stitch love party // a baby kappa pattern to end the party

When you start seeing imaginary animals, it probably means that it's time to end a party right? Well, this particular creature has been a long time coming. This creature is a kappa.

Kappas are Japanese mythical creatures, and when I was working on the section of mythical, or perhaps...legendary animals in Stitch Love, I wanted something from Japan. But Japan has some seriously freaky creatures. Even the ones that are cute come with mean or even terrifying stories.

But I loved the kappa anyway and somewhere I have sketches that never became official patterns. I sort of forgot about it.

And then Heather suggested that the #StitchLoveParty needed a kappa, and I was once again all excited for this turtle-frog-duck-bird with a puddle of water on its head.

So often they are scary or ugly (although there are some kawaii cute ones too, including characters in Animal Crossing), and I wanted mine to be as cute as possible. And what could be cuter than a baby kappa? Nothing! (Except maybe a bunny sea slug.) Thanks, Heather!

DOWNLOAD THE BABY KAPPA PATTERN PDF

If you suggested a pattern that I didn't make for the party, either a) the animal is already in the book (for example, a penguin!), b) I have a pattern for that animal in my shop (like the narwal!), or I just ran out of time (I still have sugar glider sketches waiting to become patterns!). But thank you to everyone who offered up ideas!

And now, it's time to end this party. Phew! It's late! Thanks for coming, and travel home safe, folks. And keep on stitching!

stitch love party // stitch love book giveaway

Okay, party pals...we're getting close to the end of this party, and I'm gonna send you home soon. But not quite yet. There is still another gift, and one last party favor.

But first, how do you like my finished bunny sea slug stitching? I'm quite smitten with it, and now I just have to decide what to make it into. I've considered a few options, but I'll sleep on it for now.

Now, if this were my brother's birthday, he would be going crazy that there was still a gift yet unopened so late in the day. We better get on with the presents...



The last big gift is a copy of Stitch Love: Sweet Creatures Big & Small! I'll happily sign it for the winner too. Enter below through Rafflecopter. And international entries are welcome too!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Good luck friends! And don't forget your one last party favor coming in the next post!

stitch love party // a floral frame pattern for your animals

Now it's time for some serious late-night partying. But if you leave early or fall asleep, I promise we won't make fun of you. The good thing about a blog party is that it stays in place so you can visit again when you're wide awake!

So one of the things that I wanted to do is make a way to easily use patterns from Stitch Love to make embroidered hoop art. Just stitching a single animal on a pouch or pocket works, but placing that same animal alone in a hoop doesn't always look right.

So I made a little floral frame to use with your favorite motif from the book! Above you can see how the skunk would look if you nestle him in just at the top of the flowers. I'd plan on stitching the flowers right over his feet.

But you can do this another way too!



For this one I'm going to take the frame and the Easter Bunny and make them work together.




This one is almost more like a portrait in a frame. So, I basically cut off the bottom of the bunny pattern, but I did it so that only the parts covered by the flowers are removed. I left a little gap between the flowers and the bunny and basket, but you can stitch whatever design you're using right up to the flowers.

Just Trace the frame first, then add the animal of your choice, tracing only the part you want to show.

It will work with lots and lots of animals from the book, and from the #StitchLoveParty! And of course, the frame can be used for other things too.

DOWNLOAD THE FLORAL FRAME PATTERN PDF

Enjoy! And come back soon for a bit more fun!

stitch love party // it's cake time!

It isn't a party without cake, am I right? And this party, celebrating one year of Stitch Love: Sweet Creatures Big & Small needed a cake that is also a super cute animal.

No matter how many adorable creatures I see, kitties will always be my favorite. So a kitty cake was the right choice here. I was inspired by Coco Cake Land for this, but went with paper decorations for a faster option.

Enjoy a slice!

We're gonna take a cake break, but then I'll be back with more posts to party into the wee hours! See you soon!

stitch love party // sampler turtle at about.com

As many of you know, in addition to creating nearly everything here at Wild Olive, I am also the embroidery expert at About.com. Which means that I get to share lots and lots of embroidery-related things over there too.

Today, as part of the #StitchLoveParty, I shared a bit about my book AND I've got a free pattern for you too. I've done a couple turtles along the way (and there's a turtle-ish pattern still coming here at Wild Olive later today), but this one is a little different.

The shell of the turtle has some designs that are perfect for using as a sampler. Just select your favorite stitches, or some that you'd like to practice, and start working on a stunning shell for our turtle friend!

Head to Embroidery.About.com to check it out!

stitch love party // buggy buddy sample giveaway

Since today is kind of like a birthday party for Stitch Love, there should be gifts, right? I mean, free patterns are like the party favors, but I think we need an actual present or two!

So how about a couple of the projects I made for the book?! These buggy buddies would love to live at someone else's house (although I think they've enjoyed living here too). There are two prizes here, so there will be two lucky winners!



The first gift is this Lovely Ladybug Bag Tag. The front is all hand embroidered (by me!) and on the back you can slide in your contact information or a label for whatever you're tagging.



The second present is the Fluttery Butterfly pencil topper (with a matching orange pencil!). This is also stitched by me, and it has just a bit of flutteriness as you write. And yes, I did just make up a new word there.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Enter above with Rafflecopter. The giveaway ends next Wednesday, and it's open to all. Yes, that means international too. Good luck, friends!

And so that everyone gets a buggy buddy, although it's not truly a bug, download a pattern for a banana slug (by request!) below.

DOWNLOAD THE BANANA SLUG PATTERN

stitch love party // savannah friends patterns at hugs are fun

Parties are better with friends, right? Right. So I asked my friend Becca if she would like to Stitch Love with us too, and she said yes!

Becca stitched and sewed this sweet zippered pouch with a lion cub. And on the reverse, well...I'll let you visit Hugs are Fun to see the awesome that's going on. She has turned into a zipper pouch and patchwork machine lately!

While you're at Hugs are Fun you'll be able to download a set of three savannah animals: a zebra, an ostrich, and the lion cub. Each with a gleeful look on its face (Becca turned the eyes on the lion so he's sleepy...cute!).

Party small talk: Have you played the app Neko Atsume? It's all about cats, and I'm fairly certain that it influenced my drawing of this little lion!

stitch love party // sea friends patterns

When I was working on Stitch Love: Sweet Creatures Big & Small, choosing animals and creatures to include was not easy. There are just so many, and as it was I was pushing it for space in the pages. And then after it was all done (I actually finished all of the stitching a full year before it came out), of course I learned of other animals I wish I had included.

This pattern is one of those animals. It's a bunny sea slug, and you can see what the real deal looks like here.

I think it would be cute without the white outline, but it adds a little definition. This is also the pattern that I'll be stitching today. As in, I'm #StitchLoveParty-ing right along with you! Expect to see her finished by the end of the day.

DOWNLOAD THE STITCH LOVE SEA FRIENDS PATTERNS

Also in this pattern PDF is a sea horse (by special request!) and a tiny adorable octopus (which had a tentative scientific name of octopus adorabilis!). Let's get stitching!

stitch love party // let's get started!

Hey! I'm so glad you're here at my party! What's that? You didn't know there was a party going on? Don't worry...you're still invited!

It's been ages since I've had a blog party, and maybe you've never even heard of one, but basically all day today there will be posts with freebies and other fun stuff. There will even be a few posts that lead you to other places.

And it's all to celebrate that today my book Stitch Love is one year old!

So here's how we'll get this party started. First, plan on visiting Wild Olive throughout the day!

Next, if you have a copy of Stitch Love, grab it and do some stitching today! Or, you can go back and look through all of my Stitch Love posts and find some extra patterns and projects to try. Share your progress on Instagram or Twitter with the hashtag #StitchLoveParty. (You can share it other ways too, but those are the two that I use.)

Oh, and be sure to grab some snacks. Because a party should have snacks, right?

Okay, I'll be back in a bit with the first free pattern for you!