August/September Creative Challenge Submissions

Pink and Orange Burst by Kelly Darke

Oh my goodness, I am so sorry everyone! I did not get this posted up on schedule, and I apologize! I have been so busy with work and crafting, story of our lives, right?

Anyway, we are now ready to accept submissions for our last creative challenge, which was The Jazz Age. Hopefully time didn't get away from you as much as it did with me, and you had a chance to make something inspired by the Jazz Age!

Leave a link here to your entry. You have until October 16, 2013 to post your link. Your creation can be something on etsy or your own personal blog, basically anywhere that you can provide a link to.

Voting will be held starting October 17 and ending October 20.

We can't wait to see what great pieces you have all come up with! Don't forget that the winner of this challenge will not only get to choose the theme for our next creative challenge, but they will also be in the running for our 2013 Favorite Creative Challenge Winner!

June/ July Creative Challenge Submissions

Pop Art Lips Necklace by A Little Offbeat

Well, it's that time again! Sorry to post this a little late this month, but we are now ready to accept submissions for our latest Creative Challenge!  The theme for this challenge is A Midsummer Night's Dream.  We hope you had some time to put your needles to work in creating some amazing midsummer night themed pieces!

Leave a link here to your entry.  You have until July 30th to post your link.  Your creation can be something on Etsy or your own personal blog, basically anywhere that you can provide a link to.

Voting will be held starting July 31 and ending on August 2.

We are excited to see what creations you have made!  The winner will not only get to choose the theme for our next creative challenge, but they will also be in the running for our 2013 Favorite Creative Challenge Winner!

Creative Challenge Voting

It's time to vote for our favorite April/ May Creative Challenge piece!  The theme this time around was Fairy Tales, and here they are for you to take a gander at!  Vote for your favorite by leaving a comment below!  Voting will be open until May 31st (this Friday), so get your vote in and spread the word!  The winner will not only get to choose the theme for our next creative challenge, but they will also be in the running for our 2013 Favorite Creative Challenge Winner!

Cinderella and Stepsisters by Aimee

Alice in Wonderland by Danny V

Medusa by FunWithNeedles

Little Red Riding Hood by AniaJane

Thanks for taking a look!  Leave your vote in the comments section below!

April/ May Creative Challenge Submissions

Geo Bear by Three Silver Trees

Hello to all of you busy busy stitchers out there!  It's time again to begin accepting submissions for our latest Creative Challenge!  The theme this time around is Fairy Tales.  We hope you had some time to put your needles to work in creating some amazing fairy tale themed pieces!

Leave a link here to your entry.  You have until May 27th to post your link.  Your creation can be something on Etsy or your own personal blog, basically anywhere that you can provide a link to.

Voting will be held starting May 28 and ending on May 31.

We are excited to see what Fairy Tale inspired creations you have made!  The winner will not only get to choose the theme for our next creative challenge, but they will also be in the running for our 2013 Favorite Creative Challenge Winner!

Creative Challenge Winner!

Congratulations to our February/ March Creative Challenge winner... Bridgit Boggs!  The theme was The Garden, and I think we all can agree that her Rambling Rose piece puts us right in the mood for being out in the garden.

The Garden themed winner!

As the winner of the Creative Challenge, Bridgit got to choose the theme for our next Creative Challenge... and that theme is... Fairy Tale.

The rules are simple.  Create something with needle and thread that is inspired by fairy tales.  Here is your chance to make some really beautiful and exciting needlework.  Get creative and think outside of the box!  Submissions will be accepted between May 24, 2013 and May 27, 2013.

On May 24, we will put up a post asking for everyone's submissions. It can be a link to something you are planning on selling on etsy or other venues, or just a picture of something you created!

Starting May 28 and ending May 31 will be our open voting to decide who made the most awesome piece! All you have to do to vote is leave a comment on the voting post.

Feel free to leave comments here about different ideas for this challenge, or just to cheer everyone on! And remember, the winner of this creative challenge will be put in the running for a grand prize at the end of the year!

Creative Challenge Voting

It's time to vote for our favorite February/ March Creative Challenge piece!  The theme this time around was The Garden, and wow, did we get quite a bit of submissions!  Here they are in all of their garden-y glory, for your viewing pleasure:



Pikmin Tissue Box Topper by Daniel Valentin

Welcome to our Garden by Sew Jenaissance

Herb Garden by Shelia Huis

Embroidery by Aimee



Rambling Rose by Bridgit Boggs

Jumping Spider by Fun With Needles

Woodland Cross Stitch by Angie

Vote for your favorite by leaving a comment below! Voting will be open until March 31st (this Sunday), so get your vote in and spread the word! The winner will not only get to choose the theme for our next creative challenge, but they will also be in the running for our 2013 Favorite Creative Challenge Winner!

February/ March Creative Challenge Submissions

Necklace by The Werk Shoppe

Why hello everyone!  It's time again to begin accepting submissions for our latest Creative Challenge!  The theme this time around is The Garden.  Spring is in the air, so hopefully you have had a lot of inspiration.

Leave a link here to your entry.  You have until March 27th to post your link.  Your creation can be something on Etsy or your own personal blog, basically anywhere that you can provide a link to.

Voting will be held starting March 28.

We are excited to see what Garden inspired creations you have made!  The winner will not only get to choose the theme for our next creative challenge, but they will also be in the running for our 2013 Favorite Creative Challenge Winner!

Creative Challenge Winner!

Congratulations to Sew Jenaissance, the winner of our December/ January Creative Challenge! Her Winter Sports themed piece is pretty adorable.


Winner!

As the winner of the Creative Challenge, Sew Jenaissance got to choose the theme for our next Creative Challenge... and that theme is... The Garden.

The rules are simple. Create something with needle and thread that is inspired by the garden. Here is your chance to make some really beautiful needlework. Get creative and think outside of the box! Submissions will be accepted between March 24, 2013 and March 27, 2013.

On March 24, we will put up a post asking for everyone's submissions. It can be a link to something you are planning on selling on etsy or other venues, or just a picture of something you created!

Starting March 28 and ending March 31 will be our open voting to decide who made the most awesome piece! All you have to do to vote is leave a comment on the voting post.

Feel free to leave comments here about different ideas for this challenge, or just to cheer everyone on! And remember, the winner of this creative challenge will be put in the running for a grand prize at the end of the year!

Creative Challenge Voting

Hello everyone!  It's time to vote for our December/ January Creative Challenge!  The theme for this challenge was Winter Sports.  Here are our awesome submissions:

Winter Girl by sew jenaissance

Ice Fishing Eskimo Girl by stitchnmomma

Snowshoeing Into the Northern Lights by Ania Jane

Vote for your favorite by leaving a comment below!  Voting will be open until January 31st (this Thursday), so get your vote in and spread the word!  The winner will not only get to choose the theme for our next creative challenge, but they will also be in the running for our 2013 Favorite Creative Challenge Winner!

December/ January Creative Challenge Submissions

Wall Art by Baby Gazelle

Hello everyone!  It's time for our creative challenge submissions!  We hope you're enjoying your winter and that it inspired you for our current creative challenge theme: Winter Sports.

Leave a link here to your entry.  You have until January 26th to post your link.  Your creation can be something on Etsy or your own personal blog, basically anywhere that you can provide a link to.

Voting will be held next week.

We cannot wait to see what you guys have come up with!

Challenge Voting

It time to vote on our latest challenge with the theme of "The Moon".

Here are the entries for this time around :

Funwithneedles The Moon Embroidered Wall Hanging

AniaJane Spring Moon Cuff Bracelet

Spincushions Starry Night Pincushion

Vote for your favourite by commenting below.  Voting is open until Sunday 29th April.

Winner will be announced and the next challenge will be posted once the winner of this challenge sets the theme.

Tips and Tricks Tuesday: May Flowers

This week I bring you a collection of tutorials on embroidering flowers... Because April showers bring May flowers! (Here in central NC it's been April showers bring more showers... Ugh!)

Embroidered Felt Flower

Buttonhole Stitch Flowers

Ribbon Embroidery Carnation

Multiple Stitches for Flowers (With Videos)

Jenny Hart's Lazy Lotus

Long-Tailed Daisy (Scroll down)

Silk Ribbon Zinnias

If you use any of these tutorials, be sure to post pictures and link here in a comment!

Tips and Tricks Tuesday: Store Your Thread!

How do you store your embroidery floss?

I'll admit, some of my "method" involves stuffing it into a box to sort "later" (and later... and later...). However, I do use some organizational tools, and I found a few interesting ideas online as well.

My favorite organizing piece- the divided plastic box. I like "Prism" by ArtBin because it's thick, snaps shut well, and wasn't expensive. I have the box with six different compartments. I put different color families into each of the sections so it's easy to find the color I need for a project. I don't use the traditional little white cardboard cards since they tend to kink the floss, so I keep the papers on and lay the skeins down flat in the containers.

I covet one of these DMC floss cabinets. A little out of my price range, but how cool! They remind me of vintage store displays.

How much fun is this "Dollar Store" craft-- Ice trays used for storage AND easy identification of colors.

This cute vintage domino box makes great storage for floss once the skeins are wound on cards (or in this case, plastic canvas).

This box-and-bag method looks like a lot of work, but the results are great.

This blogger had the same problem I've had with many of the notebooks marketed to embroiderers-- the floss falls out! She solved the problem with a little ingenuity and sewing.

Weekly Team Treasury

Happy Thursday everyone! 

This week's treasury features some of the lovely accessories made by our fellow teammates! 

I hope you all enjoy!

Til next week!

♥, Pilous



Tips and Tricks Tuesday: The Perfect Satin Stitch

Today I'm bringing you a collection of tutorials and my own advice about how to perfect your satin stitch.

1. From "Stitch School", a blog all about stitches: Satin Stitch

2. The classic Sharon B's stitch dictionary: Satin stitch

3. From Needle 'N Thread: Serious Padded Satin Stitch

Heart by LAMDesigns

(Don't want to satin stitch today? Try crayon tinting with this excellent tutorial... I plan to write my own soon, but this one pretty much covers it!)

Tiki by Samskiart

My personal advice about satin stitches:

1. Use fewer strands of floss-- 2-3 is ideal for most projects. I've used all six before for a fun, chunky look, but not a classic satin look.

2. Use satin stitches on small areas. If you try to cover too large an area, your stitches will hang loose and look bad.

3. Cover the entire back the same way you did the front. This gives more stability to your stitches and makes it easier to keep them close together.

4. Even if you prefer surface embroidery (like me), practice your satin stitch on aida cloth (cross-stitch fabric). This will allow you to get a hang for spacing out your stitches correctly.

Bridal handkerchief by MutantAngel

Tips and Tricks Tuesday: Stitching on Dark Fabrics

Today I'm going to share a few different tutorials for hand stitching on dark fabrics.

Pillow by Melysbaby

My tutorial, written last August. I wrote a tutorial while working on a large pr

oject that involved lots of stitching on black fabric. I still haven't tried Jenny Hart's transfer paper, but I am actually planning to buy some soon. Sullivan's stopped making their version and I can't find any more closeout packages!

Jenny Hart also recently posted a tutorial about stitching on dark fabrics. Her technique is the same as mine, but her pictures are much better... MUCH.

Bookmark by GwynandAvaQuilted

I found this tutorial by Pin Tangle that talks about a product called "Transdoodle", but the only places I found Transdoodle online were out of stock or very pricey. I'd be interested to hear if any "NEATers" have tried Transdoodle.

This tutorial by Kristy doesn't use transfer paper. Instead, she transfers the design to a water soluble plastic (basically water soluble stabilizer-- it's the same stuff) and stitches through the stabilizer and the fabric.

What have you stitched on dark fabrics?