Weekly Scribbles

Things have been buzzing along in my studio again this week...and I have a bunch of new finishes to share with you today. I have been working on more projects bags and needlework finishing for customers...along with designing a few more pieces for AccuQuilt and working on layouts for some cross stitch designs...it's been hectic, but so creatively rewarding.

A quick catch-up...
The weather is starting to (finally) warm up and I have spring fever...I am looking forward to spending more time outside (I'm hoping the weekend forecast is exaggerated and the snow will be non-existent)! In other news, Garin (our German Shepherd puppy) is doing well at his formal training and has passed the halfway mark in his 12-week puppy boot camp...I can't wait until we can pick him up at the end of May - I'm really missing him. My husband and I celebrated our 18-year anniversary last week - I pulled out the wedding/reception photos out for the first time in years - I can't believe one of the babies in attendance is graduating from high school this year - that was grounding. We had a lovely evening out, but our real celebration will be in Nashville, TN in a couple weeks (and believe me, that vacation can't get here soon enough). I was able to spend a couple hours with my dear friend Mary last Friday - a "friendship Friday" was just what I needed! It's been a fun and productive week and I hope the productivity continues, as I prepare for our upcoming trip...

Here is a small photo walk of just a few of my finishes from this last week....enjoy...

Shepherd's Bush - "Hold Hope"

Little House Needleworks - "Faith"

From the Heart - "Friendship Garden"

Threadwork Primitives - "Civil War Needlebook"

Just Nan - "Rosebud Tweet"

Blue Ribbon Designs - "Little Blue Bungalow"

It's time to walk Miss Schatzi, and then more needlework finishing - I have a couple more large orders to tackle this week. Thanks for visiting my little corner in blogland - I look forward to chatting with you again soon!

Upcoming Design Spotlight: "Friendship Blooms"

It is time for another upcoming design release spotlight - this design will be released later this month at the TNNA Nashville Needlework Market (a needlework industry trade show for manufacturers, designers, and needlework shops). I will be releasing three new designs - several days ago, I shared "Beauty In Simplicity" with you - today's spotlight will be on "Friendship Blooms". Look for my three new designs to start arriving in needlework shops following the the Nashville Needlework Market being held on February 25-26th. In the meantime, enjoy this special spotlight feature...

Friendship Blooms (BRD-105) is a framed sampler with a fun sixteen square border. This friendship design features an original verse and is perfect for "Round Robin" or group stitching. Each square in the border can be used for an individual needlework small - the chartpack includes finishing instructions for three styles of ornaments/fobs/hook hangers; these three styles include: backing your ornament/fob with linen, backing your ornament/fob with wool or cotton fabric, and using finishing forms. Here are some other creative finishing ideas: magnets, bookmarks, pinkeeps/cubes, needlebooks, and or floss ring tags - there are endless finishing possibilities. The sampler verse is cross stitched over-one, but the chartpack includes alternate charting that uses a back stitch for those of you who shy away from over-one stitching. I also included two alphabets/sets of numbers for personalizing your piece(s).

I have posted all the details on my website - including additional photos and a complete supply/materials list - simply visit: http://www.blueribbondesigns.com and click on "Future" in the left-hand menu...then scroll down to the photos and information on "Frienship Blooms". All model pieces were stitched on Straw hand-dyed fabric by Weeks Dye Works with Weeks Dye Works cotton floss (DMC conversions are provided). I worked the cover models on 40-count linen, but you can choose your favorite count!

I hope this friendship sampler will speak to you...

"Friendship Blooms" Sampler

Ornaments/Fobs/Hook Hangers (40-count Straw linen by WDW)
Top two - backed with linen
Middle two - back with cotton fabric
Bottom two - finishing forms (2" square)

Ornaments/fobs stitched on 28-count Jobelan (Bone):

Ornaments/fobs 1 and 6 - backed with cotton fabric

Ornaments/fobs 2 and 5 - finishing forms (2" square)

Ornaments/fobs 3 and 4 - backed with linen

"Friendship Blooms"

Today I have a sneak of peek of a new design to show you (before framing)...here is your first look at "Friendship Blooms". This friendship sampler will be released in February at the Nashville Needlework Market. The sampler is stitched on 40-count Weeks Dye Works Straw linen with Weeks Dye Works cotton floss. I thought it would be fun to have several other finishing ideas with the chart - so I made multiple ornaments (could be fobs or hook hangers) using three different finishing techniques...one uses finishing forms - one backs the ornament with linen - one backs the ornament with fabric or wool. Finishing instructions for all three will be included in the chartpack. The ornaments/fobs/hook hangers shown in the photo were all stitched on 28-count Bone Jobelan, but I will be doing several with the 40-count Weeks Dye Works linen, as well. As with most of my designs, there are multiple possibilities for finishing! I wanted a fun, cheerful release in February that included many of my favorite motifs, as it tends to be quite gloomy here that time of year...

I am now working on another new design model called "Redwork Garden" which is somewhat a companion to "Quilted Garden"...it is a larger design, so it will take me a couple weeks to get it stitched - I am thrilled with the charting and can't wait to share it with you!