8.31.10

American Flag

34" x 66", canvas with hand-embroidered stars (each star is 2.25" across).

I started looking around for a flag just before the 4th of July in 2006, and the only ones I could find were cheaply made (printed rather than sewn) and worse yet, made in China. On the 4th, I was talking to my dad (the guy I get my DIY spirit from) on the phone, complaining that I couldn't find a decent flag anywhere, and he said "well excuse me, Betsy Ross, make your own damn flag." And thus the gauntlet was thrown down.

I started the project in March of 2007, bought the fabric and made a diagram of the star placement. I then promptly got involved in a home purchase and shortly afterward got pregnant with my second child. By the time Henry was born in 2008, I hadn't made a whole lot of progress. I completed the satin stitching of the fifty stars by September of 2009, and now finally constructed the stripes and put the whole thing together (and had another baby in the meantime!).

I am so very pleased and proud of how this came out. Stitching the stars definitely took longer than I thought it would, but it makes the flag so great.

See all the in-progress photos here.

7.2.10

labels

I finally got around to making some quilt labels! After thinking about printing and hand drawing, I settled on embroidering them. It's a little more work, but these are a fun little stitching project.

trashy!

Another sneak peek of the next set of embroidery patterns we're working on! This is going to be a set of 12 small motifs (each about 1.5" wide).

pizza time!

Just a little sneak peek of the next set of embroidery patterns we're working on! This is going to be a set of 12 small motifs (each about 1.5" wide).

Pip's redwork quilt

I finished Pip's redwork quilt last week and finally got a chance to take some (not great) pictures this weekend after washing it. The finished quilt is 47" square, which is a bit big for a baby quilt, but I figure it will be good for lying on top of at first and leaves room to grow.

This is my own design, a nine-patch of nine-patches, with each of the blocks using 8 red & white prints around a center panel of hand embroidery. The embroidered designs were drawn by Sean. They are a mushroom, hedgehog, hotdog, cardinal, Fokker Dr.1 triplane (the Red Baron's plane), dinosaur, ketchup, lobster and cherries. Closer shots of all the embroidered motifs can be seen here.



I did the quilting in straight lines making boxes within the blocks, and intersecting lines in the sashing (can you tell I was thinking a lot about squares while making this?). There is also one line of hand quilting outlining the triplane, and some straight lines radiating out from the center of that block. The binding is the same small polka dot you can see in the main blocks.



For the backing, I used a large piece of slightly heavier fabric that I cut off the bottom of our bedroom curtains. It's actually red and off-white, but I love the print and it works with the binding (and I'm hoping the sturdier fabric will help it last longer since I'm planning on using it as a park blanket).

I'm working on getting the pattern/instructions for the quilt written up, and will have it available for purchase (with or without the embroidery patterns) soon.

I'm also working on getting better pics, because these backyard jobbies are not cutting it. But I wanted to post something because I am very proud of this quilt!

Ro! Cham! Beau!

A little embroidery from a drawing by Sean. About 5" across. Not sure what I'm going to do with it yet, but when I saw Sean's drawing (for his new trading cards), I knew I had to stitch it up.

rainbow dinosaur mini-quilt

Made for Henry's 2nd birthday. It's 44" x 30", my own design, and I'm very pleased to announce, it's also my first published quilt pattern! FREE Rainbow Sampler Mini-quilt pattern here.

See more detailed pictures of the dinosaurs here, and find the dinosaur embroidery patterns here.

redwork quilt top

Got the top for the redwork quilt finished yesterday! Next up is the quilting (not quite sure how I'm going to do it, but I have a couple of ideas), and then binding (using the same small polka dot at the corners of the triplane). This is shaping up really nicely! It's a bit big for a baby quilt (47" square), but I want it to last a while before it's outgrown.

Better bigger.

NEW! Dinosaur embroidery patterns available NOW!

Here they are in all their glory! All six dinosaurs from Henry's rainbow quilt!

The whole set of patterns is available as a pdf for just $5!













Dinosaur Embroidery Patterns by Goblinko: get stitchin'!

blue dimetrodon

Blue dimetrodon panel from Henry's rainbow dinosaur quilt. Hand embroidery by me, original drawing by Sean. Pattern coming soon!

3.26.10

Orange triceratops panel for Henry's rainbow dinosaur quilt. Hand embroidery by me, original drawing by Sean. Pattern coming soon!

Fokker Dr.I

Here's the final redwork embroidery panel for the quilt I'm working on for the baby (design drawn by Sean), a Fokker Dr.I triplane!



I had so much fun stitching this one up. It's much bigger (and more complicated!) than the other 8 panels. The plane is about 8" across. Now I'm on to piecing together the quilt top!

The full set of redwork embroidery patterns will be available soon!

3.13.10

A sneak peek at Pip's redwork quilt. I'm almost done with the triplane embroidery, so I laid out a big chunk of the quilt to see how I liked it before starting to piece it together. I am SO pleased with how this looks. The day after I took this picture, I got three of the ninepatches pieced together. It is going to be fantastic. I am so excited.

recent embroideries

In between work on my redwork embroidery project and the samples for my set of dinosaur embroidery patterns, I've been stitching up a few other small things (these are both in 4" hoops):


A small ghost for Stephanie's birthday.


A flower based on a 17th century design.

more redwork in progress

Two more small redwork embroidery patches for the quilt I'm working on for the baby (designs drawn by Sean).





Next up is the large center patch, which will be a Fokker DR-1 triplane.

redwork in progress

Redwork embroidery patches for the quilt I'm working on for the baby (designs drawn by Sean). The quilt is a nine patch of ninepatches. Each of the outer ninepatches has 8 red & white prints surrounding one of these redwork patches (which are 4.5" square). The center panel is going to be one large redwork embroidery piece. I'm very excited about how this is coming out!