Talk About It Tuesdays: Qsnap Cover Review

What is it?
For my first review I have decided to cover Q-Snap covers made by the wonderful Barbara Deets (Trulyn2stitching).  Many people make these beauties but out of the few I have tried Barbara's are my favorite.  I like to start out my reviews on a positive note so I chose hers : ). 

I am sure most of you know what Q-Snap covers are but just in case I will describe them.  These wonderful things are like scrunchies for your Q-Snap or any frame really.  Who doesn't love a good scrunchie?? I know they are out of style but if my hair was long enough I would still sport one.  Anyway, basically you take some fun fabric, add some elastic and sew it to fit your desired Q-Snap size.  Because they stretch many of the sizes can cover different frame configurations.  The above picture is what came in my order.  I paid 15 dollars for these glorious guys and they were shipped to my door just days later.  Not to shabby for something that wasn't even made when I ordered it!

 

 

In my most recent order I picked up 3 covers to fit my most used Q-Snap sizes.  A 6x6, 11x11 and 17x17.  Again the elastic allows these to stretch and cover when I convert my squares to rectangles. 

 

 

Why you need them in your life:

First of all the fun fabric choices (not portrayed well by my cell phone but well, I'm new and working at it : ) ) make looking at your WIP's more fun.  I know that's not the most important thing but for me it is a huge plus.  On a more practical side they also keep your WIP's clean as you grip the sides.  I wash my hands but occasionally get the hand sweats while holding the frame.  This usually happens when I am super into my pattern or super into a movie... either way the covers allow me to sweat on them and not on my design. 

My other favorite part of these bad boys is that as you roll your project around your frame you can tuck the excess into the cover.  This keeps it out of the way and clear of thread, if your like me any extra fabric ends will get caught in your thread and pull it from the needle about every 10th stitch.

 

Here is one of my recent patterns surrounded by the Q-Snap cover. See it just makes the whole thing more festive!

 

As far as the make of these guys go, the stitching is consistent and strong.  I have washed mine numerous times and they are still just as springy as the first time I used it.  So far the elastic has not shown signs of wear which was a problem I had with a different brand of cover.

The Verdict:

I highly recommend these to anyone who uses Q-Snaps or any hoop frames.  To order these visit Barbara's Facebook page Trulyn2Stitching Designs Qsnap covers.  I believe she also sells on EBay but I have never gone this route to order. 

 

I will be doing reviews every Tuesday, I love trying new things and usually love them although sometimes the love is lacking... Positive or negative, all my reviews will always be 100 percent honest.

 

 

 

Happy Stitching and keep putting one stitch in front of the other!



        

 

 



 

The Introduction

Hello everyone,
It was recently pointed out to me by Tammy www.iwantdoonemorestitch.blogspot.com that I managed to not introduce my name.  OOOPS!  minor detail in a personal blog right?  So to remedy this here is a post all about me and why I chose to blog
                                       Special thanks to Tammy for helping me out in this department : )

So let's see the pic above is me, my name is Robyn and I am a mother, wife, and lover of life.  I currently live way up in the mountains in Colorado.  It's beautiful, scenic and a perfect place for getting in some stitching.  I say it's perfect because well the internet is slow as molasses and I don't really have t.v. so I'm forced to do other things to keep me occupied.  The internet slowness also forces me to work on my patience as I attempt to load pictures or edit my blog...

                                   

Speaking of pictures - Here is my awesome family.  My 6 yr old daughter who somehow is becoming a little fashionista.  Literally she carries around a portfolio of her designs, it is full of pattern 'swatches' she made herself and fashions she designed.  All of them have at least one neon color and 3 types of glitter.  I don't own heels and rarely wear anything besides t-shirts and jeans (and yoga wear) so where this comes from I just don't know. 
My husband is amazing.  He puts up with my little bit of crazy and is the best dad around.  I won't go into to much detail on him since he's a bit more private than I am.  The important thing is, he rocks and I'm lucky to have him.

Key points about me:
We recently moved to Colorado from Texas.  Our move here was partially for my husbands career but mainly to get closer to family.  While living in Texas we were far away from the rest of the family.  the long distance, crazy work schedules and lack of effort made seeing family difficult.  While living in Texas my mom unexpectedly passed away.  I am still getting over the regret of not seeing her before she past even though I know she watches over me now.  When my husband was offered a job in Colorado we jumped at the chance since our family lives in Colorado, Arizona, California and Washington.  All of these are far closer to Colorado.. plus we are just mountain people and the mountains in Texas were lacking!
I'm sure more personal items will be shared as this blog goes forward but for now here are some fun tidbits that make me me.
1.  I was the badmitton champ in jr high and the hoolahoop champ in 3rd grade
2.  I am horrid at any 'real' sports
3.  I am a starbucks junkie.  Actually for a plain cup of coffee I prefer dunkin donughts but I don't have access to one up on the mountain.
4.  I love yoga. Love.  I practice minimum of twice a week in class and try to get in a few sessions at home when I have the time
5.  I am extremely even tempered but you can tell my mood by my playlist.  If I'm rockin to old school Korn or NIN watch out!
6.  I was a police dispatcher/supervisor at and early age.  Loved the job, hated the time it took away from the family.  I'm still looking for a job that I am as passionate about but allows me more time at home.  It's out there I know it!
7.  I love going to concerts.  Now that my daughter is getting a bit older my husband and I can get out and enjoy them easier.  My goal is to attend one concert a month.  The picture below is from my last concert. I got to see one of my all time favorite artists Justin Furstenfeld from Blue October, acoustic and in the front row.  Life Changing : ).

8.  I love records! I don't own many of them, I feel it has to be an exceptional album in order for me to devote the real estate in my tiny room for a whole record.  X-stitch is luckily a hobby that doesn't take up much space :). 
9.  I use to many :) in my writing but well I'm genuinely a happy person and if I am feeling down I believe in faking it til you make it.  This may not be healthy but it works for me.
10.  I am an extremely private person - making this blog is a way to help me open up.  The anonymity of the computer will hopefully aid in this.
11.  My favorite number is 12
12.  I love X-Stitch!!! Having this blog to document my x-stitch journey and having people out there who take the time to view it makes my day. 

To all of you who have taken the time to read this
Thank You.

Happy Stitching and keep putting one stitch in front of the other!

Simple Sundays

 

I refuse to give in to the foggy winter wonderland that is being portrayed outside.  Inside I have my sunshine candle burning and flowers a blooming.  Sundays are the day of relaxation which really means the day of clean the house, get any outstanding work done before Monday and make sure the little one has all her homework done. 

 

Now that all that is complete it is time to get some stitching in! I will be getting some work done on my cheerful mill hill kit as well as deciding on a new pattern for a charity quilt (more to follow on that later). 

 

Sundays are a day of rest, relaxation and family so I don't have much to add but to anyone out there who has given my blog a try I thank you and look forward to sharing my work/life with you all.

 

happy stitching!

Day 1 on the blog

Day 1: 

WIP update: 
This is my progress on Marshmallow Sweet, one of the mill hill designs in the winter cheer series.  This guy has been a dream to stitch, I am 3 hours in and have had zero frogging time.  I may have just jinxed myself here....
Anyway this is my first attempt at a mill hill kit on perforated paper.  I have always taken the design and stitched them onto linen, I must say I am LOVING the perforated paper!!  I will admit the finished piece has a bit of a different look to it but for what I have planned I actually think the perforated paper will be perfect. 
To anyone who has never tried perforated paper let me just say you need to try this stuff.  With the larger holes your needle just fly's through.  Less time is spent 'poking around' trying to figure out where your needle is because well you can see right through to the needle. 
By the way I may be the only person who pokes around but well I'm not an expert and that method works for me. 

Other stitching news:
I visited The needlework show today,  this is an online needlework show where you can view a number of venders work all in one place.  http://needleworkshow.com/
I found a number of new designers with some adorable patterns.  I will warn you, the one downside is you couldn't really order straight from the show.  You have to visit each designers site and attempt to order from them directly.  I don't mind this, it allows me to email and kind of meet different designers.  The downside is well I like instant gratification and was hoping to just purchase a few of these charts tonight. 
Out of all of the 'venders' my favorite was Handblessings Patterns.  They had a wonderful deer pattern that I can't wait to get my hands on and stich!
Handblessings Patterns - A deer in the mist http://needleworkshow.com/cgi-bin/detailc.pl?516-hndJ12-01

Other Ramblings:
Do you ever have one of those days where nothing seems to be going the way you planned?  I had one of those days today.  It started with the removal of feet, yes feet of snow (hello its supposed to be spring!) and continued on to work mishap after work mishap.  The first mishap being why was I working on a  Saturday?!  At any rate as I progressed from one task to the next I kept thinking, just finish this then its home to stich.  I usually don't have stitching on the brain this much, I blame the cheerful light green color of my current WIP.  Whether it's a cheerful x-stitch or fun family activities I hope you all have something to look forward to when your day is just not panning out. 

welcome to my ramblings

To anyone out there who is looking at this blog let me first say thank you!  secondly let me apologize to you now for the slew of posts and editing mishaps that are sure to follow.  You see this is my first ever attempt at a blog or really anything online short of a facebook page which is pretty much impossible to mess up. 

The payoff for slogging (is that a word?) through my inevitable formatting errors is access to my innermost thoughts that occur to me while I am working on my cross stitch projects.  I have found that the determination involved to get through a particularly difficult cross stitch project is the same determination you need to get through a particularly difficult time in the thing we call life. One stitch at a time, one cross in front of the other, along with an occasional ripping of the old thread to make way for the new correct thread to take its place. Then in the end you are left with a beautiful project.  It may be full of mistakes but the only person who notices them is the one who stiched it.  To everyone else it is just a beautiful piece of work.   

Besides the ramblings I am looking forward to sharing all things cross stich with you. Product reviews, forever long WIP's, random silly mistakes and of course any finishes because these seem to be the hardest things to come by.  As you get to know the ins and outs of me and my designs, I am sure I will share my other passions in life. Music, yoga, reading and craft beer.  It's a random list of things to like but it's my list and I'm happy with it. 

I look forward to having all of you come along on my blogging journey and hope you all joing me in the journey of life, putting one stitch in front of the other.