Friday Instagram Finds No. 26 with Homestitchness

Hello Stitchy Friends! Can you believe that October is almost over? One more week until Halloween, which is my second favorite holiday (my first being my birthday, of course :p ) I'm going to tell a little story that will perfectly tie in to why I chose Jenny of Homestitchness as our feature today.

Five years ago my husband (boyfriend at the time) moved from my (adopted) hometown of Rockford, IL where I had lived for over 30 years to a Chicago suburb. We moved here for my job, and didn't know anyone. We're only 1.5 hours away from Rockford, but we may as well be on the moon! Few friends want to travel out this way, and a three (or more, sometimes) hour car trip in one day is a bit taxing. I had a particularly hard time being separated from my adopted hometown, family, and friends. I had a large social circle, and there was always something going on in Rockford - bands, hockey, art, or just hanging out with friends. Even after five years, we have not found that here in the southern Chicago suburb where we live. That means I do end up taking frequent trips back to Rockford, and, even five years on, my homesickness is real.

Jenny is a New Zealander living in the United States, and her business name, Homestitchness (Get it? homesickness, but with stitches.), says it all to me, and I feel her longing for all that is familiar to her.

I'm convinced that every single person who lives in New Zealand and Australia is an amazingly nice person, and Jenny helps to continue that perception. We met on Instagram, and she is incredibly supportive and kind, with a sunny outlook on life. She creates beautiful cross stitch patterns and samplers featuring New Zealand and Australia. Take a looks at her beautiful art, and make sure you check her out on Instagram.

@homestitchness

Image by @homestitchness

Image by @homestitchness

Image by @homestitchness

Image by @homestitchness

That's it for this week's edition of Friday Instagram Finds! Join in the conversation by commenting below. While you're on Instagram checking out Jenny's work at @homestitchness , and make sure you follow Feeling Stitchy! We'd love for you to stop by and say hello. You can find Feeling Stitchy on Instagram at the handle @feelingstitchyish. You can find Amy @randomactsofamy on Instagram.

Want to be featured in Friday Instagram Find? Tag your best stitch-related photos like Jenny did with #feelingstitchyig!

Friday Instagram Finds No. 22 with The Stitch Smith

Hello! I love today because it's the day my best friend in the whole world was born! Say Happy Birthday to Debbie :) And when her birthday rolls around, I know that mine's not far behind on October 3rd. I have some fun news to share about my birthday and an art show, and you can read that at the end of this post.

Today let's go to New Zealand and check out @thestitchsmith. Liz creates contemporary needlework, and also teaches classes and has kits for sale, too. I discovered her because she used #feelingstitchyig on some of her pictures. I enjoy her feed because her work is so bright and colorful. Let's take a look!

@thestitchsmith

This elephant stitch sampler is awesome on so many levels! The colors are so bright and happy, elephants are just plain wonderful, and the stitches Liz used are perfect and varied. I see the fly stitch, split stitch, and feather stitch. Which others can you spot?

Image by The Stitch Smith

Liz features many birds of New Zealand in her designs, like this Kakapo on this needlepoint pillow. I've never tried needlepoint because I always thought it looked too old fashioned, but Liz and her designs have totally changed my mind! I like the geometric triangles that make up the bird, the neat design on its beak, and the repeating pattern for the background.

Image by The Stitch Smith

Here's another one of Liz's embroidery patterns, and like so many I see on her feed, I love how there are a variety of stitches and colors.

Image by The Stitch Smith

Here's another of Liz's birds of New Zealand, and it's a kaka. Liz has these in her neighborhood, which is amazing to me! In the colder climate where I live, we don't have exotic-looking birds like this. Her needle painting is beautiful, and helps the viewer to see the movement of the feathers. The picture below it is a closeup.

Image by The Stitch Smith

Image by The Stitch Smith

That's it for this week's edition of Friday Instagram Finds! Join in the conversation by commenting below. While you're on Instagram checking out Liz's work at @thestitchsmith, and make sure you follow Feeling Stitchy! We'd love for you to stop by and say hello. You can find Feeling Stitchy on Instagram at the handle @feelingstitchyish. You can find Amy @randomactsofamy on Instagram.

Want to be featured in Friday Instagram Find? Tag your best stitch-related photos with #feelingstitchyig!

!!! Fall ArtScene in Rockford, IL !!!
The good news I have to share is that I am going to show some of my embroidered artwork at the Fall ArtScene in Rockford, IL! This is a dream come true for me. Rockford is my hometown, and I have always loved to check out the art for the Spring and Fall ArtScene events. I've always wanted to be a part of it, and this year I'm showing a couple of pieces at Lucette Salon and Spa. You can read the details here, and get some sneak peeks of what I'm working on over at my Instagram account @randomactsofamy. If you're in the Northern Illinois area, I hope you'll stop by. I'll be at Lucette the evening of Saturday, October 3rd, which also happens to be my birthday!

Patterns: Aotearoa Tree of Life

Aotearoa Tree of Life by Liz Smith

When I spotted this piece in the Flickr pool by Liz Smith, I was curious to see if it was a pattern, so I checked out Liz's Flickr profile and I found her online store, The Stitchsmith, which as well as having the lovely pattern above (which in the sample in the store looks great as white work on black fabric), also has loads of colourful birds and New Zealand themed patterns to! I will definitely be bookmarking that site!