Game of Thrones Cross Stitch

This is what I've been doing since August. If you're interested in winning one, scroll down to bottom and leave a comment with your name and which piece is your favorite. When my display ends toward the end of May, I'll draw a name out of a hat and the winner will take home the piece he/she listed.

All eight of these pieces are slated to be on display at Starbucks, 5351 Lyndale Avenue in Minneapolis starting May 12. While I'm no photographer, I've done my best to capture and explain everything that went into making these works; I honestly had a wonderful time doing each and every one (and am kind of sad that I'm done). Enjoy!



HOUSE BARATHEON

This was two stitched images, the stag and the border design, backed onto felt and then attached to a yellow fabric that seemed royal and golden, but masculine enough for the war-seasoned Baratheon brothers.

One of the most fun to create, although I had to do all the golden negative space first, before the stag, as no place in seven hells carries gold cross stitch fabric. A few times I found myself actually sewing parts of the stag (in golden) instead, and had to rip it all out and start all over again. The crown around the neck proved too difficult to measure and reproduce for me, so I left it out. The antlers were my favorite, and turned out nice and tight.

I am a big fan of the Baratheons, especially our dear departed King Robert. During Game of Thrones' first season, some of my favorite parts were his drinking, womanizing, and shouting constant rude and angry remarks at people. Check it out:
(explicit)



HOUSE STARK

This was before I got it into a frame, but you get the general idea. My first piece in the series, my longest, and probably most difficult, too. You see, I don't really plan much when I start these things, I trace or draw the main image, in this case the direwolf, and then after I finish, decide if it still needs something. This one was an impressive image, to be sure, but it still needed something to make it killer. I found the border on a cross stitch site and thought I'd add it either across the top or down the left or right side; little did I know I'd be fumbling around with that damned thing the entire way across, counting, re-counting, and redoing nearly every square pattern I started. I'm not a numbers girl, more of a spatial relationships girl, so having to rely on exactness was difficult. I was lucky not to have run out of fabric, to tell the truth. But I love this one; it's a labor of love that turned out amazing. When people ask me if I sell the stuff I make, this piece is a perfect example of why I don't and probably never will. No one will ever love it like I do, and there isn't a possible price that I could put on it that would reflect all the time and energy it took me (which is about four month's worth).


Starks are my favorite, btw. If you've read anything else on this blog you know that scowling men are my thing. Lord Eddard felt very right to me for this reason.

Jon Snow wins, too, but more on him during The Night's Watch pieces below.

HOUSE TARGARYEN

This is the only piece that doesn't have a border, a mat, or any contrasting images or fabric along with it. The three-headed dragon is strong enough on its own, I think. My only regret is that I didn't try it in an oval or circular frame. I suppose I could always do another one; the pattern I drew out for this one was probably the most exact of any of them.

I was ready to write the Targaryens off completely just until that little turnaround last week (Now His Watch Has Ended). . . I love it when there gets to be dracarys.





HOUSE LANNISTER 

This one was the perfect mix of image, border, and text. It went fast and was exciting to create. It's one of the few that I counted and mapped out before starting just to make certain that everything would be centered. I was worried that the lion might come out a little blunt or dull since I didn't vary the gold too much, but after the black back-stitching went in, it all came together.

The most dysfunctional family in all the realm, I find House Lannister the most interesting. If you've read the books you know that a lot changes for them, too. Some of my favorite sections of writing and character development come from Jamie Lannister's journey with Brienne of Tarth. As true and wonderful as the show is, reading the events in prose is almost better. If you haven't done this yet, I highly recommend you do it.



And this, just because everyone really does love Tyrion:
(explicit)




THE NIGHT'S WATCH 

These were originally going to be one piece; half black and half white, but they seemed to hold up on their own so I kept them separate. Eventually I'd like to do the entire vow of The Night's Watch, but I'll save that for next winter, perhaps. The sword is embroidered in silver, black, and gray; the crow is black felt. 

Speaking of crows, the only one I like better than Jon Snow is his Lord Commander, Jeor Mormont (The Old Bear, and father to my boy Ser Jorah Mormont). Also Benjen Stark. What kind of name is Benjen? Okay, what kind of name is Jeor, too, but damn. What do they call the girls that hang around the club in SOA, Crow-Eaters? The men of The Night's Watch scowl a lot, to be sure. I'm with them.

This was one of my favorite images from the show; the gate rises and The Old Bear leads the crows on a white horse with their torches in search of, well, the worst thing imaginable. Powerful example of storytelling with images.








R'HLLOR 

I thought the Red Woman should be represented, mostly because I like the sigil Stannis Baratheon adopted on her behalf. And the more I watch, the more I like Stannis, plus I needed something else that was red. The heart is cut of felt and the flames embroidered; I was nervous about this one looking choppy or amateuristic, kind of like a bad tribal tattoo or something, but in the end I came to like how it came together.


NINE HOUSES OF WESTEROS



I couldn't fit this one in, not all the way. The only piece that I actually used a pattern for (credit to BlackLupin on DeviantArt), this one killed my eyes with its 22count fabric, which was the only stuff tight enough for me to fit all nine houses onto. It was fun, it was lengthy, but it was varied enough to keep me interested since there was always another house to start when I finished. I started in the middle with The Stark's Direwolf and then worked outward. There's a little, well no, LARGE, error on The Greyjoy's Kraken--I had the pattern turned upside down for some reason when I had it with me at my mother's for Christmas. Somehow I picked it up again and turned it rightside up and had no idea I was doing anything wrong and went about my merry way until I finally noticed that the pattern had only one set of curly tentacles, not two. I suppose this is why I don't like being held to patterns, with free-styling on the fly this sort of thing never happens. Also, I probably shouldn't have picked it up after that much wine. Lessons learned, and the Greyjoys are awful, anyway.


TO WIN A PIECE OF WESTEROS CROSS STITCH:

If you like what you see, tell me! Leave your name in the comments below along with which piece is your favorite. If you want to talk about the show or the books, that's great, too! Should you be on Facebook, Google+, or Twitter and want to share this, please feel free. I'll have a drawing the night I take everything down and I'll announce the winner as a comment on this post and on Facebook, so check back! Thanks for your interest in my art! 

House Stark Direwolf Cross Stitch

My little direwolf is not exactly photogenic yet with all the strings and shit hanging off, but he'll look pretty killer once I find a Winterfell- reminiscent frame for him, right? I found the direwolf on HBO's site (as well as the other sigils, get ready for some kick-ass dragons, lions, and stags after this one) and the surrounding pattern was just on a cross-stitch site;



I feel as though the Starks would approve.

The Shawshank Redemption

I think at least four people suggested this one; it really might be the best movie ever made.

The Shawshank Redemption, 1994. Directed by Frank Darabont.
starring: Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, Bob Gunton.

"Two imprisoned men bond over a number of years, finding solace and eventual redemption through acts of common decency." (IMDB). 

This film succeeds because it's a great story (Stephen King) done by a great director (Frank Darabont) with a great cast (everyone involved). Props also go to Thomas Newman, who did the music. But it's not just that everything comes together so brilliantly as a production, obviously it does, but there is something about the overall message going on here that literally causes me to cry every time I think of it . . . it's emotional, it's heartbreaking, but it's uplifting, too.

This is the story of Andy Dufresne and Ellis (Red) Boyd Redding. Andy is new, quiet, keeps to himself, is "a cold fish;" Red is the opposite---a man who can get things (smokes, sipping whiskey, posters), a man who knows things (being rejected for parole, who to avoid in the showers, what happens the first night new inmates arrive), a respected man inside the prison. Their story together becomes one of friendship, humanity, and hope: Andy develops a true friendship with Red, uses his intelligence and humanity to make others comfortable, more free-feeling, and eventually escapes.

So Red and Andy are obviously the key players here, but the supporting ones are pretty brilliant, too. The stuttering Heywood (Bill Sadler, "Alexan-dree Dum, Dumas, Dumb Ass?"), the quiet, in-the-background Italian guy (Richie Apriel from The Sopranos!), slippery Warden Norton (Bob Gunton), dorky question-asking, cell tossing guard (Dr. Romano from ER), and my personal favorite, Captain Hadley (Clancy Brown), aka Kelvin from LOST aka Brother Justin from Carnivale.


Seriously, this guy was one hell of a bad ass, constantly removing his prison hat for extra intimidation and getting all the killer lines:

"You speak English, Butt-Steak?"
"What the Christ is this happy horse-shit?"
"You tell me, Fuck-stick, they're all addressed to you!"

Is it a sign of immaturity that I find the way he uses curse words *hilarious*? Total prick, he was, but gifted with language, I'll give him that.

The director's choices thrill me to no end. From the steamy little love session going on between Andy's wife and lover (sorry, but it's kinda hot) to the respectful way Brooks's last scenes are filmed (revealing just enough for it to be tasteful, and with that remorseful accompaniment), to the tilt up the building during Andy's first entrance, to Red's seriously awesome swagger through the yard and later childishly giddy grin when he walks out the front gate, to probably my favorite driven close-up of all time----Warden Norton's sudden dart to the needlework covering the safe when the cops come for him  ("His Judgement Cometh and That Right Soon," CROSS-STITCHED!)---even the cornfields and gravel roads at the end get me a little excited, not to mention the ocean. Everything just . . . worked.

And think for a minute about the things people say to each other in this film----when was the last time you were really struck by the seriousness, the weight of peoples' words? Damn, man!

"You underestimate yourself."
"Every man has his breaking point."
"Get busy living or get busy dying."
"Salvation lies within."

"Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things."

Atari Art (Cross Stitch)

1. Space Invaders. 14 ct fabric, black, 2011. This is my most recent, made for my youngest son, and is probably my favorite one in the collection. By this time I'd learned to work on black fabric instead of filling in the black with floss (as with Miss Pac Man) and larger count fabric, too. My eyes can't handle the small ones anymore! I thought initially that compared to all the others the tones of only green and orange might seem dull, but I was wrong, it's plenty colorful! I played this game frequently with my brother, and always used to get performance anxiety when that last one standing used to go all super-fast-spazzy, whipping back and forth across the screen . . .

For this one I just printed out a screen shot and then drew out the invaders, the shooters, and the numbers for the score. It's a little hard to see in the photo over there, but I messed up on one of the invaders and added like two extra rows to its body, making it look extremely fat compared to the others; can you spot it?

SPLAT!

2. Frogger. 14 ct fabric, white, 2010. My very favorite Atari game growing up. We didn't get it until I was in about sixth grade, but I was fortunate enough to have cousins who not only had it for their Atari(s) but were extremely good at playing it; I owe all my abilities to Jill, Heidi, Amy, and Paul---thanks guys! This one was done with them in mind for my youngest daughter and was probably the most fun to make. I tried to find a screen grab that had a challenging traffic scene but didn't want to over-do it on the top level. If I ever get the motivation to do another one I'd probably include the log-snake.

If I could do it all over again, I'd probably do it against a black background (as with Space Invaders), the white just seems to wash it out too much. Maybe cut a few of the cars from the bottom section out, too, but I really do like the way the bright colors resonate down below.




3. Miss Pac Man, 22 count fabric, 2009.

This one was for my oldest daughter (here it hangs in her room next to Princess Leia); she's a girly girl, a princess girl, and Miss Pac Man was the closest thing I could find to the stuff she likes. This is the one that cost me my eyesight, y'all. 22 count fabric was NOT a good idea; nor was doing it on white and then filling in what ended up being solid black after everything else was in place. I started in the middle, with the ghosts (which I drew out first), and then went with the white pellets since you really have to do white before black (or any other dark color) if you don't want the white to get bled into. . . so white pellets against a white background with a tiny count fabric again, was not smart of me. I think I was working on this for over a year. Turned out nicely, but damn. My eyes hurt when I look at it.

4. Pitfall, 28 count fabric, 2008.

My first piece, for my first child and oldest son. I think he may have been going through an Indiana Jones phase at the time. This, too, was way too small a count of fabric and probably ruined my eyes just as much as Miss Pac Man, but it's tight. I did it with two strands of floss, so the x's don't even look like x's but solid color, which is cool. My cousins played this one, also, and getting to the gold and silver bars will always remind me of my cousin, Paul. When I played it, I always had to have him get past the jump-on-the-alligator-heads part for me; I was awful at that. I was thinking of doing another project with the Pitfall elements sometime in the future, like maybe a bell-pull or something with the snake, the fire, the scorpion, and the treasures.

LOST ART (cross stitch)

So these are for the Losties, or anyone else who likes cross stitch. Enjoy knowing intimate details of how I spend my time (when I'm not actually watching the show or other films). I'll now be accepting my nomination into genuine Nerd-dom.

We have to go back! 

1. LOST Island Map, 2009. 22 count. I spent the summer with this one. I love maps and flags, so it was only natural that I throw together a little sampler of my favorite island, right? I debated for a while about including the black and red hieroglyphics, and almost didn't do it, but I think the finished piece would really have been lacking without them as a border and I'm glad I went for it.



I have no idea if the Dharma Stations are in the correct places, I patterned this after a map I found on DarkUFO.










2. Countdown to Death Hieroglyphics, 2010. Felt/embroidery.

I always felt that these were so ominous, only appearing briefly during the show's second season, but still---what they indicated turned out to be pretty major, right? For a while I used to refer to all chaos breaking loose inside my house as, "John Locke forgot to push the button." A great, great story line, wasn't it?



3. Moving On, 2011. 22 count.

There were hardly any decent (full) still images of the stained glass online anywhere, so I had to wait until I was able to get my own LOST box set to really plot this one out. It took a lot more work than anything else I've done---I changed the shape of the outline a bit, it's slightly more boxy than the real stained glass, and there was a pretty major oops on this one (bottom right yin/yang icon) that I took up after um, well, drinking a little bit one evening; you can probably see that it's slanted in a very non-circular way compared to the others, but hey. All part of the experience, I guess.


When I initially framed it, it was just the image on off-white fabric in the frame with the white mat, and something about it just didn't look right---too washed out or sterile or something, so I took it out a few weeks ago, cut the cross stitched image out and then stitched it onto the tan corduroy that it's in now and it looks much better. Does this do enough to cement and confirm that I absolutely loved the show's finale? I hope so.

4. Nine Dharmas, 2012. 18 count.

I originally wanted this to be a sort of tribute to not only the Dharma Initiative but also the blast door inside the Swan Station (that only John Locke sees during the lockdown) but once I got all of them finished, I just really liked the way they looked in a block arrangement so I kept them that way. I'll do a blast door, proper, in the future, don't worry.

When people see the stuff I do, the LOST pieces in particular, I usually get two comments or questions. The first is, "Oh Man! That's so dope that you do all this shit, but I still really hated the ending of that show!" Since I'm non-confrontational by nature, I'll just smile and nod, but just for the record, I did not hate the ending, thought it was brilliant, thought the entire show was brilliant, obsess over it at least once or twice daily (and usually tear up if I think about it too long). Yeah, I'm a crazy-ass fan.


The second bit of feedback, if you can call it that, is to ask me, "WHERE DO YOU FIND THE TIME TO DO ALL THIS?" Valid question, I have kids, I have a part time job out of the house, and I write, so time is always difficult to come by. My younger kids nap at the same time every day, and if I'm caught up on all my writing, I'll cross stitch. On the nights I don't work at my coffee job, I'll catch up on my writing, read whatever I'm reading in the bath for a half hour, turn something on to watch, and cross stitch. It's not just leisure or art, but almost therapeutic for me to do this, and if I go too long without it, I honestly start to get snappy. Most of my stuff was conceived/begun during subzero Minnesota winters, and I'll probably continue to do them until either my hands swell up or my eyesight fails, or both because it's something I just need to do.

There were some near-disasters with this last one, I won't lie; three of the last Dharmas were stitched onto their felt backings with a sick child sprawled across my lap, and the Looking Glass (rabbit) had an unfortunate collision with someone's pink marker but was cropped closely enough for it not to matter . . . but it's all good. I like making things; my kids see me making things and then go make their own things, too. They're not drawing Dharma logos or anything yet, but you know, I'll be extremely supportive should they start.

Should you be interested in getting a closer look of all this business, I'm displaying it at Starbucks, 54th and Lyndale in Minneapolis next Sunday for two weeks.

Remember, Let Go, Move On.

Finished it! If only there were some auctioned-off pieces of the Black Rock available, I could hammer together a killer frame!
That bottom right circle got FUBAR-ed one night when I picked it up after having a few drinks (!) and I didn't notice it until the next day, but all in all, it turned out pretty sweet!

Space Invaders: Done!

Vin's Space Invaders. This was by far the easiest of the Atari projects because I finally discovered BLACK FABRIC! I'm pretty sure I ruined my eyesight permanently from doing the black stitching on Miss Pac Man. I had to make it two players because one just seemed too lonely. And not colorful enough. LOST Stained Glass is coming up next.

Frogger.

Finished! Now to find a frame. . .

Frogger Update.

Skeleton is finished.
Now come the 4,000,000 little blue and black x's for the street and water. Search Amazon.com for frogger

Progress.

Started the diving turtles last night! I would have rather been at Machete, but hey, this was nearly as much fun.

Harlem. Frogs.

Whatever it Takes by Paul Tough.
This is the story of a man who wanted to overhaul the school system and community in Harlem, his name is Geoffrey Canada. And like Salt 'N Peppa said and said it best, WHAT A MAN.

It's a very emotionally charged, frustrating, inspiring story, very much worth reading, and will make you want to hug a teacher or Geoffrey Canada himself. It's stories like these that let you know that there are really people out there who care. A lot.

And mostly what they've figured out is that
1. Parents matter, early experiences matter (are you listening, Judith Rich Harris?)

2. Doing a good job in anything takes hard, dedicated work.

3. (this is *my* take, not something that the book preaches) Teachers never get the credit, thanks, or pay they deserve. So many teachers out there go to the mat for our kids time and time again; please, PLEASE give them the respect and gratitude they deserve. Next to parents, they have the most important jobs in the world.

4. Pediatrician/developmental specialist T. Berry Brazelton still knows what he's talking about. LISTEN TO THIS GUY, READ HIS BOOKS, DO WHAT HE SAYS.

5. If you need any sort of push to think/read outside the box, read this book; it will very much make you appreciate what you have. That about says it all.



and on the lighter side: GUESS WHAT I STARTED LAST WEEK? (cue opening music)

Pitfall Screen Grab on cross stitch

This took more than a month. . . .I'm so happy it's done. Next is Ms Pac Man!