I love to begin a new project to celebrate the holiday after the rush of the season is over. All is quiet, no more gifts to buy or make, and there are enough leftovers to keep us going for a while.    
     An antique sampler by J. Mair’s was the inspiration for my newest Christmas design, Feliz Navidad.  This is the second in our Christmas Sampler Series. The first one was published in 2012.


      Each of Barb’s grandnieces and nephews initials are stitched into this sampler. Now she has a permanent record of the next generation of her family. An alphabet chart is included so you may replace her family’s initials with yours. Also included in this chart is a pattern for a heart pincushion. This sampler is based on an antique piece too. I love how the frame comes up right to the last stitch....very much as it would have been framed long ago.


Lady Liberty was a club piece done for Dyeing to Stitch. We have released it for all now. I love how Barb designed her holding a threaded needle.


The Sewing Bird- scissor pocket was also a club piece done for Dyeing to Stitch. We have released it for all now.


Hats off to Uncle Sam was a class piece we had taught last year. The drum pincushion fits inside the hat box. Instructions for the had and pincushion are included inside the pattern. The pincushion is stitched on Murky linen by Picture This Plus. I love everything about this small pincushion. I'm going to have to stitch one for myself!

This Winter is Past  was my favorite stitch of the year. It was stitched on Picture This Plus - Oaken linen. (A new color released at market.) I decided to use Weeks Dye Works blue and brown/gray shades. I guess it was my favorite because everything just seemed to come together just right. A lot of times, I have to take floss out and replace it with another to get it right. Feels like I'm stitching each piece twice. The linen looks lighter here than it really is, because I use a white mat board backing. The splotchy color of the linen gives dimension to the sampler. 

     This is the first pattern of our new Loose Feather Series for 2017. We are framing all of them in the same frame as pictured above. We plan to hang all of them together on the wall. Each of the nine in the series, celebrates our fine feathered friends. We will release one each month until the series is completed. Each will be the same square size. The floss colors are from Weeks Dye Works and will all be in a similar colorway. The next linen used will be Picture This Plus - Ale, and the third one will use Oaken.

     I've just finished getting our newest quilt book to the printer and it will be ready to ship out Friday and Monday.
Here's a sneak peak at the cover.


Will show you the latest addition to our family soon. Hope you are enjoying spring!

Until later,
Alma