Sprite Stitch Board!

I was having trouble creating PixelHobby keychain patterns, because they are only 11 x 14 pixels, and I thought that could be a fun challenge! 11 x 14 pixel patterns.

QueenBex wrote:are we doing a secret santa?

We just did a swap, and there's also the Second Semi-Secret Publishing Project over the Dec-Jan period. If there was a secret Santa swap, I'd have to bow out of it for sure.

Yup - also many of us are traveling in Dec and Jan (I'm out for 2 weeks). I'm also one of those still waiting on a swap gift...

I spotted bright lime green, aqua blue, and yellow aida at Jo Ann. I see cross-stitch projects on white, off-white, cream, natural, and black aida all the time, but never on those bright colors. Maybe that could be an idea for a challenge theme, to utilize a bright-colored or glittery, non-traditional aida (or linen) cloth?

e.g., Charles Craft Brights & Stardust, Picture This Plus hand-dyed and crystal hand-dyed cloth.

That's a nice idea, nozomi! I love using coloured aida and have loads of it.

I think that would be a super fun idea but it would also mean that everyone that wanted to participate may have to go and buy fabric. Not everyone is as awesome as BMH!

Yurtle wrote:I think that would be a super fun idea but it would also mean that everyone that wanted to participate may have to go and buy fabric. Not everyone is as awesome as BMH! :)

Actually not really, you can "dye" or paint fabric too! I tried this technique on some even-weave and had some success (I loaded up my brush too much so the paint was too thick in some places but otherwise it came out really nice) and besides the fabric it cost me about $3 USD for the paint and fabric medium.

You can also hand dye fabric. I've used tea and coffee to make awesome brown faded patterns (I'm stitching on one now!) or you can buy industrial dye for about $5 or less too...

Something general like "use a colored, painted, or dyed fabric!" should work for everyone! If we do this I can share my collection of fabric dying bookmarks to help people out.

Yurtle wrote:I think that would be a super fun idea but it would also mean that everyone that wanted to participate may have to go and buy fabric.

That's true... But don't some of the challenges require extra $ anyway? Like the glow-in-the-dark thread one. You're right though, especially that Picture This Plus fabric. Expensive. D: The tube of Charles Craft aida is reasonable but I don't know what I'd do with all the excess fabric. xD

kuja.girl wrote:You can also hand dye fabric. I've used tea and coffee to make awesome brown faded patterns (I'm stitching on one now!) or you can buy industrial dye for about $5 or less too...

I've seen people dye their fabric with tea, but how exactly do you do it? What type of tea do you use? I've only dyed with green tea and it was in elementary school, so I don't remember how exactly it was done.

I love the idea too, I got a project I wanted to do with a bright pink fabric. That would be the perfect occasion to do it!

nozomi wrote:I've seen people dye their fabric with tea, but how exactly do you do it? What type of tea do you use? I've only dyed with green tea and it was in elementary school, so I don't remember how exactly it was done.

I used a technique similar to this one: http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to- ... /?ALLSTEPS
Basically: you boil up a giant pot of tea - soak the fabric in the hot tea solution - set in cold water - rinse - air dry - and you can also set it with a hot iron after (the tutorial doesn't mention it but I think that's what I did...)Tea stains give white fabric a nice aged look. If you're adventurous, or crazy like me, you can rub in coffee grounds for some crazy dark stains too. my fabric is in the hoop right now but I'll try to get photos of the project (and fabric) up soon.