Giveaway Recipients

Good morning friends and followers!

WOW - I was blown away by the enthusiastic response to my latest giveaway - what a treat it was to read many of your encouraging and kind comments....to my followers (long term and new) - thank you for joining me on my creative journey...I truly wish I could afford to give each and every one of you the chart of your choice. For those of you not listed as one of the recipients, please don't be discouraged - I love to give things away...and there will definitely be more chances in the future! So without further ado....here are the randomly chosen recipients:

A. Moonlit Midnight recipient: Paula Still

Paula said:
What a wonderful and generous offer! All of your designs are amazing and - to win or not - I know I will be adding them all to my BR stash! If I were to choose one (ugh ... decisions, decisions, decisions), it would be ... drum roll ...
A. Moonlit Midnight
Not only is Halloween my favorite holiday, but I love how you incorporate all these "spooky" motifs into a stunning collage. The best part of this design is that each motif can be stitched separately and finished into a fob, ornament, etc. I feel like I am getting 10 designs for the price of one!!!
Thank you for entering me in your giveaway!

B. Pocketful of Peppermint reciepient: MommyDearest (Connie)

Connie said:
Belinda, Thank you so much for such a wonderful give away.....and for making it SOOO hard to chose just one!! It would be terrific to win B.Pocketful of Peppermint...it would be an awesome birthday gift!!

C. Quilted Garden recipient: Tricia
Tricia said:
I would love to win Quilted Garden! I started quilting a number of years ago and really enjoy it - or at least I enjoyed it until I started having trouble with my shoulders and started to get migraines after quilting. : ( I would love to stitch a quilt instead, and the colors in your piece are so lovely... plus there are bluebirds -- which make me remember the old Shirley Temple movie about the bluebird of happiness being found right in your own home. Love it!

The three recipients were notified notified via email earlier this morning.

Again, thank you all for reading, following, commenting, and supporting my blog and designs - you all make me happy!

A, B, or C Giveaway

Hello friends! I was thrilled to see my official follower count pass the 500 mark last week - thank you so much for visiting my blog! - and I promised a big giveaway when this happened for those who choose to faithfully follow...I finally have three prizes together and the details ready...and I think (hope) you will be pleased and excited!

For this giveaway, official followers will have the chance to win an upcoming design chart (you will be one of the first to have one!) along with the coordinating threads and finishing kit - you will be responsible for your own linen, stuffing, mini drill, and basic sewing supplies.

Out of all the comments provided, I will randomly choose three recipients: one winner from those who choose A. Moonlit Midnight; one winner from those who choose B. Pocketful of Peppermint; and one winner from those who choose C. Quilted Garden.

The rules are easy (please read carefully):

1. Make sure you are an official follower - current or new (you must be listed under "Followers" on the right-hand toolbar)...so if you aren't already following, feel free to sign up by clicking on the "Join This Site" link in the right-hand tool bar (this button is right under the word "Followers". My international followers are also welcome!
   
   
2. Leave ONE comment to this post telling me which of the three new designs is your favorite (the one you would like to win) and why: A. Moonlit Midnight...or B. Pocketful of Peppermint...or C. Quilted Garden. Please leave only one comment and make sure to tell me your choice - multiple comments will be deleted/disqualified.
   
   
3. All entries require a valid email address. Please make sure your email address is visible in your profile (so I have a way of contacting you, should you be randomly chosen) - if you are uncertain, please leave your email address with your comment - entries without a valid email will be disqualified.
   
   
4. The deadline to enter will be 11:59 pm CST, Friday, August 12th. Recipients will be chosen by random draw and posted on my blog on Saturday, August 13th. I will contact the recipients via email - you will have 48 hours to respond, if I do not hear from you in that time frame, I will choose a replacement recipient(s).

So those are the details....I hope this giveaway was worth the wait...I am happy to be able to thank those who continually follow my blog and leave encouraging and enthusiastic comments! I hope my future posts maintain your interest and inspire you...

Good luck to all!!

"Quilted Garden" - Coming Soon

The last couple weeks, I have done blog posts on my new designs coming out later this month at the TNNA Fall Needlecraft Market - I have already shown you "Moonlit Midnight" and "Pocketful of Peppermint"...and today the focus is on "Quilted Garden". This design model (which combines two of my favorite things next to needlework: quilting and gardening) is stitched on beautiful Pecan Butter hand-dyed fabric by Lakeside Linens and uses Weeks Dye Works Cotton Floss (DMC equivalents are provided). The entire piece is cross stitch over two linen threads, except the verse and the personalization (initials/year) which are cross stitch over one linen thread. I know some needleworkers will shy away from over-one cross stitches, so the chartpack includes alternative charting for these stitches in back stitch (there is an additional back stitch alphabet/numbers for personalization and an alternate back stitch chart of the verse)...so you can choose to do either over-one cross stitches or back stitch - whichever you feel more comfortable working! This design pack also includes charting and complete finishing instructions for a matching pin pillow and scissor fob. There are many other fun ideas that can be taken from this upcoming design - wouldn't a row of the quilt blocks make a great bookmark?...or you could easily make a needlebook, pinkeep, or floss ring tag using the quilt block motifs...oh - wouldn't the little quilt blocks make great magnets for a quilting friend?! I thoroughly enjoyed working on this design and have some other ideas for new pieces that would incorporate some of the same concepts.

You can get all the information on the three new designs by visiting my website - stitch counts and supply lists for all three pieces have been posted - visit the "Future" page or the "Designs" page for complete details! All three new charts are set to be released at the TNNA Fall Needlecraft Market next weekend...so look them at your favorite needlework shop in the coming weeks...

Quilted Garden Needlework Smalls

A little over a week ago, I posted about my new upcoming design "Quilted Garden" and I was so encouraged to here such positive comments/remarks from many of you - I am thrilled you like this future design. The chart for "Quilted Garden" will be released in mid-August at the TNNA Fall Needlecraft Market being held in Baltimore, MD for industry professionals. The models are stitched on a beautiful new color of Lakeside Linen called "Pecan Butter" with gorgeous Week Dye Works cotton floss. The entire piece is stitched in cross stitch and partial cross stitches...with the verse, initials, and year in cross stitch over-one linen thread (the chartpack includes alternate charting for the verse and an alphabet/numbers in back stitch for those who shy away from one-over-one work). I have also designed two needlework smalls that will be included with this design pack - a scissor fob and pin pillow - charting and complete finishing instructions for these two pieces will be included, as well. There are many other fun ideas that can be taken from this upcoming design - wouldn't a row of the quilt blocks make a great bookmark?...or you could easily make a needlebook or floss ring tag using the quilt block motifs...the little quilt blocks would also make great magnets for a quilting friend...so many fun ideas keep popping into my head! Keep an eye on the "Future" page of my website, where I will be posting all the details in the next several weeks...but for now, here is a sneak peek at the scissor fob and pillow....

"Quilted Garden"

Hello friends! Thank you for being patient with my lack of posts...I certainly haven't forgotten you and I have definitely missed my blog. I do have a good excuse (besides getting over a terrible case of a nasty circulating stomach flu bug)...I have been working on my latest design model and preparing for market releases in August...and you are seeing a peek of this new design here first! It is called "Quilted Garden"...and I absolutely loved every minute working on this new design. It's stitched on a beautiful new color of Lakeside Linen called "Pecan Butter" with gorgeous Week Dye Works cotton floss. The entire piece is stitched in cross stitch and partial cross stitches...with the verse, initials, and year in cross stitch over-one linen thread (I am planning alternate charting to be done in back stitch for those who shy away from one-over-one work). This design will be headed to my framer first thing in the morning - and I can't wait to pick a molding to coordinate with this piece. I have some ideas for coordinating needlework smalls that may become part of this chartpack, as well. "Quilted Garden" has a tentative release date of mid-August at the Fall TNNA Needlecraft Market. So there you have it, my excuse for minimal posts - I hope seeing a sneak peek of this new piece was worth the wait...

...and a little note...there is a "Christmas In July" giveaway happening now through Monday evening on the Blue Ribbon Designs Facebook fan page...visit http://www.facebook.com/BlueRibbonDesigns for details...

Parallelogram Pizzazz

The terrible stormy weather the last few days has found me quite productive in my studio. I have been logging lots of hours modeling stitching a new design...and working on a small wall hanging quilt. My husband has been working a crazy schedule and I have been up until the wee hours each morning...so late last night and early this morning, I finished up my GO! Parallelogram Pizzazz! quilt - in fact, I was hand stitching the binding at 2:00 AM. I actually took the free AccuQuilt pattern with me a couple weeks ago when Kimber, Merry, and I took a road trip to a favorite quilt shop...it took me quite a while to decide on the the fabrics (which I love!)...and I couldn't wait to make time to work on it! The fabric is from an older line called Le Poulet by Whistler Studios for Windham Fabrics and it matches my home perfectly. The entire quilt, with the exception of the backing and batting was cut on my AccuQuilt GO! fabric cutter. I really enjoyed using the smaller Parallelgram die...along with the Half Sqaure 2" Finished Triangle die...and then using the strip cutter dies (1 1/2", 2", 2 1/2") to make the borders and binding easy! There are 32 parallelograms and 64 traingles...and although it looks complicated, I actually found it rather simple to piece - I truly enjoyed working on this challenging 23" x 23" wall hanging (which I may also use as a table runner).

With the rain continuing today, I just may have to start my next sewing project...but for now, I will return to my stitching nest and continue work on my new model (Quilted Garden)...it is rather large and is going to take some time to complete...

A Rainy Afternoon...

It is a gloomy, stormy day today...and I have been taking advantage - stitching a new design model and piecing a challenging small quilt (which I will share once it is quilted and binded). My new model is coming along nicely and I can't wait to share the design with you - it is tentatively called "Quilted Garden" and I am loving every stitch! While taking a small break this afternoon to do some quilting, seems Simba readjusted his toys to find a nice warm place to lay in his (rarely used) bed...he is definitely a lap dog and gets fussy when he doesn't have a friendly lap to curl up on....so it's back to my stitching nest - after all, I have to keep my spoiled little boy happy...