Gorey in Stitches Roundup

Top (left to right): Brodwaith, Murder Bird, Flaming Nora Crafts

Middle: Sewphie, Sew Technicolor, The Stitch Emporium

Bottom: xsilverdaisyx, me, Cherry and Cinnamon

I am so impressed with the fabulous interpretations in thread of Edward Gorey's work that were posted in the Illustration Stitch A Long group! While being proud of my talented Stitch A Longers, I'm also slightly embarrassed that I didn't finish my own piece in time. I seriously underestimated the amount of embroidery work that tiny embroidery brought me, especially 'translating' the cross hatching in stitches. As soon as I'm done  I will dedicate a post to my little Doubtful Guest embroidery. The mosaic really doesn't do the embroideries justice. You must click on the links above and view (and enlarge) the photos to be able to truly appreciate (and comment on) the great work the Stitch A Longers did.

On the first of April our New Stitch A Long started. It's all about the art and animation movies of Tim Burton this time and Bridgeen (my co-host) and myself are counting on more fabulous work from you guys. Everyone is welcome to join our Stitch A Long group here!

A Gorey Update

Last week I made some good progress on my Edward Gorey Stitch Along piece. I was a bit worried about embroidering on the seam where I joined the 'wallpaper' to the 'floor' but that went ok. Except that you still can see the line through the Doubtful Guest's fur. I think I will just make him a bit more furry to cover it up. :)

Some of the other stitchers are already (nearly) finished with their pieces! How about this little skeleton guy beautifully embroidered on a pillowcase by Sophie?

Read all about her Gorey project here.

It's not too late to join us in the Stitch along group on Flickr and make your own Gorey Piece. Or maybe you'd rather wait for the next SAL (starting in April) which has the work of Tim Burton as theme.


P.S. Brie, one of the other Stitch-along-ers, pointed this Edward Gorey Google illustration out to me, in honour of his 88th birthday yesterday:

Gorey Stitch A Long starting soon!

Just a little reminder that on the first day of the new year the Edward Gorey Stitch A Long that I'm hosting together with Bridgeen begins! I'm still not 100% sure which illustration I'm going to be embroidering this time. I really like this one of the roller skating Doubtful Guest but have only found one, not very clear image of it on the internet. This cat & book one would be pretty sweet too. Anyway, if you want to join in the fun: we have a Flickr Group dedicated to this SAL here.  You have three months to finish so that's totally do-able right? And if Gorey is not your thing, you might want to stitch a long next time when we focus on Tim Burton's art and characters!

Just so you know...Stitch A Long coming up!

Doubtful Guest being especially Doubtful..

Last weekend I posted an update of my Doubtful Guest embroidery on Instagram (find me there! I'm Followbunny) in honour of the addition of the fringe on the scarf (great excuse to use the Turkey Stitch!). Most of my Instagram pics are forwarded to Twitter (where I happen to be Followbunny too!) and I'm not sure how it happened but for some reason the subject of a Edward Gorey Stitch Along came up on Twitter. Not now, now is not a good time for a lot of people (with Christmas Stitching to do etc) but starting the first of January 2013!

So I just thought I'd let you all know... If you are not familiar with Edward Gorey's work take a look here or here. I have created a Flickr group for those of you interested in Stitching A Long next year (what a great way of starting 2013!) you can find it here.  The Stitch A Long after that will be all about Tim Burton's work. I can't wait!

Bringing life to an almost monochrome embroidery...the Doubtful Guest

I know this is not strictly a monochrome piece, but the scarf just needed some colour right? Nearly done now with this embroidery, I just need to find the red/pink colour of the Doubtful Guest's scarf again in one of my not so tidy floss boxes/ziplock bags! I'm glad I have now put this piece in a smaller hoop because the little guy looked a bit lost in the larger hoop he was in. I like the effect that the use of different numbers of thread (1-3 strands of floss) different stitches (back stitch, my notorious 'crazy' fur stitch, stem stitch and satin stitch) and the direction of the stitch, have on the image. I have learned now that even with only colour you are able to bring an embroidery to life. And trust me it looks much 'livelier' in real life than on this photo! Besides the strands, stitches and stitch direction I will add another 'lively' aspect to the embroidery. Like in my first Edward Gorey/Doubtful Guest Embroidery I will make the scarf's fringe 3D. :)

Nite Bugs & a book delivery

I just had to have this book by Edward Gorey after I made the embroidery based on the cover illustration of the Doubtful Guest. It's just a small book but very much worth checking out if you haven't read or seen it yet. The story and the illustrations are very touching. I assume it's a kids book but I'm sure some adults (like me) can relate to this odd creature as well. And if not then you can just admire the drawings. I'm going to do another embroidery from this book for myself. :) I may use my very special Cosmo Floss for that! I ordered it at Hip Fabric. It feels amazingly soft and I can't wait to try it out!

As I'm not really all that mobile yet I have done some stitching and stuff while lying on the couch for the second Beetle Bug Design. Here's a little sneak peek:

The Nite-nite Bugs are embroidered on a pillowcase (how appropriate!). Still one of my favourite things to embroider on!