Love, Peace, Happiness & Cookies

 

Wishing you all a wonderful 2011 with lots of love



peace



and happiness



& some tasty cookies every now and then!

(Embroideries by  Fumeusefatale, Kleas"s, Crafty Bean and Savvymojo)

Pattern highlights of 2010

1. April Showers , 2. mermaid circle, 3. Kedra's Owl, 4. "From the Depths" FINISHED, 5. Little Tiger's Orangey Celebration embroidery, 6. Queen Bee

I've had a lot of fun highlighting the new (and sometimes vintage) patterns that are out there for Feeling Stitchy this year and the above six are just some of my favourites.

Here's to a stitchingly good 2011, I can't wait to see the new patterns that are going to emerge next year but until then I'm having a quiet Christmas at home. I am lucky enough to live in a very green part of London, so if I can I'll be dragging my family out for a walk, but if I can't I'll be staying in the warm and stitching a little bit more of this.

Work in Progress Christmas pattern by Bustle and Sew, also seen in picture Steampunk Santa - pattern by Urban Threads and map of USA - pattern by Flossbox

Christmas Countdown #25: Happy Christmas

Stitched by Retromama61

That's all, folks. Hope you enjoyed our Holiday Playlist of pics. Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night! :)

Christmas Countdown #24: 2 Nerds Became One

Stitched by RubyMarilyn

These nerd ornaments really rock my world. Sweet!

Christmas Countdown #23: Love, Peace, Joy

Stitched by SmileySunday

Gorgeous.

Christmas Countdown #22: Rudolph

Stitched by Beadgirlj

Yup, the holidays definitely need a little Rudolph.

Christmas Countdown #21: Neutral snowflakes

Stitched by whatnomints

I love the look of something neutral against a backdrop of so much red and green - wonderful work.

Christmas Countdown #20: Christmas bunting

Stitched by lova revolutionary

I think it is physically impossible to not smile at felt Christmas bunting. The world truly needs more of it. :)

Christmas Countdown #19: Christmas bear

Stitched by flossbox

Leave it to Emily to come up with something amazingly sweet for Christmas.

Christmas Countdown #18: Upcycled Wool

Stitched by ADKnits

I love the texture of this plaid wool felt and how well it works with the white stitching - lovely, ADKnits!

Christmas Countdown #17: Holiday Pincushion

Stitched by Pine and Wine

Be sure to check out the rest of Cindy's Pincushion set if you'd like a little instant inspiration...

Christmas Countdown #16: Iceskates

Stitched by kittykill

Love this skate ornament stitched by Pam.

Christmas Countdown #15: Christmas Stars

Stitched by merwing✿little dear

I adore Aimee Ray's beautiful use of color, and her Christmas star ornaments are simply lovely.

Christmas Countdown #14: Red and White Ornaments

Photo by house wren studio

Wonderful red and white inspiration in these holiday patterns by Charlotte.

Christmas Countdown #13: Felted Trees

Stitched by the purl bee

I must admit here and now that I have a weakness for anything posted on the purl bee. If you've never visited them, you really must click over there now, I promise you'll be instantly inspired!

Christmas Countdown #12: Tree Hugger

Stitched by glassmountain

All I can say is eeeeeeeeeeeeeep. Such a sweet ornament, Kate!

Christmas Countdown #11: Redwork Ornaments

Photo by Ragnvaeig

Love these beautiful cross stitched ornaments Amanda bought for her tree! Purchased from Cherie Wheeler's Etsy store.

Christmas Countdown #10: Button Tree

Stitched by 14countess

Lovely cross-stitched button tree!

Christmas Countdown #9: Festive Dachsund

Stitched by ~glenda

Eek, this is so adorable!

Christmas Countdown #8: Green Owl

Stitched by katiecanavan

Eep. Love the colors and fuzzy texture on this sweet holiday owl by Katie.

Christmas Countdown #7: Christmas Cottage

Stitched by bearpawandbearpaw

Sweetness!

Christmas Countdown #6: Sweet Stocking

Stitched by Nicole

Leave it to our own Nicole to make something so sweet for the holidays. Love the colors on this fuzzy piece! :)

Christmas Countdown #5: Silvery Snowflake

Stitched by Sandra Rose

Gorgeous detail on this silvery snowflake stitched by Sandra - lovely!

Christmas Countdown #4: Beautiful Blackwork

Stitched by konnykards

Love the detail on this wonderful blackwork piece by Connie!

Christmas Countdown #3: Felt Ornaments

Stitched by Melissa Crowe

So in love with these stitched felt ornaments by Melissa Crowe!

Christmas Countdown #2: The Grinch

Stitched by Funky Finds

It appears Jessica made an amazing Grinch pillow - adorable!

Christmas Countdown: 25 Inspiring Holiday Pics

Stitched by DanaK~WaterPenny

Maybe you think we forgot all about Christmas? Maybe you thought the Gingerbread zombie ate our brains this year? Well, we were thinking about Christmas... honest!

And, just to prove it, we've lined up a little Christmas playlist for you, to keep you company all day long - 25 inspiring holiday pics! Stay tuned for one festive new pic every hour, for the next 24 hours.

First up is this amazing Zombie Gingerbreadman - such creepy cute, awesome work, Dana!!!

Merry Christmas from Feeling Stitchy!

We at the Feeling Stitchy blog would like to wish all Feeling Stitchy readers all over the world a Merry Christmas! Today I have included a mosaic of a few examples of the many Christmas (or Winter) themed embroideries posted in the last couple of weeks in our Flickr Embroidery group.

In the Netherlands Christmas ("Kerstmis") is actually two days. But that's the only typical Dutch thing about Christmas I can think of.  Both days are usually spend with family, a lot of food is eaten and gifts are exchanged. We are not a typical Dutch family, so we unwrap our presents on Christmas Eve and try to eat not too much food. We also like to watch movies with the family and play games. And I'm going to try and do some embroidery as well!

Now we'd love to hear how you are spending your Christmas. Any special Christmas things, food or customs in your country? Let us know!

Nova's Correspondence Quilt

Prolific sewist and modern quilter Nova Flitter (great name!) recently blogged about the "correspondence quilt" she has been working on in collaboration with her mother.

Nova, who lives in Australia, and her mom, who lives in the UK, have been sticking small scraps of red & white fabrics into their letters to one another over the past several months. In addition, they've been working on small redwork pieces representing the special things they love and have special or personal meaning to them.

The embroidered pieces and the shared fabrics have become this amazing patchwork quilt top, patiently awaiting its final sashing pieces before being carefully & lovingly hand-quilted.

What a beautiful and meaningful piece of art, sure to become a family heirloom. Thanks for sharing your story, Nova!

Read more about Nova's project here.
See the blocks up close in Nova's Flickr set here.

Binary Man

I'm quite ignorant when it comes to computer related things but I do love geek-y embroidery projects like this Binary Man by Alyssa ! This unusual embroidery derives from the idea that we are all the same essentially. If you can read binary code fluently you probably already know that Binary Man is a quote from Hamlet. At least part of a quote because Alyssa ran out of space in the end. But I kind of like small imperfections like that.

Galleon

Stitched by Melissa Crowe

Every time I think I've seen everything in terms of embroidery and crafting, I stumble on a little amazing something like this. Wonderful work, Melissa!

Patterns: Cuckoo Clock

Cuckoo Clock by Wild Olive stitched by giddy99

I always like seeing the patterns that are out there being stitched by other people; here is a fine example of Wild Olive's Cuckoo Clock stitched by giddy99 as part of her Duvet Project.

The New CrossStitcher: preview + free patterns!

So, I bet some of you are looking for quick, easy, last-minute gifts and ornaments for your trees this season? Well, recently I received an awesome sneak peek of the new look over at CrossStitcher, which I thought I'd share with all of you peeps:
http://gb.zinio.com/reader.jsp?issue=416141017&o=ext

Inside that preview you'll find a cute, free pattern for cross-stitch gingham hearts that look really sweet and easy to make. Also included, (toward the back) are free patterns for a Christmas tree, dove, reindeer, and bird!

Now, the sad part for all of us US peeps is that CrossStitcher is a UK publication (I know - sad - tears!) but at least we can all enjoy this free little preview from our friends across the pond. (Yes, I've been waiting my whole life to use that cliche, I really hope you enjoyed it.) :) But for you UK readers, be sure to snap up an issue - I couldn't believe the number of patterns included in just one issue, and I was impressed by their clear, helpful directions and gorgeous photographs.

Thanks, CrossStitcher, for sharing a preview with us! :)

Edit, 12/16/2010: Thank you so much to everyone who chimed in with places you can find CrossStitcher in the US! :)

I do

Aren't these 'I do'  All Stars embroidered by  Katrina an awesome wedding gift? It so happens that I recently tried my hand at embroidering canvas shoes,  I embroidered my daughters name on her gym shoe, and it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. I'm even tempted to start stitching on my own All Stars!

Sad Eyes

Bat For Lashes - Sad Eyes video by prairiemaid from prairiemaid on Vimeo.

Lisa posted this amazing video on our FB page, by prairiemaid. Hey you, prairiemaid, this is AMAZING!

Meowadays

It's pretty easy to knock my socks off. Just embroider a ton of cute little cat faces in pastel colors and send it to me in an email signed mysteriously "Meow."

Meow has a blog: http://www.meowadays.com/
And an Etsy store: http://www.etsy.com/shop/meowadays

Eeeep.

Patterns: Kawaii Cute Vintage Cameras

Kawaii camera stitched by Amy Bindel from a pattern by Tiny Bazaar

The Kawaii Cute Vintage Camera pattern set by Tiny Bazaar has been around for a while, but it's always great seeing new interpretations of patterns popping up in the Embroidery Flickr pool. I love how the pattern has been made into an extremely cute pillow.

Amen to that!

Never Underestimate The Power Of A Woman With A Sewing Machine, originally uploaded by Rosie Geissler.

Awesome, right?!

Tiny portrait of a fox

  

I almost can't believe this is fox portrait measures only one inch! Amazing stuff. Bricolagelife has made more of these tiny woodland animal portraits, or embroidimals as she calls them, and she writes about them here.

Patterns: Ladybug Embroidery

Ladybug Embroidery by Flossbox

How extremely cute and clever is this? Flossbox has used stumpwork on her pattern (which can be found here) making the whole piece look even more stroke-able! It makes me want to have a go at stumpwork now!

The OWLS are not what they seem...

Love this Twin Peaks inspired embroidery! When Twin Peaks was on tv I was a student and I think I watched most episodes on a tiny black and white tv.  It was so exciting to watch at the time! Isn't it great when an embroidery brings back lots of memories of a wonderful tv series just like that? Special Agent Dale Cooper, Cherry pie, mmmm.... Thank you Savvymojo!

Superbunny

Unfortunately I can't bring you your weekly dose of new embroidery pattern today, as I can't find any to blog about, so instead I thought I'd bring you . . . . . . Superbunny!

Superbunny by Dozydotes

Superbunny is an original design by Dozydotes, apparently she had trouble with this piece, posting a picture of the same piece a day earlier saying she wasn't happy with it. I think both photos look great, I love all that fill stitch and how dynamic Superbunny is as he reaches for the stars!

Moonbroidery

Photo by Jote,

http://blessherheart.typepad.com/bless_her_heart/

I am absolutely in love (or over the moon haha, sorry couldn't resist) with this entry for the Nasa/Etsy Space Craft Contest by Rachel Hobson, aka Average Jane Crafter.  Apparently there is a chance that an handmade item will fly in space on board of one of the final space shuttle flights. Sadly Rachel's piece didn't make it to the next round (boo!) but the good news is that we get to keep it on our planet for now (yay!) The stitches are amazing both in execution and variety, the texture is absolutely wonderful and you can tell from this embroidery how much Rachel loves the subject!  Read more about this on Rachel's  blog.

Vintage Crewel Color Blowout

Melissa Davison, aka SweetStitches on Twitter, tweeted a link to me of this wondermous wall-hanging in colorful crewel. It's still available for sale in Lady Jane Collections' etsy store. But for how long...?

ETA: Not long. It sold already!

Patterns: Snowflakes

Today's patterns come from Feeling Stitchy's very own Carina. Snowflakes is the only pattern set Carina is releasing from her Christmas Stitches class, you can buy them together as a set or individually here. Perfect for some Christmas stitching!