Holy freaking wow!

It’s by craftster user cface23. She had this to say:

I made 2 separate cross stitching patterns, one for the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan flag, and I made up the dove and text by taking inspiration from the internet (google image search anyone?). Then, I combined all of the patterns using my creativity and math skills. Unfortunately, my ambition got the best of me, and I was unable to finish my cross stitch before the contest deadline- finishing 2.5 weeks too late, just in time for the 2008 Olympics. But not I have this wonderful cross stitch to show off and share with you.

This is an amazing piece and has come out really well. I especially like the use of backstitch around the glasses on the Dalai Lama and the dove, makes it look quite striking. A wee bit late for the comp, but I reckon a winner anyway.

Awesome!!!

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Sorry this took so long but I managed to hurt my back and I was so sore I couldn’t even cross stitch! My partner knew there was really something wrong with me when I ignored the stitching.

So here’s my cross stitch contribution to the Free Tibet creativity movement sweeping the globe at the moment (check out the poster art featured on Groundswell). And my contribution to the Free Tibet XStitch Competition.

And here’s the pattern if anyone wants to use it. Click on the image for a pdf pattern with colour guide and cross stitch instructions.

I also promised earlier to give a bit of a tutorial on how to use waste aida fabric to cross stitch directly on to fabric. So here’s a couple of pics to show how I did it.

The first thing you need to do is secure the aida fabric to your chosen fabric. You can either tack the corners with some stitches which you can remove later. Or you can hold the two pieces of fabric together with an embroidery hoop.

I forgot to take a photo while I was still stitching but I used a hoop to secure the aida fabric to the jacket. I’m sure you can use your imagination as to what it would look like.

Once you’ve finished stitching, remove the hoop or stitches and then trim the aida fabric as close to your stitching as possible.

Then you carefully pull all the threads out, starting from the edge.

I also try and cut the aida between letters where there was a bit of room so there was a bit less to pull through.

My advice is to not pull to hard on a thread if it’s really tight, just move on to another section. Sometimes when you’re stitching you can accidentally stitch through the aida so it’s best to leave those threads until the end to deal with. The last thing you want to do is break one of your stitched threads!

In the end it will look like this

Hopefully that’s useful for you readers out there. I reckon it’s a great way to embellish clothes and bags and other things you carry/wear around. Use your imagination, there is a billion things to stitch on if you think about it hard enough!

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I had a lot of fun doing this. It the second ever cross stitch I have designed myself, and I’m pretty proud of it. Plus I think it’s the biggest one I’ve ever done. I usually like the short, quick gratification projects. But at the moment I don’t have a job, so I have a lot of time on my hands to cross stitch. Sorry the quality isn’t that great. I just moved down to Mexico and the only aida cloth I can find here is close to a 14ct. and has a very uneven weave. And I don’t like stitching with anything more than 2-strands. Just a personal quirk. I usually like 18ct. fabric. I can’t wait to get my mom to mail me some from home. So unfortunately there is a lot of white showing through, accentuated by the large blocks of colour. But it looks really good from a few feet away, which works great, cause it is up on my wall, and you can’t see all the tiny little flaws.

So the writing in the cross stitch says ‘Tibetan Freedom’ in Tibetan. I did it in orange, because of the Project Orange I read about on your site. That’s a great idea. I can’t wait to see how the Olympics will pan out. Unfotunately I’m one of the many who have decided to boycott the games, which is sad cause I kid a went to school with is competing this year. Looks like I have some decisions to make. Anyways, I added the dove from the group Students for a Free Tibet, and then stitched the top part of the Tibetan flag in the backgroud. I wanted to add some mountains and a quote from the Dalai Lama, but I would’ve had to make it bigger to get the effect that I wanted, and it was tough for me to even finish this size.

I think it looks awesome! I am so super impressed with the work that’s gone into this. Well done Angela!

I reckon this is a winner!

I’m almost finished mine, it currently says ree Tibet! I’ll hopefully post it up later today.

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One is free and one is for sale and they’re both quite different.

This first one I designed with my little girls bedroom wall in mind and it’s for all of you out there with a bit of anarchist in you.

You can purchase this pattern in the Radical Rags Etsy Store here.

The second one I made while playing with ideas for the Free Tibet XStitch Competition. I decided to do something different, and I doubt I’ll ever get around to stitching this. But I’d love it if someone else did!

Unfortunately I neglected to keep a shot of it in its entirety so you will have to download the pdf to see the actual pattern. But it’s the following quote from His Holiness the Dalai Lama from the 1989 Nobel Lecture:

Because we all share this small planet earth, we have to learn to live in harmony and peace with each other and with nature. That is not just a dream, but a necessity.

Pattern download here

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I’m furiously stitching trying to finish my design (which is obviously not eligible for prizes..) so I hope everyone else’s designs are going well!

I’ve been coming up with some plans on what to do with entries too. You’ll have to wait though..

Yay looking forward to seeing your entries!

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If you’re looking for some inspirational ideas for the Free Tibet Xstitch comp, you might want to check out The Colour Orange Project. This campaign has started in Europe but is quickly spreading. The campaign is to support human rights in China. The idea is to spread the colour orange as a way of supporting the various human rights campaigns around China.

From their website:

We are launching the project The Colour Orange to highlight the violations of the human rights in China on the occasion of the Olympic Games in Beijing August 2008.

The idea is both sophisticated and simple: We want to introduce The Colour Orange as a symbol of the protest against the human rights violations in China. The strict censorship can ban the use of obvious symbols of human rights, but the use of The Colour Orange cannot be banned.

So we will encourage sports people and spectators to make vast and creative use of the colour for clothing and all sorts of accessories. It can be anything, like an orange hat, camera bag, tie, pen, paper, dress, suit, bag etc. Even pealing an orange will be considered a poignant statement.

Some people in the crafting community are organising making crafty objects for people attending the games. They have set up a Flickr group for people to post pictures of their objects. People attending the games can arrange with a member of the group for a certain item, then they can post a photo of themselves and the item at the Games.

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So it’s an extra special blood, sweat and tears episode!

This week we have a big chat about craftivism, with a focus on the different ways of defining craftivism. We’re really interested to hear what you think about this topic, so drop us an email, comment below, or write about it on your own site. We also put a call out for a special super hero name, you better listen to find out what that’s about!

We have a nice long chat to the lovely Ms Cate at Polka Dot Rabbit about the Buy Nothing Craft Month.

Plus we bring you another zine review of the Fight Boredom zine by Hello Amber.

This weeks links to check out are:

Revolutionary Knitting Circle
Little Red Blog of Revolutionary Knitting
Cross Yr Stitches
Torrance Knits
You Are Beautiful
Finally, we talk about the Free Tibet Xstitch comp that you can all get involved in.

Hopefully it’s all come together properly but if you hear any missing bits or anything else out of kilter, please let us know.

The best way to listen to the podcast is to subscribe and download today!

Putting this podcast together does take a bit of time and effort (especially this episode!) so if you like what you hear, feel free to chuck some dosh in our virtual busking hat. We’ll love you for it!

And as always we love to hear from YOU! So drop us a comment or email and don’t forget to check out the archive.

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Hope you’ve all been as inspired as I am with all the Free Tibet action going on around the world. I was stoked to read today that Wangari Maathai, a Green Party woman who was the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize has pulled out of the rally on humanitarian grounds.

Not all of us live on the relay route so we can’t all be involved in the symbolic actions to halt the flame. But that doesn’t mean we can’t do our own thing. So I was pondering about what cross stitch I could do and I though ‘why not get lots of people to do some?’

SO!

I’m laying down the challenge to all members of the Radical Cross Stitch Posse to design and stitch your own Free Tibet cross stitch.

AND!

There’ll be prizes! First prize is a Radical Cross Stitch kit of your choice (there’ll be more to choose from soon). Other prizes will be available too as I work them out. And every entrant will get a copy of Hoop-La Issue 2 (on it’s way!) sent to them. Plus all of the finished stitches will be proudly displayed on the Radical Cross Stitch site.

I’ll be stitching a design too (when I figure out what it is…) and will post progress reports. Obviously I’m not eligible for prizes

Inspired? If you need some ideas to kick start your creative brain, try reading the DiY page for tips

The deadline is the end of June. To enter simply add your finished pic to the Radical Cross Stitch Posse group on Facebook, publish photos on your website linking back to this site, or email pics straight to me. The rules are very loose. You can make whatever you want, as long as it has some cross stitch in it. And you absolutely get bonus points for public art.

Get stitching!

I’m dedicating this competition to the memory of Gaye Dyson who is the most inspiring crafty activist I have ever know. Gaye taught me how to screen print and taught me what living was all about. The Free Tibet campaign was a central campaign in Gaye’s life and I reckon she would’ve been the first to enter!

xox

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I thought I could discuss how ironic it is that many on the right – and I’m talking outside of the US here, I have long since given up trying to figure out the thought logic of the US right – are now calling the war a disaster. I mean, what did they think was going to happen? Maybe the US Army would skip in and take out Saddam and give all the kids soft toys and look like heroes?

I thought about discussing the original debate about how it was all about access to resources and now it appears the war is costing more than it’s making. Which is of course the reason why the right is now starting to think it’s all a waste of time.

I thought about discussing how disgusting it is that there isn’t even a record of how many Iraqi people have died during their alleged liberation. It’s a bit hard to call it a liberation when the liberators have taken out more people than the original dictator.

Well I reckon there’s a lot of people talking about that stuff so instead, here’s my contribution

Oh and while we’re on the topic of liberating people

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