100% finished!

Here are the pictures with the "frame" border attached. The piece measures 36 inches wide by 77 inches tall, so it was a whopper to sew! It took up my whole kitchen table for a month. I had to get Ben to help me guide the 6 foot length through the machine to sew the borders on. Wow, husbands are good for something besides yard work. :D Kidding! Ben was really helpful- always handy to have another artist in the house to bounce ideas off, to make suggestions, or help out when you are stuck, and offer encouragement when you are frustrated or discouraged that you'll never get it done...
The last photo is of the third piece that I made for the show, a replica of one of the signs on the walls of the ride. I had a lot of help from my best friend Michelle (a cross-stitch queen) to get the cross stitch done. Thanks Chelle, you rock! I couldn't have done it without you. :D
The Tomb piece is 16X20, framed.
I am really happy to say that all the pieces have sold in advance of the show's opening on September 9th.
Now to go and enjoy a few weeks of vacation from the sewing machine...
I'll be back here in mid-august with a sneak peek of my final piece for the Plush You! show. See you then!

HM Stretching Portrait update

okay- so here are some WIPS of the last HM piece. After a grueling weekend of sewing, I can actually say that I am done with it. YAY!!! I will post the finished images sometime tomorrow. I didn't have time to post as I went along, so this is a big batch of pictures of the work that went into it:





I had so much fun making the gator. :D The girl on the other hand, proved to be temperamental, but after 3 tries, I made a head that I liked.









I hand-sewed on all the leaves that make up the bushes on the sides of the piece, and pretty much hand sewed everything else to the BG where I couldn't get my machine to do it- which was a lot more places than I'd anticipated, so I have some pretty sore hands today. :)





That's what it looks like without the border on. You'll have to wait until tomorrow to see the whole thing finished. These were great projects, but I have to say that I am glad they are done! Phew. Feel like I just finished a sewing marathon. :)

Flyer for Stitch Wars

Cool new image for the Stitch Wars show flyer-so much fun work to be seen at the show! I'm happy to say that my Sand Person and Bossk made it into the photo- thanks Amanda!
Show opens tomorrow. Have a great weekend!
Be back monday with some Haunted Mansion updates.

In a Gallery Far, Far, Away...

As promised, here the are. My pieces for the Stitch Wars show at Bear and Bird Gallery in Lauderhill, FL. I had so much fun making Bossk the Bounty Hunter, a Tuskan Raider (Sand Person), and Lando Calrissian. These will be available for sale online as well as in person at the gallery starting Friday, July 18th.





I tried to choose characters that weren't as "popular" to hopefully avoid too many repeats at the show, but I just couldn't resist trying my hand at a version of Lando. :D They were a lot of work, which I didn't anticipate for some of the more "simple" character designs. I could have gone on for weeks making characters after I got started, there are just so many amazing costumes and creatures in the Star Wars universe. It was probably a good thing that I had other deadlines looming, which stopped me from going Star Wars crazy. :)




I actually tea-dyed the linen I used for the Sand Person's cloak- I wanted it to look sandy/dirty. Lando's cloak took me the better part of a day to figure out- not being in the habit of sewing clothing. On Bossk I spent a bit of time making all the thermal detonators that he has conveniently strapped around his legs.
I really had a ton of fun photographing these guys, so for more pics, head on over to my flickr page.

ALSO: DON'T FORGET TO CHECK OUT THE OTHER MEMBERS OF THE PLUSH TEAM'S CREATIONS FOR THE SHOW here.

PT featured artist- Siansburys

Continuing on my series of Plush Team profiles is Sian Hughes of Siansburys sock monkey fame. Sian is truly the queen of all things sock monkey, and if you don't believe me, just take a look at these beauties:





Sians makes amazing monkey versions of film characters and celebrities, (such as Cap'n Jack and Sgt. Pepper John Lennon, above) as well just plain cute monkeys like Spencer, here:



Sian states:
"Siansburys was established as a creative venture when my lifelong love of primates and colourful socks combined in a sock monkey explosion that demolished 90% of my house. Each creation is unique, and each has its own distinct distinct personality. I always love a challenge (and a good laugh!), and so far this has lead to sock monkey portraits of several famous people, comic book heroes and well-known film characters, as well as other members of the sock animal kingdom. Who knows where else it will take us? "

Check out Sian's blog for more amazing creatures, as well as her etsy shop, where she welcomes custom orders. Just wait until tuesday, when you can see Sian's amazing piece for the Stitch Wars Show over on the Plush Team blog.

Quick Reminder

Just a quick reminder of the fantastic upcoming Stitch Wars show at Bear & Bird Gallery in Lauderhill, Florida July 18th.
I will be putting my finished pieces up on my blog on Monday July 13th, and showing all the amazing pieces done by some of the members of the Plush Team over on the PT blog on tuesday the 14th.
Man, do I wish I could be there for the opening! There has been some truly great work done for this show and it would be amazing to see it all in person. Although it's probably better for my wallet that I'm not there... :D

In other news, I won Battle Velcro for the Plush Team Iron Plush challenge with this piece:


Congrats to everyone who participated, and to the Battle winners. You can see all the winning entries as well as the Ultimate Iron Plush winning piece by abbydid over on the PT blog. I can't wait to get my package full of goodies from Yummy Pancake, who organized the challenge.

And the winner is....

The winner of my plush Rage for the best story is..... (drumroll please!)


Christina the crazy snow shoveling lady! :D
Ben got a big kick out of reading all your stories, as did I. It was a tough choice, but Christina and the frozen tundra won out. Thanks to everyone who participated, this was a really fun giveaway.
I'll be back later in the week with some more WIPs and my last Plush You teaser, so stay tuned! Hope everybody had a great weekend. :)