Jack B. Nimble, Jack Be Quick

Hi All,

Today I have some stitching to share with you, this was what I worked on whilst I was down in southern California visiting with my best friend. This is the 3rd of eleven embroideries in the tea towel swap I'm participating in with some of my embroidery pals. 

A bit of a departure from my usual stitchy pursuits, but oooh, it feels good to stretch!

Everybody, meet Jack!

Jack B. Nimble, manbroiderer, smartypants extraordinaire, poet. Jack arrived in our stitchy little family a few months ago, a man of mystery amongst our tight knit group, and he quickly endeared himself to us.

He's aces. We're keeping him.

You might recognize Jack's work, he's been featured on Feeling Stitchy & Mr. X. Stitch, here & here. Want to see more? Here are his Flickr & Etsy sites.

I asked Jack when it was my turn on his towel if he minded if I did something bold, right in the middle of his towel, assuring him (with fingers tightly crossed) that he'd like it. He told me to go for it, so I did! 

Here's where I placed the embroidery and it's size in relation to the whole piece. When all 11 of us have stitched on this towel, all of your embroideries will be swimming around Jack's face, a halo of embroidery.

Oh, I should probably mention, that's Jack's face. It's the icon/avatar he uses as his identity on all of his sites. Like I said, a man of mystery.

The size, in relation to my hand, I'd say it's 5" x 6", give or take.

I'm very happy to report Jack loved his likeness. Yay!

♥ 

So a few deets on this piece. Lots of chain stitching as you can see. That's what I used for the hair, the mustache and the goatee, all of the outline and the hairs. Satin stitch on the glasses, eyeballs and cigarette. Back stitch on the ears, and seed/straight stitches for the stubble. Pretty straightforward. Big & bold stitchin', manbroidery style. Mi gusta!

So there y'are Jackie-boy! We've gotcha in stitches, and we're keeping you, dear friend. 

For better or worse, in good times & bad, til death do us part.

Embroidery Friends United Forever!

oxo,

Lisa

p.s. Woohoo! This piece got featured on Craft Gossip! Makes me downright giddy! Pop over and have a look.

Good Times In LA

Hi Guys!

I'm sorry I've been away so long (once again). Right after my last post, I went to southern California for a couple of days to visit with my bestie and see my pal Ellen. It was a great, laid back trip, but the last couple of days I was there I started not feeling so well, which continued for a couple of weeks once I was back home. Oofa. It's no fun feeling run down and generally crappy. I hope you'll forgive my absence, my dear friends!

I have so much to share with you, things I was working on before the trip, and things have worked on since then. But let's start with a little vacation! Everybody likes vacation photo's, right? Right? Hello?

Lol...

(Pay no attention to those Flintstone feet)

I put my feets in the ocean, y'all! 

Welcome to the beach, no fun allowed! The Ocean, brought to you by Arrowhead Natural Spring Water.

Ahh, that's the life...

 Melissa made me scrumptious dinners, this was my favorite!! 

This was some kind of magic turkey burger on a bed of lettuce, topped with jalapeno cheddar, blue cheese crumbles and avocado. Oh lordy, I'm drooling at the memory. 

Next day Melissa & I got to go visit Ellen's show, Flesh & Fiber at The Hive Gallery in downtown Los Angeles and see her gorgeous work up close. Tiny, tiny stitches, people. Tiny. 

Stitchy hero, right there! I lurve you, Ellen! 

After our visit to The Hive, Melissa and I took the train across town to visit with Ellen for a little bit at The Pop Tart Gallery where she had organized the first of several yarn bombing meetings in preperation for a brand new show she's curating called Home Is Where The Needle Marks. Show opens this weekend, so excited for her! If you're in the Los Angeles area, GO! SEE ART! It's good for you.

 Awesome people tried to teach us how to knit.

Aww, Mel, you've really got the hang of that!

 You show that yarn who's boss!

Me? I'll just sit here and tie knots and be a goober (as per usual).

I was a little star struck to be honest, do you know who that is sitting there next to me?? That's Rachel McKay! EEEEEEPPP! I've stalked, I mean, "admired" her work for a long time. She's was so super sweet and awesome and excellent. Girl crush. Hi Rachel!

The next couple of days we played it pretty low key, like I said, I wasn't feeling too hot. We mostly sat & talked, you know how that goes when you get face to face with a friend that lives so far away, the hours just fly. We spent one whole day stitching (that'll be in my next post, stay tuned!). It was great, I've never taught anyone how to embroider before, and while Mel's already got the basics down (you should {and will later this year!} see what she's making!) I got to show her some different fancy stitches. Good times.

So yeah, those were the highlights of my mini vacation. Wonderful friends, great food, fantastic art, stitching and stitchy hero's. What more could a girl want?

Want to see what I stitched whilst in the City of Angels? Come back shortly! I'm writing that post next!

I missed you guys! I'll be visiting you soon!

oxo,

Lisa