Pair of Precious Pillows

Finally, a beautiful sunny day here in Iowa...I am feeling much better...getting a bunch of work accomplished and deadlines fulfilled...the new designs are finally in printing production...and I have reached 100 blog followers (THANK YOU FOR FOLLOWING)...it is a great day!

The last three days have been spent working on getting the new designs published...and this time, there was a bit of a challenge with the covers - but now, the proofs have been finalized and the printing is underway. This was a very large print order, but I am confident my printing company has it under control and I should have the new designs in my hand by the end of the day on Friday...then the *fun* begins...my weekend will be spent bagging thousands of charts, filling invoices, packaging and shipping...all in an effort to get my new charts to your favorite needlework shop as soon as possible.

I finished stitching the model for my SYHO Designer Encyclopedia this morning...it was a bit of a challenge to work with a 50 x 50 stitch count for me...but I am quite happy with this small design and look forward to sharing it with you in the future! I am now excited to work on teaching designs for 2010 and new pieces for the Nashville Needlework Market in February.
(By the way, have you heard - I will be teaching at the first New Endland Stitchers' Retreat in conjunction with ABC Stitch Therapy in June 2010 - I am super excited about this!!)

Yesterday, I took a couple hours to test two new machine embroidery designs for Shelli at Needle In A Haystack Stitchery; two beautiful Pink Ribbon Breast Cancer Awareness files - one has the ribbon filled with embroidery - the other the ribbon is applique'. I enjoyed finishing these two designs into a pair of pillows. The applique' was embroidered on wool felt (and the ribbon is wool felt)....and the ribbon fill design was embroidered on quilted cotton with rick rack for an embellishment. The fabric for the borders is one of my favorites (Karen Neuburger - 2006 Pink Ribbon Signature Fabric) and I have been holding on to it for quite some time, waiting for the perfect project! These will make very special gifts....plus taking a couple hours to sew was (again) great therapy for me!

...and although October (Breast Cancer Awareness Month) has quickly come and gone, we all still need to be proactive....PLEASE do your monthly breast self-exams and your yearly mammogram - early detection is key!