What are passionate people made of? ……

What does Sachin Tendulkar love to do and what does he do most of the time? What does Bill Gates do most of his time! I was reading this book “Outliers” by Malcom Gladwell, where he mentioned that successful people spent 10000 hours working on their passion before they hit the news.

So coming back to : What are passionate people made of? …… They are made of their passion!

This series of articles is dedicated to embroiderers who do what they love the most – stitch, stitch and stitch. The moment they see something they like, they stitch it. If they are happy, they stitch, if they are depressed, they stitch. Embroidery, needlework and stitching could as well be their middle name.

Check out Feeling Stitchy and you will know what I mean.

The cup cake embroidery is the first I have ever seen (and I doubt if I may see it again).

How does one embroidery a cup cake?
a) Trace around the template using your wash out or fade out marker.
b) Draw your design onto the fabric. Scribble the logo and then go over a few times with the needle to fatten it up. The best lining to use is plastic backed curtain lining, albeit one could work with regular cotton or linen & then fix a couple of layers together before you do your blanket stitching.
c) Stitch your design.
d) Cut around the template shape.
e) Blanket stitch around the edge.
f) You just need to stitch a little hook & eye onto either side of the join once you’re done with the stitching.

And there you are ready to go with cup cake embroidery – what is now missing is only the CAKE!

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Gods are the Almighty,  and their true teachings are based on pure Love.   This attracts most humans towards baby and infant Gods in all religions since children are the manifestations of love.    We found a couple of resources dedicated towards religious idol embroidery and thought of putting in a post on the same.

Baby Infant Jesus – very famous and you find this embroidery next to this post.  This is machine embroidery available in ART, DST, EXP, HUS, JEF, KSM, PES, SEW, VIP formats for ready download.  It consists of 13530 stitches, 10 colors and sized at 2.82 inches by 3.59 inches.

Baby Krishna – Indian God well known for his naughty nature and pranks.   This is again machine embroidery available in most formats and can be downloaded.

Baby Angel – A beautific child angel holding a bird is a symbol of peace.

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9 artisans – 4 years hard work.   All done with the motive of giving a fitting tribute to Hanoi on the occasion of its millenial anniversary.   The gift is in the form of a giant hand embroidered artistic piece titled : “Aspiration of 1000 year Thang Long”.

Background of  Thang Long

The central old citadel of Hanoi was the earlier home of Vietnamese monarchs dating back when the city was known as Thang Long.   The citadel was constructed by the Ly dynasty in 1010 and remained the seat of the Vietnamese court until 1810, when Hu became the capital city. The royal palaces and other various structures were largely destroyed by the colonial French in the late 19th century. Some structures remain such as Doan Mon gate and the Flag Tower of Hanoi, as well as the steps of Kinh Thiên Palace and the Hu Lâu (Princess’ Palace).   The Vietnamese military command under General Giap, who was the hero in the wars against the colonial French and the Americans, had its headquarters in the citadel in the building known as D67. An underground tunnel enabled the military to flee to other parts in case of a raid.   Construction work for the National Assembly building in 2003 uncovered large remains of the citadel dating back to Thang Long. Some of the remains are now exhibited in the Vietnamese History Museum. Where the planned new National Assembly building should not be located is still open.   Starting in 2000, some of the old French barracks and buildings have been destroyed to make place for a new museum within the citadel.   The citadel is shortlisted to be included as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2006 as “The Cultural Heritage Complex of Thang Long – Hanoi”

Giant Embroidery

This 4m long by 3m wide embroidery entitled, “Aspiration of 1000-year-old Thang Long”, was made by nine artisans and took over four years to complete.   This piece will be displayed at the “Artistic atmosphere of the ancient citadel” festival in the Thang Long Royal Citadel.    Hanoi authorities have approved the 20 billion dong “Artistic atmosphere of the ancient citadel” project, which will be held from April 1 to October 30 2010.   This festival will comprise a flower festival and an embroidery exhibition in the Thang Long royal citadel.
Vo Van Quan, the founder of XQ Vietnam Embroidery Company, said on April 28 that the Co Loa-Hanoi Ancient Citadel Preservation Centre handed over 10,000sq.m in the Thang Long Royal Citadel to the “Artistic atmosphere of the ancient citadel” project.    Aside form the above-mentioned embroidery, 12 new and unique embroideries will be exhibited at the festival, surrounded by all special flower species. A small stage will be built for artists to play traditional musical instruments.    This event, according to organizers, will be a festival of flowers, music, embroidery and tea so it will be very romantic. The festival will be open for free.

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One of our endeavours has been to bring the embroidery enthusiast into the limelight. Some of the best embroideries have almost gone unnoticed since there had been no platform to display their hidden art.

EDG now invites all the home embroiderers to display and air out their art to the foreground..!

We introduce a platform for all of you – EDGZone! (Spread the word around).

Lets not step back… Go ahead and embroider those beautiful designs in machine or hand!

We would display the best ones under the category : “Embroiderers” : with all relevant details. Do not miss this chance to get recognized…

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What is Art Quilting?

Quilt art, sometimes known as art quilting, is an art form that uses traditional quilting techniques to create art objects. Practitioners of quilt art create it based on their experiences, imagery, and ideas rather than traditional patterns. Quilt art generally has more in common with the fine arts than it does with traditional quilting. These forms of art generally adorn walls.

A quilted work of art consists of two layers of cloth held together by stitching. A middle batting layer made of polyester, cotton or even silk is also incorporated.

Although quilted art originated in traditional quilting techniques, quilt artists now may use many different processes to create their artwork, including painting, dyeing, stamping, piecing, collage, printing (often incorporating a photograph printed onto fabric), applique, and other complex cloth processes.

Check out the art quilt above this post!  Isn’t it a beauty?   This is part of a recent collection at Morris museum.

The exhibit is a testament to the collector, John M. Walsh III of Martinsville, who has a passion for quilts and a keen eye for picking the best. “Today he is recognized as a major collector of art quilts,” said Linda Moore, the Museum’s chief operating officer. Walsh’s interest was stimulated when he attended a quilt conference in Louisville, Ky., in 1992, where he met one of the speakers, quilt expert Penny McMorris. Walsh was captivated by these innovative art quilts and vowed to start a collection of his own. With the help of McMorris, who agreed to work with him as curator of his new collection, he has amassed a collection of more than 80 quilts, whose subject matter ranges from nature and landscape to narrative and abstract art.

Being brought up near the shores, water has been close to his heart as is evident from his words here – “We not only seek out the best of the best, we try to help artists financially by commissioning special works from them, so that they will not feel bound by commercial issues, but will feel free to follow their own visions. My only prerequisite for commissioned pieces is that they have something to do with water,” said Walsh in a recent telephone interview.

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I have a few friends of mine who have built a mini library of books in their homes… Book lovers!  I knew of a person who had built a library of CDs – movies and music.  You name it, he had it.

So what do we embroidery lovers do?  We build a library of embroideries.. How does one build it?  It is a little more complex since we cannot make use of any of the conventional techniques to construct this embroidery depository.

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There are some time tested methods used to classify or organise your embroidery library and the first and foremost is to demarcate between the physical crafts from the software downloadable formats.  The hand embroideries would form part of the set of designs which you would need to classify based on  type of embroidery or country of origin.  Here depending on the various patterns you have, you would need to take a decision.  For example, you could classify based on types like cross stitch, needlework, blackwork, cutwork, applique, dakota to name a few OR you could also categorize based on region – like Lucknowi Chikan, Gujarati mirrored embroidery, Chinese hand patterns, Hunan silk embroidery, Dongoria Kondh embroidery!  Depending on one’s own taste and liking, one could use creative methods to demarcate the embroidery patterns.

Machine embroidery formats are more easy to classify – We have the various formats like JEF, XXX, VIP, DST, HUS, SEW to name a few and all your embroidery designs could be ordered and listed based on the format.

The above completes your embroidery library and the same should be stored in a safe place away from moisture to ensure a long life!

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Most probably you may have not… Assisi Embroidery is a type of counted-thread embroidery with foundations that range back to the 13th century in a small town called Assisi in Italy. The background is filled with embroidery stitches and the main motifs are left void and unstitched. Hence this embroidery has been coined as the voiding method. The background is generally cross stitch with rich colors like red, gold, bright blue and parrot green. There are 2 techiques to do Assisi embroidery, the old fashioned way being to draw figures on the fabric free hand and the modern way to construct the pattern on paper and then transfer to the cloth.

The Assisi embroidery are as beautiful as modern day carpets. Check out the Snowflake design to the left. The intricate patterns of this hand embroidery would leave the viewer stunned. As one can see, it is the voids that make the design while the stitches outline it.

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Italy has had a long historical tradition of bright and colourful embroidery. In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries monastic embroideries developed a simpler style where designs and motifs were voided on fine linen cloth with the outlines and background embroidered in coloured silk. Motifs were strongly influenced by traditional designs of bird or animal pairs surrounded by elaborate scrollwork. These early articles were most often used for religious purposes e.g. altar cloths and chasubles.

One can see a basic Assisi embroidery below which gives a clear picture of the cross stitch techniques used.

In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, however, this form of embroidery fell into decline and many of the designs and motifs were lost. It was only at the turn of the 20th century that the practice was revived in the Italian town of Assisi from which this form of embroidery gets its name. In 1902 the ‘Laboratorio Ricreativo Festivo Femminile San Francesco di Assisi’ was established. The aim of this handicrafts workshop was to revive traditional local handicrafts and provide employment to poor women to supplement their income. This cottage industry flourished and these more modern designs, using the counted thread technique, quickly spread throughout Italy, Europe and further abroad.

In the last 20 years, a modern version of Assisi embroidery has evolved. Many different colours and patterns are used for the background, and the motifs are extremely varied. However, it is heartening to note that the traditional version is still practised in the town of Assisi where one can see the local women sitting in front of their houses and embroidering Assisi work items for the local co-operative embroidery shop.

Check out an Assisi embroidery techniques book by Pamela – Assisi Embroidery: Technique and 42 Charted Designs (Dover Needlework)

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What could be more dearer to an embroiderer than his embroidery machine!   In the erstwhile days, an embroidery machine meant one which was driven by hand and stitches sewn together using pencil drawn lines.  Today with the advent of technology and the mergence of the computer into our everyday lives, the modern computerized embroidery machine is completely automatic and requires minimum human intervention!   Brother is a leading brand and this particular product is a win-win amongst most embroidery enthusiasts. Here is a review of Brother SE350 Computerized Embroidery and Sewing Machine.  Have a peek at some of its features and you will know why -
a) Sewing-and-embroidery machine with LCD touch screen for easy stitch selection and editing
b) 67 built-in stitches, 98 stitch functions, and 10 styles of 1-step automatic buttonholes
c) 70 built-in embroidery designs, 5 monogramming fonts, and 120 frame pattern combinations
d) Automatic needle threader; 15 needle positions; maximum embroidery field of 4 by 4 inches
e) Comes with a whopping 25-year limited warranty.

The SE350 computerized sewing and embroidery machine offers easy embellishment and sewing.  This is an easy to use machine with some amazingly simple convenient features.  There are a wide array of built-in stitches, as well as a large, backlit, LCD touch screen for easy stitch selection and editing, making it possible for both amateur embroiderers and professional designers to create fashionable projects tailored toward their unique preferences.  One can choose from 67 built-in stitches, 98 stitch functions, and 10 styles of one-step automatic buttonholes.  As an embroidery machine, the unit offers 70 built-in embroidery designs, five monogramming fonts, and 120 frame pattern combinations.  The SE350 has 5 bult in alphabet fonts as well. You can save up to 12 embroidery designs in the built in memory.  Other highlights include an automatic needle threader, an automatic push-button thread cutter, 15 needle positions, a maximum sewing speed of 710 stitches per minute, and a free arm, as well as a snap-on presser-foot attachment, a drop-feed function, auto presser-foot pressure, and a maximum embroidery field of 4 by 4 inches. The product also comes with a huge array of useful accessories like the seven feet (buttonhole, overcastting, monogramming, zipper, zigzag, blind hem, and button fitting), a seam ripper, four bobbins including clips, a needle set, a twin needle, a cleaning brush, an eyelet punch, a screwdriver, a touch pen, three spool caps, a spool pin, a spool net, and a foot controller, as well as scissors, a disc-shaped screwdriver, an embroidery hoop, an accessory case, a hard cover, and a user manual. The computerized sewing-and-embroidery machine measures approximately 18 by 8 by 12 inches and carries a 25-year limited warranty.  

The built in automatic push-button thread cutter makes garment sewing and embroidery fun and effortless. Brother’s Quick-Set bobbin makes changing bobbins easy as you simply drop-in a full bobbin, pull the thread through the slot and begin. The included instructional CD gives easy to follow instructions on the features of the SE350. The written instruction manual is bilingual in English and Spanish.

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What is an avatar?
1.     Hindu Mythology. the descent of a deity to the earth in an incarnate form or some manifest shape; the incarnation of a god.
2.     An embodiment or personification, as of a principle, attitude, or view of life.
3.     Computers. a graphical image that represents a person, as on the Internet.

But in the 21st century, this common term “avatar” is normally referred to describe an icon or virtual representation of a person within cyberspace.  Avatars crop up in forums, blogs, and other shared communities (e.g. MySpace) on the internet.

So an avatar is a small 64 by 64 pixel image you choose to represent yourself in online environments; this helps to define your identity inside an online community. The most common use is on forums.  This distinguishes members from one and other, creates an identity and in some way stimulates the creative senses to be what he or she visualises an alternative self.

Your avatar will appear next to your message in forums.  Avatars are also used for other things (e.g. During a chat over AOL Instant Messenger, in some chat rooms, or even on a web site updates page.)

The popular resources to create your own avatar are  DoppleMe,  Your Own Avatar.    Once you have created one, you could get it embroidered for free at Pixel Hobby.    This is a free embroidery software where you could upload the image and almost immediately the software develops the embroidery design along with the colour details. You could then click on the print option which gives the details of the color codes, base plates and pixels. Finally you have an option for ordering the necessary base plates and threads required for stitching the particular design.

Check out Avatar 1 boy embroidered using Pixel hobby with 37 colors and 2000 pixels sized at 4 by 5 inches.   The second one below is the avatar girl with 41 colors sized at 4 by 5 inches.

All the best creating your own avatar embroidered pattern!

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Check out this cool resource to convert your loved photo to a cross stitch pattern!   Its so simple even a kid could do it easily.  There are a few sample patterns that you could download for free.   You could also upload your own photo and convert it to a cross stitch pattern (free for patterns less than 1000 stitches).

The building cross stitch pattern on top is 300 stitches width by 200 stitches height.   What is really intriguing is the fineness of the design with specific details illustrated clearly.

The family cross stitch pattern I did below was by uploading an image (jpeg) onto the software at Picture Craftwork.   The image should be less than 2 MB.  You could then choose the floss and the density of the stitch after which you can preview to see the final product.   “Generate Chart” allows you a download of the stitch chart for your reference.

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