Calico Sampler in Constant Stitcher's new book

 I wanted to let you know about a new book that is coming out at the Nashville Market from Susan Sayers, The Constant Stitcher. It is called Fantastic Flat Finishes and the wonderful gift card pocket finishing of two Calico Sampler letters in the photo above is one of six finishes that will be featured. I love this finish! Susan made these for her nieces for Christmas. What a wonderful finish, I can't wait to see the other five in her new book. Be sure to look for it!!

In Stitches,
Beth

Calico Sampler Numerals

Hi Friends!

Below is the chart to personalize the finish year on your Calico Sampler. When you pick up the last chart, you will see that it only includes the 1, 2 and 0, so you may be in need of a different number.



You should be able to pull this off the blog like you would any photo. Let me know if you have any issues. Please send me photos of your finished Calico Sampler, I would love to see your interpretations.

All my Best,
Beth

Happy February!!

Hi Friends!

Okay, I am a dismal failure at my New Year resolutions. One of them being that I was going to post to the blog twice a week. LOL. Here I am on the 5th of February and I am posting for the first time this year. Of course I have a ton of excuses why I haven't posted, but they are just that...  So much for beating myself up, let me share with you some of what has been occupying my time.




First thing, Calico Sampler is complete!! I shipped charts to the shops on my automatic program and to the distributors the end of last week, so your shop should have it or be able to get it now. This has been such a wonderful project to design and work on, I hope you all agree. It is definitely an eye catcher. I will show you a photo of the entire sampler once I am able to take a good photo. I have taken several and I was not happy with the lighting on any of them. Add to that, the weather has not been great for setting the stage and giving me good lighting for the pic.

Now onto other stuff, I have been designing and stitching up a storm for the last couple of months, thanks in part to my sister who broke her foot and hasn't been mobile since 27 Dec. I will have four new releases for the Nashville Market on March 1-3. It was such an exhilarating experience last year, that I can't wait for this year. Three of the designs are stitched and just waiting for frames, but the fourth one has been my challenge. I think I have ripped as much as I have stitched and have gone back to the drawing board many times. I think I worked out the last kink yesterday and now I can really get moving on stitching. It is a good thing that linen is such a resilient fabric!!  Here is a little sneak peak at one of the new market releases, her name is Corona and she is a cousin to Sylvania, whom I released at last year's Nashville market. She is stitched on 28 count Doubloon linen from Picture This Plus using DMC floss. She is just as friendly and fun as Sylvania and also inspired by Baltimore Album quilts.




Well, enough for now, I will share more in a few days. Well, that is my goal anyway. I am going to put it on my calendar and perhaps that will help!!

Stay warm and keep stitching,
Beth

N-O-E-L, Calico Sampler in Holiday Colors

Hi Friends!

As promised yesterday, here is the conversion to stitch this wonderful adaptation of Calico Sampler. It is the thread wizardry of my friend Carol, she is the one who took my charts and adapted them to Holiday colors. The fabric she stitched on is a 32 ct. opalescent. I am sorry that I don't have more information than that, but it was in her stash and she wasn't quite sure who manufactured it. She also made a few other changes, she did not stitch the upper and lower bands as herringbone stitch, but as an alternating cross stitch. Also, as Carol is not a fan of Algerian eye stitch (and I am, LOL!) she stitched those as Smyrna crosses or double cross stitches. So without further ado, here is the Holiday Floss Key:




I hope you enjoy this festive version and send me photos of your innovations. I would love to see them!!

Happy Stitching and Happy Halloween!
Beth

Calico Sampler No. 6 - P-Q-R

The next chapter of Calico Sampler is ready! As I told you yesterday, I shipped the charts to the shops on my automatic on Saturday, before the storm hit, so they should be arriving soon. Haven't shipped to the distributors yet, but I should in the next few days. I love the letter "Q," I think it is my favorite letter, it has such movement in the calligraphy.



Here is a photo of the entire sampler to date. I am really loving this design! I have never stitched anything as large as this before, so it is pretty exciting to me to watch it develop. I am not quite sure how I will finish it yet. I have picked out a frame from Priscilla's Pocket, but if I frame the piece, then it will be too large to include in my trunk show. So, still thinking about the final finishing. Any suggestions?

Be watching my blog, as tomorrow I am going to post the color key and photo to create the "N-O-E-L" version that my friend Carol stitched. I had the piece on display at the Baltimore Market last month.

Until tomorrow...happy stitching!!

Beth

Meet Bailey

Hi Friends!

I wanted to introduce you to the newest addition to our family, Miss Bailey. She is now 15 weeks old and filling our lives with puppy humor. The cat is still adjusting to his new canine friend and not all that convinced she is a friend. Bailey on the other hand, loves the cat!! Oh what fun our pets bring us.

Hope you all fared well in the storm. We have a bunch of branches on the ground from our trees, but that is about it. Obviously, still have power, so we lucked out there.

Still trying to work on this blogger/image thing, so more posts to come.

All my Best,
Beth

Calico Sampler M-N-O Corrections

Hi Stitching Friends!

I have a lot of stuff to share with you, but I am having issues with the blogging interface. So, since I really want to get these corrections to you, I will forgo all of the photos and other info I have for you and just concentrate on this.

The Calico Sampler No. 5 chart, which is M-N-O, has a few mistakes on the chart. The first one is that the star symbol does not have a corresponding thread. It should be GAST Carriage Black, so star symbol = Carriage Black. The second is there is not a corresponding thread for the "o" symbol. It should be GAST Brandy. Brandy is listed as the double infinity symbol, this is correct, so Brandy = o and double infinity symbol. My sincerest apologies for these mistakes. I have changed my proofing methods, so I hope to avoid these type of mistakes in the future.

On another note, the next "chapter" of Calico Sampler P-Q-R was shipped to shops on my automatic program on Saturday, ahead of the "Big Storm." It will not be sent to the distributors until after Hurricane Sandy is finished disrupting our lives. So, be looking for it. I will upload a photo as soon as I figure out how to get my photos from Flickr onto the blog.

Keep stitching and I hope you all of you on the East Coast stay safe from "Sandy!!"

All my Best,
Beth

10/30/12 - I think I am figuring out the whole "code" thing for the images!!