Matters of Little Consequence

Marieke de Roos emailed me about her Matters of Little Consequence (a reference to Le Petit Prince) and I just had to share. She's way up north in Port Aux Basques, Newfoundland embroidering teeny-tiny houses on squares as small as...well, a spool of thread.

Giveaway Love: Embroidery Companion

I know I have mentioned several times how much I adore Alicia Paulson. There is just something about her stitching that makes me feel cozy and comfortable.

She has authored several books but I have to say that Embroidery Companion: Classic Designs for Modern Living is my favorite. Not only does she offer up beautiful patterns but gives you a step by step guide, including materials needed.


The book has projects ranging from samplers to aprons to guitar straps, all with that breathtaking Alicia Paulson signature style.

Now, here comes the exciting news for you! We are giving away this fabulous book! (This is a brand new copy, donated by us.) All you have to do is leave a comment stating what your favorite flower is. Cut off time for the drawing is 9:00 PM Central time on Sunday, Feb.19th. A winner will be announced shortly thereafter.

Last-minute edits by floresita (sorry!) - Please also include your email in your comment so we can contact you. To the first few commenters - no worry, we will find you! :) To win, you must not have won a giveaway already on FS this year. Thank you! :)

Edit: 9 PM, Feb. 19 - comments closed - winners will be announced on Monday!

Love: knot (and lazy daisy) addiction

stitched by dozydotes

Wow. Just had to show you this amazing example of french knot and lazy daisy addiction, by dozydotes. In case you didn't know - lazy daisy is this week's stitch in the Take a Stitch Tuesday challenge.

How many hours do you think this piece took? Let's get some guesses going, then we'll ask her! Wonderful work!

Happiness is The Frosted Pumpkin

Are you doing the Dessert of the Month Club by The Frosted Pumpkin? January and February and just too adorable for words. I can't wait to see the upcoming months.

Out of a love for kawaii, modern primitive cross stitching and cat blogs, best friends Ashleigh and Amanda created The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery. They have started a stitching revolution!


thank you ashleigh

Even the simplest every day item is made into an over the top cute pattern when these two ladies are involved.



thank you monkeypatch

I don't think I could be sad for a minute stitching up these patterns. Just thinking about them brings a smile to my face.



thank you oliveoh

Check out their website, store and facebook page. Their patterns will bring a smile to your face too.

Love: Hand-stitched seed packet

Hudson Valley Seed art packet, stitched by Cal Patch

I love this beautiful design Cal stitched for her local seed company - I met Cal back in NYC and continue to be amazed at her creativity.

Apparently, this little packet, along with others is going on display at the Horticultural Society of New York - so you lucky New Yorkers can see it for yourself! :) To read more about her project, visit Cal's blog.

Love: cross stitch hoops

stitched by bylina

I adore this idea by Katarina - so many times I want to cross stitch a small corner or test out a motif, because I just don't have the time to dedicate to the whole piece. I love the gorgeous and inventive way she has placed a corner motif in a circular hoop.

Katarina's hoops and vintage-inspired decor are available in her etsy shop.

Take a Stitch Tuesday: Lazy daisy

This week's Take a Stitch Tuesday stitch is the Lazy daisy. Well, I am no stranger to the Lazy daisy (or detached chain) stitch, so I had fun playing with it last night. I've done many embroidered pieces that used oodles of Lazy daisies - most notably Lottie the dog-faced girl (a pattern by Badbird) and this pink doe.

If you dig vintage embroidery patterns like I do, you'll find tons of lazy daisies in them, so if you want to stitch vintage, this is the stitch to learn.

If you'd like to learn the Lazy daisy stitch, try:

Video tutorial by Mary Corbet

Stitch School post by Primrose Design

Tutorial on Curious Doodles

I kept it simple on the daisies, stitching most of them in increments of 5 - an arrangement that seems to be common in real flowers.  I used the same 3 colors of floss I used for the last piece - I plan to use only those 3 on all my hoops.

Here she is next to my chevron hoop from last week's Take A Stitch Tuesday:


You'll notice I used a scrap from the same striped blue and white pillowcase, I just turned it in a different direction for variety. I promise I will get them in better light for a final set of photos - in the meantime, thanks for bearing with these evening shots. :)

Here's the links to people participating in TAST:
Jennifer: http://www.marriedtoabmw.com/search/label/Embroidery
Hanna: http://www.ihanna.nu/tag/tast/
Faith: http://airynothing.net/Blogs/anblog/tast/
Kathy: http://eclecticlamb.wordpress.com/category/embroidery/
Susan: http://cq4fun.livejournal.com/

If you've joined in, please leave a link to your blog or Flickr set in the comments and I'll add you to next week's post! Until next week! :)

Love: Gollum Valentine

stitched by Cation Designs

My God this is awesome and hilarious. From Cindy's caption: "To the precious, love Gollum." Download the free pattern on her blog. You totally made my Valentine's Day, Cindy! :)

Winners in the Hoopla drawing!

Oops! I almost forgot to post the winners! Thank you to everyone who left a comment - it was so cool to see so many people from all over the world (and Ohio) commenting! :) A sincere thank you also to the publishers of Hoopla: The Art of Unexpected Embroidery, and Leanne Prain, author of Hoopla, for making this giveaway possible!



A new copy of Hoopla: The Art of Unexpected Embroidery goes to:

BronwynFeb 11, 2012 05:11 PM

1) I'm from metro-Detroit, but currently living in the middle of Michigan. :)
2) I love that Cate Anevski pattern. What a cool, slithery girl. :)
3) nzfriend@gmail.com

One Gocco hoop goes to each of these two winners:

Marie M. S.Feb 12, 2012 06:12 PM

Evanston, IL. I love the bull idea! And... followingwords(a)(t)gmail(d)o(t)com

EstherFeb 12, 2012 09:13 AM

I'm from Singapore and I love the cross stitch applique bull pattern :)

e(underscore)auyong(at)yahoo(dot)com

Each of these 6 peeps will be getting a button!

AnonymousFeb 11, 2012 06:55 PM

1. I'm from Milwaukie, OR
2. I love the cuckoo clock and the jackalope.
3. lissa_rae@hotmail.com

JulieFeb 11, 2012 02:16 PM

*I'm from Socorro, NM.
*I adore the oxytocin pattern.
*plainsongjn(at)gmail(dot)com

Thanks for the wonderful giveaway!

sandyandcosmoFeb 11, 2012 02:32 PM

1. I'm from Chippewa Lake, Ohio. (Couldn't help noticing a lot of Ohioans on here!)
2. I love the oxytocin project!
3. My email is sandy.hardman@gmail.com

istar1Feb 11, 2012 01:57 PM

Hello! I'm Irina from Ukraine! Love your blog ;)
Book is amazing and those blackwork clock would looks great in my fathers' cabinet!
istr1.blogspot.com
zamoskvoreche@gmail.com

Little Red Emo HoodFeb 11, 2012 01:48 PM

Hey! I'm Kim, from Edinburgh in Scotland. My favourite project is the bull cross stitch. Making a bull look so pretty is quite cool. :)

wickedsister69@gmail.com.

Awesome!

susslanFeb 12, 2012 01:39 PM

1) I'm from Sweden, currently living in Gothenburg
2) I'm a neardy biologist so I really liked the oxytocin pattern
3) sussiegross@gmail.com

I love your blog and I really hope I'll win, thanks for that opportunity!

Thanks everybody! :)

Love: Cupid's arrow tutorial

I love this cardigan embellishment idea by Casey from Elegant Musings. I found her via her vintage hairdo posts, but I ended up finding embroidery, too!

Pattern love: Valentine's Postcard

Valentine's Postcard by Maggie Makes

The blog Maggie Makes is a treasure trove of gorgeous photography and fantastic tutorials. I love this free tutorial (second from top left), it's a printable postcard, so perfect if you're a little rushed for time this Valentine's Day, however you could just as easily stitch the pattern yourself. For inspiration, check out this post, where just part of the postcard pattern is used to make a pretty, decorative heart.

Blog Love: Interview with Alicia of DMC España

I'd like to introduce you to Alicia, the lovely blogger behind the beautiful DMC España blog. I've been following this gorgeous blog for some time now, and I was very excited and honored to meet the blogger behind it.

This is Feeling Stitchy's first English-Spanish interview- Spanish was actually my (floresita's) first language, so I've done my best to translate Alicia's answers, but if you native Spanish speakers detect any egregious errors, by all means tell me. :) Without further ado, let's meet Alicia:


Photo by by Dong-yeon Yu

You have such an eye for color and texture - reading through your posts is so inspiring - how do you find the blogs, artists, and photos you feature?
Every day I spend time on Pinterest (http://pinterest.com/dmcspain/), and I follow various blogs (http://www.planetaki.com/dmcspain - my blog reader is public, if anyone would like to take a look.) I enjoy doing it and it puts me in a good mood. When I find a blog I like I visit their favorite links and I jump around from blog to blog, finding new things. I also like Flickr because there are so many great images and many artists have their portfolios there.

Cada día paso un rato navegando en Pinterest (http://pinterest.com/dmcspain/), y sigo varios blogs (http://www.planetaki.com/dmcspain, mi lector de blog es público por si a alguien le interesa). Es algo que me gusta hacer y me pone de buen humor. Cuando un blog me gusta sigo sus enlaces favoritos y así voy saltando de uno al otro encontrando cosas nuevas. También me gusta Flickr porque hay muy buenas imágenes y muchos artistas tienen allí su portfolio.




Do you consider yourself primarily an embroiderer, knitter, or crafter? Or artist?
My favorite craft is crochet, it was the first I learned and the one I feel most comfortable with. However, I also know how to embroider, knit, cross-stitch, do macrame, tapestry, and loom knit. But lately I spend so much time inspiring others to pick up a needle or crochet hook that I've actually put aside my own crafting. But it's a question of timing - during vacations I have more time, I'm more relaxed, and I always take a crochet hook with me.

Mi técnica favorita es el ganchillo, es la primera que aprendí y me siento más cómoda. Aunque sé bordar, tricotar, hacer punto de cruz, macramé, tapicéria y tejer en telar. Actualmente paso tanto tiempo animando a los demás a que prueben de cojer una aguja o un ganchillo que he dejado mis labores de lado. Pero es cuestión de épocas, en las vacaciones es cuando tengo más tiempo y estoy más relajada y siempre me llevo un ganchillo.


Do you have an artistic training or background?
I studied digital design and animation, it was all done on computer but we also studied aesthetics, color theory, typography, art history, and history of design. When I finished my studies I didn't want to spend my time designing on a computer so I started crocheting and printmaking. Sort of as a return to simpler things. Ever since I was a child I've been interested in art, design, and handcrafts.

Estudié diseño digital y animación, era todo por ordenador pero si estudiamos estética, teoría del color, tipografía, historia del arte, historia del diseño. Cuando terminé mis estudios no quería trabajar diseñando por ordenador y me puse a hacer ganchillo y serigrafiar. Como una vuelta a las cosas sencillas. Siempre desde pequeña me ha interesado el arte, el diseño y las artes manuales.




Where are you from and where do you live now?
I am from and live in Barcelona.
Soy y vivo en Barcelona.


What is your first crafting memory?
When I was little I spent summers in a house in the country without television or telephones so I spent all my time drawing, painting, making ceramics, and a thousand other activities that my mother prepared so that I would always stay busy.

Cuando era pequeña me pasaba los veranos en una casa en el campo sin televisión ni teléfono así que me pasaba el verano dibujando, pintando hojas, modelando cerámica y mil actividades más que mi madre organizaba para que siempre estuviera ocupada.


Do you sketch or paint?
I haven't sketched in many years, I should take it up again, but I have no idea where to start.
Hace muchos años que dejé de dibujar, debería retomarlo pero no sé por donde empezar.




Please name your 5 favorite DMC colors:
DMC Light effects E940 - it glows in the dark, E966 pearlescent, DMC Natura in Aquamarine and Passion, DMC 3851 because I love that range of colors, DMC mat yarn 2351 and DMC tapestry wool 7911.

Mouliné Efectos Luminosos E940 que brilla en la oscuridad, el E966 efecto perla, el hilo Natura en Aguamarina y Passion, el Mouliné Spécial 3851 porque me encanta esa gama de colores, el algodón mate Retors Mat 2351 y la lana Colbert del color 7911.


What do you LOVE most about the online crafting community?
I love how people share their projects and use tutorials to teach others. Sharing knowledge is very important.

Me gusta que la gente comparta sus proyectos y enseñe a los demás a hacerlos con tutoriales. Compartir conocimiento es muy importante.




5 movies you LOVE?
Irma la Douce, What a Way to Go!, Some Like it Hot, The Royal Tenembaums, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World


Name 1 person you would LOVE to meet: (past, present, real or fiction)
Thérèse de Dillmont, who wrote the Encyclopedia of Needlework, and lived in the 1800's. She dedicated her life to learning, perfecting, and teaching all types of handcraft and she traveled throughout the world, compiling techniques. You can find out more about her here: http://elblogdedmc.blogspot.com/2011/01/los-origenes-de-dmc-un-poco-de-historia.html

Thérèse de Dillmont, autora de la Enciclopedia de Labores de Señora, que vivió en el siglo XIX. Dedicó toda su vida a aprender, perfeccionar y enseñar todas las técnicas manuales y viajó por el mundo recopilando obras. Puedes ver más información aquí: http://elblogdedmc.blogspot.com/2011/01/los-origenes-de-dmc-un-poco-de-historia.html

*****

Thank you so much, Alicia, for sitting down with us and giving us a glimpse of the vibrant artist behind the blog of DMC España.

If you'd like to follow Alicia, check out her posts on the DMC España blog, DMC España Facebook page and their Pinterest. Warning: you might lose an hour or two surfing though her lovely finds! :)

Giveaway Love: Hoopla

We have an extra-special giveaway today thanks to the good people who brought you Hoopla: The Art of Unexpected Embroidery. Hoopla, by Leanne Prain, is a sizeable embroidery book, full of inspiration, anecdotes, history, projects, and interviews. Inside you'll find an interview with Jenny Hart, embroidery entrepeneur (and a guest blogger on Feeling Stitchy), as well as tons of interviews with well known people in the blogosphere, and many artists who may be new to you.

Did I mention that one of Feeling Stitchy's contributors took part in this book? Jo created these adorably geeky microbe hankies:


Gotta love that cheeky guy modeling the hanky, by the way. He works an embroidered hanky like nobody's business. :)

I thought I'd give you a sneak peek of the book today, and you know what? Leave a comment and you could win your own copy (the publishers already sent me this one, thank you very much).  :)



I'm also giving away all the cute loot they sent me: 2 mini gocco print hoops (jackalope, and fly, respectively), and 6 hilariously cheeky buttons. That means you have 9 chances to win something! That doesn't happen every day, folks. At least, not for me. :)




So, here's a brief tour, starting with the title page:

(don't mind my flags - I marked all the cool stuff I wanted to share with you today)

Here's a lovely Cate Anevski pattern:


I love this modern cuckoo clock blackwork pattern:


This cross-stitch applique bull pattern is quite nice as well:


I love the dainty stitched chapter heading pages:


And, in honor of Valentine's Day, I stitched up this oxytocin embroidery - it was a very quick stitch, easy and fun:


I'd say Hoopla is definitely worth a read - there's a huge variety of patterns and styles represented. I do wish the patterns were larger - maybe having all the patterns in the back of the book would have been a good move. For this reason, some of the project patterns seem more like inspiration drawings rather than actual templates, but there's certainly a wonderful assortment of projects in the book.

So, you wanna win, folks? Leave a comment here by 9 PM, U.S. Central Time on Sunday, Feb. 12 - in your comment please tell us 1) where in the world you are from, 2) your favorite project (of the ones pictured here) and 3) your email address, so I can contact the winner!

Edit: 9 PM - comments closed! Winners to be announced on Monday, Feb. 13th!

Love: Elegant x-stitch valentine

stitched by Our Designed Life

There's something really elegant about this simple x-stitched Valentine on paper, by Monica. This would be a sweet last-minute touch for an envelope, and it's quick and lovely. Wonderful work, Monica!

Painting With Stitches

I was first introduced to Rebecca and her fiber art through her pictures online. She works in both hand and machine embroidery, and her pieces are vibrant, yet personal. The majority of them detail her new experiences living in New York City.



Little did I know that she also started a pattern company named Dropcloth.



Stitch Dictionary sampler

I am totally in LOVE with Dropcloth. Her sampler patterns are printed directly onto the fabric and arrive at your doorstep ready to stitch.



Love sampler

Her images and designs are carefree, colorful and reflect the free spirit that she is. The texture of her designs coupled with whimsical little details make you feel like you have fallen down the rabbit hole and discovered a new adventure.



Original sampler

Check out her website, her blog, and her new etsy shop. I, for one, can not wait to stitch up one of her samplers. I only hope that I can do it the justice it deserves.