Fairy Tales in Stitches Week: Random Stuff

This is the last entry for Fairy Tales in Stitches Week. I saved these random patterns for last. They are offered by companies that have produced just one or two fairy tale patterns and don't necessarily specialize in fantasy designs.


Most of these are aimed more for hanging in children's rooms, but they are fun all the same.


The Jack and the Beanstalk pattern makes me giggle because it reminds me of the countless illuminated manuscripts and paintings I have seen of the Ascension where only feet are seen dangling from the clouds above wondering apostles. These have always tickled me for some reason. Perhaps because my dance training makes me want to say, "Point your toes!" It's a common device if you see enough of them (and being my mother's daughter, I have) and it was the first thing I thought of when I saw this pattern. But I have digressed...


And here's two booklets, both available through sellers on Amazon for less than anywhere I've seen them. Do you spy Rumpelstiltskin, Little Red Riding Hood, and the Shoemaker's elves? It has been rather surprising that Little Red Riding Hood has been very absent this week relative to her popularity--no samplers or other designs--just the pattern based on Scott Gustafson's illustration. Someone really should get on that...


Fairy Tales in Cross Stitch by Christina Marsh


Fairy Tales in Cross Stitch by Dorothea Hall

I hope you've enjoyed this week. I had fun finding all of these designs over the past month, trying to decide on my winter project and then sharing them with you this past week.

Most of the patterns--and most of the images--I've shown this week are available through 123stitch.com. I am in no way affiliated with them or any of the designers I've discussed. However, I have ordered from 123 Stitch and been pleased as a customer.

Fairy Tales in Stitches Week: Dragon Dreams

Today I'm sharing patterns from Dragon Dreams. The above is my favorite from this company. I searched for photos of completed projects so you can read the entire text and see the details. There are more, but this was my favorite and conveniently has the credit for the stitcher already printed on it. Thank you for sharing, Junette Stitch.


It says:

“Once upon a time” is how
Most fairy tales first start,
Then add a questing maiden
Or a knight so pure of heart.
Sometimes there is a treasure
Princely frog or magic blade,
Dangers to be conquered
Or long journeys to be made.
Yet strength and courage triumph,
To the enemy’s chagrin,
The questing soul discovers
That the hero lies within.

There are some nice castles and several dragon patterns--my favorite is a dragon alphabet. But I also like this Kingdom Sampler.


And here's a Frog Prince, the first for this week:


Most of the patterns--and most of the images--I've shown this week are available through 123stitch.com. I am in no way affiliated with them or any of the designers I've discussed. However, I have ordered from 123 Stitch and am a satisfied customer.

Fairy Tales in Stitches Week: Illustrators

These days with pattern making software and skilled rendering by knowledgeable people, converting photos and illustrations into cross stitch patterns is easier and thus popular. Several illustrators of fairy tales have had their illustrations licensed and converted into patterns by Heaven and Earth Designs, including Scott Gustafson, Ruth Sanderson, and Kinuko Y. Craft. Fantasy illustrations by James Christensen and others are also available.

I always debate these patterns when I see them. They are beastly to sew with their tiny details and they can easily be bought as posters and framed, often offering greater detail in poster form. However, there is the lush appearance of the sewn patterns, the tapestry effect and the unique quality of each piece. So I'm not choosing any of these for my winter project, but I am tempted nevertheless. Of course, they are also recommended for 25ct fabric--which means 25 x's per inch. That's painstaking detail and the finished projects look quite lovely.

Of course, if I were to attempt one, I would choose Twelve Dancing Princesses. I'm just not sure if I would pick Sanderson or Craft's for I love both for various reasons. The one at the top of this post is Sanderson's, by the way, and the one below is by Craft.


Here are some of patterns based on Gustafson's illustrations:




Here is Faery Tales by Christensen. I plan to do a post on him sometime soon, but I can't omit this one which is really quite fun.


Most of the patterns--and most of the images--I've shown this week are available through 123stitch.com. I am in no way affiliated with them or any of the designers I've discussed. However, I have ordered from 123 Stitch and am a satisfied customer.

Victory Gardens Theatre's The Snow Queen

Victory Gardens Theatre's THE SNOW QUEEN Returns To Chicago 11/27-12/27

Hold on tight, because Victory Gardens Theater's smash hit winter musical The Snow Queen - conceived by Chicago folk music legend Michael Smith, Tony Award-winning director Frank Galati, and master puppeteer Blair Thomas & Co - is sledding back into town for her fourth season as Chicago's #1 alternative to traditional holiday fare.

Based on Hans Christian Andersen's beloved winter tale about a boy who is lost in the cold, and the girl who won't give up until she finds him, Victory Gardens' The Snow Queen is the rare family musical that sings to children, and speaks to adults. Eye-popping puppetry, warm storytelling, and a chillingly beautiful score combine for "a terrific holiday show in a great theater" (Chicago Sun-Times) and "the nicest present we've gotten for the holidays" (Time Out Chicago). Anticipating this year's remount, Chicago Magazine just added "any musical rhyming ‘sturgeon' with ‘virgin' deserves a look-see."

The article is quite extensive, and for once, much more helpful than the Victory Gardens Theatre website. (The website is fine, but the article is a wonderfully informative write-up by Broadway World.com.) It reads like the materials straight from the playbill with information on Hans Christian Andersen as well as the talent responsible for the musical.

Anyway, this sounded intriguing and I thought I would share it now instead of waiting for my next Fairy Tales in Theatre posting. If you are in Chicago for the holidays, this should be a great night out.

Claude Levi-Strauss, 1908-2009

Anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss died this past Friday, October 30th. His work with folklore and myth has certainly influenced both anthropological and folklore studies.

Here are some links and excerpts from articles about his life:

Claude Levi-Strauss, French anthropologist, dies at 100

Claude Lévi-Strauss, 100, one of the preeminent social anthropologists of the 20th century, whose erudite, often mind-bendingly labored studies of indigenous Brazilian tribes led to influential theories examining human behavior and culture, died over the weekend in Paris. No cause of death was reported.

Mr. Lévi-Strauss was often paired with writers Jean-Paul Sartre and André Malraux as the towering French intellectuals of the past century. He said his life's work was "an attempt to show that there are laws of mythical thinking as strict and rigorous as you would find in the natural sciences."

He was best-known for popularizing a social science theory known as "structuralism," a philosophical method of approaching anthropology that identified behavioral codes that were crucial to the functioning of any society and that are inherent in the human mind.

Anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss remembered

Much of Levi-Strauss' widely-taught anthropological writings contain charts and maps of concepts that explore key elements of culture. In trying to explain various myths, such as the Oedipus story from Greek mythology, he assigned key themes and events to columns to explore the relationships and values within.

He found that myths were a way of retelling stories such as the relationship between the living and the dead, Lurhmann said. The myth form makes these difficult-to-deal-with concepts more complicated, but also softens them and makes them more comprehensible.

"His fundamental lesson was that culture shapes the way we think far more fundamentally than we are aware," she said.

Here is a short obituary off the AP Wire.

Claude Levi-Strauss

PARIS (AP) — Claude Levi-Strauss, an influential French intellectual who was widely considered the father of modern anthropology, has died. He was 100.

The Academie Francaise did not give a cause or date of death in the announcement Tuesday. French media said he died Friday.

Levi-Strauss was widely regarded as having reshaped the field of anthropology, introducing new concepts concerning common patterns of behavior and thought, especially myths, in primitive and modern societies.

During his 6-decade-long career, he authored many literary and anthropological classics, including "Tristes Tropiques" (1955), "The Savage Mind" (1963) and "The Raw and the Cooked" (1964).

Born on Nov. 28, 1908, in Brussels, Belgium, to French parents of Jewish origin, he was forced to flee France during World War II after Germany invaded and the collaborationist Vichy regime passed anti-Jewish laws. He ended up in New York.

He was widely regarded as having reshaped anthropology, becoming the leading advocate of what is now known as structuralism. His ideas reached into fields including the humanities and philosophy.

Finally, some of his important works include:

The Savage Mind

Tristes Tropiques

Myth and Meaning: Cracking the Code of Culture

The Raw and the Cooked: Mythologiques, Volume 1

The Origin of Table Manners: Mythologiques, Volume 3

The Naked Man: Mythologiques, Volume 4

Fairy Tales in Stitches: Willow Hill Samplings

Today's stitches come from Willow Hill Samplings and are much less romantic and much less complex designs, charming in their old-fashioned simplicity. I just discovered this line during my research, so I haven't sewn or seen one in person, but I am tempted by them. I would have to brighten the colors for myself since I prefer bright jewel tones to the aged, antique look. So if these simpler designs are more your taste, but the colors are off-putting, remember they can be changed quite easily. And a white or cream fabric would make a big difference, too.

I will have to order one or two of these once I decide which are really my favorites. I think I prefer Rapunzel and Cinderella although I am tickled by them all. I like the storytelling design of Cinderella and Rapunzel's tower which has always been a tale close to my heart. However, I might change the words just a little if I sew that one. It's accurate, but I know too many versions to be willing to stick with just one...


I can imagine myself looking at the Cinderella sampler over and over if I had seen it is a child, telling myself the story with the little images. It also makes a great sampler for smaller hands learning to sew at the intermediate level. I remember well the unicorn that was my first attempts at sewing. Despite my weariness of the story, I am charmed by that pumpkin carriage and am tempted to pick this design as my favorite.


The Snow White is also fun, but once again, not my favorite fairy tale. I have to admit I am growing to enjoy it more as I work on my Sleeping Beauties collection which will include several Snow Whites and Sleeping Beauties.


I went ahead and included the Alice in Wonderland Sampler, too.


Most of the patterns--and most of the images--I've shown this week are available through 123stitch.com. I am in no way affiliated with them or any of the designers I've discussed. However, I have ordered from 123 Stitch and am a satisfied customer.

Rapunzel's Revenge

You may have thought Halloween was over, but I had to share this picture of Bekah as Rapunzel, in Shannon and Dean Hale with Nathan Hale style. Bekah is a great artist in her freshman year at college. This was her costume this past weekend and I'm bummed I didn't see it, but I'm grateful for the picture. Her mom, Martha, assured me that the braids were eight feet long. And, yes, they are both family friends. Very impressive! I have some talented and creative friends offline, too...

And here's the book cover for reference although there are even better pictures inside that I don't have to share, so you really should read it if you haven't yet. All of this makes me more excited for Calamity Jack in January with all of its steampunky goodness.

If you missed it, Shannon Hale's fourth Bayern book, Forest Born, came out in September. It all started with Goose Girl and now we have so much more. Forest Born isn't a direct fairy tale retelling, so I didn't post about it previously, but this is a perfect time to mention it.

And if you ever have the chance to hear Shannon Hale in person, she is a great speaker as well as author. Of course, you can also read her excellent blog, too, for a taste of her humor.


Thanks for sharing, Martha!

Tender Morsels Wins World Fantasy Award

I wrote about Tender Morsels three months ago in my post about the Nominees for the 2009 World Fantasy Awards. Now the award has been announced and Tender Morsels is the winner. It is actually the joint winner with Jeffrey Ford's The Shadow Year.

You can read more about it here: Controversial teenage novel wins World Fantasy awardMargo Lanagan's Tender Morsels, described as 'sordid wretchedness' in the Daily Mail, takes joint prize with Jeffrey Ford's The Shadow Year. Here's an excerpt from the great article:

She was inspired to write Tender Morsels, she said, "when something down in my guts responded to the way the Grimm brothers had changed Caroline Stahl's story when they rewrote it". "I was annoyed with the moral message they forced the story to carry," she said. "Although my novel doesn't necessarily offer any more hope for the women characters than theirs does, at least it's less adamant than Snow White and Rose Red that the women's oppression is a good and necessary thing."

A book, she believes, is "perhaps the safest, the least confronting form" in which to explore tough stories, as it is much easier to decide to put down or take up an uncomfortable tale in a book, than it is to reject one on television or in a cinema. "If a young person (or an adult) is not ready, or not 'in the mood', for a particular story, or they need to pause in the reading, or even stop altogether, with a book they can pause, or stop, and no one else need see, know or comment," she said.

There's a full list of nominees and winners on Locus Mag and you can learn more about the 2009 World Fantasy Convention and Awards on their site.

Snow White in Apples

Courtesy of the BBC, I present: In Pictures: Snow White in apples

Famous scenes from Walt Disney's classic film Snow White and the Seven Dwarves have been recreated with apples by food artist Prudence Staite.

The artist used 14 different varieties of apples to make six scenes from the film which was first shown in 1937.

Ms Staite said: "It was fantastic to play around with such well-known, iconic imagery. The apple is such a big part of the story, it seemed right to use it to recreate some of the Disney magic in the works."

The work was commissioned by Disney to mark the film's release on Blu-ray.

You can see the images much larger on the BBC site, so please click through.


Thanks to Christine Ethier for sharing!

Fairy Tales in Stitches Week: Marilyn Leavitt-Imblum

Continuing with Fairy Tales in Stitches Week, I'm sharing designs by Marilyn Leavitt-Imblum for Lavender and Lace. Once again, I have sewn her designs--three of them at this point in time--but I won't picture those here. Instead I'm sharing the ones most closely related to fairy tales, especially the Fairy Godmother pictured above. She's another favorite and contender for my choice of winter project. Her hair color can be changed, but I prefer her with her well-earned grey.



The one above is Lady Claire, but I think of her as the sister in the Six Swans and have ever since first seeing the design years ago. I already own this one and plan to stitch it someday. I'll admit to ignorance as to what story she may represent.



The ones above and below are straight out fairies, of course. The three firefly ones remind me of Disney's fairies in Sleeping Beauty, but these are charming and more satisfying.


And finally, a tribute to an American story, Evangeline, made famous by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.



Under the Butternut Road brand name, Leavitt-Imblum has also designed Once Upon a Time, pictured below. This is another favorite of mine. It's rather generic in story, but I think it represents fairy tales in general very well.



Most of the patterns--and most of the images--I've shown this week are available through 123stitch.com. I am in no way affiliated with them or any of the designers I've discussed. However, I have ordered from 123 Stitch and am a satisfied customer.

Preserving Tales in the UAE

Found this article which made me smile: Tales preserved for the future by Matt Kwong

“There could be many, many different versions,” said Dr Khalid Salem al Dhaheri, the director of the National Library at the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (Adach). “Baba Darya is a spirit that is said to enchant the oceans of the Gulf. Of course the different takes on this tale depends on the imagination of who recites it.”

Dr al Dhaheri, now 29, last heard this and other Emirati fables at the age of 12 when they were recounted under the stars by his great-uncle in Al Ain.

“He would be one of the three or four remaining elders of our clan and we would go to him and we would sit very simply,” he said. “This was before the massive urbanisation, when you could sit outside the house together in the open. These storytelling sessions were one of the few methods of entertainment.”

As with many people near his age, he concedes, certain details of stories have now faded from his mind.

“My memory for some of these things is not so good.”

But a part of a nation’s heritage as vital as its folklore need not become a casualty of modern life, according to a group of Zayed University students. To give new life to the old stories, four communications students have catalogued and published a collection of traditional UAE fairy tales aimed at future generations.

And, see, the Grimms are not the only known editors of the tales:

The students are well aware that Khrareef is not the first anthology of UAE folklore published in English and Arabic. For last year’s Abu Dhabi International Book Fair, Adach printed 1,000 hardcover copies of A Key to Another World, a collection of Emirati stories translated by the Polish journalist Iwona Drozd.

But Ms bin Shaker believes Khrareef is the first collection of fables to target young children.

“A lot of the stories are a little bit dark, so we tweaked them a bit in our versions,” she said.

The article is considerably longer. And all I have to say is "Bravo for working to preserve the tales!"

Oh, and while you are clicking through to read the entire article, also read Palace of myths and legends by Rym Ghazal for a little more knowledge and learning today...

Fairy Tales in Stitches Week: Nora Corbett

As winter rapidly approaches and I find myself spending more time idly in front of the tv or in groups for conversation instead of summery activities, I feel a strong need to do something with my hands. My days are spent too long with the computer and words, my passion, but it is wonderful to escape temporarily into other worlds, recent favorites including The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency and Lark Rise to Candleford among others. (And, hey, I adore So You Think You Can Dance, too, but I can only watch it with nothing in my hands to distract me.) I like having handwork, too, to add to the distraction. My brain wanders too easily.



Anyway, every few years, I get the urge to work on a sewing project of some kind, probably since I never learned to knit. There's something soothing about the small acts of creation with no demands or expectations, just doing for the sake of doing, especially if something vibrant and lovely comes from the process. It's been five years since my last project and none of my stored patterns match my whimsy at the moment, so I've gone hunting for something new. My searches have included fairy tales, of course. So this week I will share some of my discoveries and hopefully choose my own project to commit to in the coming evening hours when my brain is too tired for anything else.

One of my longtime favorite designers is Nora Corbett of Mirabilia Designs. I have sewn one of her projects in the past, Garden Verses, which hangs in my bedroom so it is one of the first things I see each day and the last at night. The light is too gloomy right now or I would take a picture of her to share. This one is the model image from Mirabilia.


I love the romantic bent to her work, of course. She loves fairies and mermaids as well as Pre-Raphaelite inspired figures. She has also designed the most directly with fairy tales in mind with her Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty.



I like both but admit a preference to her Dreamer pictured below as an alternative Sleeping Beauty. It is in high contention for my winter project. It reminds me very much of Flaming June by Lord Frederic Leighton, but in color more suited to my home, although I change colors on almost every project. Garden Verses is one of the few I have ever followed exactly, excepting my choice for the base fabric.


I'm also partial to these two since they also answer my love for the night skies.



I've sewn Damask Roses (see below) before as a gift for my mother, sans the trees and bottom border, and completely changing the colors--her dress in royal blue and white with the woman holding yellow roses, all three being my mother's favorite colors. It hangs in her bedroom, too.


Finally, here's The Winter Queen who makes a fine Snow Queen in my mind. I own this pattern already and have debated making this, but I don't have anywhere that she suits at this point. There are four queens in this series, but each stand well on their own.



So far I'm debating between The Dreamer and the moon and star ones above--which are smaller and won't take as long--but there's more on my list that I will share during this week which I've dubbed Fairy Tales in Stitches Week. There'll be more this week than cross stitch, though, if this doesn't interest you. I have a pile of books begging to be written about and then shelved, for one thing.

Most of the patterns--and most of the images--I've shown this week are available through 123stitch.com. I am in no way affiliated with them or any of the designers I've discussed. However, I have ordered from 123 Stitch and am a satisfied customer.

New Book: Heart's Blood by Juliet Marillier

Due out this Tuesday in the U.S., Heart's Blood, by Juliet Marillier plays with my favorite fairy tale, Beauty and the Beast. It came out a month ago in the UK, here's the cover there via Amazon.co.uk. So far the reader reviews on Amazon.co.uk are five stars.


Description from the publisher:

The national bestselling "fine folklorist and gifted narrator"(Publishers Weekly) of the Sevenwaters novels conjures a new sweeping romantic fantasy.

Anluan has been crippled since childhood, part of a curse that has besieged his family and his home of Whistling Tor. But when the young scribe Caitrin is retained to sort through family documents, she brings about unexpected changes in the household, casting a hopeful light against the despairing shadows.

But to truly free Anluan's burdened soul, Caitrin must unravel the web of sorcery woven by his ancestors before it claims his life-and their love...

Not very helpful, is it?

Never fear, Marillier has a section on her site for the book. There's an excerpt available on her site as well as a pronunciation guide. The names are Gaelic, not elaborate creations of the author.

Even better, here is an excerpt from her author's notes for the book that explains some of her development of the story. There are spoilers further on that page (not here) so click through at your own risk if you haven't read the book yet. She explains more about the plot and how the hero is a beast as well as her setting choices.

Beauty and the Beast has always been one of my favourite fairy tales, and readers will recognise the bones of it in Heart’s Blood: a mysterious house with an alienated, disfigured master, a priceless plant growing in a forbidden garden, magic mirrors and unusual household retainers. The story of my novel has the same general shape as that of Beauty and the Beast.

However, this is far from a fairy tale retelling. It’s not even a close reinterpretation of the traditional tale. Heart’s Blood is a love story, a ghost story, a family saga, a story about people overcoming their difficulties, and a little slice of Irish history, as well as a homage to a favourite fairy tale. There were elements of Beauty and the Beast that I really wanted to include – the bittersweet central relationship, the mysterious setting – and aspects that I knew I didn’t want. I like a female protagonist who follows her own path and fights her own battles. I did not want Caitrin to be as passive as Beauty, who is so much at the mercy of her family’s poor decisions. I took out the character of Beauty’s father, making Caitrin an orphan. Rather than being sent to the Beast’s house because her father stole a rose for her, Caitrin joins Anluan’s household of her own free will. However, she brings with her a heavy load of past troubles, and has her own emotional journey to make. The cliché selfish sisters of the fairy tale are replaced by Caitrin’s grasping kinsfolk, and her reluctant journey home, later in the book, is part of the personal quest she must undertake in order to defeat her demons. In addition, I made Caitrin not simply someone’s daughter, but a skilled craftswoman seeking to earn her own living in a time and culture where independence for women was rare.

Finally, here is a link to a thoughtful reader review at Tempting Persephone. I haven't found any professional reviews yet but I'm sure they are coming considering Marillier's name.


Marillier, of course, is adept with using fairy tales in her lush and compelling novels. Her first was the wonderful Daughter of the Forest, which draws inspiration from the Six Swans. More recently she has offered Wildwood Dancing which draws from Twelve Dancing Princesses, vampire lore and other folklore. In other words, Marillier's favorite tales tend to mesh well with mine.



I preordered my copy a while back and can't wait for it to arrive this week.