Feeling Stitchy this year? Giveaway!

Progress on my Project a Month feature

I've been giving a lot of thought to what I would like to do on Feeling Stitchy this year. Last year, cancer and chemotherapy slowed my schedule, but I realized, not in a bad way. Everything I've been through made me re-evaluate the direction of all my time, including this blog.

As you know, I volunteer my time here, along with our other volunteer bloggers, and aside from receiving free items, Amazon Associates credits, or books for review, I am not paid for any of the writing and crafting I do.

Removing our Facebook Page
Evaluating the focus of my time helped me decide to delete our Facebook Feeling Stitchy page - mainly because I was deleting my personal FB account, but also because I want to cut back on our social presence so that the areas where we are present, can be a richer, more community-filled experience.

Shifting Focus to Instagram
I've been very inspired by the wonderful community on Instagram, and as Flickr goes to a paid format this year, (there are few of you who may remember we began our crafting community on Flickr) I'd like to shift our focus to Instagram rather than Flickr or Facebook.

I've decided that the best thing about Feeling Stitchy all along, and what I most want to promote, is our shared community as stitchers. This year, I want to slow my focus, and work on projects that engage me, and hopefully all of you as well.

In the past, I did features like "Wonderful Wednesday" at a fast pace - featuring a different Etsy shop or pattern every week at times. What was missing was my own stitching element, as I rarely had time to stitch the patterns I featured.

Project a Month Feature
My new feature for the year will be called Project a Month, and in it I will feature a pattern from an Etsy shop or online store, and share my stitching experience with you. I want to engage with the seller and each pattern in a more in-depth way, my main goal is to explore what sets this pattern and shop apart, and to encourage and promote small business designers who work on Etsy and elsewhere.

I'd love for you to stitch along with me but that's not required! In the end, if I inspire you to stitch, buy from a small business, leave a comment, or just get inspired period, I'll have done what I set out to do.

Thinking Small vs. Big
My main goal this year is this idea of thinking SMALL instead of big. In my hometown, we have very few craft and yarn stores left, and we are down to 2 bookstores that sell new books, and very few used bookstores as well.

So this year, another goal of mine is to think small - to try my best to buy items in person rather than online- if I can, I'll buy at a small business, local business, or a local store. I'd also like to buy more patterns from small businesses with Etsy shops or online stores. This year, I'd really like to explore this idea of thinking small, as a way to enrich our communities.

Giveaway!
Okay, now for the giveaway! Please leave feedback on this post on any of the things I mentioned above, and tell me what you would like to see on Feeling Stitchy this year? Is there a book, pattern, or seller you'd like us to feature?

The winner of this giveaway will receive the craft or embroidery-themed book of their choice on Amazon OR the Etsy pattern of their choice - you choose!

Please tell me in the comments which prize you would prefer, and what Amazon book or Etsy pattern you would like as your prize! Leave a comment on this post by February 7, 2019, when I will choose 1 random winner.

Stitchy and Nice

Stitchy and Nice, a gallery on Flickr.

I have a wee favour to ask you! When you add your stitchy beauties to the Feeling Stitchy Flickr group, would make sure that anyone can blog the photos? Because, you see, I come across a lot of cool stuff there, but often the settings on the photos are such that only a link to it is available.

So if I want to post it, I have to contact the person to get a copy of the image or have them change the settings and such. I don't always have time for that, unfortunately, so I move on to the next photo, which will let me blog it.

It's up to you if you want to allow people to share your photos, of course! I get that there are reasons for not wanting to. All I'm sayin' is: we want to share your work, but sometimes we can't.

In cases where I can't blog a photo here on FS, I've taken to adding them to galleries on Flickr, so I have a "collection" of that I think is stitch and nice. ;-)

I'm going to post those from time to time, so all those stitchy niceries will get a wee bit of a shout out at least. :-)

Edited to add:
In case you do want to allow others to blog your Flickr images you can do so by following this link. :-)

The Duvet Project by giddy99

Goodness me! Today we're featuring an awesomely cool (and pretty crazy!) project from Lauren, aka giddy99. She is embroidering a duvet cover. And not just a single duvet cover either - it's a queen-size one! Imagine that, that's huge, and rather cumbersome to work on, so this is a pretty brave project in my book!

She is using an amazing range of different patterns, new and old. You should check out her Duvet Project Flickr set where she's documenting the progress of the project - there are notes about each pattern used as well. And if you click on the images in this post, you'll be transported over to Flickr where you can read more about them.

We can't wait to see the finished project! If you're doing a large scale embroidery project too, do let us know about it! You can email me, Carina (carinascraftblog[AT]gmail[DOT]com) or Nicole (followthewhitebunny[AT]e-tropolis[DOT]nl) to tell us all about it.

And speaking of Nicole; we had to know more about this Duvet Project, so Nicole has done a wee interview with Lauren - read on!

How long have you been embroidering?
I began embroidering in January of 2005. I'd tried cross-stitching in high school, but I couldn't get it to hold my attention. I've tried various hobbies, but none have held my attention for long… Embroidery was love at first sight for me, and I love it still.

Who taught you to embroider?
Someone tried to teach me as a child, but I vaguely remember that it didn't stick, for some reason. I really learned from the instructions in Sublime Stitching. I still have my first receipt from there, date January 16, 2005, too! I worked SO hard to get my split stitches to look like the ones in the diagram, but somehow deviated to the chain stitch, which I pull tight to make it LOOK like a split stitch (I realize that's ridiculous, but it's my fave stitch, STILL).

Where and when do you embroider?
I embroider whenever I get the chance, which is either just before bed (when I'm at home). I travel for work, and will take the pillow shams or other small projects with me to embroider while on planes, in airports or in hotels.

Who is your embroidery hero? 
I owe my love for embroidery to Sublime Stitching, so I have to say Jenny Hart. She made hand embroidery look fun and interesting with designs I could use with my existing décor.

What made you start a huge project like your Duvet cover project?
 I spent five years embroidering the edges of LOTS of pillowcases and a couple of tea towels, and want to branch out. I love embroidery (it grounds me), but I needed something different. I liked the idea of an embroidered quilt, but I didn't want to piece or sew anything – I just wanted to do the embroidery, right? It then occurred to me… a duvet is just a giant "pillowcase" (of sorts). A GIANT blank space, that I could fill however I pleased!

What is your favourite bit of the whole project so far?
Oh, my… it would be difficult to pick one favorite design; I like most of them all so much!

What is your least favourite bit?
 I've a couple of pieces that I'm not sure what to do about. One of them is the very first image I embroidered on the quilt. I was a bit nervous about mucking up a perfectly good duvet, and timidly embroidered a rather small image in one corner. It's very plain, outline stitches only (i.e. no fill), and SMALL. It now pales against the bigger pieces I've since done (the images I pick keep getting bigger and more elaborate). My husband says I can't remove and replace it, though, because the Starting Point is important in the whole, big picture. (… but, is it really?)

What is on your ‘wish list’ to embroider for this project? 
 I would have to embroider three duvets to get everything I want on there – I may have to use the reverse side of this one (wouldn't THAT be something)? I've SO many patterns "queued up," but I'm easily distracted by a contest, a swap, a fundraiser, a "gift" pattern… but I plod along, and return to the file drawer

Will you be using your Duvet cover? 
Yes, but it will be on the guest bed, where my two cats won't be able to shred my labor of love. The smallest cat, Bella, has some freakish issue with things that sparkle… she attacks the Bigfoot embroidery (it has some beadwork) whenever she gets the chance (eeek)!

Anything else you want to share?
I love how this project has stretched my embroidery as a hobby. I've gotten past the dread of a "big" or "too detailed" image, and now seek out the bigger projects – I look forward to the challenge.

More Doll Quilts

The Doll Quilt Swap (9) on Flickr is wrapping up, and I thought it was a good time to share some of the many quilts featuring beautiful stitching. As usual, the creativity and talent that oozes out of this swap is simply jaw-dropping. So sit back and enjoy the show.

First up, another amazing mini quilt made by the talented cathygaubert:

Here's a detailed shot of some of Cathy's stitching:

This amazing piece of art was made by Louise (lululollylegs) ... quite fittingly, for cathygaubert!:

Here's a closer look at the detail of Mr. Big Bad himself:

And here's the quilt being enjoyed by Cathy's daughter (I LOVE this picture):

Here's a fairy-tale themed quilt made by Sylvie (Vivie95) with some of Heather Ross' Far Far Away 2 line of fabric:

This beauty was made by Sunny (onetexsun):

Here's a close-up of the heart detail:

This one's by Dolores (DeeRoo G):

Here's a beauty made by Krista (lolablueocean):

This more traditional quilt block features an amazing embroidered center, stitched and quilted by Marilyn (marilynkb):

Kelly (redcleo) featured little elves in her doll quilt:

Karen (crazyfun01) quilted this up and sent it to her partner with some fun extras:

Finally, here's a sweet little quilt made by Dena (Denawayne):

Stumpwork?

Do you use Flickr to its full potential?

I don't - I'm shocking with tags. I rarely (if ever) use them at all. Am I short changing fellow stitchers?

My search for stumpwork examples this week left me wondering if other people are as slack as me.

Has stumpwork flown under the modern embroiderer's radar?

Maybe...maybe not. Alien Ted didn't let me down. Very cool stumpwork.

Shop links on Flickr - please read this

Hey guys & gals, this is kind of a boring post, but it is important! So please don't skip it!

I was having a look at photos in the Flickr Groop Pool and I just want to give y'all a heads-up regarding posting links to Etsy/Artfire/whatever shop you have.

Don't Do It.

Ok?

I am not saying this to be a party pooper or because we don't want you to share the shop love, but because it is not allowed, per the Flickr Community Guidelines.

Don’t use Flickr for commercial purposes.
Flickr is for personal use only. If we find you selling products, services, or yourself through your photostream, we will terminate your account.

So please, please don't link directly to shop listings from individual Flickr photos! We don't want anyone to get into trouble and/or shut down on Flickr because of this. If you blog about your stitched goodies for sale on your blog, it is probably fine to link to such a post. But please don't say "hey this is for sale, have a look at my blog" - because that is pretty much the same thing as posting a link to Etsy, ok?

It is fine to have a link to your shop in your profile, but even there don't fill it with 'advertising'. Just put a single link in your profile and then if you insist on giving 'commercial info' in your photo descriptions, simply write something like 'for more info see my profile'.

Clarification: Will you get shut down for having the occasional link? No, probably not. However, I have seen people being told either to tone it way down or simply being told that they risk getting shut down - in one case the Flickr user didn't really have many links to her shop.

The point of this post is: don't do something that could be interpreted as violating the use of Flickr. And it doesn't just apply to this group, it is across the board. Better to be safe than sorry.

 * * * * * *

Now, apart from it not being allowed, I want to add this, and this is just my opinion, of course.

People will take a look at your profile and/or contact you if they see something they like it and want, even if there is no mention of it being for sale (although if you have loads of images of the same thing/s you can usually conclude that that is the case!) It really isn't necessary to plaster 'advertising' all over your photos. In some cases it just makes your images look a bit cheap and you look kinda desperate. Flickr is a photo/image sharing site, not a store front.

Before I became a part of the Feeling Stitchy team, I would be totally honoured if Flor, or someone else, posted one of my stitchy photos on the blog - I don't know if others feel this way too, but I will say this: even if I like your work, I am not very likely to blog about it here on Feeling Stitchy if I get the feeling that you are just 'sharing' your stitchy photos because you want to sell what you make.

I love embroidery and I love sharing the love and showcasing the awesome stitchers in the group, and I don't mind linking to people's shops but that is very much secondary, if not tertiary or even fourthiary!

Ok, gettin' off my soap box! Happy stitchin'! :-)