There is a sense of excited anticipation in the air of the city. As the month comes to a close, the festival for the Magic Guild seems to be winding down. And yet, the city seems keen on continuing with celebrations.
You exit your guild and find that overnight, things have changed.
All of the purple Magic banners that had been hanging around the city for the past month had been changed to green Agility banners. Music fills the air as there is a bard on every corner, serenading passersby. You see members of the Agility Guild testing their speed and litheness, and perhaps showing off a bit too, as they traverse the obstacle course set along the rooftops.
You wander the main street and find lessons being taught, all to aid in making everyone just a little swifter at stitching.
The merchants are lining the streets, pitching their wares to whoever would stop and listen. Everything to aid in speeding up stitching, in celebration of the Agility Guild Festival. You leave the market area a few gold coins lighter after being convinced to purchase some thread conditioner with the promise that it would do away with pesky knots. You also can’t help put purchase a pair of gorgeous embroidery scissors, inspired by the Agility crest hanging about all over the place.
You continue along your way and soon find yourself at what could only be the main event. A wide open area sits before you and you see rows of stitchers preparing for...something.
That’s when a silver haired elf catches your eye. She smiles, making her slate grey eyes sparkle. ‘Interested in joining?’ She asks.
‘Join what?’ You ask, not really sure what you are about to be roped into. You recognize the elf as one of the Agility Guild leaders, and she won’t take no for an answer.
‘Why a speed test of course!’ She says, beaming.
‘I’m not sure that’s really my thing…’ you stammer, but before you can protest further, she wraps an arm around your shoulders and starts to escort you in. ‘You’re new to Stitchwind, right?’ She asks and you nod. ‘Now, this is just a test of your abilities, not a competition. Knowing how quick you are is some valuable information.’
You look around and see collections of small stitches, a number you know from your guild mates had collected in response to the flyers. You also notice that as you are led towards the front of the area, a fox is seated, watching you with keen blue eyes. It was the same fox you remember seeing hanging up the flyers around Stitchwind.
The fox turns its gaze to the elf by your side and yips.
‘With this one the session is full,’ says the elf beside you.
You look at her, surprised. ‘You speak fox…?’ You ask.
She nods. ‘I have to with how much time this one spends as a fox,’ she says with a nod back to the fox.
You look back only surprised to find a person sitting where the fox once was. A Druid and you recognize her as the other Agility Guild leader.
She smiles at you too. ‘Thanks, Rogue,’ she says to her fellow Leader.
“Of course, Foxy,’ says Rogue before looking back at you. ‘Have fun.’ With a smile, she leaves.
‘Find a pattern, take a seat, and we’ll begin,’ says Foxy to you.
You nod a bit and head over to where all the patterns were kept. You find one you like and take it along with the needed materials before taking a seat.
Foxy stands, looking at everyone gathered. ‘Welcome to this year’s speed test!’ She says. ‘While this isn’t a competition, I urge you all to try your best. Ready?’ She smiles. ‘Go!’
You and everyone else sets quickly to work.
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Your Quest
The quest is to test your stitch speed! I need to emphasize that this is NOT about being fast or slow, just knowing your average. What you NORMALLY stitch at. Your baseline. The relaxed, stitching for fun speed. NOT the super stressful stitch as fast as you can speed.
Pick a small pattern like the ones turned in for the Petite Patterns side quest. One that has at least a few color changes and you think you can reasonably stitch in a single sitting. You want some color changes to mimic what a 'average' pattern would have. Of course you'll stitch faster if it's just one or two colors. but that's not the point!
Stitch it however you normally stitch. Watching TV, listening to a podcast or audiobook, whatever. Just track your start and stop times.
If you then want to go above and beyond, time yourself a second time and focus on stitching as quickly as you can to see what the difference is. Compare your stitch speed with YOURSELF, not others.
Ultimately, speed is not a requirement to stitch. Please be kind to yourself and others.
Regardless, knowing your average speed will be helpful in calculating how big a pattern you can reasonable stitch in a certain time frame. Aka, hopefully cut down on people picking too-big patterns for these quests. And should also help answer some questions for those interested in selling their pieces or working commissions in the future.
Resources
You can pick whatever pattern you're willing to stitch in a single sitting, but we recommend starting small. Real small.
Check out the Petite Patterns side quest to see a list of some of the small patterns other guild members found!
How to Measure Your Average Stitch Rate from Siri's website has some guidance on how to keep track of time.
Turn In
All done? Reply here with a photo of your finished piece, how long you took to stitch it, and a sentence or two about your experience. If possible, please always include a direct link to the pattern you used.
If you did this quest back in October 2020 on the discord feel free to re-submit the piece you did then, or stitch a new one to compare your current speed!
Reward
- MQ_NS_SpeedyStitching.png (3.05 KiB) Viewed 3362 times
