Welcoming the New Year

Season's Greetings! Happy last day of December 2022. In just a matter of hours, we will be welcoming the new year...and as 2022 comes to a close, I am reflecting on the last 365 days...it sure has been another busy and artistic year...2022 was full of achievements, challenges, advancement, self reflection, and new directions. Thank you for contributing to the success of Blue Ribbon Designs and for your support, encouragement, and loyalty - there are many talented designers/finishers/teachers/creators out there...and a vast amount of needlework and quilting patterns to choose from - I sincerely thank you for welcoming my designs and allowing my dream to be a reality. I truly love sharing my creativity and I hope you will continue to receive my designs/patterns with open arms and share in my passion for all things done with needle and thread. As we move forward into 2023, I have many goals (too many to list) and a good amount of projects in the works...a pile of creative design ideas and (as always) exciting plans for the future. Thank you for allowing me to pursue my passion!

First news of this post - the final Blue Ribbon Designs newsletter for 2022 has been posted and emailed to subscribers - you can read it here: https://mailchi.mp/b2514819d23d/blue-ribbon-designs-newsletter-dec2022

Second - EXCITING NEWS!! - I can now officially share that I am a Design Educator for ThermOWeb (you know, the makers of HeatnBond products). I will be creating projects and tutorials for their blog. Expect to see a project almost every month...and each project will have a tutorial with color photos and all the details and instructions. ThermOWeb has sent me a plethora of products to play and design with...and some other amazing goodies that I will be sharing over the next few months. If you have not visited their blog before, be sure to check it out - there are TONS of incredible projects from top designers. My fist post has been uploaded and will be live next week on Tuesday, January 3rd...it is a heartfelt Valentine project, so be sure to check out the ThermOWeb blog on the 3rd...
You can find the blog here: https://blog.thermoweb.com/
...and you can see the list of Design Educators here: https://blog.thermoweb.com/designers/

I have been busy working on new designs and you can expect to see new cross stitch and quilt designs in the near future. Unfortunately, my fancy sewing machine is in the shop for repair (it was stuck in reverse - seriously😒) and the day after I took it in, my back-up machine decided to stop working, as well - you can't make this up! Anyway, a very kind and dear friend loaned me a machine to use for my upcoming deadlines, but the entire situation has messed with my schedule quite a bit...so I am still playing catch-up. I did manage to get all my custom client orders for Christmas shipped in time and get most of my gifts made before the "black cloud" arrived. Here's hoping my fancy machine is easily repairable and will be back in my studio soon. Until then, I have MANY things to keep me busy. I will also be helping my local quilt shop with fabric inventory the upcoming week, so I will be out of my studio for a few days. 

Here are a few creative photos of things I completed before the sewing machine fiasco...

We enjoyed a lovely Christmas holiday and have plans to celebrate the New Year this evening, as well. We will be heading to the Plaza in downtown Kansas City for a dinner reservation and then make our way to a neighbors house, where we will ring in the new year with friends.

As we start a new year, I would like to thank you for supporting Blue Ribbon Designs and my artistic journey. You continue to inspire me with your creativity, kindness, and generous spirits - BRD would not be possible without you and your patience as I explore new creative avenues and ideas. In preparation for 2023, take a moment to reflect on the past year and the many blessings bestowed upon you...and be sure to take a look at all the beautiful stitching, sewing, quilting, and crafting projects you have accomplished. I wish you a happy, healthy 2023, filled with joy, laughter, and creativity!

Christmas Countdown Cheer

Greetings friends - I'm so happy you are visiting with me during the holiday season! Today, I am back with more creative Christmas inspiration - I am sharing more of my recent creations for the Poppie Cotton Christmas Countdown Challenge (in case you missed my first post, here is a link). A few details: Poppie Cotton created a very fun word prompt list beginning on December 1st - each day, you can use the word as a prompt to create something and post an image(s), tagging them for a chance to win prizes - you can participate as little or as often as you like. You can visit their Instagram page post for all the details...and visit their website for a downloadable list, a coloring page and Santa templates! I have been participating on most days and have enjoyed my time creating holiday projects - it is helping me get in the Christmas spirit, while I am still under the weather and bogged down with work catch-up. 

Here are five more days of Christmas Countdown creativity....

Day 8 - Snowman

I *had to* post "Flurry Friends," one of my favorite original winter cross stitch designs. You can find the pattern (which has the larger focal design and two bonus single snowman designs) in both paper format and digital format in my Etsy shop. 

Day 10 - Candy Cane

I created these sweet ornaments...fabric birdies each holding their own candy cane, using fabric from the Goose Creek Gardens collection - they make me happy!! I have had quite a few requests, so may write a pattern for creating these sweet birds...

Day 11 - Christmas Tree

I couldn't decide between two of my creative projects - so I will share both. First is my classic cross stitch design "Just Add Tinsel"...a wrapped present needlebook, star pinkeep, and scissor fob ~ along with a unique stitched tree, completely made of linen (with stitched sides, bottom and interior, as well) to hold them! This classic design with complete finishing instructions is available in my Etsy Shop in both paper format and digital format.

My second share for the prompt Christmas tree - a couple needlebooks I created using the Farmhouse Favorites fabric collections, hand-dyed trims from Lady Dot Creates, mini buttons and star pins. These were made playing around in my studio without a pattern or a plan...🎄

Day 13 - Christmas Chicken

I'm not really a "chicken person" but wanted to challenge myself, so I made this cheerful Christmas chicken mini quilt, using the Betsy's Sewing Kit collection along with hand-dyed trims from Lady Dot Creates (her chenille and rick rack were perfection for this project). Again, this was created playing around in my studio without a pattern or a plan...🐓🧣🎄

Day 14 - Neighbor Gift

One of my favorite gifts I created for a neighbor is a oven mitt set with wooden spoons and a dish towel. These oven mitts were made from the Daisy Mae collection and were paired with a large wooden spoon, two tasting spoons and a flour sack towel...all tied with a ribbon….

I hope these creative ideas will get you in the holiday mood and provide some inspiration and Christmas cheer! I have more posts up my sleeve for the coming days leading up to Christmas, so look for those on my social media pages...

For now, it is back to work - I am feeling quite overwhelmed with client orders after my time away in New Zealand and recovering from a terrible case of the flu (I am much better, but yes, I still have a nasty cough!)...so I am busy from morning until night in the studio. Today, I made some updates to my website - I am so proud of my new website that I built (completely from scratch, by myself) this year - if you haven't visited, please take a look! I also had a pile of paperwork and computer work to get done this afternoon - the list is never-ending right now. I'll be back again soon to share some of the projects that have been on my work table...

Thank you for spending a little time with me - I hope you are finding some joy this holiday season!

Christmas Countdown 2022

Greetings friends - happy Wednesday! If you follow me on social media, then chances are, you have seen some of my recent creations for the Poppie Cotton Christmas Countdown Challenge. Poppie Cotton created a very fun word prompt list beginning on December 1st - each day, you can use the word as a prompt to create something and post an image(s), tagging them for a chance to win prizes - you can participate as little or as often as you like. You can visit their Instagram page post for all the details...and visit their website for a downloadable list, a coloring page and Santa templates! I have been participating on  most days and have enjoyed my time creating projects for some of the words...

I have posted on multiple days, and here are some of my photos and creations....

Day 1 - Christmas Pincushion

I created two cube pincushions, using the Poppie Cotton Snuggle Up Buttercup fabric Collection. 

Day 3 - Hot Cocoa

I created a whimsical mug rug with a tea cup of hot cocoa, using mini buttons for marshmallows. I was just playing around...but will create a pattern, if there is interest (let me know in the comments!).

Day 4 - Peppermint

For peppermint, I created a small project bag - appliquéing the word JOY and using wool for the peppermint appliqué. I used  red, white and green baker's twine for the zipper pull. This was a lot of fun to make and was (again) just me playing around in my studio...

Day 5 - Ornament

This day was easy - I used my 2021 and 2022 cross stitch Christmas ornaments..."My Frosty Friend" and "Bundled Up Birdie"....

Day 6 - Cookie Exchange

For cookie exchange, I made my favorite molasses cookies and photographed them on my Alphabet House Mug Rugs (pattern available in my Etsy Shop in both paper format and digital format). I also provided my molasses cookie recipe, so you can make a batch yourself!!

I hope these creative ideas will get you in the holiday mood and provide some inspiration and Christmas cheer! I have more posts up my sleeve for future days, so look for those on my social media pages...

For now, it is back to work - I am feeling quite stressed with client orders after my time away in New Zealand and recovering from a terrible case of the flu (I am much better, but still have a nasty cough!)....so I am busy from morning until night in the studio. I will share some of those pieces soon. Also, I have some very exciting news to share in the coming days - I am a brand ambassador/designer for a favorite company and will be posting fun projects and tutorials for them soon...stay tuned for that announcement...