How do they rise up? The Glorious 25th May

Truth! Justice! Freedom! Reasonably-Priced Love! A Hard Boiled Egg!

Once again it is the 25th May, when we celebrate all things Pratchett.  I wrote a blog about the importance of the 25th May, and my impressions of the book it comes from, Night Watch, this time last year.  You can find that blog post here: Truth, Justice, Freedom, Reasonably-priced Love, and a Hard Boiled Egg.

Even more important, there's a free pattern in that blog post, featuring the 25th May battle cry and sprigs of lilac.  Don't forget to check it out.

Happy Stitching!

Discworld Donations - a follow-up

After Terry Pratchett died, I wanted to make a donation to the Australian equivalent of one of Terry's favourite charities.  I decided that the proceeds from all Discworld patterns sold until the end of May would be donated to The Alzheimer's Australia Dementia Research Foundation. (you can read more on that here).


Thanks to everyone who purchased a Discworld pattern from my Etsy store over the two and a bit months since.  We manged to raise $85, which for my little store is very good going!  Hurray!


I'm going to do another fundraiser later in the year, so stay tuned.


You can read more on my love of Terry Pratchett here and here and here.


Happy Stitching

Biscornu

 This week I discovered biscornu.

I'm a little bit behind the trend, I know.  They seemed to be all the rage last year, but I never got around to making one.  To be honest, I had no idea what I would end up doing with it (as opposed to the 101 cross stitches that are hanging on my wall), and there were so many other projects to work on instead.

However, the local Agricultural Show this year has a section for pincushions (a whole section - goodness knows why!) so I decided to have a go.

I made two different ones - one was a blackwork pattern I found on Pinterest that I stitched in purple threads (because why not); the second was my own pattern.  I used the Great A'Tuin pattern from my Discworld alphabet and some geometric shapes.

I'm really pleased with how they turned out.  I'm going to put together a bit of a how-to guide because I've now discovered there can never be too many biscornu - stay tuned!

Happy Stitching!

Truth, Justice, Freedom, Reasonably-priced Love, and a hard boiled egg. Oh, and a free pattern

If you have to ask, you weren't there.

The 25th of May has become the unofficial Discworld Day/Terry Pratchett Day for Discworld fans around the globe.

Night Watch cover art by Paul Kidby

The date comes from the novel Night Watch.  In my honest opinion, this is the greatest novel in the Discworld series, and probably the best book I have ever read.  By Night Watch, Terry has sorted out the rules of his world, and is sticking to them fairly faithfully - the rules about how magic works on the Disc, how the society is structure, the politics and policies, what a dwarf/troll/human/vampire/werewolf/gnome/pixie/wizard/witch is and how they interact/relate to everyone else.  Ankh-Morpork has a more concrete map and you feel like you are living in the city.  There is a history to the world, the city, the characters that is faithfully followed.  There are people who live in Ankh-Morpork, who work in Ankh-Morpork, and who reappear in novels set in the city.  In Night Watch we as a reader are able to invest fully in the story, because we aren't trying to work out how everything else on the Disc is supposed to work.  More than that, in Night Watch we are finally able to discover the history of a lot of our favourite characters: how CMOT Dibbler got his name, how Sam Vimes became the policeman he was destined to be, what a young Vetinari was like, why Nobbs.  Lu-Tze even makes an appearance.  There's time travel, adventure, crime, war (sort of), magic, mystery, torture, coming-of-age, obligatory father figure.  Basically everything you could want in a sci-fi/fantasy novel. Even dragons (albeit small ones you can light cigarettes with)

When asked about the book's "darker" themes, Pratchett said:

"A dark book, a truly dark book, is one where there is no light at the end of the tunnel. Where things start off going bad and carry on getting badder before they get worse and then it's all over. I am kind of puzzled by the suggestion that it is dark. Things end up, shall we say, at least no worse than they were when they started... and that seems far from dark to me. The fact that it deals with some rather grim things is, I think, a different matter."

Back to the 25th May.  The 25th May was the date of the great rebellion against the political leader of the time. The People (more dangerous than ordinary people) decided they were sick of the tyrannical rule and corrupt police/torturers and rebelled, forming The Glorious People's Republic of Treacle Mine Road.  They fought for Truth.  For Justice.  For Reasonably-priced Love (seamstresses will not fight for free love).  And for a Hard Boiled Egg.

They wore the lilac and sang dirty songs about angels rising up.

Don't forget - until the end of May, profits from the sale of Discworld-themed items in my Etsy store are being donated to the Alzheimer's Australia Dementia Research Foundation. (as explained in this post).

My gift to you on this glorious 25th May is a free pattern, a memory to the Glorious People's Republic of Treacle Mine Road.

I hope the picture appears okay! You should be able to click on it for a larger version.  Otherwise, if you email me I can send you the PDF version.

The colours are DMC 209 and DMC 310. The French knots can either be French knots with DMC209, or seed beads. French knots come up better in the program I use than beads, but I prefer using beads.  I used Mill Hill 2085 but I'm not sure if they're available any more.  Why not try Mill Hill petite 40252.  Or any other purple beads you have lying around!  On 14 count aida, it will fit a standard 4x6" picture frame.

I ran out of time tonight so only stitched two of the lilac branches, which looks pretty good too (I'm the worst person for following patterns, even my own!).

Happy Stitching and fight on!

Just Giving with Cross Stitch - Alzheimer's Research

Following Terry Pratchett's death, a Just Giving page was set up in his name to raise money for The Research Institute for the Care of Older People (RICE).  RICE was a charity greatly supported by Terry Pratchett, with the funds from auctions at Discworld conventions often being donated to them.

I wanted to do something similar, however being in Australia makes it a little bit harder to donate to overseas charities.  Not impossible, just a bit harder.  Besides, there are plenty of Australian charities and research organisations that I'd like to support, such as the Australian equivalent of RICE: The Alzheimer's Australia Dementia Research Foundation.

Until the end of May, the profit from the sales of all Discworld-themed cross stitch patterns on Fangirl Stitches will be donated to Dementia Research.

Snuff Quote

Alphabet

Earrings

Hogswatch card

Hogswatch Card

Wyrd Sisters

 Happy Stitching-with-a-cause!

Vale Terry Pratchett

Friday morning I was woken by a text message:

I was thrown by this a lot more than I was expecting.  This was the first time the news of the passing of someone I didn't know personally (eg celebrity) has actually affected me.  I was rather teary all day, reading some of the beautiful and poignant things people were writing on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram; reading articles and editorials such as this one by the Discworld Emporium.   Teary to the extent that I had one of those headaches that comes from crying too much.

 Previously when people have talked about being upset when Elvis Presley died, or Princess Diana, Michael Jackson, even Steven Irwin, I couldn't understand it.  They'd never met this person, they were just an image on TV or a picture in a magazine, a song on a radio.

Now I do.  People we don't know, never meet, can still have a significant impact on our lives, and shape the person who we are.

Terry Pratchett was, is, and most likely always will be my all-time favourite author.  His work came into my life when I was about 12 and awoke a love for fantasy and science fiction novels. They gave me comfort the year I lived in Malaysia as an exchange student - I'd allow myself to buy one new one each month and would read it over and over again until the next month when I could buy my next book.  The Discworld shaped some of my travels and adventures while I lived in the United Kingdom, including trips to Wincanton (twined with Ahnk-Morpork) and over to Ireland for the Irish Discworld Convention.  I often listen to the audio books when driving for work, or when dropping off to sleep at night - I know them so well I can lose myself in the book and turn off all other thoughts.

I never met Terry face-to-face, but I did have the privilege to hear him speak live once, at the launch event for "The Science of the Discworld IV".  I've also met a lot of people who knew him personally, who were close friends, and on whom characters from the Discworld were based.

Now I know there will be no more new adventures on the Disc, and that's probably what makes me most sad.  My brother posted on his facebook page: "There are very few Pratchett novels I haven't yet read, and will savour them all the more knowing they will be the last new journeys I will have into the wonderful mind of this magnificent man." I echo this sentiment completely.

Vale Terry.

Preparation for the A to Z Challenge

I've signed up to participate in the A to Z blogging challenge this year.

Basically, for the month of April, you set yourself a theme and blog once a day for each letter of the alphabet (excluding Sundays).  The A to Z blog people explain it best on their webpage:

"Can you post every day except Sundays during this month?  And to up the bar, can you blog thematically from A to Z?  Using this premise, you would start beginning April First with a topic themed on something with the letter A, then on April second another topic with the letter B as the theme, and so on until you finish on April thirtieth with the theme based on the letter Z.  It doesn't even have to be a word--it can be a proper noun, the letter used as a symbol, or the letter itself.  The theme of the day is the letter scheduled for that day."

I'm still trying to decide on my theme.  It is going to be cross-stitch related (of course!) but the problem is, what theme after that?  Keebles (who first mentioned the A to Z challenge to me) got me thinking about my character alphabets, after she requested the Once Upon A Time pattern as a possibility for her theme.

Not that I'm short of options!  Themed alphabets have become my "thing" of late and there are more than a few now available from the Fangirl Stitches website.  This might be a good excuse to stitch one or two of them. :)

Happy Stitching!

The Christmas Alphabet, Discworld Alphabet and Geeky Alphabet

The Veronica Mars Alphabet, Pokemon Alphabet, Whedon Alphabet

Harry Potter Character Alphabet, Doctor Who Alphabet of characters, Mario Brothers Character Alphabet

The Doctor Who Quotes Alphabet, Christmas Carol Alphabet and
Once Upon A Time Character Alphabet

Decorating for Christmas

Today is the first Sunday of Advent, and the weekend closest to 1st December, which means it's time to put out the Christmas decorations!

I love decorating for Christmas.  I get it from my mum.  When we were kids there were decorations everywhere - in the kitchen, in the hall, in the lounge room, even in the bathrooms!  Hanging decorations was one of my favourite family Christmas activities - that and looking at Christmas lights.

It still is one of my favourite Christmas activities.  Finding unique or special ornaments on my travels, reliving the memories as I decorate, or creating something special of my own.  These are some of my favourites on display this year.

The cross stitch Nativity scene on plastic canvas.  I started this about 10 years ago, although it took me awhile to finish.  It was a 3-parter in a CrossStitcher magazine probably about 15 or 20 years ago.  We had one of the parts and Mum managed to track down the others so I could stitch the series.  There's also an angel, a star, and the Inn Keeper and his wife, but I need to buy more stands to display them!  I've used game piece stands which work a treat.

Blackwork Christmas Angel.  This one also came from a magazine, although I can't remember which one!  It was one of the patterns I stitched in 2012 when I lived in the UK. She was meant to have a border around her, but I didn't like it, so I left it off - after all, life's too short to stitch background.













My cross stitch advent calendar - another one from a magazine!  I think this was also from CrossStitcher.  There's a stitched picture on each reverse side.  4 and 15 are missing because I have to fix their hangers.  Mum made the hanging quilt.  It has tabs to hang on a dowel hanger, but I'm using a skirt hanger in the meantime.

Ninja turtle baubles.  They were surprisingly easy to make  - green baubles, ribbon, googly eyes and some craft glue.

My Christmas decorations from my travels in the UK and Europe.  They should be hanging on the tree, but my 7 month old kitten thinks the Christmas tree is her new climbing frame and that anything hanging on it is hers to attack by right.  So instead they are on sticky hooks on one of the high kitchen cabinets to keep them safe!  The teacup and crown come from the Royal Palaces in England, the shamrock from Ireland, the purple bell is from Germany, the man in the red circle is from Iceland, and the two on red ribbons are from Harrods.

My second advent calendar - Lego Star Wars!  Very excited to start this tomorrow. Each day you get a little thing to create or build.  I had to hunt it down online because the only one I could get locally was the Lego City one.  And Star Wars is so much cooler.

Discworld Christmas cards.  I bought a set of 4 one year, gave two away as presents, and kept the other two as decorations.  They did hang on my wall for about two years before joining the Christmas decorations box.  Artwork by the very talented Paul Kidby

The Willow Tree nativity scene.  I love Willow Tree figurines - they are some of the only dust-collectors that I own.  The nativity scene is just stunning in its simplicity.  There are a couple of other sets you can buy to build on it - the wise men, and a set of animals.  Maybe one year.






Do you decorate for Christmas?  Do you go all out, or only have a few special decorations?  Do you prefer to have colour themes, or do you keep and collect your decorations to use year after year?  Are you a geeky Christmas person, or more traditional?  Religious or mainstream? Or maybe you don't do Christmas at all - maybe you do Hanaka or forego religious celebrations. I'd love to hear how you decorate (or don't) for Christmas, or any other holidays.

Happy Stitching!

Geeky Christmas Designs

The count down to Christmas is on.  Advent starts next Sunday, and the Christmas decorations will go up.  The stores have had them on display for at least a month.  Tuesday will be one month to go.

However, there's still plenty of time to start and finish your Christmas stitching!

I've designed a number of Christmas cards and decorations that are now for sale in my Etsy store.  As a true fangirl, these designs are all geeky in nature, incorporating as many fandoms as I could.

Ron and Harry wish you a very Magical Christmas.

The TARDIS Christmas set, featuring a pair of earrings, and two different cards.

How cute are the earrings?!

Why not say "Happy Christmas" in Klingon?  Perfect for any Star Trek fans

In case you were wondering, it says QISmas DatIvjaj 'ej DIS chu' DatIvja 

Death as the Hogfather, as portrayed in the film Hogfather

Death as a more modern Hogfather.  Both cards are available in the one set

On a side note, these designs also don't have snow.  My biggest bug-bear about standard Christmas designs is that they are predominately just snow scenes.  Being Australian, snow doesn't really feature in my Christmas celebrations, so it doesn't appear in my designs.  Christmas designs for the Southern Hemisphere.  But feel free to use a few white beads or extra white stitches to add some in if you're in the Northern Hemisphere! :)

Happy Christmas and Happy Stitching!

How to... Frame Your Stitching

Getting my stitches framed always seems to be the hardest part of cross-stitching for me.  Well, to be honest as I said in my last blog post, the hardest part is working out what to do with the finished project (display it, give it away, etc) but getting them framed is definitely up there!  It's time consuming, you have to work out the most appropriate frame/display option, and it can be expensive!  9 times out of 10 my finished projects wind up in a box under the bed (or in my mother's craft cupboard).  However, as I mentioned last week, I'm on a mission to get all my finished projects framed, displayed, and find a home for them if needed, without it costing me a fortune.  While I was at it, I thought I'd share a few of my framing tips, and tips I've gathered from other stitchers, books and magazines over the years.

Some of my finished & framed projects from last week.

1. Wash first! Make sure you wash your stitching before you frame it.  No matter how hard I've tried to keep them clean, I always find my projects need a good wash when finished.  I find a good wool wash detergent gets them clean without damaging the stitching.  I tend to hand wash as a rule, however if I have a particularly stained project or quite a number to clean at once, I have been known to put them through the washing machine on a very gentle cycle - but I wouldn't recommend it for the faint hearted! Oh, and make sure your threads are colour fast, although if you're using DMC or Anchor you should be okay.

2. Ironing: Place your stitching face down over a fluffy towel and keep the iron on a low setting.  It's a good idea to cover your work with a thin clean cloth to prevent damage.  I tend to sprinkle water over the project to get out the more stubborn wrinkles, although I have read plenty of instructions/tip guides that say to avoid steam.  Each to their own I guess.

3. Choosing your frame: hoop, wooden frame, plastic/metal frame, stretched canvas.  There are so many options out there and the choice is, of course, entirely up to you!  As I said, I'm trying to do this without it costing me a fortune, so I tend to raid the cheapy dollar shops in town, and keep an eye on the sales.  I've always tended to favour the standard wooden frame however have lashed out recently and tried stretched canvas.  My big tip - take your stitching with you when buying a frame rather than relying on your measurements.  Otherwise you wind up with some oddly sized frames and no idea what to do with them since they don't fit the project you thought they'd be perfect for.  Yes, I'm speaking from recent experience!  Remember to keep in mind how much of a boarder you want to leave around your stitching, how big your material is, and whether or not you're using a mount (cardboard frame inside the wooden frame).

Frames from my stash - the cheapy shop was having a sale!

4. Backing: You'll need to stretch your fabric over a mounting board of some description - otherwise it's going to look crinkled/wrinkled in the frame, and it will be hard to see all your hard work.  Where possible, I like to use the mount that's come with the frame.  Obviously this isn't an option if you're using the mount to display your work, but I don't tend to use mounts unless I'm getting my stitching professionally framed - just a personal choice.  The reason I like to use the mount as my backing board is that I know it's going to fit back into the frame!  That's the downside of cheaper frames - you don't have a lot of space to play with.  A new trick I've recently been trying is to use the glass as my backing board.  It does leave your stitching exposed to the elements but providing you're not hanging your stitching in the bathroom, kitchen, or somewhere really dusty or in direct sunlight (eg outside) I'm hoping it will be okay.  It also means that I don't have to worry about squishing beads, which is an issue when I don't use a mount.  If you are using a different board, use your glass to trace the size onto some thin card - if your cardboard is too thick, it won't fit in the frame.  It's better to cut the board a little smaller than the glass than a little bigger - too big and again it won't fit!

Position over your mounting board (or glass), and use your left-over
thread to lace the edges of your fabric together. Once secure,
position back in the frame (taking car of the top and bottom side!)

5. Lacing: The other good thing about using the glass as a mounting board is that I can see where my stitching is positioned while I lace.  Lacing is the process of stitching the edges of your material together to hold them in position over the mounting board.  Professional framing guides will tell you to use pins or tacks to hold your stitching in place once you've worked out how to position it on the mounting board.  I've always tended to risk it, which does mean I occasionally need to reposition and redo the lacing!  The pictures above will show you my lacing steps, as well as showing off glass vs mounting board.

6. In the Frame: Once laced, you just need to pop the stitching into the frame, put the back board on, and you're ready to go.  I've taken to taping down the back of my board to make sure dust doesn't get in, and to hold it all together when I've used a different mounting board and things are a little tight in the frame.  Just make sure your tape is acid free!

Taping the back shut

7. Stretched Canvas: My latest thing (although I know lots of others have been doing it for ages) is to stretch my projects over canvas.  It gives a different look, and means you're not distracted by a frame or mount- your stitching is on display for the world to see!  And it fits in with the whole minimalist thing that is popular at the moment.  Again, I tend to buy cheap painting canvases on sale at the dollar shop.  There are a range of sizes available, which is great, although Murphy's Law is the shop won't have the size you're looking for when you're looking for it, even though they sold it only last week (this tends to go for frames as well in my experience - again why I buy big when they're on sale!).  I find it helpful to lace the fabric over the canvas first.  Then, when you're happy with it, use a staple gun to secure the fabric in place.  You may find corners look neater if you trim them down first.  Make sure you allow for enough of a boarder when choosing your fabric initially (prior to stitching) or you'll have nothing to hold it into place! 

Framing over stretched canvas

8. Get them up! There's no point in framing your stitches if you don't display them, so get them up on the wall, sit them on shelves, lean them on your books, or give them away.  But get them out there!  

The Librarian ready to go!

Happy Stitching!!

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Discworld

My favourite author of all time is Terry Pratchett.

Well, one of my favourite authors.  I have a number of favourites - JK Rowling, LM Montgomery, Jasper Fforde, Bryce Courtney, John Marsden.  My bookcase is a bit of a conglomeration of different authors, themes, genres, styles.  It's over-flowing at the moment (and I have more in storage and at my brother's house) but space is at a premium in my share-house and there just isn't space at the moment!  My dream house has a dedicated library.  And craft room.  And Doctor Who shrine.  Have I mentioned I'll need a mansion?

My packed bookcase, and a few of my completed stitches

Part of my Pratchett collection - there are more on my desk, and more in storage!

But now I'm off topic.

My favourite author of all time is Terry Pratchett.  I love the way is mind works, the worlds he creates, the characters I know better than real people, the emotions, the total "what the" moments, and the utter crazy dedication of Pratchett fans.  I particularly love the vividness of his stories - the way I can see pictures in my mind as I read (or listen to the audio books).

To celebrate my favourite author, I have not one but two new patterns inspired by Pratchett, now available in my Etsy store.

First there are the Discworld Earrings:

The pattern includes Igor's eyeballs in jars, Death's life-timers, Rincewind and Granny Weatherwax's hats, and of course Great A'Tuin his/her self.

The second new pattern is A Cup Of Tea, featuring a quote from "Snuff":

Don't forget, there is also the Discworld Alphabet.  I originally designed and stitched this for the charity auction at the Irish Discworld Convention in November 2013.  The finished piece ended up selling for €35 (approximately $50).  Proceeds were donated to Alzheimer's Research UK.

In other news, I may have agreed to direct one of the plays for the local amateur drama group this year.  I'm not certain - it's all a bit of a sugar-induced blur.  I blame the owl-themed patty cakes at the baby shower for my friend (coincidently the president of said drama group).

I wonder if I could convince them to do Wyrd Sisters?

Happy Stitching!