Kirby Quilt

Here's a quick look at the finished Kirby quilt. I'm really pleased I managed to finish him, though he's not quite as I imagined. I realised quite quickly that the straight line quilting I wanted to do was not going to look good, so I quilted around the edges of the colour blocks.

Kirby quilt top

I haven't finished my jelly roll quilt yet, but that hasn't stopped me from starting another. This time it's Kirby from the Nintendo series of games.

I used my Sizzix Big Shot and the 4.5" square die to cut each square. It's 20x20 squares big, which means it will be 80"x80" once it's quilted and bound.

High Score Tetris champion

I've been having some fun playing Tetris recently. After watching Ecstasy of Order: The Tetris Masters a few weeks ago I was inspired to play Tetris again. Around the same time Michael found HighScore.com, this of course led me to want to break as many Tetris high scores as possible. So far I have broken two for Tetris DX on the Game Boy Color, scoring the most points in Marathon mode and the most the most points in Ultra mode (level 0).

I have a lot of fun playing Tetris when I have a challenge, so I'll be doing a lot more. Twin Galaxies is also back up on line and should start taking submissions again soon, so I may be aiming for high scores on there as well. My highest score on Tetris DX would have put me third on Twin Galaxies.

MCM Birmingham Comic Con

As well as the Hobbycrafts, Sewing & Stitch shows at the NEC the MCM Birmingham Comic Con was on. I went along with Michael on Sunday. We were good and didn't really buy much. We had a nice time looking at everything though.

I did get Oddworld Adventures 2 on the Game Boy and Crash Bandicoot XS on the Game Boy Advance.

Michael also bought me a massage as after the two shows my shoulders were so tight. It was lovely!

Kung Pow Pixel: Duck Tales (Woo-oo)

In honour of Capcom announcing the release of a remastering of the NES classic Duck Tales I'm sharing with you a pattern I am putting into my to-stitch pile!

I think the game is going to look great and it will certainly be in my wishlist for the Xbox 360. Are you excited about this game?

As always, click to enlarge, and if you have any problems reading the pattern let me know. I can always send you a PDF via e-mail. Leave a comment, or e-mail me, my e-mail is in the right side-bar!

Kung Pow Pixel: 3DS Demos

I got my 3DS some months ago, but haven't been able to afford many games for it. Now with access to Internet once again I've been downloading some demos. So here's some thoughts on those I've played recently.

Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed

I played Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing on the Xbox 360 quite a lot. I enjoyed the game, but it doesn't change much after your first play through, so I was happy to see while playing the demo that Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed (SASRT) seemed a bit more in depth than it's predecessor. In this game your car can transform into a boat and a plane, depending on the area of the track, and this was a lot of fun, although tricky to master the flying parts. This meant that no two laps of a track were the same, as for example, the first time round you drive, the second time round you boat and the third time round you fly.

In SASRT you can also earn experience points with which you can upgrade your car. You can get these points for performing stunts whilst racing, sliding round corners to boost, or using an item to successfully attack a competitor. This hopefully means there will be more reason to play once you've completed all the tracks. This is a game I'd definitely like to get, but whether on the 3DS or on the Xbox 360, I'm not sure yet.

Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion

Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion takes Mickey back to the Castle of Illusion (from Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse released on various Sega consoles in the early 90s), where various toons are trapped. I found this to be a fun little platformer, though very simple. It's also a very wordy game, which, especially for a demo, I found to be a little bit off-putting. I think this is the kind of game I would probably pick up if I saw it for less than £10.

Heroes of Ruin

I had blanked on the fact that this is a Square Enix game when I downloaded it, thinking it was something in the Heroes of Might & Magic series... Anyway, it was pretty fun to play. It's not the typical RPG I'm used to from Square Enix, with a choice of class, a lot more choice for your character's appearance and small choice of quests, it felt like something halfway between a JRPG and a western RPG. I think I would enjoy playing this game and would like to get it sometime.

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate

I've admittedly never played a Castlevania game properly before, but I downloaded this demo because I've heard so much about the series. It was quite fun to play, though I found it to be very tough. It looked nice and sounded nice, but I don't have much more to say about this game. I don't think I'll be looking to buy this game any time soon.

Blue Falcon - F-Zero

Here's a little something I've stitched up for Retrogamebeurs Deurne. It is the Blue Falcon from F-Zero.

I'm going to be at the fair in Deurne on the 24th of February, selling my retro game inspired crafts.

Kung Pow Pixel: Pokémon X and Y

I don't get very excited about most games, but I love Pokémon games and always get excited about them.

Pokémon X and Y were announced last week for the Nintendo 3DS. This is exciting for a number of reasons. First of all, it's a 3DS game. I don't think many people were really expecting that after Pokémon Black and White and B&W2 were released for the regular DS. It was rather an eventuality as Nintendo won't be able to support the DS forever after the release of the 3DS, but Nintendo did rather seem to be putting it off, as even spin off games such as Pokémon Conquest were not released on the 3DS. Secondly, it looks, from the few screenshots we have, like they've made quite a change to the graphics and the battle environments, which look much more dynamic.

The attacks look way cooler too!

The starters don't look too bad. I'm especially enamoured with Chespin, he looks quite similar to Oshawott, who was my starter in Pokémon Black, maybe that's why. I also quite like Froakie as he's quite an original looking water type, though Fennekin reminds me a lot of Vulpix and Victini as it's another fox-like fire type.

Pokémon X & Y are coming out in October world-wide, so I hope to be able to get one at launch. At least I hope that I will be able to get Black 2 before then, as I am itching to play that too!

Sunday WIPs

Sorry for no posts the last week. I'm back in Birmingham for Christmas!

Here's a couple of WIPs I'm working on while I'm here. Can you guess what they are?
 

This one's quite hard to see yet. It's going to be Guile from the Street Fighter series.

Some may be able to see what this is. It's the Blue Falcom from F-Zero. I've completed it as much as I can, I've not got the rest of the colours yet.

And meet Benny, he's the adorable little bear my mum got me from Build-a-Bear Workshop. Isn't he sweet?

Kung Pow Pixel: Games inspired by crafts

First of all, if you haven't seen my article over on Nintendo Life, please go and check it out!

This week I'm going to take a look at some games inspired by crafts, mainly in their design, but also in their mechanics.

Kirby's Epic Yarn

I bet you saw this one coming. Its big selling point was that it is set in a handcrafted world. On launch day Nintendo even had people yarn bombing London with fantastic Kirby themed knitting. In Kirby's Epic Yarn you play as Kirby who in this game is made of wool. He can change his shape and he can suck up enemies and turn them into little balls of wool. He can even affect the patchwork scenery around him my pulling parts of the background down or unzipping it. The feel of the game is very relaxing, sort of like crafting in that way!


Super Paper Mario

I suppose the other Paper Mario games would count too, but this is the only one I've played. In Super Paper Mario Mario is a 2d paper cut-out in a paper cut-out world. You can collect Pixls, which are little fairy-like creatures who give you extra powers, for example, as the characters are in a 2D world you can turn so that you become invisible. I think I would have loved to have a Paper Mario sticker book when I was younger, creating my own adventures for Mario.

Little Big Planet

The main character of Little Big Planet is Sackboy, he's a small knitted doll who you can dress up. There are loads of clothes and accessories you can add to him to make him look however you want. The surroundings feel almost like a toy box, as you use stickers to change the environment and parts can be pushed and pulled around as they're on wheels. Sackboy himself has inspired numerous amounts of crafts.

Dynamite Headdy

The world of Dynamite Headdy is a stage and the characters are puppets, literally  You play as Headdy, who is himself a puppet, and your main weapon is your own head, which is detachable and thrown at enemies. It's a very hectic game, which I imagine reflects a real life stage production. You can see people working in the background and sometimes the backdrops even fall down. Maybe not so crafty, but I like the idea of using puppets in a game.

Kung Pow Pixel: Games that have inspired me

I don't talk about games much, even though they are the subject of a lot of my crafting, so I'm bringing Kung Pow Pixel over here. I would like to take a moment to write about games that have inspired me, games I love making crafts from.

Wario Land 4

This game is a lot of fun. I had played the previous Wario Land games, but unfortunately gave up on them, but this one was just right. Hard enough that I didn't play through it all in one sitting, and not so hard I couldn't do it. And the sprites in this game are beautiful. It's such a bright and vibrant game, I just had to stitch up Wario and I hope to make more using this game's sprites in the future.

Kirby: Nightmare in Dreamland

I love the Kirby series, and for my last birthday my boyfriend bought me Kirby's Adventure for the NES, and even though he accidentally bought the German version of the game I still loved playing it. So when I saw the 2002 remake Nightmare in Dreamland on the Game Boy Advance at a games fair I had to get it. The game itself is brilliant and the sprites art even more so. This, and Kirby and the Amazing Mirror are my go-to Kirby games for sprites.

Klonoa: Empire of Dreams

I once tried to play the Klonoa: Door to Phantomile on the PlayStation, but didn't get very far. It wasn't my game, so I never got the chance to play it again. However, after hearing my boyfriend, and one of his brothers, rave about it, I picked up Empire of Dreams for the Game Boy Advance. It's a wonderfully fun game, and only as difficult as you want it to be, as the levels are fairly simple to get through, but it gets hard if you want to collect all the bonus gems. It's not a game I've made anything for yet, but I have been inspired by it, and am sure to make something in the future.

The Pokémon series

Pokémon is probably the most influential game series of all time for me and who doesn't love Pokémon? My go to games for cross stitching are FireRed and LeafGreen, they have the best sprites for Gen 1 Pokémon, however, my favourite Pokémon game would have to be Black. The update to the graphics and gameplay was done really well and the new Pokémon added were more imaginative than the previous two generations. Pokémon is probably my most stitched subject matter and will continue to be for some time.

As you might have noticed, all games I've mentioned here are Game Boy Advance games. The Game Boy Advance is such a wonderful little handheld console, and the games produced for it have been really inspired, and really inspire me.

Christmas Koffing pattern

Yes, as promised, here's the pattern for Christmas Koffing.

And as an added bonus, you get Koffing Pudding absolutely free! (Yes, I know, Christmas Koffing is free already...)

Click on the pictures to enlarge them. If you have any trouble reading the pattern, let me know. If you'd like the pattern in another format, e.g. you want a PDF, or you like your symbols without the colour blocks behind them, let me know in the comments, or e-mail me at eveningemma@gmail.com.

Sometimes e-mails go to my spam folder and I don't always see them, so if I've not got back to you within a day, leave a comment and let me know you e-mailed. 

Christmas Koffing

My boyfriend had the idea of making round Pokémon into Christmas baubles, so here we are with a Koffing in a Christmas hat.

Another idea that may or may not come into fruition is a Koffing with a Christmas pudding topping.

If you want the pattern for Koffing, tune in tomorrow and it will be yours.

Some more Hama beading

My boyfriend's brothers had their birthdays a few months ago, but due to financial restraints we weren't able get them anything. My boyfriend asked me if I could make them something small we could take with us to England and give them while we are here.

So, what I ended up making was more Hama (Perler) bead coasters, as they are quick and easy to make, and useful too.

Up at the top we have Knuckles, Tails and Sonic, from the Sonic the Hedgehog series. For these coasters I modified sprites from Sonic & Knuckles.

At the bottom is Wario's head from the final stage of Wario Ware Inc.

I was happy with how they came out and I think they were quite happy with them too.

Metroid coaster and thanks

I haven't been doing much crafty since the Hero Chao, but here's a little something I did today. My boyfriend wanted a coaster, so I made him a Metroid  one! This is only the third time I've used Hama beads (these are the same as Perler beads, I think, just a different company) and I haven't quite got the ironing part right, you can see I melted some beads a bit too much along the left side.

I realised while ironing this that I get the iron out more often for craft things than for ironing clothes, and promptly ironed the massive pile of laundry that was lying around...

I would also like to thank you guys, because today I hit 10,000 page views! I'm pleased with that, so thanks!

It's-a Me! Ma... Uh, Wario!

I've had this little, black flexi-hoop lying around for a little while and a couple of days ago I decided I should use it. I couldn't think of anything though, so I asked my boyfriend for ideas of what to put in it. I wanted to stitch something game related, but something that was a bit edgier than Pokémon or Mario. My boyfriend suggested Wario. OK, so he's sort of Mario, but he's darker and greedier, so that's what I decided on! I like how the bright colours contrast well with the black fabric and hoop.

Incidentally, I bought three Game Boy Advanced games at a games fair a few weeks ago. I got Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land, Warioland 4 and Klonoa: Empire of Dreams. I finished Kirby just as I started stitching Wario, which inspired me to start playing Warioland 4, and I'm really enjoying it. I've tried a couple of the other Warioland games in the past, and for some reason I just couldn't get into them, but I'm hooked on this one.

I liked stitching Wario as he's a bit different, you don't see him about very  much. I think I would like to try and stitch more characters that are off the beaten track, so to speak.

Boo, Castlevania and Space Invaders!

I have a couple of finishes to show you, and Boo's been finished finished!

Boo has been framed (finally)! He's looking pretty good if I do say so myself.

I did a small Castlevania (NES) cross stitch, once it's been framed up it will be going on my Etsy shop.

At one of my local craft shops, Pipoos, they had a small box with five brightly coloured Pixelhobby medallions and some pixel sheets. I thought the bright colours went well with this Space Invader.

Small finish

This is the Kirby stitch I mentioned yesterday, I finished it off today.

Don't forget to enter my giveaway, there's a link on the left!

Glow in the dark Big Boo.

Boo is now all finished. I've mounted him onto some board, but I haven't taken a photo of that yet. I'm looking for a frame to put him in.

The pattern for Boo is availalbe on Etsy.

TUSAL 4, another tapestry finish, and some WIPs.

It's TUSAL time again. This time full of wool from the tapestry.

I have been working on some cross stitching:

This Boo pattern I made myself. The white stitches are done with glow in the dark thread. Once it's finished I'll show off the full effect.

This is a pattern is from Wee Stitchy, and is available from her Etsy shop. This is actually being stitched on a green fabric, some how it came out blue though.

I quit my job last week, as I want to concentrate more on my crafts, hopefully I will be able to find a job with less hours soon. So please go along to my Etsy shop and tell me what you think.