1. Please Introduce yourself - name,
where you are from, family, pets, etc.
I'm Rachael. I'm originally
from New Zealand but I've been living in Canada since I was very
young. I'm lucky enough to be a dual citizen, though. I have a
sister, who lives in the States and my dad lives an hour up the
road. I'm owned by two cats and a cockatoo.
2. How long have you been stitching and
how did you start?
I've been doing small canvas work
projects since I was very little, like 6 or 7, but when was
about 13/14 my sister taught me how to cross stitch. My first
project was a huge horse barrel racing. I made lots of mistakes
but stuck with it. And I was hooked!
3. How long have you been blogging and
what inspired you to start? Is there a story behind your blog title?
I've been blogging for about 3 years. I
was inspired by a friend of mine who started blogging her cards that
she had designed and made. Before that I hadn't realized
blogging for crafts was even a thing. So I created an account
and tried my hand at it.
There's no real story behind my blogs
name, just a funny play on words. It used to be called Rai Rai's
stitches, but the apostrophe kept showing up in code and it drove me
a bit crazy, so I changed it.
4. How would you describe your
stitching style? Are you a serial starter or rotator, OAAT,
high organized or random?
I had always been a one project at a
time, with the small exception of a marriage or pregnancy that I'd do
a quick project for. Mainly because I couldn't afford to be a
serial starter. I stitched Mirabilia for years, until I
discovered HaED. Even in the beginning when I was I was
stitching stockings, I was still one project, until I started on a
big project, Adrift, by Selina Fenech. The gloomy colours got
to me after a while and I had to change it up, so I started stitching
an Annya Kai Owl design that was vibrant and bright and the antithesis
of Adrift. Now I always do two projects. It keeps me from
getting bored from any one project and just keeps me a little bit
hungry for both designs.
Annya Kai Owl
I'm a pretty organized stitcher. I prefer to work in columns, but I don't have a hard and fast rule. Sometimes I cross country and sometimes I park. If I'm doing very heavy confetti, then I tend to park. Otherwise I tend to cross country a column at a time, with a feathering effect, which is to say 12 stitches then 10 stitches. Then 12 stitches, alternating all the way down the column, to avoid lines. But I like to have my threads all bought for a project and I use an app to keep me on track with inventory management. I guess that makes me organized. I assure you, this hyper organization does not extend beyond stitching.
5. Do you have a favourite
designer?
It used to be Mirabilia and Lavender
and Lace, but I could stitch a pattern to completion in 6
weeks to 2 months. Then I discovered Heaven and Earth
Designs. Now THEY keep me busy. I'd also like to try a
Golden Kite design. I'm drawn to faeries and dragons. I'm not
sure why, because I don't tend to like fantasy movies or books, but
faeries and dragons draw me.
6. Which piece are you most proud of?
I think I would have to say Adrift.
She's my biggest piece to date and I'm proud that I stuck with her
and finished her.
But usually the rule for me is my most
recent finish is my favourite.
Adrift, by Selina Fenech
7. What has been your worst stitching
disaster?
I was almost finished stitching a
Mirabilia Angel of Spring and I left my stitching on the couch, and
my cockatoo got a hold of it and chewed it to bits. There was
no salvaging it. It was ruined. Since then I have been
disciplined at putting my work up at then end of the night.
8. Which new technique would you
like to try?
I would love to learn how to make lace,
also stitch using ribbons. If I could only put down my HaED
long enough...
9. Do you have a box of finished
but not fully finished pieces? Or is everything FFOD'd.
I have a box of finished pieces, mainly
because I can't afford to frame them all, but they are all fully
completed.
10. Which of your projects
most represents you?
I can't really say any of them really
represent me. I can certainly see the evolution of my tastes
from fuzzy animals and cartoons to angels to cats to faeries to
dragons and other mythical creatures. Mostly I'm drawn to
colours and the feeling a piece invokes in me when I look at it.
Being now that I only start a new piece once a year or so, I'm very
careful to only pick what I truly love.
There is one pattern that I relate to,
though, and that is The Favourite. A little girl holding on to
a monster, who she clearly loves. Her defiant look, and the
flower she has placed lovingly on one of its horns moves me. I
think most people (family mostly) view my cockatoo in this light.
She is a snarling, messy screaming baseboard destroyer who
occasionally takes a chunk out of me, but I love her
unconditionally. So if I could use a future project, maybe that
one?
11. Tell us a secret about you?
I'm ambidextrous. Anything I can
do with my left hand, I can do with my right. I took to two
handed stitching like a fish to water and can change up which hand is
on top at random. My husband is fascinated at this ability.
I can also write backwards with my left hand and forward with my
right hand at the same time.
12. Anything you would like to
add?
I guess I'll finish by saying Stitching
is my meditation and my yoga. It brings me profound peace and
no matter what kind of stressful day I've had, I can always unwind
with stitching. And occasionally, a glass of red wine -yes,
while I'm stitching. For in the immortal words of Austin
Powers, I too like to live dangerously.
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Thanks Rai Rai, I am absolutely impressed by your Secret Power to write with both hands at the same time, backwards and forwards!
