Pretty Little Pincushion

This is a fun little Nashville market release from Theresa Venette of Shakespeare's Peddler called "Ole Pincushion". I thought this was a fun idea, using an old Zinc Ball Jar lid for the base...a quick, simple cross stitch design and ready for finishing. I must add that I changed the colors a bit...it called for Flax linen, but I used Black Forest hand-dyed fabric from Lakeside Linens. The model looked as if it had maybe black or navy fill-in stitches all around the motif, but the chart did not show this...I liked the look of a dark fabric better than the flax, so I made a simple substitution. It stitched up in about an hour and finished easily. Sometimes a simple little project can you bring you the most joy! Now, when I am antique shopping, I will be on the lookout for more of these unique jar lids...

A few Blue Ribbon Designs notes...I am just finishing up my ornaments for Just CrossStitch Magazine (both the annual Halloween issue and the Christmas Ornament issue)...and I have started designing a special sampler for them to be published early next year. I finally had a new photo taken of myself today for the Christmas ornament issue...I have used the same one for the last several years, so it was WAY overdue. I have a bunch of great new ideas for summer releases and will be working on them very soon! Also, my SYHO (Stitch Your Heart Out) design will be released for April, so stay tuned for photos (they will be coming soon)....you can read more about the SYHO Campaign and find out how you can get involved by visiting the official blog. I am also busy kitting up my teaching designs for later this year....

So much creativity and inspiration, so little time...