Thursday, March 21, 2013

S is for Stitch blog tour

Today I am happy to be a stop on the S is for Stitch blog tour.
S is for Stitch is written by Kristyne Czepuryk, who is the lovely and talented woman behind the blog Pretty By Hand. Her work is amazing! It's ALL so pretty and inspiring to me. I think she may love pink even more than I do!

I'm not normally an embroiderer, even though I have all the supplies. (Funny how that works, isn't it?) As a child I embroidered a few dish towels, but not much beyond that. It is a skill that I would like to have in my repertoire.
This book gave me the confidence to try my hand at it once again. My first project was to embroider this little kitty, which is one of the many patterns in the book. I am pretty excited with the results!
My kids saw me stitching and they all wanted to embroider something, too. (Even my boys!) They enjoyed paging through the book and picked out projects. I helped my 12 year old get started on the inch worm. He is doing a great job so far and he enjoyed it! The other two are still waiting for their first lesson. :)
After the success of my kitty, I had to try my hand at words. I wrote out the lyrics to soft kitty (from the Big Bang Theory) and stitched them up. (I have fun plans for these!) The words were a little tricky. Next time I would make the letters a bit larger and leave more space between some of them. But, all in all, not too bad.

Things I like about this book....
 
The stitch guide is straightforward and very clear. I learned what an outline stitch is and how to do it. I also worked my way through a few colonial knots. (Don't look too closely...still more practice needed there.)

There are tons of cute patterns! A set for girls and a whole other set for boys. It's really hard to find good boy stuff, if you ask me. It totally passed the test with my boys.

Kristyne offers basic guidelines and options, then she encourages you to choose the method that works best for you. I love that! It's so much better than a rigid set of do's and don'ts.

The book is wonderful for beginners (that's me!) but I would imagine that it would be equally wonderful for a well experienced stitcher.

I love that the projects are stitched up into QUILTS! (A big shock there, huh?) Beyond that, there are other options shown: pillows, soft toys, clothing and framed pieces. So many fun ideas!


If you would like a chance to win your very own copy of the book, please leave me a comment in this post. In your comment, I'd love to hear your thoughts on embroidery, since that's the subject of the day. I'll pick one winner on April 4th. US resident winner will receive a hard copy of the book or an international resident will receive an eBook. Oh! Please be sure to leave your email in your comment, so I can contact you should you win.

Please be sure to follow along the tour for more chances to win.

Allison Rosen - stashbooksblog.com - Tuesday, March 19
Allison Harris - cluckclucksew.com - Wednesday, March 20
Amanda Jean Nyberg - crazymomquilts.blogspot.ca - Thursday, March 21
Amy Sinibaldi - nanacompany.typepad.com - Friday, March 22
Anne Sutton - bunnyhillblog.com - Monday, March 25
Lori Holt - beeinmybonnetco.blogspot.ca - Tuesday, March 26
Sherri McConnell - aquiltinglife.com - Wednesday, March 27
Kristyne - prettybyhand.com - Monday, March 28

436 comments:

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Quilter Mom of 3 said...

I'm in the process of hand embroidering a flower fabric to make the intricately designed flowers POP!!


http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7BI2BmlPKfQ/UVHUG3N2mvI/AAAAAAAAA30/QMF4-Hg7HPI/s1600/100_3800.JPG

Day before Michelle said...

I have had this book on my wish list since I first read about it on Kristyne's blog!

So hoping I am picked in one of the drawings!

Nancy Page said...

Love this book and all that it has to offer. The designs are great fun. Thank you for this great giveaway. Love your little pillow, so sweet!

Have a super great sewing and stitching day!

Unknown said...

Embroidery is so relaxing and so beautiful framed, in a pillow, in a quilt, etc. I would love a copy of this book.

Sally said...

I love the look of embroidery but don't do as much as I think I will! I do have a few quilts and dish towels done over the past couple of years (and another quilt in the works) and would look forward to doing some quick simpler designs! Very cute.

Jeanne said...

I have a granddaughter who has been asking to learn to embroider. This book would be perfect.

Unknown said...

Would love this book! Lots yo learn.

DaiseyJayne.com said...

I've been embroidering since I was a young teen and just love it. I even teach silk ribbon emboidery :)

jayne@daiseyjayne.com

ladyfingers said...

What a great book....(and love the "happy kitty, sleepy kitty) LOL
Looks like a great book to help me re-enter the hand embroidery world after soooo many years of doing every thing by machine only....

Unknown said...

I love to embroidery, and I think that it would be fun to try the fun patterns in this book and make fun things for my grandchildren.

mountain girl said...

embroidery is relaxing to me.
mia@pocoleon.com

Unknown said...

I love embroidery and this book looks like a great tool to teach my almost 7 year old niece during her summer break. :) Adorable kitty pillow.

Ann said...

How cute are these little stitcheries! What a great book.

Thanks for the chance!

kc said...

A definite must have book!

CeLynn said...

Since this is one of the things I have yet to learn how to embroider...this looks like the perfect book !

Cindy said...

Thanks for the chance to win. That little kitty is so cute.

JaneT said...

I would definitely love to win this book.

Jenn said...

Love love love how you used the soft kitty song! I totally giggled when I saw it! Thanks for a chance to win.

karen k said...

Learned to embroider as a little girl. Renewed interest in this lately. Thanks for opportunity to win this precious book. Karen K

LindaB said...

Love your cute little kitty...a book with embroidery stitches is something that would come in very handy...even thought I do a bit of stitchery I sometimes a need a bit of help on how to do stitches I do not use all the time...this book look just perfect .. thanks for the chance to win one .. LindaB ..linda@stationeryworld.net.au

Diana said...

I love to embroider. It takes me to a happy place!

Flo said...

Love that song and your project is too cute. Thanks.

DKay said...

This looks like such a sweet book. I have been looking for an idea book or pattern to do some hand stitching at night - a break from the sewing machine, this looks perfect!

Toffe said...

I would love to get a copy of this amazing looking book!. Thanks for the chance.
Toffe

Joyce Carter said...

I love to do embroidery, especially on baby items. I think it adds a special touch to the item itself.And, it just looks cute!

debra said...

I love to embroider but it kind of fell thru the wayside to quilting and cross stitching but it has come back to life since my 8 yr old grandaughter has fancied it so that is what we are concentrating on. Thanks for the opportunity to win

Unknown said...

Thanks for the giveaway!

Rhonda D. said...

I love embroidery. I am doing crafts @ a girls camp, and this
book would be perfect! Thanks
for the chance to win!

wigglypup2(at)yahoo(dot)com

Meri said...

I love to embroider since it's a great "to go" craft!
This book looks great...love your kitty pillow. Thanks for the chance to win!

Unknown said...

I'd love to win this book! I love alphabets!

Unknown said...

I have done embroidery since I was a young girl on dish towels that I use in my home today. I love to have a hand project going at all times, since I find it so relaxing and can fill time while waiting for children at lessons and at doctor appointments. I try to have a little purse ready with hand projects ready to grab when I'm on the go.
Thanks for this opportunity.

Unknown said...

I have done embroidery since I was a young girl on dish towels that I use in my home today. I love to have a hand project going at all times, since I find it so relaxing and can fill time while waiting for children at lessons and at doctor appointments. I try to have a little purse ready with hand projects ready to grab when I'm on the go.
Thanks for this opportunity.

Unknown said...

Adorable kitty design, this book would be a great addition to my collection. Thanks for the chance to win!

mamajan said...

Count me in! I would love to have this book. Thanks for the chance to win it!

Mama Pea said...

You probably know I love embroidery. I'd love this book. Thanks for the chance. Elsa sees me doing it and wants to do it too. I bought her some preprinted pillowcases to embroider. She gets bored real fast though. Hmmmm...could she be related to her mama, who can't finish a quilt to save her life? :-)

nita72 said...

I love this book. Thank you for the chance.
Kisses from Barcelona

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