Feeling Random Friday #9 with Bobbin and Fred

Happy Friday to you! I hope that you're having or have had a great day. Today I want to share with you Shannan of Bobbin and Fred. She's a needlework designer who is also a craft project designer and writer specializing in hand stitch. She makes the most beautiful needlepoint pieces. I mean, look at that gorgeous needlework craft tote/purse! She also knits, sews, and embroiders. You can find Shannan on Instagram and on her website. Here are some of my favorites from her Instagram feed. I encourage you to go check her out!

A post shared by Needlework Designer (@bobbinandfred) on Dec 23, 2017 at 9:45am PST

A post shared by Needlework Designer (@bobbinandfred) on Oct 26, 2017 at 1:54am PDT

A post shared by Needlework Designer (@bobbinandfred) on Sep 2, 2017 at 2:28am PDT

Feeling Random Friday #5 with The Needlework Finisher

I hope that all of my stitchy friends in the United States had a terrific Thanksgiving yesterday! Today is the day known as "Black Friday" here, and it's one of the biggest shopping days of the year! This year my husband and I decided not to purchase Christmas gifts for anyone...a strangely scary yet liberating feeling. Since our pup Sidney has cancer, his treatment has taken up all of our extra money, so we will be making our gifts this year.

I was looking at Instagram to find some ideas and came across @theneedleworkfinisher, Diana Sagmoe. I tried needlework once, and I was pleased with the results. After seeing the beautiful pieces in Diana's feed, I realized it's an art I need to add more of to my stitching. You can find Diana on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest. Here are some of my favorites from her Instagram account.

A post shared by Diana Sagmoe (@theneedleworkfinisher) on Oct 15, 2017 at 6:55am PDT

A post shared by Diana Sagmoe (@theneedleworkfinisher) on Nov 22, 2017 at 4:42am PST

A post shared by Diana Sagmoe (@theneedleworkfinisher) on Nov 6, 2017 at 5:35am PST

Winner in the Jessica Taylor Made Giveaway!

We have a winner for this beautiful kit in the Jessica Taylor Made giveaway!

The winner, who will receive the lovely Black Star tapestry kit is:

rose • 2 days ago

I like gold star the best.

And, if you are curious as to which kit was our reader's favorite....

Here are the results of the "vote" :)
Gold Star - 1st place
Black Star - 2nd place
Coral Sun + Pink Diamond - 3rd place tie

Personally, I found it very hard to pick a favorite, but I am very drawn to the bold colors in Pink Diamond. Thank you once again to Jessica, for making this giveaway possible. If you haven't already, be sure to check out her lovely shop, Jessica Taylor Made. And thanks to all of our readers for taking part!

Jessica Taylor Made - Interview and Giveaway!

Today I have the pleasure of interviewing Jessica from Jessica Taylor Made.  Her bold, geometric tapestry kits look like a joy to stitch. Read on to learn more about Jessica and stay tuned to the end of this post for a special giveaway of one of Jessica's kits!

What inspired you to do tapestry?

It is not what inspired me but rather who... my Grandmother bought my first tapestry kit at the age of 7 and taught me how to stitch, we used to sit together for hours on end stitching. I looked up to her talent and loved her enormous sofa covered with her beautiful cushion creations. As I grew with confidence I would pick up her more complicated tapestry and complete a section, later being proud that it was a joint effort. Over the years I have tried embroidery, cross stitch and long stitch but always come back to my real passion, tapestry.

Can you recall your first tapestry piece?

My first kit was a small swan design and I was so delighted when I completed it and my Grandmother helped me to finish it and put in a frame. I only wish I still had it or could find the original kit to buy again so I can teach my daughter when she is old enough.

Why did you start designing your own kits?

I became a mother to a gorgeous, squidgy daughter recently and it seemed like the best time to set up something for myself which I really enjoy doing and will always have time for. The main aim of JessicaTaylorMade was to design modern and appealing creations for the more discerning. I could not find kit designs on the market to satisfy my passion and was bored of the dull floral or animal tapestries available. I am fed up of stitching numerous kits and not wanting to display them or even give them to friends and family as gifts!

What influences your designs?

I am quite addicted to using shapes and lines to create pattern. I like order and combining simple shapes to create an overall beautiful form. I have been influenced by numerous trips to Morocco and Turkey where there are such beautiful patterns everywhere: pavements, columns, mosques and palaces. I have taken inspiration from these and simplified them to create my tapestry designs. I am strongly attracted to bright colours which is part of my heritage, being half Nigerian and having my Grandmother's influence. She would wear traditional, brightly coloured Nigerian dress everyday despite the cold British weather.

Do you exhibit your work, have a shop, or sell your work in any way?

I launched my website (http://www.jessicataylormade.co.uk/) as my main point of sale in April this year, after just having my Facebook page and doing bespoke commissions for people who contacted. I built the website myself from scratch which I am pleased with as being technical with computers in not my strength. I have attended many markets, mainly in London and now more locally to Marlborough where I live.

Do you do your work in a studio or special place? Do you think your surroundings are important to your process?

I have a few places I love to stitch, mainly somewhere snuggly and warm with good light. I do think tapestry stitching is quite seasonal and I find I do a lot more in the winter months curled up on my leather chair with a glass of wine. Or on a leather chair at my local pub with a roaring fire. Stitching on holiday in the sunshine al fresco is often just as relaxing if not more so than getting into a good book. Your surroundings are important, it needs to be peaceful with few distractions, a place where you can switch off and give stitching 90% of your attention, the other 10% on the TV, your husband or glass of wine.

What do you think is the best way to learn tapestry?

I would say just start, don’t choose a kit that is too complicated and select one with a coloured canvas to give you more of a guide. I know people who were terrified because the canvas is large, but stitching is supposed to be a slow progressive hobby and so it may take months to finish. But the sense of pride and achievement once it is completed is amazing. The feeling when someone comes to your home and asks where you bought your cushions and you say actually I made it, is like no other.

I have designed my kits to be simple to stitch and can be ideal for complete beginners with few colours and simple shapes, all straight lines! I include in depth instructions which you can take step by step and as long as you start in the middle and work your way out the outcome will be lovely I’m sure! Think of it as an adult paint by numbers combined with dot to dot and be brave! I am always happy to help at the other end of the phone or email if you get stuck!

***

Thank you Jessica, for your letting us all get to know you better! Jessica would like to celebrate the launch of her new store with a special giveaway!

One lucky Feeling Stitchy reader will receive the gorgeous Black Star Tapestry kit below:

To enter the giveaway, Jessica would like you to view her shop and tell us which of her 6 designs is your favorite. Leave your comment here by 9 PM US CST on Monday, July 18. We'll choose one random winner and announce it soon after. Thanks, Jessica, and good luck to our readers!

Stitchy Snippets - Tapestry Revival

The textile artist Frédérique Morrel sources tapestries from flea markets in France and 'revives' them into the form of animals and people.

Her vibrant sculptures address issues of consumerism and challenge preconceptions about tapestry through her transformation of discarded art work into something extraordinary.

Through her work, Morrel affects the destiny of these tapestries. She saves these forgotten embroideries from a dusty attic, alters their aesthetic and in doing so creates cherished pieces of art that regain their central place in the home. A new story is developed with each sculpture and the tapestries gain a new meaning whilst maintaining their history.

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: Miniature Needlepoint Rugs for Dolls Houses

Tiger skin rug - stitched by Karin Riper

Mongolian rug carpet cross stitch - stitched by Karin Riper

Karin has posted a number of interesting miniature dolls house rugs in the Embroidery Flickr pool and I was curious to find out more about the book the patterns came from - Miniature Needlepoint Rugs for Dolls Houses by Susan McBaine. As you can see from the cover it's an old book but it has been reprinted and is still available on Amazon and presumably elsewhere. I haven't seen a copy of the book myself but looking at the reviews I don't quite think it's a book for beginners, despite the use of the word 'easy' on the front cover. It looks tempting though, specially if you're a dolls house collector or knows someone who is and could do with a rug or two ....

Thank you Karin for posting such interesting pieces in the Flickr pool!

Patterns: Victorian House Cushion

Victorian House Cushion stitched by Ann Rowley

I love the detail on this Victorian House Cushion designed by David Merry. I love designs that can look old fashioned yet modern at the same time! And with the way how the main design is bordered by smaller designs, it makes it much less daunting to stitch up to!

Books: Anna Maria's Needleworks Notebook

The wonderful people involved with Anna Maria's Needleworks Notebook were sweet enough to share a copy of this book to review on Feeling Stitchy.

And it's been awhile, but I am finally giving a brief tour through my favorite elements of this book and... if you read to the end... a giveaway! This post is a combination of my first dive into one of the book's projects and a brief overview of the book.



What I Made: One Night of Crafting 
I am so strapped for time these days, that before I begin a project I wonder if I'll be able to finish it. It's a count-the-cost mentality I've been forced to adapt, to be realistic with my time constraints. Do you ever do this, too?

In all my future reviews on FS, I want to include a quick-and-dirty snapshot of everything I was able to accomplish in one night of crafting, which for me equals 6PM - 11:30 PM on a weeknight. And, here you have it, the results of 5.5 hours, or one night of crafting:

As you can see, this is a detailed, cross stitch project that could safely occupy at least 3-4 additional nights of crafting. But I love the gorgeous colors and lines!

Book Overview

If you're already a fan of Anna Maria Horner, you will have plenty of reasons to love this book. I was so taken with Anna Maria's color language that I made a list of all the floss colors from my favorite projects and lined them all up, to really take in a sense of her style:

Pretty gorgeous, huh? By the way, all of the floss colors are listed as Anchor in her book, so I used this Floss Conversion Calculator to convert to DMC, since Anchor is not readily available in my region.

Now, on to the book! The book is divided into two sections: Grid Works and Free Works. Each section is further subdivided into helpful Common Materials and Tools, and Stitch Know-How sections with illustrated color guides to many, many stitches.

Under Grid Works, you'll find projects for Cross Stitch and Needlepoint.

The Needlepoint section is extensive, showing 11 different stitches that can be used (as a Needlepoint newbie - I had no idea there were so many!)

Under Free Works, you'll find projects for Embroidery and Crewel. The Embroidery section also has a 4 page illustrated color guide that shows you 13 different stitches.

The Crewel section has a 3 page color guide that shows you 5 stitches. Again, I loved the colors in these projects:

Lastly, the book closes with a section on Finishing your projects, and the Project graphs:

I love the graphs for their color and creativity, but they are colored blocks, without a symbol, so it can be hard to decipher if you have two very similar colors next to each other. On the other hand, it's a good springboard for the more creative stitchers out there, if you're planning to use your own colors and ideas.

Here are my favorite projects, in no particular order:

"home" crewelwork pillow

"menagerie at midnight" cross stitch

"star-crossed love" needlepoint purse

The Giveaway!
Overall, I think it's a wonderful book, both for inspiration and projects, and that's why I decided to give away 1 copy here! To win, all you have to do is leave a comment here - and tell us this: if you had to pick 1 favorite out of the following: Cross Stitch, Needlepoint, Freehand Embroidery, or Crewelwork - what would it be? Please include your email address so I can contact the winner!

I'll leave the comments open until 9 PM, CST on March 17, when I'll close the comments and announce the winner soon after. Want to win your own copy of Anna Maria's Needleworks Notebook? Tell us your favorite stitching category!

Patterns: Give me work

Collaboration with Rob Ryan by Emily Peacock

Now I know we don't normally mention needlepoint here, but needlepoint is still 'stitchy' I think and this collaboration between Rob Ryan and Emily Peacock is just perfect with its craft themed message and design, 'Give me work to last me all my life'. I know for one this will be on my Christmas list if Father Christmas is feeling extra generous this year! Emily is based in the UK, international customers can view the kit here.