted to try quilting but know I'd be sucked down the "rabbit hole"!!!  I love fabric and have a "collection" of fat quarters I use for finishing but really don't want another craft to distract me from the HUGE stash I have now for cross stitch.  I will just enjoy others work in this area.

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

Yes, I hate to admit but I have stitched pieces that haven't been finished ( I jut recently learned about the FFO acronym).  As I said earlier, I love to make smalls... boxes, needlebooks, pincushions, scissor fobs etc.  They all reside in a display cabinet which I am rapidly outgrowing.  Some framed pieces are hung throughout my house permanently and then I have some seasonal pieces I rotate depending on the time of year.

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

I would say the piece that most represents me is Needlewoman Busy as a Bee by The Primitive Hare....pretty self explanatory! :)

Needlewoman Busy as a Bee by The Primitive Hare

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

Most people would be surprised to learn I have a tattoo! It's a small shamrock on my right shoulder.

12.  Anything you would like to add?

I want to thank you for this opportunity and appreciate the request to be a Blogger of the Week.  I have never really "plugged" my blog and feel most people find out about it by accident.  I had hoped to attract a bigger audience last year when I started the new year out by posting a different completed project every day--I called it Stasi's Stitch Stroll.  It was quite time consuming but I really enjoyed the daily 'share" and got to make some new friends along the way. I ended the year with 440 projects shared!!!  I couldn't believe I had actually stitched that much--it was a real eye opener!  But it's what I love to do and I am blessed to be able to stitch to my hearts content in my retirement.  So, if any of your readers are interested, feel free to visit my posts from last year and see my stitching legacy.  I am adding to the Stroll as I complete new projects; I just don't post every day anymore.  Please stop by and visit!

Thanks again for this opportunity and for your "twisted threads" of friendship!

Stasi