All my embroidery thus far (almost) now with pattern!

[Jatoha]

Hi all!

I have really caught the embroidery bug from you all.  I never thought I would enjoy making tiny little stitches, but now I find it to be the ultimate relaxation.

So here are pretty much all of my projects thus far.  I would love to get some critiques on things I could do better or different stitches, etc.  I don't mind constructive feedback at all.



This chipmunk is the first thing I tried to see if I would like to do embroidery.  I used some scrap fabric and it's very wrinkly.  I'm not sure what I'll do with this now.


Next, I went geeky and did this tea towel.  The picture is from the boardgame Power Grid.  Boardgames and crafting are my two big hobbies.


This is Slab the Killer from the game Bang!  Bang! is an awesome card game, everyone has a secret identity--sheriff, deputy, outlaw, renegade.  they are all trying to shoot each other.  It's similar to Mafia if you've ever played that.

here is the card that I used as my pattern:


  Next is the tea towel for my BFF who is a coffee queen.  Please note my very first successful french knot dotting the i's.  Yippee!!

  This is from the game Say Anything!  The designer of the game said he'd give me a free copy if I made him a towel-- YIPPEE!!  So I did one of the game pieces.

Say Anything is an awesome party game, if you want something fun for the holidays, they have it at most Targets.

Lastly I'm going to show you the backs because I've really tried to improve how my backs look:







Thanks for looking!!  Have a great day!!

-------edit--------

here is the link to my picasa album where I uploaded a couple photos of my sketch of the chipmunk. 

It's not the best, sadly I couldn't figure out how to make the beautiful line drawings that I see other folks make.  there are two photos in this album, one is the original sketch.  the other is my sad attempt to photoshop it.  Sorry I couldn't do better, but hopefully it's usable.

http://picasaweb.google.com/Jatoha/ChipmunkPattern#

[meganlorraine]

Those are absolutly awesome! Very nice job. And I agree, the backs are quite nice as well, I've had problems cleaning up mine! Kudos!!

[Raventhistle]

Wow! I think you've done great for your first tries. Spectacular, even!

[EKO]

Love the Bang tea towl, it is one of my new favorite filler games, or large group games!

[kittykill]

Wow~ They are all so awesome! It's hard to choose which is my favorite.

[Muddlepud]

Wow, you've done a really nice job, especially considering you're new to embroidery. I can see an obvious passion for gaming!

I don't know if you're concerned about the wrinkly fabric, but since you mentioned it, here's what I've learned. (It took me a while to figure all this out!) First wet the fabric enough that it's damp (I use a spray bottle, but you could also just soak it in the sink and then let it hang to dry a tad). Then put a terry cloth towel down on your ironing board, turn the piece stitch down (so the squishiness of the towel will keep the stitches from getting smushed), and put a piece of scrap fabric over top. Then just iron it on a nice, hot setting. The iron will both dry the fabric (the scrap fabric keeps it from damaging your piece) and get out all the wrinkles.

Keep up the good work!

[cathiphop]

these are fantastic!! The colors of the towel go great with the Bang! piece, and I am in love with the Power Grid piece. Never played the game, but putting that on fabric is just awesome. The detailing on the chipmunk is sooo cool! lovelovelove it all.

[Teresa_T]

You are doing great. I'm really also impressed how you can adapt patterns. I could not do that.

[jelly]

Awesome!!!  I've played those games and LOVE LOVE LOVE the Bang towel!!!

You are this.close to inspiring me to try this to make a Christmas present for one of my board game buddies.    How to make a cool /something/ based on Railroad Tycoon?

[hippiejo74]

  Seriously awesome!

[Jatoha]

Thank you so much for the nice comments!!

thank you, PencilNeck-- (oh, it feels wrong to call you that!!  ) -- for the hint on ironing.  I've tried getting the fabric wet, using the hottest setting, etc, but I never thought about ironing it on a different surface.  I'll definitely give the towel,etc a try!

[ritapizza]

The chipmunk jumping over the mushrooms one is so cute!

[BeatnikChick]

Dig all of your work, it's nice to see the reverse sides to your work... thank you for that... All of your subject matter is really fun... and it is super relaxing, isn't it!?

[GumInMyHair]

I love them all. If I had to pick a favorite, I'd go with the geeky Power Grid.

[Eliea]

you send the chipmunk to me! He'd look great in my craft room. No seriously I love him and all your embroidery it looks great!

[karismaklysm]

I love the coffee one!!!

And your Meheecan Shooter is awesome. The shading was really well done.
RAWK!

[artoo1121]

Oh my gosh, I just have to add to the compliments on the chipmunk.  He is ADORABLE!  Did you design it yourself, or did you copy it from somewhere?  Because it is just too adorable.  So cute!

Anyway, I'm in awe of your talent!  You're obviously a natural, I love the board game tie ins.

[LindseyPeek519]

Embroidery IS surprisingly entertaining isn't it?? I'm glad you caught the e-bug! Your work is great!

[Jatoha]

Thank you for all the compliments!  I could upload a copy of my chipmunk drawing if you all are interested in it.

I'll have to figure out how to get it on the computer.....  I'll work on it!! 

[lee-lee ess.]

They all look great, even the backs look super good!  (wayyy better than my first try looked,  hehe)  I've been wanting to start embroidering, and this makes me want to pick it up even more.

I do have to say, I absolutely adore the chipmunk.  He's the cutest little thing, ever!  If you do upload the drawing, I may just have to give it a try.

[spicecarrie]

The chipmunk is adorable!! Great job on all!

[TheMistressT]

I love your choices!  Brave of you to start learning w/o a kit or pattern.  One of the things about embroidery that's so cool is how portable it is. 

I've been trying to focus on the backs of mine, too (even though it's been months since I picked up an embroidery needle) and I have lots of luck by going old school and not using knots.  I just leave a tail that I embroider over at the beginning and run the end through the back of the completed stitches.  Works pretty well on things that are filled in.

[Spirited]

those are wicked! I love the 'Bang!' towel and colour wheel dealy! so cool!

[Jatoha]

Check my first post for a link to the pattern for the chipmunk.