February stitchalong update and a surprise!

Hey guys! It was really sweet that so many of you de-lurked and commented! It sounds like the comment issues may be with Blogger - I've been thinking about migrating our comments to Disqus for some time now, so I might go with that. In the meantime, I've enabled comments to appear as a pop-up window (thanks for the suggestions regarding that!) and we'll see if that helps.

Up above, you see my tardy contribution to the February stitchalong - I was determined to stitch along, even if I had to do it late! Like I do with most projects, I kind of winged it and modified it as I went along.

If you'd like to stitch a fuzzy pipe cleaner version like mine, here's the materials I used:



14 ct light blue Aida cloth
12 inch hoop
pink yarn
black floss
pale pink floss
black pipe cleaners
scissors
needle



I can be very persnickety about perfection, so this step was surprisingly fun. I chose fuzzy black pipe cleaners- they sort of look like cute caterpillars. Not that I would ever sew with caterpillars - I certainly don't recommend it... :)




I used light blue Aida cloth, because it has a stiff texture right out of the package, which gives the pipe cleaners some support. I used a big 12 inch hoop from my (embarrassingly large) stash of embroidery hoops.




Couching them was super easy and quick - since the pipe cleaners were bendy, I could smoosh or expand them as needed. I used six strands of black embroidery floss, but a contrasty color would work well, too.



I liked how it looked at this point, but it was missing some color, I thought. So I grabbed some pink yarn to couch inside the heart.




This step was tricky, since the yarn I chose was very fluffy and a bit splitty - but all in all, I ended up with a fun texture I really liked:




So, here you have it, my version of the February stitchalong. Feel free to stitch along with us, even if it's a bit late! :)




I hinted there might be a surprise for all of you who overcame your shyness, de-lurked, and commented - and here it is - I put together 2 mini kits with everything you see here:


1 mini hoop, pipe cleaners, floss, yarn and needle

I'm also sending 5 fiesta-bright colors of embroidery floss to 4 different people - you can use them to stitchalong this month, or for any of your own projects!

Here are the six surprise winners!

Luciana said...
I have no problems.
I love the blog.
March 10, 2012 1:46 PM


Kitsch and Curious said...
I've been able to leave a comment this time, but in the past, I have had problems on blogs like yours where the comments are on the same page as the blog post. On my blog, I have the comments box set to open in a new window, and that seems to be ok. I think it depends on the browser that people are using (e.g. which version of Internet Explorer, etc.)Let me know if you need any help with this.

I also agree that the new Captcha images are really difficult sometimes!
March 10, 2012 5:43 PM


Kaytea said...
Delurking to leave a comment. Love the blog :)
March 10, 2012 12:19 PM


crazycandigirl said...
Let's see if this works. I'm pretty quiet, but I love looking at the beautiful stitchy eye candy.
March 10, 2012 1:58 PM


Char said...
Ok I'm leaving a comment!
March 10, 2012 1:27 PM


Cheryl said...
I admit it, I'm a lurker. Everything you post inspires me tremendously, and I just wanted you to know. Thanks!
March 10, 2012 2:15 PM



If I drew your name tonight, please email your address to me: unafloresita@gmail.com - and I'll get your surprise prize sent out to you! Thanks everybody! :)

Couching from Hanging-by-a-thread

Embroidered sailor girl WIP by Hanging-by-a-thread

After January and February's couching inspired stitchalongs, I thought I'd post today some examples of exactly how far you can take the technique. Charlotte (Hanging-by-a-thread) is a student at the Royal School of Needlework (which has to be one of the most amazing places to study) and she has been posting some of her couching WIPs on Flickr. As always, I love WIP shots, as I think it gives you far more of an idea about the technique involved (it's inspiring for a start, to see how Charlotte has drawn her pattern onto the fabric).


skull tattoo WIP by Hanging-by-a-thread

I also love her couched swallows.


Couched swallow tattoo by Hanging-by-a-thread

You can see more of Charlotte's couching work here, where she talks about her experiments with lettering.

Comments issues?

Hey guys - quick question - I've received a few emails from people having problems commenting on our posts. Have you had problems leaving comments lately?

If you have a moment, please try to leave a comment on this post as a test. If you can't leave a comment, there's a poll in the sidebar where you can say so.

This is also a great opportunity for the shy peeps out there to de-lurk. :) Hey, I might even send a little something out as a surprise "thank you" if you leave a comment and help us out! ;)

March Stitchalong: week 2

Have any of you started on the March stitchalong yet? As for me, the second I saw Mollie's patterns for this month, I had them printed out and ready to go. :) Sometimes I love the beginning stage best of all - lining up all your colors, tracing everything out, still not quite sure what everything's gonna look like...

I started by lining up a couple of palettes of bright colors:

I wasn't sure which palette I liked best, so I mixed it up and used colors from both:

Yeah, you knew I would go for that cute little piñata first. :) Eeeeeeeep. Isn't he a cutie? I've been loving all the crazy french knot projects you guys have posted lately, so I decided to stitch up his saddle all in french knots:

I thought it would take forever, but it was pretty quick. It also didn't take half as much floss as I thought it would - just 3 medium-lengths of floss. More french knots for the bridle. Oh, and I used all 6 strands throughout.

One of you was lightning-fast and stitched up a piñata, too:

This seriously adorable version was stitched by Artful Magpie. I love that she was adventurous, and used a bright color as a background!

As for next week, I've already got the next motif in the hoop:

Want to join us? To join, stitch any or all of the birthday motifs for this month's stitchalong (thank you, Mollie!), tag them "MarchStitchalong2012" and add them to the embroidery pool! See you next week!

Download the PDF
Week One

Way Back Wednesday

It's no secret that I love vintage patterns and needlework. I have been collecting both for many years. I am fascinated by  the history behind various patterns and pieces. So many times, I  collect embroidered linens and they remain hidden because I am afraid of ruining the stitched piece. Lovestitches created this beautiful bunting with vintage embroidery. I was blown away by how clever this idea is! I just love it!

Very Lucky winners!

Ok, peeps, here are the lucky winners! Thank you to everyone who entered the Lucky Jackson giveaway and thanks especially to the awesome Lucky Jackson for making this all possible!



Winner of Boot Love pattern:

Lisa KateMar 2, 2012 09:50 AM

She's so awesome! I absolutely adore her work, and am in total awe of her as well!

I really like the boot pattern the best I think (they are all gorgeous, but I love the drape of the skirt in that one).

My favorite pieces are from her "take this job and shove it" week! I especially like the waitress struggling with the giant stacks of pancakes!

lisakatec(at)gmail(dot)com

Winner of Polaroid Love pattern:

ClaireMar 3, 2012 05:56 AM

I like the pdf with the camera. And I like "the Weekend" of the 365 day projects. Thanks for the giveaway!

Winner of Pretty Dress pattern:

deb christensenMar 2, 2012 02:52 PM

wow, what a fantastic and generous give away ~ love love lucky's work. i have to say it was hard to pick a fave from her challenge work, but day #99 is just so sweet.
and so is the PDF for "pretty dress" -
debsea61@hotmail.com

Winner of Enid embroidery:

AnonymousMar 3, 2012 06:20 AM

Melanie says,
365 is an amazing idea and the talent that comes from Lucky's website is always entertaining. I receive a daily webmail from the site and I'm never disappointed. I'd have to say the recent "Arrested Development" series is my absolute favorite. I'm always so inspired, I hope the year NEVER ends.

melanie - brandon, manitoba canada
melaniem@vicinn.com

Patterns: Happy Day

Happy Day Stitching - stitched by Alisa Noble

Any day spent stitching, I think, could add a little happiness to the day and it looks like it could be a pretty fun day stitching this, a sampler from Pam Garrison, which can be found here.

Blog Love: Whip Up

The person I am about to introduce needs no introduction - she's been a regular read ever since I first began crafting and blogging - the blog she began in 2006, Whipup, was a major source of inspiration for me when I began Feeling Stitchy, 5 years ago.

It's a huge honor that Kathreen was able to answer a few questions for us, and kick off a series of special interviews with blogs I've loved over the years that have brought creativity, beauty, and diversity to our online crafting community. So, get comfortable, prepare to click around and be inspired, and let's all have a talk with Kathreen Ricketson:

{ You 5 years ago }

Top: Rob and Kath sitting at swim practice waiting and waiting

Below: My two kids five years ago - just little ones playing at the beach

from a blog post 5 years ago 
"for today - we are making Irish Stew, going to round up the chooks before they dig holes all over the garden, and go and do the never ending grocery shopping. The kids are raiding the craft box and are thinking about inviting a friend over later. They were quite inventive and co-operated this morning by making themselves breakfast in bed."

Lately I’ve been feeling that the blogging landscape has changed so much in the past 5 years - do you feel that, too? Do you think you’ve changed and evolved as a blogger in the past 5 years?

Oh definitely. I can't keep up anymore. So many new blogs and bloggers -- it is exciting and nourishing but also quite daunting too. I feel like having blogged for so long I should be able to keep up with it all - but everyday there is something new, new projects and crafts and tutorials and swaps and groups. For me personally I am blogging differently than 5 years ago - I used to have a personal family/craft/kids type blog but I found it too much to be writing about my personal life online. I have been involved in lots of projects over the years, swaps etc, I also had a stint writing for Treehugger. But now I am concentrating on Whipup and my kids magazine Action Pack and my books.





Our lives have become so inundated with the internet - how do you maintain a healthy balance of online vs. offline?

I think to key to staying sane in this exponentially expanding craft blog world is to not get overwhelmed and feel you have to do it all and read it all. It is so easy to forget the purpose of it all and get trapped in blog land don't you think? I try to maintain a schedule and not look at emails everyday ... it can take a lot of time answering emails!




Whip Up is filled with inspiration and craft posts from bloggers all over the world - as editor, do you find yourself doing a lot of brainstorming and planning, or does it all just “come together”?

A bit of both. I occasionally have themes and invite guest bloggers when I need a break or am going on holiday. I have some regular posts such as a roundups and newsletters and book reviews and I often will do a series of posts on a particular subject of interest such as getting your craft book published: http://whipup.net/2012/01/12/how-to-get-your-craft-book-published-part-1/




What is your first crafting memory?

Sewing with my grandmother. This is a picture of me and my nanna going to a ball. We are both wearing homemade dresses -- she helped me to sew my dress and she made her outfit.




Can you please show us your favorite crafty project?

This is one of the quilts from my recent book - Little Bits Quilting Bee - I love it because it just came together so perfectly. I love the colours and the striking simple design and I love the quilting -- such a labour of love!




Do you have a favorite craft?
I love to sew and to crochet.




Do you own a TV? Do you watch it?
No we don't own a tv. (yup - I had a feeling!) :)




Name your 5 favorite films?
These are five films that I love - not sure if they are my absolute favourites - but I have watched these more than once and would happily watch them again - great films.

Brokeback Mountain (2005)
Reservoir Dogs (1992)
Being John Malkovich (1999)
Withnail And I (1987)
Amelie (2001)

*****

Thank you, Kathreen, for letting us get to know you better! All images in this post are used courtesy of Kathreen, and come from Whipup, Action Pack magazine, and her recent book from Chronicle: Little Bits Quilting Bee. I'd like to say thank you again to Kathreen for making the blogging community a richer, more colorful, more beautiful place. You have been an inspiration to me and to all of us crafters online! <3

A very Lucky giveaway!

As you may know, an amazing stitcher named Lucky Jackson has been working on a 365 day embroidery project. Each day she draws and stitches something new, along with a recollection, observation, or little tidbit from her past.




I love her humor, her style, her sense of fun, and her quirky taste in films and fabrics. :)



I am amazed at the sheer volume and consistency of her talent and inspiration.



I have tried those 365 day challenges, people, and they are not easy - but Lucky makes it look effortless.




Well, I'm really excited to announce that, in celebration of Feeling Stitchy's 5 year anniversary, Lucky was sweet enough to do an extra-special giveaway for our readers!


She is giving away 1 each of her 3 new PDF patterns:


"Polaroid Love"



"Boot Love"



"Pretty dress"

If the sneak peek of her new patterns is any indication - our winner is going to feel very lucky, indeed:


But you know what? Lucky is doing something extra-awesome for you guys - she's also giving away one of her 365 day embroideries!

Yes, I just said that - you could win one very special piece, her "Enid" embroidery:



You get special points in my book if you've even seen Ghost World. Extra-special, off-the-chart points, if you embroider it. :)

All you need to do to win one of her PDF patterns or the Enid embroidery is leave a comment here by Sunday, March 4, 9PM US Central time - tell us which of the PDF patterns is your fave. Also, do you have a favorite piece from the embroideries in Lucky's 365 collection so far? As always, please include your email address so we can find you! You must not have won a giveaway on Feeling Stitchy this year.

And by the way, this giveaway is open to ALL Feeling Stitchy readers - that means you international peeps, too. :)

As for my faves, how could I possibly choose? But I think I'd have to say Rushmore, Margot, Jemaine, and all of her 80's heartthrobs.

So what do you say? Feeling Lucky? Leave a comment and win something in this wonderful giveaway!

Edit: March 4, 9 PM - comments closed! Winners announced tomorrow! :)