Do you ever wonder if I actually stitch? I mean, you know I garden and walk to the mailbox. You know I write. You know this blog is supposed to be partly about stitching.

So where’s the needlework?

Good question.

I really do stitch, but not as often as some stitchers. Dividing my time between needlework and writing effectively cuts my needlework time in half. Then, there’s the fact that running a needlework business requires way-yonder more Other Stuff than stitching. All told, I spend more time designing on the computer, laying out charts, wrestling with printers, writing The Needlework Nutshell (free e-newsletter, subscription box in the sidebar and on about every page of our Web site), communicating with shops, marketing, maintaining the Web site (quit laughing–I try), filling orders, preparing for shows, bookkeeping and accounting, etc. Stitching is a teeny-tiny part of my needlework job. Sometimes I regret that.

But I do stitch. Really. In spite of the lack of evidence.

Part of me has been reluctant to share my stitching here because who knows what might develop into a published pattern, and I usually like to keep those things a surprise. Criminey, I kept the New Puzzle Pattern (Fall, In Pieces) under wraps for how long–a couple of years? But what fun it was to reveal that in August; that contest was a kick!

Another part of me wants to have more needlework here. It would just be more fun and interesting. Some of my stitching is purely for entertainment and exploration, destined to become a magnet, gift, or nothing at all. Monique over at inside number twenty keeps a stitchbook for needlework that is not destined for any other purpose. It’s a scrapbook of needlework, and it’s a great idea. I have a notebook of stitched samples from one of my EGA correspondence courses, and it’s a nice thing, but I’m not sure I’m a stitchbook kind of person. I should probably try it and see.

Anyway, Monique shares her stitchbook pieces on her blog, and I enjoy them very much, so I’m going to try to emulate her here even though I don’t have a stitchbook. I’m going to try to share some of my purposeless pieces.

The pics here are of a pulled thread tag. I haven’t used pulled thread in any Funk & Weber patterns, but I love the technique. And rather than putting a sample in a stitchbook, I prefer to make a tag and give it away. I’m not a collector. The fun for me is in the making, not the having. In fact, I don’t like clutter. I don’t want “stuff.” I want to make stuff and get rid of it. (I see an Etsy shop in my very near future. Maybe this weekend.)

I include pics of the front and back because I opted to not back this tag with anything. I like the lacy effect of pulled thread and backing it sort of ruins that aspect. It’s a light and airy piece, 1.75 inches square, nicely flexible and stretchy on the bias, and to be honest, I like the look of the backside as much as the front.

So there. There’s the needlework.

I really do stitch, see.