embroidery of Inuit stone cut (Tudlik)

Stitched in wool on linen- the design is a beautiful print by Tudlik, see here. It's all split stitch except for the 'v's I used on the bird. Sorry for the rubbish photos, I haven't ironed it yet so it's a bit crumpled.

I love this and think I'll do a few more based on Inuit prints- because it's wool it was very quick to do, less than 2 evenings and I think the medium suits the image. The combination of the abstract image, orangey wool and brown linen is nicely retro.

Oh and the title of the original print is 'Bird Dream Forewarning Blizzards' I like that, I can imagine some surreal dream about being chased by a huge bird

I love leigh

I have long admired the late Leigh Bowery. This cross stitched portrait has been a WIP for ages (ahem, 3 years or so) and is finally complete. The reason it took so long was all that black- yes I could have stitched on black aida but I like the way it is completely stitched, it's like a tapestry.

It is based on this image, I first got into Leigh Bowery when I was at art school making soft sculpture masks. I was told to look at him by a tutor and was captivated by his fantastic costumes. Now many years down the line it was fun to make a more obvious tribute to my favourite artist/performer/club kid!

mexican style skull

Oh how I love skulls, especially floral mexican(ish) day of the dead style skulls.

I'm trying to do a bit more embroidery based on my own designs rather than using found imagery. I drew this little skull and decided to stitch it up on some bright cotton. It was nice to do something in my usual style as a break from a few weighty WIPs that I've been working on. I used one of those spidersweb-like stitches for the yellow flower and was really pleased with how it looked so will making use of them again in the future.

Now must get back to stitching that teeny tiny banner...

(squints)

...

(pours large mug of builders tea)

...

(picks up needle)

...

:D

kick ass-isi!

Its tiny, so very tiny. This is the start of a border for a banner for this blog. Assisi work skulls of my own design, if you aren't familiar with assisi work check this

If anyone wants the pattern I can chart it for you

Working on such a small scale is ridiculous- I'm gonna end up cross-eyed

the mermaid and the star

I showed this little lady as a WIP recently. She is now finished and although I'm still not sure about the heavy black outline it does look more balanced now the border is on. I'm glad it's finished, I wasn't really enjoying it much. The wave was particularly tiresome as the darker blue floss was sort of woolly and kept breaking. Her scales are a bit of a cheat as I used variegated floss and I think it looks pretty nifty. The image is a copyright free image I found online.

She's going to hang out in the bathroom with this Sailor Jerry mermaid I did ages ago. She was stitched on a bag but the bag never gets used so she is going to be framed and hung on the wall instead.

Splish splash x

crewel work trees

This post was going to be titled something like 'too crewel for school' but I couldn't quite bring myself to do it :)

My first go at using crewel wools on linen, I used a pattern from this book and the threads are Appleton crewel wool which comes in the most delicious colours. Not too bad for a first attempt- I was going to leave it in the hoop and put in on the wall but Stu thinks it is 'too boring' hmmmph! So I guess it will be patched onto something instead.

I've also finished this- just a wool tapestry using a DMC pattern for Jakethepeg's bedroom. It was one of those patterns that is printed directly onto the fabric and has got me thinking how supereasy it would be to design your own tapestries this way. Am thinking maybe a sugar skull or swallow cushion would be a simple enough design to start with... watch this space

Door bunnies

These are little door plaques that I made for our guest room (V.I.P Suite) and our bedroom (Servant's quarters). I guess I have bunnies on the brain with it being Easter and Bowie bunny just hopped into my head and wouldn't leave until I stitched him, I think he would make a cute stuffed toy for Jake too so will be added that to my list of things to make.

I really need to work on my lettering though- it's fine here where it's supposed to look a little 'off' (and is in that weird textured glow in the dark floss) but is something I really cannot get right. I feel a sampler coming on ...

yes sir, I love to fill stitch

A little baby vest embroidered with the Lucha Libre wrestler from the Sublime Stitching craft pad. There was much deliberation over whether the nose piece should be orange or green, in the end I agreed with my fella and I think that maybe, just this once, he was right ;)

Oh and there absolutely has to be an action shot, right?

wise little owl

This is a little felt owl I made using a pattern from the Doodle stitch book, I have also got the stuff to make the raccoon featured in the book as well.

photos of what I've been up to

This post is going to be heavy on pictures and short on words - just a quick catch-up of my most recent stitches...This is a work in progress- not sure about the black outline (a little heavy?) but hopefully it'll look better when there is more detail added

A real simple tote using a sublime stitching 'viva las vegas' pattern

a make-up bag with day of the dead skull, sublime stitching again, I'm stitching the skeletons on the back- Jake seems to like it :)

a kokeshi doll card- this was a freebie kit with a magazine. I might use this pattern again with different colours on a bag

Christmas tea towels - I was stitching close to the wire on these and they only just got posted in time

Currently on the go are: a Pop-eye baby vest, a Sublime lucha libre baby vest, Skeletons for the back of the make up bag, the mermaid, leigh bowery in x-stitch (he's been on the go forever) and a knitted bag

I also have a few finished things that I haven't photographed yet so will have to update soon with those