A Movie to Stitch To: Part Two

You who have followed my blog for any length of time know that I stitch to movies quite a bit. I even use a hashtag #MovieToStitchTo that you can follow of Twitter, Instagram, & Facebook.

My tweets showing #MovieToStitchTo

 Below is an abstract piece I am working on for an upcoming gallery show I hope to get into. I shared it on Instagram, again using #MovieToStitchTo.

Tonight's #MovieToStitchTo is The Breakfast Club. #embroidery #handembroidery #abstractart #whatisart

A photo posted by Tisha (@aprilsongstress) on Sep 5, 2015 at 6:18pm PDT

For my previous post on this topic, check it out HERE.

Happy Stitching & Movie Watching!

Solomon Northup in redwork

I've known the story of Solomon Northup for a number of years. He & his wife Anne lived in Kingsbury/Sandy Hill (Washington County, NY my home county) where they had a farm, before moving to Saratoga Springs. He had ties to the Old Fort House in Fort Edward, NY across the street from my best friend's childhood home. A colleague of mine (Cliff Oliver) is a Solomon Northup re-enactor. I've read 12 Years a Slave more than once. The language is beautiful, & the experience visceral. I highly recommend it.

I was very pleased when the movie adaptation of 12 Years a Slave won Oscars for Best Motion Picture of the Year & Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Lupita Nyong'o). However, I was most excited when it won for Best Adapted Screenplay (John Ridley). To me, this was the biggest win, for it was like Solomon himself won an award for his writing. I cried.

Pattern of Solomon Northup

 Since there are no known images of Solomon, I used a still from the film, with Chiwetel Ejiofor as Solomon, as a basis for my redwork pattern.

 I was working on this embroidered portrait the night of the Academy Awards.

Tonight's #MovieToStitchTo is the #Oscars2014 of course! Embroidering a #12YearsASlave inspired #redwork pic.twitter.com/LEOFlbCk2h
— TishaDolton (@aprilsongstress) March 3, 2014

The final redwork portrait of Somolon Northup by aprilsongstress

I really like how the embroidered portrait came out. Just need to finish up the framing.

Saratoga Springs, NY has declared the 3rd Saturday in July to be Solomon Northup Day.

Happy Stitching!

Redwork Tree Skirt- Part 3: Finish-Along is coming along...

Well, I have finished panels 5 & 6 for my sistar's tree skirt. Hopefully I can get 7 & 8 done this weekend. I have book club Saturday with 3 of my closest friends & should be able to start 7 there, as I have it already traced out. I'll have to stitch early on Sunday because my Seattle Seahawks play the 49ers in the evening & there is no way I can stitch during that game. Too crazy!

Oh, follow me on twitter to see what I am stitching in the moment & what I am watching while I do it. Twitter- @aprilsongstress with the hashtag #MovieToStitchTo...

Panel no. 5 completed

Gathering the tools of the trade to start stitching

Panel no. 6 is finished

I'll keep you updated on my progress! How are you doing on your Finish-Alongs?

Click here for an UPDATE!

A Movie to stitch to: Part One: Marathon

I embroider as much as I can. I love it. It de-stresses me (except when the floss knots for no reason & I let fly a few choice words.) I embroider mostly when I am watching TV or a movie at home. (I would embroider in the movie theater but book lights are kind of frowned upon as distracting to other viewers. Humph!)

Enough with the parenthetical statements... I am starting a series of blog posts based on the movies I stitch to & the projects I am working on at the time. Sometimes they may correlate, sometimes not. You can also check my twitter feed (@aprilsongstress), as I often tweet using #MovieToStitchTo. Feel free to start using it too...

Yesterday, having been deserted by both my parents, & my daughter, I decided to have a "Movie To Stitch To" Marathon. I watched 4 movies & finished one project. (Yes, embroidery is time-consuming, but well worth it!)

Oh... these posts may contain *Spoilers*!

Marathon #embroidery event coming up today. Project & pumpkin coffee set. What should I start with? #MoviesToStitchTo pic.twitter.com/F5XUUJeRpD
— Tisha Dolton (@aprilsongstress) October 5, 2013

 I started off with Before Sunset, which I am ashamed to say, I had never seen before. Not only is it a smart, witty, thoughtful film, it is also a near perfect "Movie To Stitch To" & I will tell you why. It is very dialog heavy. Jesse (Ethan Hawke) & Celine (Julie Delpy) talk through the whole movie. This allows you to embroider without loosing much when you glance down at what you are doing. & when the few silences do occur, you know you need to pay attention & look at the screen. This is definitely a movie I need to own & will stitch to it again & again!

Project complete- Autumn Leaves napkins

Next up: Good Deeds. I have never watched a Tyler Perry movie before, partly because the Madea franchise is of no interest to me what-so-ever & he has to put his brand all over everything. Thandie Newton is amazing, as always. I am thankful to have a supportive family that has enabled me to to care for my daughter & this movie reminded me that things could have been so much different. Though not a bad movie, the contrived, unrealistic ending kind of killed it. (How many 6-year-olds have a passport? You can't just hop on a plane to Africa with less than 24 hours notice.) Anyway, it is a good Movie To Stitch To because of the amount of dialog & you don't have to stay glued to the screen, though you will catch yourself wanting to watch Thandie Newton!



The 3rd movie I chose was another I've never seen. (I should mention I borrowed all of these from the library. FREE!) Win a Date With Tad Hamilton is a typical romantic comedy featuring a bunch of actors I enjoy watching, so I thought I would give it a try. I would have liked more Topher Grace, Ginnifer Goodwin & Kathryn Hahn. Again, the ending forces the movie into forgettable-land. Good Movie To Stitch To, because you don't need to pay strict attention to it, but not something I would need to watch again.

Placemats are finished- waiting to be ironed

The final movie of the day was my old stand-by. The Keira Knightly version of Pride and Prejudice (though not the most faithful adaptation) is lovely. I love Matthew MacFadyen as Mr. Darcy. As I own this one, I have seen the movie so many times that I know my favorite, not-to-be-missed parts. Another near-perfect Movie To Stitch To.

I hope to make this a sort-of-regular thing. Let me know what movies you like to stitch to!