Posts from — January 2009

You must, right this minute, check out Maira Kalman’s sketches of the inauguration experience in the New York Times. Seriously, click over there right now. Words cannot even describe how much I love this series.

(Shout-out to Modern Craft for spotting this one.)

One of my favorite crafting blogs is Peacock Chic, so imagine my delight yesterday when this post popped up in my RSS reader. She made this necklace for her niece, using PhotoShop, some shrinky dink and spraypaint. Lucky niece. Apparently, it was a big hit at school.

Click on the picture above for Peacock Chic’s 365 Days of Photos post about Inauguration Day.

Iri5‘s beautiful portrait of President Obama is comprised of photographs documenting Barack Obama’s journey to the presidency. I love the way the photos blends together to create a really joyous expression in the face.

Jen Campbell from the British crafts magazine CrossStitcher sent us this press release recently. Seems that they do a monthly feature of a cross stitch pattern of a famous person–and this month’s “Stitch-a-Star” is is our 44th president. Here’s the text of the release:

Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States, has been given the full treatment by Future’s CrossStitcher magazine.

As the new President takes to the Oval Office in The White House on the 20th January, Britain’s favourite stitching title will feature the President in their March issue; in their regular ‘Stitch a Star’ feature, which allows readers to re-create lifelike portraits of famous personalities in cross stitch.

The ‘Stitch a Star’ feature has always been a very popular section of the magazine, and joins an illustrious list of celebrities such as David Beckham, Harrison Ford, Simon Cowell and David Tennant who have all had the CrossStitcher treatment.

By following the counted cross stitch chart, you can create your very own stitched effigy to the US President. The man himself has an interest in all things craft and ‘The Obama Craft Project’ seeks to celebrate and archive the work of the many crafters who have created projects inspired by his 2008 campaign for the Presidency, so who knows, he may well pick up a needle and thread himself!

Cathy Lewis, Editor of CrossStitcher said: “Obama’s inauguration is a momentous occasion that will be ingrained forever in the history books not just of America, but of the whole world. What better way to capture this historic event than by stitching a picture of the 44th President as a treasured reminder?”

Issue 210 of CrossStitcher magazine goes on sale on the 29th January priced at £3.75.

I’m certain I’ve seen this publication here in the States, so it may be worth checking your local well-stocked newsstand if you’re interested in this issue.

Nancy was kind enought to both convert Kathy’s design into all of the popular machine embroidery formats, as well as create a version of her own design with a “Yes We Did” tagline. For Kathy’s design, Nancy offers the following advice:

The finished design should be about 3”H x 2.5”W and approximately 57,000 stitches, so I would advise home embroiderers to use a good stabilizer and that this will take a little while to complete, but worth it, because it is a great item.

Right click here to download a zip file of both designs, in all formats.

And not to beat a dead horse, but I’ve got to remind you that, as with this first embroidery patterns, please do not use these files for commercial purposes. This is the honor system, folks, and we have to trust you here. This is design is not available anywhere else, and Kathy has provided it here on the Obama Craft Project site so that machine embroidery enthusiasts and Obama supporters can enjoy it for their own personal use. By clicking the download link below, you agree to these terms. Thanks for understanding.