Here's the cover of our latest. It's almost done. It's in the printing process now and Edie McGinnis, our editor, and I are meeting down at the Kansas City Star to take a look at the proofs today at 2:00pm.

I can't believe this finally came together! After I went to the museum 3 years ago and viewed their collection, all I could think about were these samplers. This project has been a labor of love. We've included 11 projects inspired by the schoolgirls in this book. The book has 104 pages.

All twenty four of the schoolgirls highlighted in this book really did remarkable work. I wish I could travel back in time and tell them that someday their work would be in a museum and that people all over the world would see what they stitched.

Shop owners, you can order it from:

Norden Crafts
Hoffman Distributors
The Kansas City Star

The book will be done August 11....a day after I leave for cross stitch market in Baltimore. The Kansas City Star is going to overnight 5 books to Baltimore so I will have some to show shop owners. Thank goodness!
If you purchase this book you will be helping the museum too. 50% of our royalties will go to the museum.

Barb and I have patterns for market too and they are at the printers now. A lot has been going on....but you can't tell it by reading our blog. It seems like we've been on vacation. I'm very sorry for the lack of posting. Between watering my trees and garden, the heat, picking blackberries and our book I haven't had too much time.


Note: Conny found an error in the Summer - Loose Feather chart

Below is the chart showing how all the flowers in the border on the left should be stitched. If you have already finished yours not to worry...you just have to add just a couple more stitches to make the flower a bit bigger. We are very sorry about missing this when we checked the pattern.

Thank you Conny for letting us know!





Debbie Wick sent the above two pictures of her finished projects. She writes:
Here is a picture of my Anniversaries of the Heart sampler. I loved doing it and also love having a family history recorded in stitches The quilt is Winter Apple and it's now on our dining room table.

Hope you are all staying cool this summer!

Until later,

Alma

Edie McGinnis called me this morning and asked me to go to the Garment District Museum. In the 1930s, Kansas City was the second largest manufacturing district. New York City was first. The old manufacturing buildings have been turned into lofts, restaurants and office buildings.

While walking through the museum, I was struck by the waistlines of the dresses. Take a gander at the one above. I'm wondering if women had internal organs in the 1950s....or if we with internal organs are a new development in evolution. How did the zipper close? This must be proof that girdles are be better than Spanx. Girdles created a rigid, controlled waistline.
In 1947, Christian Dior created a new look known as a wasp waist. The skirt was full and voluminous and the waist narrow.


Is she or isn't she breathing? I couldn't tell if she's real or just a great illustration. But no matter....she had a wasp waist and that's all that counts. Lucky gal!!!



The museum has a great poster for sale showing some fashions and the fabric used to make them.


Twirling in her rigid girdle. (You can tell I'm full of sour grapes today!)

Until later!

Alma

Today I'm celebrating in my garden. My flowers need to be liberated from the weeds as they choke from the tyranny of overgrowth.

My blackberry "forest" is loaded with almost ripe berries. Soon Dave and I will be out doing weird yoga moves picking thousands of berries. We look forward to this time of the year. Dave loves to hack a path into the blackberries, "exploring strange new worlds, seeking out new life and new civilizations in an expanding vast universe" of blackberries. Blackberry pie and jelly for all!

Barb is celebrating today with needle and thread. She is getting new patterns ready for cross stitch market in Baltimore. We will be coming out with several new patterns plus our schoolgirl sampler book with the Spencer Museum of Art published by the Kansas City Star.



The Spencer Museum has a wonderful collection of samplers and they've agreed to let us share 24 of them with you. I'm in the final days of research and writing. The book goes to the designer on Wednesday.



Half of the profits from the book go to the Spencer Museum. Hopefully this will enable them to show their collection. The samplers haven't been seen by the public since the early 1970s.
Museums must have a hard time getting the money for projects.

As I wrote about each sampler, I thought of the young girls. Wouldn't they be amazed to see their samplers studied and pictured in a book?

After I hand this book off, I'm feeling ready to cut into my fabric and stitch a quilt.

I want to thank all of you that left a comment in my last posting. I enjoyed reading all of the responses and am anxious to begin reading the books you love!!!!!

Until later dear friends!

Alma