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Sunflower Seed, The |
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Designer's Name: Anita Boatright |
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Location: Topeka, KS
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Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions today Anita! I like to start our features with a trip to the past...could you tell us when you first became interested in stitching and how that changed into designing patterns?
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How long have you lived in Topeka and where are you originally from?
I am a native Kansan and have lived in Topeka since 1974. I was born and raised in the western part of the State amongst the amber waves of grain! If you've not heard, yes I said heard, the "blue stem" (grass) sing, yes I said sing, you've missed something pretty spectacular!
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Does your environment play a role in shaping the themes of your designs? I don't know that my Kansas environment plays much of a role in my designing other than my "Kansas themed" designs. I'm proud to be a Kansan and appreciate all the State has to offer. I absolutely love the wide open spaces and am so thankful that I could raise my 2 sons here. Family and friends and their safety are the most important things and I feel Kansas communities provide the values and safe environment with which to raise outstanding families. So,yes, I guess my environment does play a major role in my designing!
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New From Sunflower Seed, The... Snips & Snails (top) and Sugar & Spice (botton) Recently, The Sunflower Seed released a pair of adorable birth samplers for a boy and girl. Sugar and spice and everything nice or snips and snails and puppy dog tails...take your pick! Each has a stitch count of 101 x 61 and retail for a suggested $7.00. Weeks and Gentle Art fibers are used (with DMC conversion) on 28 ct Lambswool Linen. Buttons available from JABCO. |
Your design portfolio seems to have a little something for everyone. What would you recommend from your line for a beginner? For a more experienced stitcher? I do have a wide array of designs and I guess that's because of my many interests. I don't want someone to look at a design and say, "Oh that has to be a "Sunflower Seed" design! I think I would feel "stale" if that happened. I like to keep people wondering what I might come up with next! The personality of my designs may mirror my own personality at times! The "kookie" Halloween cats come from my fun side, the Irish designs come from my historical side, the samplers come from my more serious side, (and oh, how I LOVE ALL samplers). I probably would do more sampler designs but they take so long to stitch! Maybe for a beginning stitcher I might suggest one of my "Week Day Child" designs, "Faith, Hope, Love" or possibly "Home" since it has lots of solid rows to get the hang of working on tension and even stitching. For the more advanced stitcher I might suggest "Awakened Soul" which uses some silk fibers or "Three Kings" or Celtic Shamrock" which uses some metallics. None of my designs are difficult to stitch, some just take a little longer to stitch.
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Do you have a favorite time of the year or season for designing? I find it more difficult to design Spring things since I am not much of a pastel sort of person. I love deep rich colors and find Fall to be my favorite season. Actually finding the time to work in some designing is quite a challenge since I own and operate a brick and mortar retail cross stitch shop also. I don't work on designs at home so usually it is worked in-between waiting on customers and doing ordering and book work. I decided when I opened the shop that work would stay at work and home was for home and that's pretty much how I've kept it. The one exception was that I have to do the stitching at home since there is NEVER time to stitch at the shop! But that's okay! I may get design ideas when I'm at home but I will make myself a note and work on it once I get back to the shop.
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When you’re not stitching, what do you enjoy doing for fun? When I'm not stitching (that pretty funny!!!) I mainly enjoy spending time with my husband Bill (he travels a lot) watching movies or visiting with our wonderful neighbors and friends. We're empty nesters now but have quite a busy year ahead of us. Oldest son Morgan and wife Kate are expecting our first grandchild in March and youngest son Harrison will be marrying sweet Jamie on my birthday in June! Wow, are we gonna be busy!
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Has the industry changed since you first began designing professionally? I have seen some changes in the industry since I started designing. My shop has been in business for 8 years now and I feel like I've been on a sort of a "Snake" curved road. It started out kind of slow then made the hill, then rolled down the hill, but not it's trudging uphill again! If I haven't seen a customer for a while I ask them when they do come in, what have you been doing? Usually their reply is, quilting or scrap booking, but, they're tired of that and need to get back into cross stitching. Guess it all evens out eventually.
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What do you love most about being a part of the cross-stitch industry? What I love most about being a part of the cross-stitch industry is that I can make a living from what I love to do most. Someone once said if you can figure out how to make a living at what you're best at then you're a success! Not many people can say they love to come to work every day and don't mind staying late when someone pops in after work and runs past closing time. I'm able to use my creative talents to design something that hopefully will make other people happy while they stitch. I love my job!
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Has your website proven to be a valuable tool in marketing your product line and business? We had quite a time getting our web site up but it's up and great! It has proven to be a great marketing exposure for my designs. I get inquiries daily and hearing from so many great people "out there" is so wonderful. It has brought customers into the shop from all over the country as they are traveling through Kansas. They will tell me they saw my web site and just had to make a stop on their trip. I've met many wonderful Americans as well as travelers from Australia, Belgium, Norway, Spain, France Canada and Russia. It's just a magical road to travel!
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Would you mind sharing a favorite recipe with us? When I'm asked to share a favorite recipe I always kind of cringe! I don't cook much anymore and am very much out of practice. Guess I did my share when the kids were little. Besides, it takes time away from stitching! But, with the hot summer we've been having lately, I made my favorite homemade ice cream recently. This is yummy and rich, and did I say yummy!!! Oh, yeah!!! Old-Fashioned Ice Cream: 4 eggs 2 cups sugar 1/2 teaspoon salt 3 cups heavy cream 1 quart half and half 1 Tablespoon Vanilla (I always use Mexican Vanilla- it's the best!!!) Whole Milk to fill freezer to the "fill line" Beat eggs until very light, add sugar and salt. Beat mixture well. Add cream, half and half and vanilla. Add this mixture to your freezer container then add whole milk to the "mark" on the side of the container. (I "whisk" the mixture again when the container is about 3/4 full to distribute all that sugar again!) Attach the motor (or crank, if you have kids!) fill the outer bucket with ice and rock salt and let the machine do the work. Takes my freezer about 35-45 minutes. Makes 1 gallon ice cream. Enjoy with your favorite topping or all alone.
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