Findings–10/28/16

Posted on October 28, 2016 by Rabbit Girl Crafts

Findings Blog Graphic

Some day I will find time to blog more than twice a week, but this is not that week.

Findings is my weekly round-up of needlework, textile, books and art links from my wanderings around the web. Here are this week’s links:

Video of the Week

A couple of years ago I read illustrator Roz Chast’s graphic memoir Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant?, which is an amazing book, so I really enjoyed this brief profile of Chast:

At Home with Roz Chast from NewYorker on Vimeo.

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WIP Weds: Church Ornament Progress

Posted on October 26, 2016 by Rabbit Girl Crafts

I was out of town over the weekend, and I took my larger cross-stitch project with me to stitch on the plane. This is the one with the bunny that I shared a peek of last week. I made some great progress on it, too. I have completed all of the full stitches, so I am just working the back stitching now. Yes, I leave all of the back stitching for the end. Although I sometimes envy folks who can back stitch as they go, my habit is to leave it all for the end.

When we got back home, however, I picked up my little church ornament to stitch. I started it last week, and I’ve made good progress on it. Here are some progress photos:

Lace Ornament Cross-stitch Church Start

I started with the roof of the little church. Then I started adding the other details:

Cross-Stitch Church Ornament Progress

This little pattern has a lot of detail. Just look at those tiny stained glass windows. Each one is unique.

crossstitch-church-ornament-progress

Here is where I am at now. You can also see that, once again, I am leaving the back stitching for last. Heh. I should definitely have a finish by the end of the week.

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Findings–10/21/16

Posted on October 21, 2016 by Rabbit Girl Crafts

Findings Blog Graphic

Happy Friday. Time for another “Findings” post.

Findings is my weekly round-up of needlework, textile, books and art links from my wanderings around the web. Here are this week’s links:

Video of the Week

Yay, a new Simon’s Cat video was posted this week! So cute.

Posted in Creative News and Links | 2 Comments

In Search of a New Start

Posted on October 19, 2016 by Rabbit Girl Crafts

Thank you to everyone who commented on my stumpwork flower last week. I appreciate all of the kind words!

Now that the embroidery project is completed, I have returned to a cross-stitch project that I would like to complete within the next month. I haven’t been sharing updates on this, but here is a close-up peek because it is too cute not to share:

bunny cross-stitch

Obviously, I’ve still got some back-stitching to do, but I should be able to get this done within the next few weeks.

So, now I am casting about for a new start (or two or three!). I am in the mood to do some seasonal stitching, but it’s almost too late to start stitching something for Halloween.

I’ve pulled out a couple of small project possibilities, though:

church-ornament-lizzie-kate-grateful

The church ornament kit was a gift from an Instagram friend, and the Lizzie Kate chart would be a nice quick stitch I could easily finish by Thanksgiving.

I’ve also pulled out some magazines from my stash. I can’t help browsing the bazillion patterns I must own. Although most of my current magazines are in digital format, I still have a number of older print issues I keep in my stash:

Just Cross Stitch Ornament Issues

No matter what I start, however, it will be something from my stash. I own way too many patterns already, and there is no need to add any more to the to-do list at this point.

 

Posted in Cross-Stitch and Needlework, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 8 Comments

Findings–10/14/16

Posted on October 14, 2016 by Rabbit Girl Crafts

Findings Blog Graphic

Thank you to everyone for your kind comments about the stumpwork embroidery project. I really appreciate it!

Findings is my weekly round-up of needlework, textile, books and art links from my wanderings around the web. Here are this week’s links:

Video of the Week

Bob Dylan was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature this week.

Bonus video: While I was stitching and finishing my stumpwork embroidery piece last weekend, I watched at least three different films based on Jane Austen novels. Spoiler alert, but this final scene from Sense and Sensibility (1995) gets me every. time.

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Stumpwork Flower is Finished!

Posted on October 12, 2016 by Rabbit Girl Crafts

And, there was much rejoicing throughout the land as I finally completed the stumpwork embroidery flower project.

I was determined to complete it Sunday afternoon. First I had to finish embroidering the background bits. Now, I wasn’t really using the best fabric for this project. I should have stitched the embroidery on fabric with a higher thread count. Instead, I used an evenweave more appropriate for cross-stitch. As a result, there are unavoidable gaps in the stitches because I could not achieve the level of detail I might have preferred if I was stitching on proper embroidery fabric.

I had worked on it a bit on Saturday, so this was my starting point on Sunday:

fly stitch embroidered leaves and branches

I still managed to work some competent fly stitches and stem stitches despite the limitations of the fabric. The background has a lot of detail packed into a little space.

I finished stitching the background and added three red beads for berries:

stitched embroidered background for stumpwork embroidery flower project

So far, so good. The large leaves turned out a little rough because of the lack of detail and the gaps between the stitches, but I was in “good enough” mode by then.

Cutting the flower petals out of the muslin was not as tricky as I expected. But, applying the detached petals to the background and securing them in place was more frustrating than I expected. It was difficult to get the petals to lay flush against the fabric and pull the wire ends through and secure the ends on the back side so that the petals weren’t floating above the fabric.

But, I did it!

completed stumpwork embroidery flower project

It turned out rather nicely, if I do say so myself. Even my husband was impressed.

Hoorah. I’m glad it is done, and I am glad I challenged myself to learn a little stumpwork, even if I’m not in a hurry to do it again. :)

Posted in Cross-Stitch and Needlework | Tagged , , | 14 Comments

Findings — 10/07/16

Posted on October 7, 2016 by Rabbit Girl Crafts

Findings Blog Graphic

I’ve been in a stitchy slump, so I didn’t have any updates for WIP Wednesday this week. Sad face. I hope I can relax and do some sewing this weekend. I’d love to finish a couple projects I’ve got going right now. Stay tuned.

Findings is my weekly round-up of needlework, textile, books and art links from my wanderings around the web. Here are this week’s links:

 

Video of the Week

Actor Bob Peterson, the voice of Doug the dog in Pixar’s Up, surprises some people in a park as a real-life Doug in this short video.

Posted in Creative News and Links | 1 Comment

What I’m Reading — October 2016

Posted on October 3, 2016 by Rabbit Girl Crafts

What I'm Reading Monthly Book Roundup

I finished five books in September. No wonder I haven’t gotten much stitching done recently.

Finished in September

  • The Pilgrim of Hate by Ellis Peters. This is the tenth book in the Brother Cadfael series, and it may be one of my favorites so far. After finishing this one, however, I took a break from Cadfael.
  • The Book That Matters Most by Ann Hood. I wanted to like this book about a woman who joins a local library’s book club and the “power of literature to heal” (or so says the jacket copy), but I saw the plot twists coming a mile away and I just couldn’t relate to the characters or their problems.
  • Jabbok by Kee Sloan. Read this one for my church book group. I had never heard of it before we picked it to read for the group. It had some great bits, and I cried like an idiot at the end, but there were parts that didn’t work, too. A somewhat uneven novel, but worthwhile.
  • Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl. I picked up this childhood favorite on a whim and read it in an afternoon. It’s funny how much I remembered of the story.
  • The True Adventures of Nicolo Zen by Nicholas Christopher. Nicholas Christopher is one of my favorite living authors. His novels Veronica and A Trip to the Stars are among my favorites. This novel is aimed at younger readers, and it includes some of his trademark magical realism, but it lacked the complexity of his other novels and the ending seemed rushed.

What I’m Reading Now

What are you reading?

Let me know in the comments, or friend me on Goodreads!

 

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Findings–09/30/16

Posted on September 30, 2016 by Rabbit Girl Crafts

Findings Blog Graphic

Here we are at the end of September. I guess I better get started on some Christmas stitching, eh?

Findings is my weekly round-up of needlework, textile, books and art links from my wanderings around the web. Here are this week’s links:

Video of the Week

The first official trailer for Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them was released this week. Yeeessss!

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WIP Weds: Embroidery & New Design

Posted on September 28, 2016 by Rabbit Girl Crafts

Hello. It may no longer be Wednesday in some parts of the world, but it is still Wednesday here in chilly Chicago. Autumn has arrived this week.

I have not done much stitching in the past week. I have hardly had the time. But, I did start stitching the background of my little stumpwork embroidery project. This is as far as I got last night:

start-on-embroidered-background

It’s not much, but it’s something. I would like to make a goal of finishing this by next week.

In other news, I have been starting on a new original design. This one has been in my head to do for a long time. Here’s a peek at some of my sketches for the design:

new-medieval-sampler

Yes, it is a medieval-inspired sampler. I have started charting it in my design software, and I’m really happy with the way it’s coming together so far.

Sadly, that is it for me this week. Hope to have more to share soon!

Posted in Cross-Stitch and Needlework | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments