Pop culture cross-stitch for the hip grandma in all of us

When you think of embroidery and cross stitching, Drake might not be the first thing that comes to mind.

But it was for Olivia Montoya, the day after Drake’s Hotline Bling video dropped. She ran to the nearest fabric store to pick out the perfect shades of blue and pink and began stitching mini portraits of the self-proclaimed 6ix god in mourning.

Drake stitches are just a small part of a collection of pieces for Koe-Zee, a small home decor business that began two years ago by Montoya and Kerianne Halpin. After creating items for their home, the friends decided to take the leap to craft shows in the Seattle area.

The duo draws inspiration for the pieces from browsing the internet, the Northwest, plants and more.

I mostly stitch things that I would want hanging in my bedroom, Montoya said to Mashable. I love classic cartoon characters, but I’m also a huge fan of current hip hop/R&B music. Mixing the things I’m passionate with with the traditional style of embroidery work is my favorite thing about creating my pieces.

Characters and lyrics take a few hours but some of the natural scenes they stitch can take up to a full day to complete.

Why embroidery? Theres something special about it thats different than anything else, Montoya said.

There is a comfort that comes with working with the traditional style and a lightheartedness with the images we create that I love, she said.

If you like their style but have a particular design in mind, fear naught.

Everyone always has something they would love to see stitched, so custom work is a lot of what we do, Halpin said.

Currently Koe-Zee ships pieces anywhere within the United States, and you can visit their Etsy to see more work.

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