Finished and psyche! Not Finished!
First, if you look real quick (this week), you’ll see the first three Advent Ornaments are now available through Hoffman Distributing.
Also, I finally finished, framed and photographed “Octagonal”.
It will ship today to shops that pre-ordered it during the online Needlework Show. Your local shop can order it from me at anytime!
As a side note, I usually only frame models in matte board to save on cost and weight. However, while I was at Hobby Lobby last week, I noticed that their metal frames were half price. I decided to try one out on “Octagonal” and I’m really pleased with how it turned out. So pleased that I went back and got frames for four more pieces. I’ll be watching the sales and slowly re-framing all the models. This means that I’ll have to find a real trunk to ship them in for tradeshows, since the frames will keep them from all fitting in my suitcase.
I thought this design was also finished:
Unfortunately, I just noticed that the colors for “a” and “b” are reversed from the colors for “y” and “z”. I’m not looking forward to frogging, especially since this one is done over-one on 25 count fabric! A second model is being done with overdyes that is over-two. It is going to be huge!
Looks like have work to do before I’m really finished with the “Ambigram Alphabet”. Today I kitted up the next three Advent Ornaments to stitch, then there’s Briar Rose, a half-done cat, and a brand new dragon to work on. Did I mention that my 22 WIPs didn’t include original designs?
Published by cross eyed kat on June 30th, 2009 tagged stitching | Comment now »
Have you seen a UFO?
That’s an Unfinished Object. I actually don’t have very many of these. That’s probably because I have the best intentions about finishing most of my starts. I’ve shown the good (finished objects), the bad (WIPs) and now here is the ugly underside of cross-stitch. Projects abandonded before their time:
Here’s one from my youth, before I learned about things like fabric margins and keeping the fabric clean:
This is one of Teresa Wentzler’s carousel horses (I think it is Winter). Technically, this could probably be finished with about an inch of fabric left on the left side. On the other hand it is a Teresa Wentzler done on 18 ct. Aida. At least I was persistent in my insanity!
This is another start from my youth:
It was coming along nicely, but there is only so long I can stitch in one color – this is why I don’t design monocromatic samplers. This officially became a UFO when I bought a new fabric for the design. I haven’t restarted it, but I do have the fabric.
This UFO is the result of another fabric change:
The linen was a little too open for my tension and I could tell which direction I stitched a row in the bigger sections of white. This UFO has a happy ending, since I actually restarted and finished the pattern:
Maybe I’ll turn the stitching into an ATC and use the extra fabric for ornaments or something. I’ll have to ponder what to do with lavender linen.
Finally, one more fabric mind-change:
I’m not sure if this really counts as a UFO, since it only has about 12 stitches in it. But I know it was the US Map from Heritage Stitchcraft that was started on it. I’ll probably frog the stitches and reclaim the fabrin. I think this fabric is from a hand-dyer that is now out of business!
In current stitching business, I finally finished stitching “Octagonal” (and learned how to spell it right) on Sunday. It is now framed and awaiting photography. Charts should mail out to shops that pre-ordered on Monday. I’m also working on a new dragon design that has been noodling in my head for at least six months. I’m up to the coloring the line-drawing in phase, so I’m getting close to being able to stitch it. This is a good change, since for the past two years, I always plan to get tons of designing done during the summer and somehow it never happens. It is too hot to do anything else, though, so I’m happy to get some designing done.
Published by cross eyed kat on June 26th, 2009 tagged design work, stitching | 1 Comment »
Things I’ve finished
Last time I showed my large collection of WIPs. This time I’ll show that I do actually finish some things (besides design models). This isn’t a complete collection. There are some things that have been given away, framed, or aren’t currently stored with the other finished things. In fact, now I’m wondering where one is.
This is one dates back to middle school, and is in fact my first original design. I did this design and entered at the state Latin Convention (the language, not the geographic area), and I think it won second or third place in its category. The lettering is from a book, but I charted out the constellations on graph paper using an astronomy book. I only had four-squares-to-the-inch graph paper, so I divided each square into four.
This is another old one. I’m pretty sure this was a kit. I think the appeal is pretty obvious:
Fightin’ Texas Aggie Bonfire! Whoop! Obviously, a piece from my college days, which pre-date the tragic bonfire collapse in 1999.
I know that I picked up the pattern, fabric and supplies for this MLI design in Minnesota. There was a really nice cross-stitch shop in Stillwater, MN that I was able to visit a few times when I was interning in the Twin Cities. Close inspection will find that no one had taught me yet about the 3 inch margin rule. This design barely fit! It was also the first time I did major beading on a project and some of the beads are wonky. I should be able to sew some musling to it and do some finishing with it. I know I have the pattern and fabric for “Spiritdancer” in my stash to go with this one. Hopefully, I learned from my mistake and bought a bigger piece of fabric!
I’m pretty sure I started this one in collge, but it didn’t get finished until several years later! Again, this was a kit. It is supposed to be finished into a pillow and I believe the kit came with the finishing fabric, if I could find it.
This is actually a reproduction done by a model stitcher. This is one of my first original designs done in college, it was published in 2003 by Fanta Cat. I couldn’t find enough dragon designs back in college to stitch, so I made my own. This is one of my favorites.
This is another reproduction done by a model stitcher. I stitched this one myself twice. The first time was using waste canvas on black fabric that I then made into a vest (I was interning and had time). Then, when it was being published by Fanta Cat, I made a bell-pull model. Both of those were sold to Fanta Cat, so this is a reproduction.
This is “Blooming Bride” by Mirabilia. I stitched it while getting ready for my own wedding! I changed the fabric and changed a bit of the swirly stuff a the top.
A completed Teresa Wentzler! This is “Tradewinds”. I changed the alphabet blocks to have the quote instead.
Here’s a set of Victoria Sampler deisgns. I remember finding the whole set on sale at an LNS with the embellishment packs! I didn’t change too much with these, until I got to the end, I was too busy learing how to do band samplers and hardanger. I changed the leaves above the bargello on “Green Earth” to a rhodes leaf because the lazy daisy leaves reminded me of marijuana plants! I also changed all the colors for “Fresh Air” because I wanted it to be more like summer with yellow tones.
This is the original design that eventually became “Dragon Medallions” published by Fanta Cat:
Yes, it is stitched over one!
This is one of those weekender type kits. I have some glass and stuff for finishing, but haven’t gotten to that step:
Finally, this is the piece I finished at the 3 Stitches Get-A-Way this past spring. Because I’m a designer, and therefore not good at following someone else’s directions, I accidentally swapped the yellow for the bees and the beehive. Also, I didn’t read the directions for the wings and redid them my way! This was designed by Redbird Designs.
There you have it. It isn’t a complete collection of everything I’ve stitched, but I think it is interesting to observe, especially in a chronological sense. I’ve progressed from kits and aida to stitching on linen with many different threads and, well, designing things myself! I hope to finish “Octogonal” in the next week, which will be good, since my theoretical deadline is the end of June!
Published by cross eyed kat on June 18th, 2009 tagged stitching | 3 Comments »
WIPs – I haz them
How many Works In Progress do you have? Last week I worked on straightening up my craft office and discovered that I had twenty-two! And that doesn’t include any designs in progress, since I count those separately. Most of the WIPs are from before I started designing, so you can see how designing impedes stitching on any other designs. Each WIP has a story to tell, so I hope you’ll enjoy this as much as I enjoyed finding all of WIPs.
This is one of the oldest WIPs I have. It probably dates to fall of 1994. Don’t recognize the pattern? It is “Castle Sampler” by Teresa Wentzler. I bought this kit while I was interning in Minnesota.
This is another old one, since it dates from my college days and is the seal of Texas A&M University. There used to be a wonderful LNS in College Station called The Stitchery. It may have been the first LNS I visited, since I previously bought my supplies mostly at Michael’s. It was here I discovered Jobelan fabric, which this WIP is stitched on. I bought several TAMU patterns there. One of my friends also stitched and did a huge pattern of the Systems Building; I wish I had bought that pattern now, since they have to be licensed by the university now.
Here’s another one from the mid-nineties. This is an Oberlin Sampler design – “Minnesota”. I also own the patterns for “Louisiana” and “Texas”, but haven’t started them.
I have a bad feeling that these two WIPs are the same design:
If they aren’t the same design, then I don’t know what the top one is! I think they are a Stoney Creek design with a cat sleeping under a bush. Looking at it now, I’m pretty sure I restarted this design after discovering hand-dyed fabric.
Following college, I had an explosion of stitching projects starting in 1999 when I found my LNS, TW’s “Millenium” and the TWBB.
“Mermaid of the Pearls” by Mirabilia done on a Murano fabric bought in the great Murano frenzy just before it was discontinued. I have a piece of the same fabric cut for “Waiting for Ships”, but have never started that design.
“Angel of Love”, by Lavender and Lace. I always thought the beadwork on this design looked like a circuit board, so I’m stitching a green/silver conversion to look even more like a circuit board! And this was around the time that I tried out gridding!
I worked on this one, which is “Footprints” by Teresa Wenztler, really close to when I got into designing. The original design has fish along the edge, which I converted to dolphins partly through using the dolphins from “Tradewinds” and partly through my own drawing. I was going to chart 1 Corinthians 13 for the middle, but didn’t get to that.
More Teresa Wentzler:
“Night”
and “Day”
I actually stitched “Night” before. I did it for my BFF from middle school, who saw me stitching in high school and college, picked up a kit for “Night” and tried to do it on her own. I remember trying to help her when coming home from college one holiday, and she had started the border and was stitching over-one. We decided that a TW was an overly-ambitious first ever cross-stitch project. I stitched on it off and on and finally gave it to her five years later!
This was going to be a baby-gift for a friend. Her daughter is now several years old. It is “Fairy Tales” by Mirabilia, but again, I couldn’t leave well enough alone and changed the colors.
“Lady of the Flag” by Mirabilia. Since this design came out in 2001, I probably started it in the spring of 2002. I remember all discussion about the number of stripes on the flag when this design first came out. If you look at my start and the original version, you can see where I added the two edge stripes to the design. I also remember stitching on this while watching the movie “Memento” for the first time. I don’t recommend that; “Memento” requires too much attention. There’s an error somewhere in the stitching, and some fudging to work around it!
“Enchantment of Winter” by Dimples Designs. I think this is a fabric I bought from Silkweaver. The gridding definitely helped with this design, since the chart pages don’t show overlap.
“Desiderata” by Indigo Rose. This one is almost half-way done! I decided to stitch this one in two halves instead of one long banner, so that it looked more like a book. I don’t think I ever decided what was going to go in the middle. I also remember driving to three different LNS’s in Houston in one day to try and find all the silks for it. Two of the three shops are now closed and I ended up substituting different colors. This one is stitched on a Silkweaver Solo, which I snatched up because it was big enough!
This is a second start to “Millenium” by Teresa Wentzler. I originally started this design on a light blue fabric, then saw some else’s finished piece on a dark blue fabric and decided that I like that more. I’ll show the original in a UFO discussion later.
This is a USA map from Heritage Stitchcraft.
I’m pretty sure it is a second start because I found this as well:
Yes, that is about eight stitches on a piece of fabric. I’m pretty sure it is the border of the map. I guess I changed my mind about the fabric color, but who knows? I do remember that stitching on this was a bit weird as the designer used skinny vertical stitches (over one vertically, but over two horizontally) and other variations.
This is a Christmas Ornament from one of the Just Cross Stitch magazines. I’m probably really close to finishing it if I could figure out which year the pattern is from. I know I have the carrot button for the nose.
These two are from little Christmas kits and were fillers in between working on designs:
This one is almost done. I think it needs some stitches done in gold braid, which I didn’t have handy at the time. It has the year on the bottom, so I must’ve stitched it in 2006. It is a Redbird Design.
I remember stitching on this design on the way to and back from a Nashville Market, so I must’ve started it in 2005, which was the last time I rode with Jo to market (now we both have way too much stuff for one vehicle). I bought this kit in the fall of 2002, when my husband and I visited Paris and Versailles (which is what the design is of).
Finally, there’s this, which may actually be a UFO:
I can’t remember what this is! It is a fairly small piece of fabric, so the design is probably in the 5×7 inch range. It has dark brown, light brown and medium brown stitches so far. Any ideas?
My fingers itch to work on these designs! I remember how much I love the designs and how much they inspire me to stitch. Maybe I’ll start taking one day a week to work on old designs. Now when I stitch on someone else’s design, it is such a relief to not think about color choices! There is hope for me yet: I did find 17 completed projects when cleaning. That’s in addition to the 36 models I’ve stitched for Cross Eyed Kat designs! For now, I’ll keep designing and stitching. Maybe when I run out of ideas, I’ll go back to stitching on these WIPs!
Published by cross eyed kat on June 15th, 2009 tagged stitching | 2 Comments »
Stitching and other things
Last week I went to both of the stitch nights at my LNS’s. The first, at Needle and Thread, is the first Wednesday of the month. This also happened to be the night that Sonic was offering free root beer floats. So we all packed into a car and went to the local Sonic for a treat:
I was careful not to get any on the stitching:
(note that I am working diligently on “Octogonal”)
Yum yum!
The first Thursday of the month is the stitch in at 3 Stitches. Unfortunately, I forgot to take any pictures there! I worked more on Octogonal and got some ideas for the next 12 Advent Ornaments. Through both events, I got quite a bit of stitching done. I’m on that part of Octogonal where I’m filling in all the circles, so it goes fast but is not very exciting. I’m looking forward to getting back to Briar Rose, the next three Advent Ornaments and Ambigram Alphabet. Wow, I’m really working up a backlog of designs!
I did a little experiment with casting resin as well:
And I learned that modelling clay (which was supporting my molds) melts in Texas heat. A later experiment with polymer clay holding the molds was a bit more successful. I’m still refining the prototypes and have some other issues to work through, but I’m hoping to have a product from this to show at the October Needlework Show.
This week, I got to do a little sketching since I found a 17×22″ graph paper with 10 squares to the inch. 14 square to the inch would better replicate the size of the actual stitching, since I tend to favor 28 count fabric, but this gets the job done. The past two nights I’ve been working on deep cleaning the studio/office. I should take before and after pictures, but I forgot. I did find three pairs of missing scissors, though! One was in my TNNA badge from the Nashville Market (I was probably storing it there while I stitched at the show), and the other two were in with knitting projects. The scissors were rescued and the knitting projects were semi-retired. I don’t take good notes while I’m knitting, so I find it harder to go back to them after a long time. Hopefully, I can get the office in more of a working state soon so that I can get back to sketching!
Published by cross eyed kat on June 11th, 2009 tagged design work, stitching | 1 Comment »
Beating back the mess
I am by nature, a person of clutter. I have worked hard over the past few years to try and keep my natural messiness in check. Couple that with a creative endeavor and maybe you can imagine what my office looks like. But if you can’t here’s a peek:
Compare that to these pictures when I first refurnished the room for the business.
The table against the window is my printing station. The color printer is on top of the table, the black and white laser is below. Also, the computer is on this table (mostly behind the chair) and my very important TARDIS USB hub. To the right of that table is my “Entertainment area”, namely the TV/DVD player. That is sitting on an old sewing machine cabinet. Along the right-hand wall is my working table. This is where matt boards get cut for framing models, colors laid out, needlepoint canvas gets painted, patterns are put together, and many other sundry activities for running the business. I do most of my stitching in the family room, because I can be more social there and the couch is more comfortable.
I had two problems with this setup. One, the color printer tended to shake the desk it was on a bit. Not too much of a problem, except that it also made the monitor on the desk sway. Two, matt board is bigger than the table I was using to cut it. This made the task of framing awkward when using new, full matt board.
I had the great idea of solving both of these problems by putting an old dining room table in the office and using it for the printer/computer desk and then moving the other tables so that they made a U. This worked perfectly in my brain, and was great because I would be reusing the table. Reality is different from my brain, however:
This setup didn’t leave enough room in the middle of the U for me to work.
So, I got out ye olde tape measure and tried to figure out what would work. I needed a table that was at least 24 inches wide to accomodate the printer. I wanted one with some more stability. It needed to be pretty long to extend from the corner to the edge of the window, but not too deep because I would have to move the shelves that currently lived next to the table. Not too many requirements, huh? I dragged DH out to Ikea Saturday night and we ended up picking up two tables; both are 24 inches deep and together they were long enough for the space. These were mix and match table-tops and legs, so I picked out a shelving unit table leg for the side that the printer goes on. I still have to see how it works under stress.
Here’s what the new setup looks like:
Then I had to put the mess back in place:
But I feel that this is a space where I can be creative:
My goal for this weekend is to spend some time deep cleaning the shelves. I need to reorganize my fabric, so that I can find things more easily. I also got another “screw storage” box for floss. The yarn needs to be stored somewhere out of the way, and I need to reorganize all of my patterns (and this time label the groupings so that I can find them more easily). Maybe after all of that, I can tackle the closet!
Published by cross eyed kat on June 2nd, 2009 tagged business, just life | 1 Comment »
All work and no cross-stitch makes Kat something something something…
The week has been so long and yet I can hardly believe it is Friday!
We had a very busy weekend at Casa Rocha last weekend. The big project was a reorganization of the garage! We were at the point where it was getting impossible to find a screwdriver, hammer, or some other tool when it was needed. The garage/tools area needed some serious work. So we found some storage cabinets and a workbench to go in the theoretical “third car” area of the garage. I say theoretical because it is behind where the other two cars park, and Mocha doesn’t drive, so she decided we could make that part of the garage a work space. The storage stuff had to be put together, of course, and that turned into a big job. We also added one of those track organizing systems for hanging stuff. That system is really neat, and now our bicycles look organized like a bike shop instead of just leaning against the walls. I managed to run some other errands and do other necessary chores over the long weekend, but didn’t get to the sketching that I wanted to do. However, I did get to experiment with some polymer clay. What I made is a secret for now, but I’m hoping to perfect a cross-stitch tool I’ve been dreaming about for years!
Since we worked so hard over the weekend, we took Tuesday night off and went to see “Terminator: Salvation”. We had some trepidation going into it because the reviews were generally bad. DH agreed with all the reviewers, but I thought it was, well, not terrible. That’s not saying it was good, and there were some really big plot holes, but it wasn’t something I wanted to walk out of.
I did get some stitching done this week, though. I’m trying to stay focused on completing “Octogonal”, so if you pre-ordered that at the Online Needlework Show, please be patient while I stitch the model! I did experiment a little with a piece I’m doing for my LNS that will hopefully be for the Stitcher’s Village Texas get together. I’m not happy with my first result, though, so it is back to the stitching/drawing board for me.
I’m hoping that this weekend will be a bit more laid back. I’m planning on a little more experimentation with the polymer clay and some time sketching. Oh, yeah, and more stitching!
Published by cross eyed kat on May 29th, 2009 tagged design work, just life | Comment now »
Busy is good
Long time, no post, but the good news is that I have been busy. We’re quickly moving from Spring into Summer here in Texas, and my roses are in full bloom:
Also, my new funky hibiscus plants started to bloom:
And I went to another crawfish boil:
May means the Giro d’Italia at our house, including fantasy cycling. Three days in, the cat was not only at the top of our league, she was also number one in the whole game! Now we suspect she spends all day watching cycling on TV and the internet.
I have been trying to work hard on getting “Octogonal”, the next maze-type design stitched, but I got distracted by a new design idea. Here’s a sneak preview:
This is “Ambigram Alphabet”. Yes, I like doing twists on traditional things (like alphabet samplers); I also like jewel-tone colors!! I’m stitching this over-one on a 25 count fabric. I’m also getting a model stitched (as soon as I mail everything out) over-two on 28 count, but on that one, the stitching will be in just two overdyed threads. This is a big design because this time detail won out in the battle between detail and size. However, it is pretty fast, with a total stitch count of under 2200 stitches. In 14 count, the design will be 28 inches wide, over one on 25 brings it down to 16 inches. It would only be about 10 inches on 40 count silk gauze! There’s lots of versatility in this design. Hopefully I can get it and Octogonal finished soon!
Published by cross eyed kat on May 20th, 2009 tagged Uncategorized, design work, stitching | 1 Comment »
In which not much stitching is done, but charts are made ready
I haven’t really stitched much since the weekend and I think my fingers are getting itchy! I have spent the time since the online show doing the production work to create chart files and then printing, printing, printing! Over 200 charts had to be printed – that’s the downside of print on demand.
I did have a break over the weekend, though, as we took a short trip to Austin since some relatives were in town for business. We arrived Friday night and went downtown to check out the action on 6th street:
The husband got us tickets to Esther’s Follies, which was hilarious:
Saturday, I made the husband take me to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center since the bluebonnets were still in bloom:
Of course, we saw lots of wildflowers:
Austin is a good bit dryer than Houston, so we saw plenty of cacti in bloom:
I even caught a bee in the act of pollinating!
We had lunch at an interesting cafe where they serve fresh veggies grown in a garden behind the cafe:
And there was a sleepy cat outside:
The afternoon was spent hitting several bike stores in the area. Our first stop was Mellow Johnny’s which is the shop owned by Lance Armstrong:
There were a bunch of Lance’s racing bikes around the store, including a Tour De France bike:
And a Tour of California bike (I love this paint job):
The cross stitch had to go in for a closer look:
This was our third bicycle shop (I forgot to get a picture of the second):
I just wish we’d had our bicycles to ride between the shops! All that walking was hard on my feet! Finally we made it back to our hotel which was close to the bridge that has all the bats.
Unfortunately, we didn’t get a chance to see the bats, so we’ll have to go back!
When we got back, I had to get to work finishing all my printing:
Now, everything has to be sorted and mailed out and then I can get back to stitching!
Published by cross eyed kat on April 30th, 2009 tagged business, design work, travel | Comment now »
Think dry thoughts
First, I want to thank everyone who is taking time to enter my Needlework Show drawing by posting in the comments (or by email).
This weekend, the Husband will be riding in the BP MS150 bike ride from Houston to Austin. We’ve both done this ride before, and this year he is going to be a ride marshall. So nothing would be out of the ordinary for the weekend, except that the weather is likely to play havoc with the whole thing. So I would appreciate it if everyone would send dry thoughts to southeast Texas for the weekend. Also, no crashing thoughts!
I had to drop by the LNS this past Tuesday to pick up a doorprize I won from their Easter/Peeps celebration and was tickled to see this:
Those are charts and threadpacks laid out for the evening’s fiber class. This is a year-long class that meets once a month and each month the students learn about using different fibers. It was exciting for me because the Advent Ornament designs are being used as the basis for this class. So that picture is of a full class using Cross Eyed Kat designs! I love to see my designs being stitched!
Somehow I’ve made a bunch of progress on Briar Rose: Page 4 this week. I’m not sure how that happened, especially since I spent one evening reading.
I’m loving how this is turning out and almost can’t wait to backstitch it! How crazy is that. Also, in this not so wonderful picture from my camera phone, the sparkles from the fabric really pop out. I’m stitching this on crystal Legacy linen from Picture This Plus. The Legacy color provides a nice, slightly mottled background and the crystals give it just a touch of fairy-tale-ness.