Adam of Moesewco stitched this mutant horse as a commission for a client. It’s a stitched version of a drawing done by the client’s daughter.

How cool is that? You can ask Adam to stitch something like this up for you in his etsy store.

Oooh la la!

I love monkeys! But this is not just any monkey. It’s Moesewco‘s French monkey. Awesome – achieved.

As I mentioned in my last exploits post, August was a great month for getting out and about in the Stitchiverse. After the thrill of the workshop at Vintage at Goodwood, a few days later I found myself boarding a transatlantic heading for Chicago!

Chicago, for those who don’t know, is Beefranck country and having worked with her building the Mr X Stitch empire, I decided it was about time I went to visit her. I arrived on the 16^th August, got my lips around a classic Italian Beef Sandwich, and spent a few days relaxing, observing Americans in their natural environment and being mostly confused by interesting American foods.

On Thursday we made out way to Wicker Park to meet up with our good friends Joe and Kelly (and Baby Seth). We visited the Renegade Handmade store, buying lots of groovy craft items and ended up getting a mention on their blog. We visited a trendy burger joint called Hot Chocolate, where Joe enjoyed an accidental penis artisan milkshake and ate some extremely fine burgers. This was followed by a trip to Quimby’s Comics, a store with a fantastic array of zines, graphic novels and erotic comics!

I bought myself a couple of cool zines with embroidered covers and hope to write about those in more detail at some point.

On the Friday of my visit (the 20^th) we spent a day at WizardWorld Chicago, searching for comics, gawping at the cosplayers and getting some groovy sketches from people. I was pleased to discover the Little Brass Bird Collective in amongst all the comic people and spent a surprising amount of time talking about stitching to anyone who stood still for long enough…

On Saturday we hit the town! At Millenium Park we met up with Benjibot, Adam and Emily Moe, Vegkat (and her awesome family), Shane and Lia (Omaha posse!), Giggly Mama and Giddy Girlie. After a light lunch at the Institute of Modern Art, we ventured to Navy Pier and took a collective photo around the giant Macaroni – of course!

A quick whistle stop tour of the Pier, including some cheeseburger action, and some well received Slushies at a nearby 7-11, and we were off to our final destination, the Signature Lounge.

96 floors up the Hancock Tower we spent a fantastic couple of hours drinking expensive cocktails, laughing our heads off and as the sun went down and the town lit up beneath us, I felt extremely honoured to be there. It was great fun being with all these people who are not only amazing stitchy artists, but are brilliant people and firm friends from this point forward. It was truly the high spot of the visit.

The following day we ventured to Geneva, a suburb of Chicago, to celebrate Beefranck’s birthday! We ate good food, Beefranck was showered with gifts and love, Shane got the accidental penis this time and to celebrate the occasion we discovered that the town had hosted a concourse car show. Which was nice.

We also visited the Designers’ Desk, a truly fantastic stitchery shop with three floors of all manner of embroidered marvellousness. As the posse descended on the store it was great to wander around and talk stitchy stuff with each of them, particularly Vegkat’s kids, Bridget and Graham, who helped me choose some threads from the overwhelming array of choice. More about the store later…

After a great day looking at threads and cars, and drinking iced coffees, it was time to say goodbye to the GGs, and I want to thank them for taking the trouble to come from California to hang out with us. You guys are the best!

The next few days were spent recovering from the weekend, and relaxing. We returned to the Designers’ Desk on Tuesday and spent more time looking at the wide variety of threads – something like 40 different brands – and being truly inspired by the amount of stitchy supplies available. The store has an online presence and they ship worldwide, so if you get the chance to visit it, take it! It’s the way a stitchy shop should be!

It really was an amazing visit and fantastic to spend time with so many great people. I have to thank Beefranck and Yimster (and Shampoo the cat) for their hospitality, as well as everyone who came out to play with us. As I boarded the plane back to the UK, I felt inspired and honoured to have had such an experience, and committed to having many many more…

But wait! That’s not the end!

I sat on the plane, exhausted and exhilarated, and got chatting to my neighbour, a Greek guy called Sakis. After a while we got talking about stitching and he explained that his father had cross stitched some large pieces that hung in his family home. As the journey progressed and I continued stitching, eventually he asked if he could have a go. Before long all he asked me about was untying knots…

All in all it was a tremendous trip and I can’t wait until the next time I can pop over the pond for more exploits!

Adam Moe, of MoeSewCo, has had another great idea. Do you go to conferences, and places where people need to know your name? Why settle for a corporate name badge when you can get a bespoke embroidered one?

I’m gonna go get me a Mr X Stitch one!

I actually heard about this piece before I saw it. The Adam half of MoeSewCo told me he was going to be posting a picture of a piece he had framed in an LP. Naturally my first thought was “How cool!” My second was “Wait, what? Wonder what that looks like?” Well, here it is.

Even cooler than I imagined. See more from Adam here – and while you’re at it, check out his charming wife Emily’s handmade hats here.

You hardly ever seen a TV set with rabbit ears anymore.

Nicely done, MoeSewCo!

Our friends over at MoeSewCo contacted us to highlight the sale that they’ve got on at their fantastic etsy store at the moment.

Running until 15th August, the sale is entitled  ”Stick It Up Your A$$, Mortgage Company”, indicating the motivation behind the sale. It’s a lot catchier than the usual “End of Season” or “Desperately trying to maintain obscene profit margin” sales.

Go and check out their products – hats, embroidered ties, patches – there’s some groovy stuff and it’s all 10% off!

You’d be a fool to miss it!

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If you’ve got a store selling sumptuous stitcheries or embroidered elements, and you’ve got a sale or a special event coming up, let us know about it. Mr X Stitch’s readership continues to rise and we’re happy to help!

I don’t know what it is – maybe there is something is in the water or the air, but it seems like everybody is feeling knotty lately on flickr. That’s alright, I like it.

These gorgeous green french knots were made by Penny Nickels.

The close-up shot makes me want to reach in and touch them.

MoeSewCo got in on the action with this study in blues and grays.

Here’s a close-up of MoeSewCo’s knottiness. Mindblowing!

This amazing embroidery of a cold virus stitched entirely of french knots was posted by distracted muse. This is a virus I would welcome into my home!

Moster8me stitched her initials entirely out of french knots.

The colors are lovely together, and the knots really pop!

Last but not least is the most adorable application of the french knot I have ever seen. Kitschy Galore made this wonderful likeness of Domo out of a ridiculous number of knots. I love this little guy so much I want to take him home with me! See more great stuff in Kitschy’s flickr photostream.

Make sure to show these knotty people some love. You know you want to!

Ok, I’m going to be geeking out a little bit this week. I apologize in advance. It’s just that I saw a post on flickr by one of my favorite contributors to the Phat Quarter, krupp, and it has inpired me to explore the topic of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy stitches. This is the cross stitch krupp posted, a marvelous take on a great quote from the first book in the Hitchhiker series. The addition of the clock hands make this extra special. Not only that, krupp mentions that three of the four lines of text measure exactly 42 stitches wide – an unplanned occurence. Awesome. On a different, but still geeky, topic, we featuered krupp’s Dr. Who stitch previously. You can see that post here.
Speaking of 42:
This patch was created by MoeSewCo (featured here recently) and it’s a simple statement of the answer to life, the universe, and everything. Of course, no one knows the question, but I am personally leaning towards “What’s six times seven?”I absolutley LOVE the fact that a Beware of the Leopard cross stitch exists. It’s a small moment in the book, but one of my favorites. Arthur Dent describes finding plans that were “on display” in the local planning office: “It was on display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying ‘Beware of the Leopard’.” I’m so pleased that proxoper1 thought to make it and then posted it on flickr to share it with the world. Lovely. In my quest for more HHGTTG stitchery, I found this bag made by alien_sunset. One one side, the international sign for needing a lift.On the other, “Don’t Panic” is embroidered in large, friendly letters. Very cool. Obviously made by a frood who knows where their towel is.

Okay, my geekout is over. And if you didn’t understand any of this because you haven’t read Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series, please, do it now. You’ll be glad you did!

MoeSewCo is a crafty husband and wife team. They provide – quoting their website directly now – “fine embroidery and millinery for the discriminating weirdo.” Adam embroiders things:This piece, titled “Boid ‘N” Woim,” tells a story without using a single word.

“I Heart Me” is one of my favorites. I really think it would make a fine addtion to my desk.

The “Glass Eye” and “Dark Water” are decidedly creepy and very cool.

This HAS to be the ultimate power tie, don’t you think?

Also, Emily makes lovely hats:

If you want to see more of MoeSewCo, you can check out their
flickr photostream, website, blog, and etsy store. You’ll be glad you did!