Squirtle

My latest Pokemon cross stitch pillow (for Lily)

Cross Stitching, summer must be over

Did this guy in ONE DAY - actually an afternoon and an evening. It's Lily's favorite Pokemon character. Eli's Charizard is next, but that's quite a bit larger...

And this next one I dedicate to Tom and the rest of the gang on the TNR:

(If you don't understand, you're better off for it!)

Get A Life

A quick little stitch to cleanse the pallet. A subversive cross stitch design that seemed apropos to the beginning of the cross stitching season - winter. I also did the frame, it's my first framing and matting attempt, but it's ok and I learned a lot. And still need a 7.25x11 inch piece of glass. :)

Meat for the beast

Catching up documenting things again -- this is from Halloween two years ago.  The white thread is actuall glow in the dark thread...

Valentine's Scissors Fob

Made this for Jill this year.  Quick and easy but not so simple to make on the sly!

Swiper, no swiping!

He's my favorite character of the show.   Awwww,  mayyyyaaaaannnn!

Sun halfstitch

It's the cross stitch equivalent of a sitcom.  Not nothing, but not really going to change your life.  But fun!

Is That All There Is?

I made this for my sister for her 40th birthday.  It's from a Peggy Lee song, and it kinda summed up major events that come and go with less pain than you think there will be.

Cactus

Can't say much about this yet, as it's a gift and needs to be framed.  But it's based on a pattern at the about.com cross stitching site by Connie Davis. 

Titanic Progress

Obviously I'm catching up on some documentation here while the application I use at work loads.  (Sloooooowly!)  This is my current progress on the stitch I have up at Bear Lake.

Star Wars Sampler

Composed of various smaller Star Wars motifs, this was just a fun little sampler because Star Wars doth rock.  My son has pointed out the imbalance of imperial vs rebel items in this collection, however.

Yet another lighthouse

I'm a sucker for the nautical stitchings, apparently. This was fairly easy and a heck of a lot less work than the more detailed 'gold' Dimensions lighthouse with a similar look.

DMC Ship and flags

Another pattern from the DMC brochure I got with set of floss. It had been a while since I found a pattern I really wanted to do for myself, and this was a fairly simple and quick one. I chose a cream 18 count aida in order to highlight the detail as well as give it a weathered look.

Your kids are pattern designers

Eli designed this himself. He wanted me to do a cross stitch for him, but he didn't want any of the patterns I had found. So he took matters into his own hand.

All it takes it a kid, a sheet of graph paper, and some crayons and you've got an awesome cross stitch pattern that's one of a kind, personal, and usually quite beautiful! And if you use the right (read: selective) set of crayons, picking the colors out from your thread stash should be a no brainer.

Graph paper isn't that big when you get down to interpreting it via Aida, and the crayons or markers they use are basic colors which you can then match with those random leftover skeins of floss you have in that drawer.  So these are usually pretty easy and quick to stitch.

It's also really fun for kids to see their work reinterpreted in something as elegant and substantial as a cross stitch.  

If you're feeling really adventurous, these are nice small stitches to experiment on if you're trying to get into framing your own work.  You could even attach a magnet to the back and put it on the fridge, just to come full circle.

Guys who Cross Stitch

If you're interested in my cross stitching, either click on the "cross stitch" label on the right, or on this link.

Enjoy!

Tintin

I started this just in the last week while we were visiting relatives up north. It's from a pattern I got on the Internet, but it appears to have had a slight aspect ratio issue. Seems a little thin but I still think it looks okay. It was free and you get what you pay for.

Tintin is one of my favorite series', and I've been looking for a pattern for some time. I have a few other characters but I may have to either adjust the aspect or just go ahead and make some of my own.

I miss Dark Lilac. :(

Bear Lake Crossing

I made this about two years ago. It sits on the mantle at the cabin, which is of course on Bear Lake. This is my own design and I wish I knew then what i know about stitches, as I could have made the background a bit more smooth. It's taken this long to take a picture of it since I keep forgetting when I'm at the cabin.

Men In Stitches

Hard to find much information about men cross stitching online. As a guy who stitches it's always amusing to deal with people who have assumptions about "mens" hobbies vs "womens" hobbies. I've always said cross stitching was the "manliest of the needle arts" and that really if you think about it, it's just pixels. Makes perfect sense that someone into technology would be doing something that so easily translates pixels into stitches. I will admit it's tough to find compelling content for cross stitches, but with some creativity we can all get past the teddy bears and angels.

Last night Lily noticed a framed cross stitch in our hallway that a family friend did for our wedding. When I told her the name of the woman who made it Lily said "Can girls do cross stitch too?" and then followed up by noting that apparently so, as even she herself has done some cross stitching.

Hee hee hee.

Cross Stitched Yoda!

This is the one.  It's the cross stitch I'm most proud of at the moment, and it's the one I most hope will be seen by someone out in the world.  Eli loves Star Wars (duh, who doesn't?) and as it was difficult finding good "boy" patterns I decided to try making an original.  I used the generator at Dark Lilac (which is sadly not online these days!) and a snippet from the cover of a Star Wars Adventures graphic novel.  It does appear a little "jaggy" but I'm cool with that.  It measures about 15" tall, so it's a substantial wallhanging.   The framers were pretty jazzed about it, as well.

When I went to my LNS for supplies the ladies there were suprised that the list of floss colors was for me, not my wife.  I get that a lot though.

So I still don't know how to take a picture of something that's been framed.  Anybody have any advice for me?

Chess Pillow

I had previously posted about Lily's rose pattern pillow, but this was the true original pillow.  I got the pattern from the book "Mini Cushions In Cross Stitch" and while I had actually finished it some time ago (just after Maker Faire*) I hadn't gotten it sewed and stuffed until just lately.  Again, I love it so much it's hard to part with it, even if it will still be in the house...

(* I was so thrilled at the Maker Faire because I figured if there was one place in the world a guy could cross stitch in public and not warrant a bunch of funny looks, it was at the Maker Faire.  Or maybe the Pith Helmet distracted folks...)