Seen around town and new swap piece

I really need to work on my blog titles. :) Anyways, I thought it would be neat to post some photos of embroidery and fiber art pieces that I see when I stop at museums.

It's amazing how much stitchery you can find when you really stop and look for them. Normally I see them at antique and thrift stores but I rarely have my camera on those trips. This time I made an effort to look for them while at the Mahaffie Stagecoach Stop & Historic Site in Olathe, Kansas. It is the last working stagecoach stop and living history farm on the Santa Fe Trail.



This is a fantastic quilt in great condition. I'm not sure what type of quilt style it is, maybe one of you know?



Friendship, Love and Truth. I saw chain and satin stitches for sure but it was a little far away so I was unable to examine it further. Plus, flashes are a no-no on these things.



These two were way too far away for me to get a good photo but they were very pretty.



The staff work on all kinds of needlework and knitting while they wait for visitors to tour the home. Here is a sample of some of the on-going work they are doing now. It's kind of fun to look at the hoops and be able to identify the types of stitching being used.



And finally, you'll remember my previous post about the little pigeon for the Phat Quarter swap over on Flickr. This is the awesome piece that I received from FiberArtsy. This is a quote from the book World War Z, by Max Brooks. I think this is one of the best zombie books I've read so far. Phalanx was a drug mentioned in the book that was created so people didn't develop "African Rabies." Brilliant!! I think her ability to envision a small segment of the book into such a clean, crisp and beautiful embroidery is amazing. I could never hand draw something like this to begin with and then to stitch it so well. Well maybe after loads of more practice! So thank you FiberArtsy! I can't wait to hang this up!

Please head on over to Phat Quarter and join the group if you haven't already. You don't need to be an experienced stitcher to join. Just join, start making stuff and people will help you with advice and inspiration. :) Once you post some photos to the group, you can join in a swap. They have them every time there is a month with five Fridays. Or if you are looking for a broader based crafting community, please go to Craftster! There is literally something for everyone on there: bakers, painters, knitters, stitchers, sewers, etc. And they often have swaps and stitch-alongs too. I can honestly say that I've met (online) some of the nicest, smartest and most wonderful people through these craft groups.

Are you oozing with love and creativity yet? :)

Hope you all are having a great week, tschus!

Cutest embroidered pigeon!

I am happy to participate in the May Phat Quarter swap again. My swap recipient hasn't seen it yet but I don't think she reads my blog so we're all good.

My person told me she enjoys children's books and mentioned Mo Willems. Not having kids yet, I had to do a Google search and this is the image I chose:

It's been a while since I did a tinted linen piece but it was like riding a bike.

This was my first attempt, btw:



I started by printing off the picture, tracing the outlines with a black sharpie and then hanging it in a sunny window. I put the fabric over the image on the window and traced it with my washable marker. Then I colored with my crayons and pressed the fabric until the crayon had set.



Traced and tinted



Close-up of the tinted piece



I used stem stitch, satin stitch and back stitch



Touched up, washed, ironed and mounted to an acid-free 8x10 board, ready to pop into a frame

If I hadn't been so busy with housework the last few days, this really would have only needed two days to do. I'm really pleased with it and am excited to do some cute pieces for our nursery. Hope you enjoyed checking this out!

Happy Memorial Day, tschus!

Stitchin' status

I have been in a huge funk, so forgive me for not posting. Depression can go either way: it can be a great inspiration and outlet or it can be creativity killer. In my case, I haven't been doing much of anything, which has elicited feelings of deeper depression, guilt, restlessness, etc. The cure? MORE COWBELL! I mean, MORE STITCHING!

So let's not concentrate on what hasn't been done, and see what HAS been done.

I did get a book review completed for Connie G over at About.com for a book entitled "Blackwork." You can read it here. It's definitely for a more advanced stitcher but I am looking forward to using some of the stitch patterns to create some of Connie's patterns in the future. You can't perfect a technique if you never even try, right? Here is a great example of someone taking blackwork stitches and putting them to use in a contemporary image of a bird. (Sorry to link that instead of inserting an image, but I don't want to use this person's image without permission first!) I think this is really well done and would love to be able to do something similar, maybe in a flower pattern.

I've also had a few sales, mostly Bruce Campbell related and the latest one was purchased from a person in Turkey. Thankfully, shipping to Turkey isn't as bad as I had imagined. I am pretty excited that one of my pieces is on its way across the globe. There are Ash fans everywhere! We're like the plague.

And finally, I created a pattern inspired by one of my other favorite B movies, "Dead Alive." Click here for the pattern.

And the video clip:



So while that may not be a ton of accomplishments, in the world of Emo Bex, it is a good start. I'm still finishing work on a stitch-for-hire project and have signed up for another Phat Quarter swap on Flickr as well as a project for the folks at Mr. X Stitch.

If you are still reading my blog, thank you for sticking with me. I promise to stay in better touch from here on out.

Tschus!

See the exhibition!

The other pieces in the awesome Gay For Eagles show are now online and you can see them all HERE. Some pieces are for sale, some are not. I think they are all amazing and I'm very proud that I was allowed to participate. Not sure what's next on the horizon for me. I've had a hard time getting anything done lately and have some stitch for hire things to finish. However I want to get my Kick Ass For The Lord pattern stitched up and then who knows. Hopefully a burst of inspiration and energy will collide inside my brain any day now.

Tschus!

Separate but equal

I separated my personal blog from my stitching one due to many reasons. If you would like the link, please email me here or at nodakbex@gmail.com. Thanks and please follow me on my personal blog!

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.