Twilight in Paris

In January there was a stitch-a-long on Instagram based on Jenny Hart's Sublime Stitching patterns. I hadn't realised how prolific the craft movement is on Instagram until then so thought it would be a good time to join in. Also, I've wanted to stitch the Sad Valentine pattern for a while now. It reminds me of the Twilight in Paris music video from the 80s cartoon Jem & The Holograms.... Yes, yes I'm a bit Jem obsessed lately.... sue me :-)

So I altered the pattern a bit, pulled out some funky pink and neon threads and stitched along:

I decided to frame it with a fabric wrapped hoop in neon pink, a very Jem colour! It now has pride of place on my wall above my framed Jem posted (see...obsessed!!)

If you want to see everyone else's Stitch-A-Long look up #sublimestitchingsal on Instagram for some stitchy goodness!

Women of Influence

Goodness! It has been a while since I posted but I have had so many projects, crafty and otherwise, on the go that I've got a bit behind. I've been working on family tree research, which has taken up quite a bit of my time and is very interesting. At some point I will have to share some of the best bits here. I have also been doing a little bit of stitching, the first piece of which I will share with you now.

My Women of Influence quilt square will be part of my Feminist Statement quilt.... when I finish it! It's one of those WIPs that goes on forever.... but I digress. Looking back at my childhood I have noticed many things that had shaped who I am today. Two of these things are She-Ra and Jem from Jem and the Holograms. Though both of these women are only cartoon characters I think they influenced my a lot - strong women who know what they want. She-Ra helps those in need and Jem has a fabulous wardrobe haha! So they both had to feature on my quilt. I wanted them to be on the same square as they are from the same era and the same media.

I've had the image of this square in my head and sketched out in my sketchbook for a while but finally got the chance to realise it now. I used a simple back stitch so the colours and the image itself were the main focus.

I used only three strands of thread at the most for the main outlines then striped down to one or two strands for the details and features. I'm always concerned about how facial features come out in my stitching but I think these came out ok.

This was a pretty simple embroidery piece but I think it will be one of my favourites in the quilt when it is completed!

More Jem embroidery to come!!!

Baking with Beer

Alongside this blog I just started a new one about my beer adventures. I started drinking beer in 2008 when I was handed a Samuel Adams Boston lager and realised that not all beers taste the same :-)

Since then I have made a hobby out of trying a local beer everywhere I go on my travels. It's pretty fun! I've also discovered that you can cook with beer... more specifically that you can BAKE with beer! An interesting concept to me. So the other day, for Yule, I tried out Blue Moon cupcakes. Blue Moon is a wheat beer made by the Coors company that is quite tasty and it made the cakes a bit more chewy than usual. Not bad!

You can check out my recipe on my beer blog A Woman's Brew here and let me know what you think!

SpiroHazard

The latest Phat Quarter Swap was themed around toys. I was very fortunate and got Olisa aka cocoaeyes as my swap partner. She made me a piece for the food swap so now it was my turn to return the favour!

I knew that Olisa loved hazard signs and wanted to include this in my piece. I then found out from her that she also loves Spirograph. I decided to create a take on the biohazard sign in a hoop for her, but instead of the biohazard symbol I would use a Spirograph pattern!

I found a pattern that I liked and centred it in a black triangle on a yellow background. I thought the Spirography design might take a while to stitch but the satin stitching of the triangle was actually a lot more time consuming - I always forget that about satin stitch before I start it!

I wrapped the hoop frame with some black fabric so the whole thing was a hazard sign and sent it off! I was really pleased with how this turned out and how much it was personalised for my recipient. I think Olisa really liked it too - right Olisa?!

Brand New Day

My piece finally arrived in New Zealand so I can share it with you!

I made this piece for my friend Jo because she donated the vintage linen doily I used for my dirty doily. We are both huge Joss Whedon fans so my piece is based on Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog.

My favourite line fro Dr. Horrible is in the song Brand New Day where he sings "and she may cry but her tears will dry when I give her the keys to a shiny new Australia"... and so here is Billy's gift to Penny - a shiny new Australia! With a heart shaped key and everything :-)

Work In Progress - Surprise!

I have actually had a little bit of time lately to get some stitching done and so have been working on a piece for a friend. Now, I can't show you the finished piece until it reaches her in New Zealand as it is a surprise, but I thought I'd give you a little sneak-peak :-)

Enjoy!

Tiger Feet!

It has been far too long since I posted a blog! I have been super busy at work and haven't had time to do any stitching, but the Phat Quarter had a swap so I just had to find time for that.

This time the theme was the 1970s and rather than go to my usual standby of a piece based on David Bowie I thought I would do something different. As a costumer, and a girl, I really love shoes and as a teenager I was really into 1970s platforms - the perfect subject for my piece!

After chatting with my swap partner, Juline, I based the colours on a story she told me. A combination of blue, orange, silver and purple seemed very 70s to me.

I found the border fabric in a quilt store in Seattle and thought it was perfect for this piece, incorporating the colours and almost a 1970s wallpaper feel.

Not a bad little effort in the time I had!

Cross Stitched Iphone Case

Do you remember a couple of months ago I said that I hadn't cross stitched in many a year? I was working on designs for an iPhone case and forgot to show you the finished piece - so here it is!

I hand painted the aida with acrylic paint mixed with fabric medium to get my own custom colour. I did this on 14 count and actually really enjoyed it. I didn't find it quite as freeing as hand embroidery though so I think I will stick to that :-)

Here it is finished and flat...

and here it is on the phone. Unfortunately the case I had it in broke and I can't find one that will shut properly around my phone with the embroidery in it :-( If you hear of one, let me know!

Sea Gypsy

You know those Home Sweet Home samplers that you see? You know how you expect to see them? Well, I decided to put my own spin on it. This was how Sea Gypsy was born. My home is not really bricks and mortar. My home, I suppose, is a cruise ship. It is a different one every time, but it is home for the space of time I am on it. When I am between contracts I go back to my parents house to visit, granted, but it's not really where I live anymore. I don't really live anywhere but the sea.

I took the Home Sweet Home concept and fit it to my lifestyle. Instead of using the usual house motif, I used a ship. Sprawling mountains range behind it and the sea swirls around the hull.

I used a verigated thread that reminded me of the art work on the side of the first ship I worked on (and, actually, the ship I just got off of). I experimented with waste canvas so that I could cross stitch the recognised phrase down the side of the ship, as if it were the art work itself. The rest of the piece is my usual embroidery, bringing myself and the traditional together.

This piece is simple in both it's style and execution, however, the meaning behind it is quite complex and full, particularly to me. And that's what art is really about.

I don't think I've cross stitched for about 10-15 years...

Goodness! I've got very behind in blog posting! However, you will be pleased to know that I have been working on lots of projects so there are several things that need writing about!

Let's start with my new iPhone cover.... and my new iPhone! I had an HTC but didn't like it much so I've got myself an iPhone 3G now instead. I know it's not the newest one but I wanted one that uses regular sim cards, not the micro ones for when I am in the US. I LOVE it! I am definitely a Mac! Along with all the amazing things you can do with a iPhone, another draw were the cross stitch-able cases I had seen. I went looking for them online and found this awesome tutorial on making your own on Wee Little Stitches blog. This blog is awesome and I encourage you to check it out. They also have an Etsy shop where they sell cross stitch patterns of Pixel People. They have a great range but they didn't quite have ones that I really wanted to use.... so I designed my own!

Jareth the Goblin King

Jem from Jem and the Hologram and She-Ra

I played around with some graph paper and, even though I haven't cross stitched in about 10-15 years or used a cross stitch pattern in that time, I came up with these. I quite like both so might have to stitch up both and rotate them!

Wish me luck!!

It's Not The End Of The World - Phat Quarter Swap

Continuing with the hearts theme this post, here is my latest swap piece for the Phat Quarter.

December had a fifth friday so that means a swap over at the Phat Quarter Flickr group. This time the theme was It's Not The End Of The World.... and my mind went to musical theatre! The Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Tell Me On A Sunday has a song in it called exactly that. Apparently I'm a little bit obsessed with hearts at the moment so this image came to mind.

I wanted to experiment with using my own hand writing in a piece and to use a different stitch than usual. I went with a long and short stitch for the heart mixing metallic thread with regular thread to give it an interesting texture.

I quite like the way the writing came out. At first I thought it was too messy, but after I slept on it I think it puts across the emotion of this piece quite well.

In case you were wondering the background of this piece is rust dyed - it is one of my favourite techniques of late and meant that I finally got to use one of my pre-dyed backgrounds in a piece.

I like the simplicity of this piece but the weight of emotion that it brings. I think I need to investigate this interest in the heart shape as well and see where it takes me..... keep an eye on the blog to see!

Phat Quarter Swap! Food

Ok, let's share some stitchery! I made this piece for the August Phat Quarter swap.... I know it's a bit late but I've been busy :-) Finally, I have a decent internet connection where I can upload the photos - yay!! The theme was food so stitched a design based around one of my fave David and Goliath t-shirts...

The cheese is not the mother of the sad little nachos.... in case you didn't get it!


yes, that is a french knot pepper border!


I felt brave and used an orange background.

Personally I think this is super cute!! And I know Disobedient Child, who was my swap partner loved it!! Yay stitching! My Sketchbook Project is taking a long time to finish, hence why there is a lack of stitchery on the blog right now. But soon, my pretties - I promise!

Christmas in July!

Christmas in July Sale!!!

I'm having a Christmas in July sale in my Etsy shop until 24th July. Use coupon code july10 to get 10% off your entire order. Also, check out the SALE section to find jewellery already 30% off!!

Here's a few for you to look at:

Columbia, 2008

I made this piece while on Rosie James' machine embroidery workshop.

Watched By The Lady (2008)

I started with this photo that I took on my travels in 2008. I then used machine embroidery techniques from the class to reproduce it.

The Lady was transferred to metallic organza and free machine embroidered with black thread.

The grate was sewn from the back of the piece with wool in the bobbin of the machine to give the raised effect. The figures were cut out of bondaweb applied to lining fabric and attached over the top.

The flowers were not part of my original design. I needed to make the piece bigger for the canvas I had and found the floral backing. When I placed the whole piece on top it just happened to fall with the yellow square over the flower. I decided to embroider over the top to incorporate it into my design.

I'm a big fan of these techniques now so expect to see more work like this from me - thanks Rosie!