Friday Instagram Finds No. 32 with Random Acts of Amy

Hello Dear Readers! Well, I goofed today and didn't have a post scheduled to go out early this morning so readers around the world would see Friday Instagram Finds first thing. I also hadn't contacted anyone to let them know I'd be featuring their Instagram account. I didn't want anyone to feel shafted, so I thought I'd let you know what I've been up to lately.

I have been making, making, making for the two holiday markets I'm in this year. Last night was the first, Rockford Handmade Market at the Prairie Street Brewhouse. It was so much fun! I got to see so many old friends (I'm from Rockford, but now live two hours away), and meet so many new people.

A week from tomorrow, on Saturday, December 12th I'm in the first annual Sugarplum Market at North Main Studios. Between my full time day job at the Library, and this market coming up, I am going to be super busy stitching nights and this weekend away for the foreseeable future! Here are some of my pictures from Instagram.

@randomactsofamy

This is me at Rockford Handmade Market last night. Image by: @randomactsofamy

This is my Black Friday haul - 300 skeins of DMC floss! Image by @randomactsofamy

This is one of the larger ornaments (4") I made this year. Image by @randomactsofamy

Snowflake ornaments on navy linen fabric with vintage bugle bead accents. Image by @randomactsofamy

That's it for this week's edition of Friday Instagram Finds! Join in the conversation by commenting below. 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!

Friday Instagram Finds No. 15

Can you believe it's already the last day of July??! I can hardly believe it. It seems that the older I get, the faster time passes me by. 2015 is already over halfway over, and next thing you know the holidays will be here!

Today I'm introducing you to Sarah from @iheartstitchart. Sarah creates beautiful hand embroidery art, designs, and kits. I enjoy her Instagram feed so much because her pictures are very well done and beautiful! And, of course, the subject of each of her photos is beautiful, and gives us a sneak peek into her world.

@iheartstitchart

I don't know about you, but this bicycle with a basket full of flowers makes me think of bicycling through a quaint little town where my husband and I have a little picnic in the town square, then pick some flowers to bring back home with us. I think that's the kind of thing that all artists look for - a reaction to their art. The all black outline of the bike against the riot of colors of flowers in the basket make this a striking piece. And Sarah's stitches - each a work of art in their own right!

I want to run my fingers across this dragonfly hoop! That nubby fabric is calling my name. I cannot say enough about Sarah's stitches. They are so precise and tiny, and flow so well together. I don't think this hoop would be as pretty, either, if it was done in full color. I think the black stitching against the fabric says so much.

This ombre melon feather is beautiful! Again, Sarah's stitches are so beautiful, and the progression of darker to lighter melon gives the feather an airy feel. Something I enjoy about Sarah's IG feed is that she will often give us a portion of the whole picture, as in the pictures I've shared so far. 

I'll add this bonus picture in here of this Great Big Ball 'O Floss, as I'm calling it! Please tell me I'm not the only person who saw this and thought, "I want to separate this floss and untangle it!" I am pretty good at untangling floss, and it's such a rewarding task, too.

Great Big Ball O'Floss

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 Sarah's work at @iheartstitchart, 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!

Drool-worthy supplies

Photo by Gold Willow

Aresn't these lovely supplies as photographed by by Gold Willow just gorgeous? Makes me want to start stitching right away!

Sublime Stitching Floss Palettes - Team review and giveaway!

With the embroidery floss market dominated by so few manufacturers, it's always big news when a new brand of floss arrives, especially when it's from one of our favourite embroidery pattern people, Sublime Stitching!

   

   

We were lucky enough to be able to have a try of the floss a few days before it was launched, the floss arrived in palettes of colour, in cute little packages, like the embroiderer's equivalent of going to the sweet shop. The palettes have cute names such as Frosting, Flowerbox, Breakdance and Parlour, just seeing the names instantly prompts you for the sort of embroidery you could do with them. And within the palettes, the floss itself has cute names (and very cute labels, make sure you read them), with names such as melon ball, fainting couch, leg warmer.

The floss itself is a pleasure to use, six stranded, the individual strands appear to be slightly thinner than the Anchor floss I'm used to, so when I stitched up my flower tea towel I used three strands instead of my usual two. The colours were vibrant and it did make the stitching easier because I could start on the pattern with full confidence that the colours I was using went together.

Tea towel stitched with Sublime Stitching floss using the Sublime Stitching Fantasy Flowers pattern. The flower just peeking out on the left was stitched with the Flowerbox palette and a little bit of the Mingles floss, the flower in the middle was stitched with the Prism palette and the flower on the right was stitched with the Parlour palette.

Probably the most notable thing about the new floss though is that the range also includes a pre-blended palette called Mingles, each floss is three strands of one colour and three strands of another. Now that's going to be useful!

- Jo     

*****

Ok guys - floresita here now - I was also lucky enough to receive the full set of new Sublime Floss, (hence the team post today from Jo and I) and I have to say, "sublime" describes it pretty well....

Last night I took the "Parlour" floss palette for a test drive, and it was perfect for our Kitsch Witch stitchalong pattern.

As you can see from my night photo - the floss has a pretty sheen - it is ever-so-slightly thinner than your average 6 strand floss (I am a DMC girl), and it has a silky feel under my fingertips. I tried a little bit of everything with this floss - 2 strands, 3 strands, 4 strands, and 6 strands, and attempted French knots, stem stitch, split stitch, straight stitch, and chain stitch. 

I love 4 strands for a thick line and 2 strands stitches up marvelously - for some reason, that was my favorite weight.

The slight sheen on these threads lends itself well to blending, and I really liked the look of 2 different threads on this chain stitch:

Here's the "Parlour" floss palette again, this time in daylight, where it looks equally yummy:

To sum up, Sublime floss is lovely - I love the palette concept, as it takes the guesswork out of stitching (choosing harmonious colors is the most taxing part of stitching, in my opinion). The color names are adorable, I love the pithy little remarks on the wrappers, the packaging is clever and sweet, and the floss is all-around delightful.

And now I've got floss coming out of my ears. So peeps, help me out here - would YOU like to try some brand new Sublime floss? To win, pop over to the Sublime Stitching site, have a look at the 9 new palettes, tell us your favorite (or your favorite color name), and tell us what you might stitch with it.

Leave a comment here by 9 PM Oct. 21, U.S. CST. I will be giving out 5 palettes, that's 1 palette each for 5 lucky winners! International winners, no problem. So what's your fave?

- floresita

Reader's Choice Stitchalong!

Earlier this week, John showed you this month's stichalong pattern - A Little Curtsy by Isewcute - if you haven't yet, be sure to check that out and get stitching!

But we're already planning next month's stitchalong, which is going to be extra special because... you're gonna pick the pattern! The wonderfully talented Tala (or Corvus Tristis, as we know her on Flickr) has volunteered to create a special pattern for our June Stitchalong. She designed the wonderful March Stitchalong pattern last year (including the cute watery alphabet above), to give you an idea of her awesomeness...

Here's how it works - leave a comment on this post with whatever you want Tala to draw. It can be as simple as "puppy," or "kitten" or as elaborate as "skateboarding ninja cat stitching whilst playing the harpsichord." Ok, maybe not that elaborate. But Tala's so awesome, I bet she could draw it. :)

Anyhoo, Tala will look at all the comments on this post and select her top 5 favorites. On Monday I will post a poll with the top 5 choices and you'll get to pick next month's custom stitchalong pattern! Sound fun and awesome? I thought so! I mean, really, how often do you find a talented artist with pen in hand, willing to create the embroidery pattern of your choice? We are so lucky, you guys!

As a thank you for all the love you've shown our new Feeling Stitchy bloggers, the contributor of the winning suggestion will receive a very special prize! It was a mystery, but....



It arrived at my doorstep this afternoon, and I can't keep it to myself any longer! :)

The commenter with the winning suggestion will receive 100 skeins of Anchor floss! This, in case you're curious, is what 100 skeins of floss looks like - awful pretty! :)



I've always been curious about Anchor floss, which is not readily available in the US, so I ordered up this batch to inspect it myself. It looks pretty gorgeous to me!



And it's all yours if you leave the winning comment! I will pack them up and ship them anywhere, so just a reminder that international entries are welcome, too.

Comments are open until 9 PM, US Central time on Sunday, May 6 when I will close them and Tala will choose her 5 favorites. Want a chance to win a whole lotta beautiful floss? It's as easy as leaving a comment here! Can't wait to hear your ideas! :)

Pins and Needles Giveway

A good craft store is really hard to find. I learned this particularly when I lived in New York and had to take a long, long, long, subway ride from Manhattan to Queens just to be able to buy felt, needles, and embroidery hoops.

So I was fascinated when Jenn emailed me about Pins and Needles NYC, a bright, beautiful storefront dedicated to fabrics, haberdashery, and classes in sewing, quilting and embroidery. Their blog is also full of lovely projects and tutorials.



Well, I was even more thrilled when I heard that they wanted to do a giveaway on Feeling Stitchy, to round out our birthday month of giveaways and festivities!



In the giveaway for today are 1/2 yard each of the 2 Anna Maria Horner fabrics above, and 12 skeins of floss in the recently released Anna Maria Horner colors for Anchor floss. The fabrics have a gorgeous cross stitch print that would look beautiful stitched over, or simply left as is.

And the floss colors are pretty much my favorites shades of everything:



Awesome, huh? Well, if you'd like to get your hands on these lovely goods generously offered by the great people at Pins and Needles NYC, just leave a comment on this post by Sunday night, April 1, 9 PM Central time. Winner will be announced on Monday, April 2. In your comment, please tell us: how far have you gone to get crafting supplies? :) Please include your email address so we can find you. Lastly, to win, you must be a new winner who has not won a drawing on Feeling Stitchy this year. Let the comments begin! :)

Let's talk about floss!

Recently there was a question on the Feeling Stitchy Facebook Page about six stranded (or six ply) cotton embroidery floss. What's the difference between, for example, Coats and Clark  floss compared to DMC ? Or Anchor, Cosmo or Presencia?  Is one better in quality than the other? I doubt it, but I do think (and actually know from experience) there are differences between brands. I'm pretty sure more embroiderers are wondering about this so I thought it would be a good question for the knowledgeable readers of Feeling Stitchy!

Do you have a 'preferred' floss and why? Have you tried several brands or do you stick to just one? Share your Embroidery Floss experience with us!

P.S. if you like pretty photos of embroidery floss, why not join the Embroidery Thread Lovers Group on Flickr?

Got thread? Share it!

_DSC0212, originally uploaded by Fiber Addict.

Gosh, look at all that thread - it's enough to make you dribble a little bit on your keyboard, eh..?

I love embroidery thread and I love looking at pictures of it almost as much. So the logical thing to do was make a Flickr group to share pictures of embroidery thread.

If you have some pretty pictures of embroidery thread/floss, why not join the Embroidery Thread Lovers group?

It can be any kind of embroidery thread, crewel, satin, six-strand etc. As long as you took the picture it's all good.

Oh and, the thread in your photos doesn't have to be all organised and stuff - tangles are great too! ;-)

Your favorite floss colors!

Well, folks, the totally unscientific data is in! Based on your comments on the Feeling Stitchy Holiday giveaway, I now present to you - our favorite floss colors...

Our most favorite color (with 7 favorites) is:
3846, Light Bright Turquoise

The 3 runners-up (with 6 favorites) are:
310, Black

666, Bright Red

995, Dark, Electric Blue

Next 3 (with 5 favorites) are:
321, Red

550, Very Dark Violet

906, Medium Parrot Green

Want to see all our DMC favorites? Download the PDF checklist!

I'd like to think of this post as an open letter to all craft and needlework stores - please stock up on all these colors! That's because I had every intention of buying the top 7 favorites and sharing them with you in a special photo shoot. The idea seemed fool-proof enough, until I arrived at my local craft store.... And lo and behold, every color in our top 7 was out of stock. Undeterred, I moved on to our top 40, and discovered with a giggle that nearly every color on that list was out of stock. That included every shade of red (including our faves 321 and 666), and although I had to expect this, not a bit of 310 black. So, craft stores, print out that list and stock up on those colors! We've got some crafting to do. :)

Stay tuned for your favorite Sublime Stitching patterns and your favorite holiday songs! :)

Floss porn

picture by Whitebutton

I am introducing a new label to our blog (you guessed it) - floss porn. Because I think I'm not the only person who loves to stare at pictures of embroidery floss. And covet them fiercely. :)

Or, am I the only weirdo here? ;)

Psst! DMC Thread Reviews

Susie has done 2 helpful reviews on DMC Linen and Satin (Rayon) Floss. Go check them out!
DMC Linen Floss
DMC Satin floss

Knitting with embroidery floss

knitted by vermilionink

Bravo!

Embroidery floss pony

crafted by sugar-cookie

Inspired by a decole pony that holds baker's twine, Missy created her own little floss pony. Now I want a floss pony, too.