So you like retro stuff right?

There's one decade that you've been <3ing lately?

There's one special item that's been on your mind late?  For your outfit, kitchen, living room, bedroom, office?

You don't have a ton of time but need something to brighten your winter?

You hate the high cost shipping but the challenge of making someone's dreams come true?

Then this swap might be the one for you!  If you are interested post in this thread and if we get 14 for sure folks we'll run it.  If you have ideas of awesome things that can be shipped flat post them too

You will select a decade, specify 3 items under an 1 inch tall (ie can be shipped flat (think greeting cards, how to kit, cloth grocery bag, apron, tea towels, coin purse, bracelet).  And spend February dreaming of your special delivery!

I've been waiting and wondering if anyone was going to start a rockabilly swap but haven't seen anything for a while.  If there is interest I would be willing to organize.  

Maybe sign-ups until the end of January send end of February or early March?

One large or 2 mediums plus one small?

So I've been working away on the tea towel tour but while all that was going on my best friend decided to move away and I wanted to make him something to put up in his new home...both of these are Sailor Jerry designs the Ace of Spades took around 8 or so hours and the Love Thy Neighbor was in the realm of about 20 hours.

I hope you like them...I was really stressed about the Love Thy Neighbor piece and I'm not sure what I think about my shading but I am glad I gave it a shot.



this baby features the trellis stitch ... and wanted to post it on here because I originally saw the blue/black embroidery floss combination here on craftster some time ago and loved it and this was the first time I got to try a version of this effect out.

Hey,

I thought I'd put a note here in case you are anxiously waiting for Jenny's book like me.  For all the Americans it has been available to order from Chronicle Books for about a week now but currently they are running a promotion that if you order 2 of her titles you get the 3rd free.

For Canadians like me suffering in limbo (you can't order it from Chronicle if you are outside the US) the book was released on Chapters and Amazon today.  However, amazon does not have it currently in stock.  I ordered my copy a few minutes ago on Chapters and the latest it is supposed to arrive is September 8 (I choose the free shipping option).

Best of luck with your search.

rectangel

Hello,

I just thought I'd post this hear in case anyone is interested in joining...I have a few spots left and we are already headed south this time so it would be great to add a couple more Southern hemisphere stitchers to the group

Signups will close Aug-31 or before if we fill up the swap is here...

http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=317055

and the gallery is here
http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=317571.0

Post 'em when you got'em

This is my design for my tea towel -you may recognize her from many sources as she is based on some old flash I've seen in various places but most recently BrookeOwens did a couple of versions of her.  This is my take on it -the image I used was from about 2 years ago when someone posted her as a "thanks for the add" on a myspace account I had  I searched for a source and she is a lot like a tattoo from a X-files episode but in the end I couldn't find the source and since I had seen it reused on so many things (shrinky dink necklaces, stationery) I decided it was fair game.

It took a lot to get her to embroiderable state and redraw a line drawing for this.  I wanted to make it my own and practice some stitches.  I had to get a bunch of pictures of girls looking over their shoulder because I keep thinking it looked like she had a broken neck and her eyes were crooked.  I even took a picture of myself to see if the pose was plausible and where the irises of the eyes should be...I love Hank Williams and so I thought this was very apron appropriate...I drew the banner myself and which leads me to mention that if you write text out in a drawing always leave lots of space between the letters because embroidery letters are always somehow puffier.

For the first time ever I documented my transfer process because when I work on something so small and detailed I can't use my transfer pen and have to use carbon paper.  The pictures are on my other camera though so that will have to wait.  Happy Monday!

[The Rootbeer Raiders]

Gallery: http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=317571.0


The Rootbeer Raiders

rectangel (R)      -- 1Ro - 2De - 3Il - 4Gl  - 5Kl - 6Ao
aada (A)             -- 1Ao-  2Ro  - 3Do  - 4Il - 5Gl - 6Kl
kittykill (K)          -- 1Ko- 2Ae - 3Re - 4Do - 5Io - 6G
~Glenda (G)        --1Go - 2Ko  - 3Ae   - 4Ro - 5Do- 6Ie
I Sew Cute  (I)     -- 1Io- 2Ge - 3Ke  - 4Ax - 5Ro - 6Do
doo_leroux (D)    -- 1Do - 2Ie- 3Go - 4Ko - 5Al - 6Rl

Group Leaders Glow

The Raiders     rectangel aada kittykill ~Glenda I Sew Cute 2 rem doo_leroux

Lazy Daisies Beetastic cupcakeguru     fabricfriend greenlightgo sundayaft... fiberartsy sew~amy

Sassy Stitchers IamSusie Kitten Wrangler     ritapizza pearliepie j_q_adams sarahj2001

Lounge Lizards lillyvanilli AlwaysInspired         PaleAngelLex sonjabegonia ThirdMargaret ZombieQueen

Ginslingers GatsbyGirl sixblueirises     fenifer millik mamaphunk mego

Craftster member who is organizing this swap: rectangel
IamSusie, GatsbyGirl, ritapizza, Beetastic, and Lilyvanilli have agreed to be co-organizers/group leaders!

Sign-up date range: 08-12 until 08-31 or before if all spots have been filled.
 
Date to send item by: Wednesday, September 2, without exception

Limited to a certain number of people? YES!  - 36

<sup>Restricted to people who all live in the same country? YES & NO
If so, which country? ALL AS SPACE ALLOWS
All ages allowed? Or 18+? all ages
Priority will be given to previous participants until August 14th then remainder spots will be open to all

Swap Organizer himself/herself meets these conditions:
- Has fully read the Swap Info Guide: YES
- Has successfully completed two swaps as a participant: YES
- Is not organizing more than three swaps right now: YES
- Will recruit a co-organizer or give all details to a Swap Moderator if this swap has more than 25 participants: YES

Swap Organizer will check each participant to make sure they meet these conditions:
- Has been a member for at least one month: YES
- Has posted at least 15 times: YES
- Has completed one swap successfully before signing up for multiple swaps at a time: YES
- Is not currently signed up for more than five swaps: YES
- Does not have any negative feedback: YES</sup>

Details of swap: Welcome to the 5th round of the Tea Towel Tour! This swap is a great way to get to know people and improve your skills. Beginners and experienced hand embroiderers are welcome. You can send a cloth napkin, an apron, or a tea towel, whatever you choose to send make sure it is washable, lightweight, light colored, suitable for embroidery, and pinked or basted if the edges are raw.  DO NOT ask permission to send bulky, heavy items, or dark colored items.

You will be put in a group of 6 forwarding each towel you receive to your assigned person after embroidering it. This is a multiple send out swap with strict timelines.  Towels circulate in a round until they complete the circle and return to the owner after 5 other people have stitched a design on the towel.  

Towel A circulates from owner A to B to C to D to E to F and then back to A
Towel B circulates from owner B to C to D to E to F to  A and then back to B and so on.

Communication with your group leader is key in this swap.  If you feel you are falling behind, can’t keep up, experience problems your group leader can help so be proactive in contacting them if you feel you may have an issue.

Before you send attach with a safety pin or baste a tag to your towel with your name and address and put your towel into a Ziploc bag.  You may want to include a card to your fellow stitchers.  And if you have time you might want to start out your item with a design but this is not a must and should not interfere with you making the sending deadline.

When you receive a towel YOU HAVE ONE WEEK from its arrival date until it needs to shipped out again.  When a towel arrives you need to let your group organizer and the sender know.  

When you ship a towel you must PM the receiver and your group organizer and let them know (include the DC #).  If you are running late let your group organizer know ASAP before the deadline passes.   Failure to communicate could result in you being skipped or dropped.

Although this idea originally started with Sublime Stitching you can use any embroidery design you like and post it in the gallery as soon as you are done.  For this swap we request that credit the source of your images and use imagery you have obtained legitimately (purchased or is copyright free) or have permission to use.

Please remember that several people need to embroider it in a short amount of time so pick something that fits with your skill level and allotted time frame (one week) and leaves space for other people to add.

Anyone who is not in contact on a weekly basis via posts or PMs without prior notification will be considered flaking.  FLAKERS SLOW DOWN THEIR WHOLE GROUP, PLEASE MAKE SURE YOUR SCHEDULE CAN ACCOMODATE THE TIME COMMITMENT.  

NEW!  Feedback comments will reflect the number of times you sent on time, your level of communication and your level of participation/co-operation in a standardized format.  So many of you are awesome and helpful we want to make sure it gets reflected in your comments.

If you want to participate, send the following information to the organizer.

QUESTIONNAIRE TO ANSWER:

Name of swap:
Craftster username:
Email address:
Your real name:
Address:
City:
State/Province:
Country:
Postal/Zip Code:

What would you say your skill level is on a scale of 1-10 (1 you are new to embroidery, and 10 being that you work quickly and can do pretty much any stitch well)?
Do you wish to allow other kinds of embellishment (are beads/ribbon okay)?
Will you be regularly washing this item?
What colors do you like?
Is there a BROAD GENERAL concept/theme you are hoping will inspire your partners (keeping mind this it is up to your partners whether they use it)?
Is there anything that you would not like to see on your item?
Any other information you think is relevant?

Questions for organizer...
Would you like to be in an international group?
If you said yes to the question above and live in the USA would you be willing to be the overseas shipper for your group?
Do you agree to sending the item Xpresspost or Priority Mail if you run late?
Do you have reliable internet access?
Finally, depending on interest I am looking at creating a slow start group (this group will send their first towel at the same time as everyone else but not be required to send the next towel until October 6 after that they will resume the weekly schedule).  Are you interested in this?

If you are new to swapping/craftster and don't have any posts on the needlework board I would appreciate it if you could send me a link to some of your work.

IF YOU WANT TO PARTICIPATE, REMEMBER TO SEND YOUR INFO TO ORGANIZER VIA PRIVATE MESSAGE AND NOT TO REPLY WITH IT HERE AND PLEASE PUT TEA TOWEL TOUR 5 IN THE SUBJECT LINE.

Also remember to read the Swap Info Guide to find out how to ship your item and other details about participating in a swap.

01. rectangel -CAN
02. IamSusie  
03. GatsbyGirl
04. ritapizza
05. Lilyvanilli
06. mamaphunk
07. doo_leroux -CAN
08. I Sew Cute
09. sarahj2001
10. sew~amy
11. fabricfriend
12. Zombie_Queen
13. greenlightgo
14. sundayafternoonhous ewife
15. Kitten Wrangler -AU
16. sonjabegonia
17. aada
18. craftymama06
19. ~Glenda
20. AlwaysInspired
21. cupcakeguru
22. sixblueirises
23. PaleAngelLex
24. mego
25. j_q_adams
26. fenifer
27. millik
28. Pearliepie
29. kittykill
30. fiberartsy
31. ThirdMargaret (30)

I made this for my friend from work who is getting married on the 11th she wanted something pretty vs racy/sexy and was very pleased with this  The lace was hand gathered and it is the stretchy kind so it isn't so itchy - I used grosgrain ribbon on the inside so it wouldn't slide down either.





On another note I haven't really explored these boards before but I'm amazed by what I was missing!

Hey Everyone,

I made this pillow cover for Ritapizza and I finally had time to edit the photos I took of it.  I made the pattern myself for the pillow cover (it is here http://www.flickr.com/photos/rectangel/3405009715/in/set-72157601863743141/ ) and it matches another pillow cover I made for her last year (it is here  http://www.flickr.com/photos/rectangel/2591524172/in/set-72157601448972729/ ).  Rita is awesome and it was really cool to make this for her   The embroidery flower designs were redrawn and simplifed from a version of some Dover clip art image and the R was based on two different block fonts I put together and redrew to make it work.  I worked on this very slowly and so I had photos all over the place for it.  If you check on flickr Rita has pics and I will put some of these ones on there later in big versions and you can also see what Rita made me  









these are the buttons I used for the back but I also think it's funny to see how many times I measured and marked the buttonholes in order to get them perfect (OCD anyone?)


but it was worth it


I love the sheen in this photo


and here it is flat

okay I recently saw this http://www.sublimestitching.com/machinecozy.html sewing machine cover and thought for the millionth time I need to make one of those things does anyone else? or do you need a cover for something else?  I have lots of fabric just waiting for a project like this