Since the very beginning of Blackbird Designs, Barb’s mother, Leona, has been there to help with our projects and make sure we meet our deadlines. She probably feels like she’s  sewn on a million yards of binding in the middle of the night!

From applique to pincushions and more, she’s done it all with good humor and kind reassuring words.

Barb used the wooden box by Stephanie Elmer of Lone Elm Lane to frame the piece celebrating her mother. The Queen Crown Box has a design area of 6" x 6".

 Inside the box is a wooden insert, just right to hold these two pinkeeps.

The pattern has just been printed and I'm picking it up today. It wiill ship out to our distributors on Monday and will be in your local cross stitch shop soon!

I've been terrible about posting to this site. Barb and I are just busy... busy... busy! We are finalizing everything for a new quilt book which will be out this spring. My studio room is torn up. I decided to remodel right before Christmas and trying to get ready for the holidays. The fun never ends here.

Will post more soon!!!

Until later,

Alma

We just received final approval for the release of Octopus's Garden from Startling Music, Ltd. This pattern is the fourth of six celebrating the golden anniversary of the Beatles’ first televised performance on The Ed Sullivan Show. Although not the last to be released, Abbey Road was the last album the Beatles recorded as a group. Octopus’s Garden is one of the most charming songs included in the album. It was the second song that Ringo Starr had written with the Beatles and some critics say it was his best.


I'm going to be humming this song all day! I'm shipping this pattern out to the distributors. Look for it soon.

Barb and I are wrapping up here. We leave tomorrow for quilt market. We don't have our own booth this time, we will be in the designer's line-up in the Moda booth. Come by and see us!

Hope you are all have a chance to get out and enjoy this lovely autumn weather!

Until later!

Alma

I'm sorry for the delay in posting the winner! Barb and I are traveling and our connection to the web has been limited. Without further ado here are the winners...

#85 GloriaSeptember 4, 2014 at 9:14 AM

#20 


Please e-mail me at and I will send your prize.

Congratulations to the two winners! Many thanks to all of you who participated in the contest.
Will post again soon after we return.

Until later,
Alma

      It's our day to share a bit of Moda Love! Thank you for stopping by to visit us on the blog tour, and letting us share some things we love with you! (Click on the link for all of the details.)

     We love our newest fabric line, Autumn Lily, which arrived in the quilt shops last month. The color palette feels calm with a pop of sky blue. Below is Autumn Bouquet our newest quilt pattern made using the fabric line. It's an easy and quick one to make.

      Where do I love to spend my summer days? My vegetable garden in my backyard is one of my favorite spots. Weeding cucumbers, squash, peppers and tomatoes consumed a lot of my time this year. All of the work was worth it. Our weather was perfect and the harvest was abundant.

     My collections always bring a smile. This sweet tape measure is one of my favorites. Birds images capture my attention.

     This puppy tape measure is a close second. Isn't his face just the sweetest?



     I love old quilt blocks. Their faded colors and whimsical use of prints are always interesting to me. I fell in love with quilting while in nursing school. I took a quilt class, and forever after, the colors, textures and patterns of quilt blocks have been a passion. I think the best part of the design process is picking out the fabric. Putting prints and colors together always are a source of new ideas. So many fabrics and so little time.

     At spring quilt market, the Moda designers all made the same pattern with their fabric. Click on the link for the pattern. Barb and I didn't attend the market, but still wanted to participate in the blog hop. This design is calling my name and I think I will begin it this weekend. The quilt looks so easy and quick to make. Charm packs and layer cakes work great for this project. Click on the link to get your free pattern.

Of course there is a contest too. Sept. 13 is the end of the blog hop and we are drawing two names to win some fabric. We have a Jelly Roll and a Fat quarter pack in our Autumn Lily fabric just waiting for you. Leave a comment and let us know what is your favorite Moda precut....Layer cake, Charm Pack or Mini charms. 


































 Today is the day to visit three more design groups in the Moda Love hop. Their links are below.
SEPTEMBER 4, 2014
Malka Dubrawski – http://www.stitchindye.com/blog-2/
Lauren + Jessi Jung – http://laurenandjessiblog.com/
Lella Boutique – http://lellaboutique.blogspot.com/

All of the designers are giving away fabric. Hope you are a winner!!!

Until later,
Alma

     I would like to update you with our newest patterns, but first we want to confess a mistake we have made and to apologize. Barb has loved the Beatles music since she was a teen, and wanted to celebrate the 50 year anniversary of the Beatles performance on The Ed Sullivan Show. She designed 6 patterns and named them for some of the songs she loved. One was “Octopus’s Garden” by Ringo Starr (under his real name Richard Starkey.) Her mistake was adding some of the song’s lyrics to the pattern. We both know better and certainly didn’t mean to disrespect and violate the creative rights of the people who have brought so much joy and fond memories to our lives. This pattern is on hold and will not be shipped out until we hear from Startling Music LTD. I've written a letter to them and will wait to hear what we need to do to make it right.
     Also, we didn't realize another pattern we released "Yellow Submarine" is trademarked. I have contacted a Senior Licensing Analyst at Sony/ATV, and sent a copy of the pattern for them to view. This pattern is also on hold until I hear from them.
     I feel the need to apologize to all of you. Our goal is to publish great and fun patterns for you to stitch, but we certainly don't want to hurt others in the process. We have let you down. I wish I had a good excuse for our stupidity....but I have none. What were we thinking? Certainly we need to do better research before releasing a series like this, and in the future we will do so. Please know we are contacting the companies injured, and trying to make this right.
     We would like to thank our friend Cathe A. Ray, Proprietor of Needle In A Haystack for contacting us and letting us know of our violations. Thank you Cathe! We always want a chance to correct our mistakes before getting the "go to jail" card. (I'm making light of the "go to jail" card....but please know Barb and I are really sick about this.)

Below are our new releases from market:  The first three celebrate Halloween.




Our Beatles Series:

Sweet Baby is shown on the back cover of Eleanor Rigby. Both colorways are given in the pattern.



 The Long and Winding Road is also the third in our Sewing Box Series.


and finally....two more Reward of Merit patterns...


We will keep you posted on the outcome of the remaining two patterns in the Beatles Series.

Until later,

Alma

      My summer days have been filled with weeding, cleaning, and a walking dogs at Wayside Waifs with my son Andy for fun. Summer seems to be zooming by at record speed!

     My weeding seems to be focused on our vegetable garden in the back acreage. I can hardly wait for our first tomato. 


      In the evenings, I'm stitching. This piece has been relaxing and fun for me. I try to complete a letter or two....or if I'm really ambitious, I stitch an entire line. The flower/strawberry border really makes this piece sweet.
     I used the smyrna cross to replace some of the eyelet stitches. It made this piece faster and easier. (It's all about the fun, right?)

  
     During a cleaning and sorting frenzy I found this sweet needle minder attached to a piece of linen in my studio. It had been forgotten and now it's  back to work, holding my needle in place. I love this sewing aid. Wish I could remember where it's from.


     Above is the most recent Loose Feather pattern. It should be at your local cross stitch shop now.
Hope you are all having a wonderful summer. Have a happy 4th of July!

Until later,
Alma

     I'm mixing up the eyelet stitches with a bit of smyrna cross stitches. My letter "A" is off a thread or two and the "D" barely hooked up on the bottom curve. Quite a bit of cheating on my part. I'm stitching in the evening while watching TV. (Excuses....excuses) I realize you are probably doing the same and not making any mistakes.


I find I enjoy stitching this project along with all of you. It makes me feel like we are united in some way.

 Elizabeth Phirman sent the photo above. (Looks like her lovely quilt was the color inspiration.)  She writes....

 This SAL has been so much fun!  My linen choice was from Lakeside Linens 36ct.  Pearl Barley.  The border and four sided alphabet is Gentle Art Burlap.  The dark blue is GA Brethren Blue, with the light blue being GA Mountain Mist.  There are more colors to come...a slight design adjustment...hint...I live by the sea!

Katrina Devine writes: Having too much fun stitching this piece :-)!!!!!

 I've been working on these a bit more. It's amazing how quickly the border and alphabet stitch up. The one pictured above is the sampler using a 28ct. fabric and silk floss. I found that one thread of the silk floss covers very nicely. The four sided stitch is just too clumsy with 2 strands of floss.


The instagram site has pictures now of your samplers. I listed the site wrong on an earlier posting. I found out you can't use punctuation. So use #BBDhersampler1796. Actually #bbdhersampler works just fine too. I'm finding that instagram is kind of easy and fun. Who knew? Well....really....quite a few of you already knew. I'm just discovering how fun and quick it is to see everyone's progress.

 Above is the sampler using cotton floss. I worked on this a bit over the weekend.....but you can tell the four sided stitch has slowed me down. Below is a close up of the stitch. It really isn't as hard as I thought it would be. I am trying to use the "sewing method" and I just don't have the rhythm down right yet. But I'm sure I'll get the hang of it just when I'm done.

Hope you are getting ready to start! It's amazing how much you can get done in an hour! Don't forget to show us your progress.

Until later,

Alma

     I shouldn't work very much in the evening. I have corrected the pattern. Stitch the 36ct. fabric with 1 thread of floss over 2 linen threads. (So much easier!)

    
     All participants gather your supplies this week. We will begin stitching the project the week of May 12th. Just send me a picture during the week sometime, via e-mail and I can show some of them here or send to my Instagram link.   I think if everyone can devote 2-3 hours on the project sometime during the week we can have this sweet piece finished in no time!

Katrina's sent her color information as shown above:

Linen - R&R Reproductions, Liberty Gathering Gray

Floss -  

GA Otter Creek (for Brethren Blue) 

GA Piney Woods with some Endive mixed in (made that change after the photo) (for Grecian Gold) 

CC Root Beer Float (for Copper) 

GA Pink Azalea (for Rhubarb) 

GA Mountain Mist (for Toasted Barley) 

GA Weathered Barn (for Loganberry)

Again, here is the link for our pattern. 

My instagram site is: blackbirdalma

the link for our stitch along is #BBDhersampler-1796

Can hardly wait to begin. Many thanks to all of you for joining us!!!

My e-mail is  if you have any questions.

Until later!

Alma 

Here is the pattern! Sorry it took so long to get posted....but it's been a very busy weekend. I still don't have the Instagram site set up....but I have a volunteer to help me. Thanks Katrina!!!

Here's a picture of Katrina's palette.  (You better send the color names our way. I'm sure many are going to want to know, myself included.) These look great.

Sorry this is such a short post....but it's time for The Bletchley Circle on PBS.

 Until later!

Alma

Gather your needles and thread and stitch a sampler with us! If you are like me, there is plenty of weeding and planting to do...but this easy piece is the perfect size to accomplish in a short time. I recently found the sampler pictured above on e-bay. It arrived in Kansas recently, along with 6 other pieces Barb and I purchased from a dealer in West Yorkshire, United Kingdom. I must confess the colors attracted my attention! The pink, gold and gray combination is bright and sweet, and felt just right for a fresh summer look. Love the small row of flowers too!


     This certainly was a great learning piece for some young schoolgirl. Not only did she learn to cross stitch over one and two linen threads, the four-sided stitch and the eyelet stitch had to be mastered too. I'm not too sure about the date....unless it's the date of her birth. This doesn't look like a sampler stitched in 1796 to me. I would have guessed it would be dated about 1810 - 1860. But, I'm certainly no expert when it comes to dating samplers. If you can date this piece more accurately please let me know! Unfortunately the name of the young girl who completed this piece was removed or damaged. 


     This one is being stitched on 36ct. Pecan Butter by Lakeside Linens. It's going to be petite and too cute for words. The floss is cotton by Gentle Arts Sampler Threads. (The picot border really shows up here.) I must admit the four-sided stitch isn't my favorite....but I'm determined to master it. It's the first time I've even tried it.


     Just like every button in the dish above is different, we would love for you to take the pattern we will provide and make it have meaning for you and your family. Barb plans to bridge the generations with hers. She wants her mom to stitch a row of letters and then pass it to her niece so she and her young daughter can stitch a row. Barb will finish the piece so it will have the stitching of four generations.

     I'm not sure how I will change mine....I might do a reproduction and then another one with some other motifs added. I will be attending a family reunion the end of May. I'm thinking of asking my daughter and nieces to work on this project with me, using Barb's idea. I'm still in the brain storming process. Feel free to take motifs from some of our other patterns and add them to this project if you wish. You could even stitch a small portion or fragment of the piece and make it into a pincushion....
.

     We would love for you to send us pictures of your progress. I will set up an Instagram site and also post pictures here for those who don't do Instagram. We will post progress one day a week for 2 months .... more if needed. I will post a link for the pattern here on the blog site over the weekend. I have to finish up a couple more details. What do you think? Are you in?

Until later,
Alma

We saw a Baltimore Oriole at the feeder yesterday. Finally, I think spring might really be here. Nothing like a bit of warm weather to make one feel like working outside.

 I eat these right out of the garden. No need to cook. They are fresh and sweet!


 The bees are buzzing! So many flowering trees for them to choose from.

 The dwarf irises are the first to bloom. These are enjoying the cramped space. (Looks like I need to thin them out this year.)  These upright flowers don't lay in the mud after our 20-30mph spring winds.

 I'm trying to grow shelling peas this year. They grow about two feet high and these are well on their way. Can hardly wait!!!
 My strawberries are in bloom and the bed needs to be weeded......anyone free this weekend?

 This pattern was just sent to the distributor. Barb found the pin at an estate sale. I think any old military pins or memorabilia would look great on this pincushion.

Mother's Day is the next Loose Feather pattern. It's at the distributor's now also. I stitched my daughter's maternal genealogical line on this piece. Her initials are hidden amongst the flowers on the bottom portion of the sampler. Great way to remember all of the mothers who came before us.

Barb and I are going to start a stitch along next week. We will provide a sampler pattern and hope you will join us. Details will follow soon! 

Until later,

Alma