Update: Miscellaneous Stitchy and Stuff

Well how the hell is everyone? Things here are rolling along, same as usual.

Let me start with finally posting about my piece for the Gay For Eagles show.



The exhibition "will showcase new work and explore issues of war and peace, gender and sexuality." I chose to represent the fight for gay rights with the detonation of an atom bomb, hence the name of the piece, Social Detonation. I guess I simplify things too much, but I don't see how two same sex people getting married or having the same rights I have will really change my life. I think people are afraid of what is unfamiliar to them and some people just have this paranoid feeling that their health insurance premiums will go up if (OMG!) gay people are allowed to get married. Hate to break it to ya, but people who are chronically ill and young like me drive up your insurance. Straight, gay, transgendered, whatever. Can't we all just live our lives in peace?

So on the technical side of things, I have learned that stitching a lot of stitches together will warp your fabric. Thoughts on prevention? My lines are crooked and maybe that's because I didn't use a Q-snap frame and used a round hoop instead. I also learned that submitting for an art show does have some costs involved. There is the cost of materials to make your piece, framing it, commission fees, submission fees and then sending it along with return postage. Seems pretty obvious but not something I thought out entirely. Even so, I am still thrilled to death to be a part of it. I hope my work doesn't stand out because my work is still unrefined and amateur. It took about 30,000 stitches to make my big, gay bomb and I love every imperfect bit of it. :)

That's my general update for now. I'm mostly working on training our foster dog so we can find him a good home and then finishing up some other stitching projects. I'm consistently busy which is good!

Tschus!

Stitchy goodness

It's been a very busy time, stitch-wise. I've had some requests to do patterns that other artists sell. I've also done a few custom requests. I love doing the custom pieces a lot because they force me to be creative and figure out how to put someone's idea into a finished piece.

I was approached by the person who runs Evil Dead News to recreate the Home Sweet Home sampler hanging in the cabin from the movie Evil Dead 2. So after watching the movie again and some internet surfing, I was able to come up with a pretty good representation:





For something seemingly simple, it did take a while to stitch up. I can't wait to get another one made and hung up next to our front door!

I also had a request for someone's massage business. She incorporates a wrench into her logo (body repair) and wanted to combine the wrench with her dog, Hank, who is a Boston Terrier. This is what I came up with:



This request was for a penguin and a Fuck Cancer piece, that is actually a combination of patterns by Julie Jackson. I chose to do the Linux penguin and gently censored the Fuck Cancer piece on request.



I also re-stitched one of my more offensive pieces to swap with someone. I love this piece because it's so pretty and so funny. :)



I have patterns and pieces for the Evil Dead sampler and the Ass piece on my Etsy.

So I guess this is what I'm doing now full time. I spend anywhere from four to nine hours a day stitching and/or creating patterns. I finally emailed my family about my career change and sent them a link to my Etsy shop. My dad is the only one who said anything. He told me that he is really impressed with my stitching and said my mom would have been really proud of me. That's the best thing he could have ever said to me. I was worried that he would be disappointed in me but he's so supportive. My mom was pretty handy with a needle and she made me this before she died: (It's the big alphabet sampler.)



That's all I needed to hear to know that I'm on the right path. My dad is awesome and I love him a lot. I just hope he doesn't log back onto my Etsy now that I put up the Ass pattern. Heh.

That's what's up in my stitching world. Next up is an art piece for the Gay for Eagles show in North Carolina. My first art show. I need to get stitching!

Take care everyone...tschus.

PS
I just noticed that someone added the Evil Dead sampler to an Etsy treasury called The Farm House. I don't think they know my cute little cabin is from a horror movie. Heh.