In Care of

I am appreciating the pace of things right now. (Ask me again in a few minutes.) There is as much going on as ever I suppose, but no piece of it is causing me anxiety or impatience.  I am just moving along, feeling as though I have at least a grasp on everything.  You should know this feeling is not typical for me.  I can barely spend a minute basking in the relief of one thing finished before the fear of being behind on 14 others.  Self-employment?  Motherhood?  Both? You know that feeling.
I have found time to put real flowers on cupcakes.  I potted herbs for my new patio shelves.  I went for a good long run with my ipod for the first time in I can't remember.  I rocked Mary Anna entirely to sleep several times over the past few days instead of just close enough to sleep.  That was my favorite.  I laid down last night well before bedtime with only the intent to listen to rain hitting the window. 
In the studio this week, Pierrette and I have photographed, inventoried, cataloged, organized, packed, edited, listed, and launched all of my new cross stitch patterns and kits.  This is a thrill for me!  Really, really.  These little guys took a serious amount of perfecting that was deceivingly simple when I began the design and printing process.  But I am entirely happy with how they turned out, and the project was worth the extra bit of care that it required.  They live in a very freshened up Needleworks section of my shop that now has scissors, hoops, aida cloth, needles and brand new palettes of floss too.
Tomorrow Jeff & I head out very early with Mary Anna to NYC for the big fashion show.  I am learning what it means to be proud.  I thought I knew.  And I haven't even gotten there.  Oh. I feel the butterflies in Juliana's stomach from here.  And I think tomorrow they will all get their flying lessons.
Come along with me on IG.
smooch! Anna
(AND! thank you so much for all of the print orders!  Jeff told me that I found a sneaky way to being an artist, which is both funny and true.  Your support of my art is gilded.  Thank you!)

I do this thing where

... I have a list of things to share so long, that it actually grows arms and proceeds to tie my hands behind my back.  So rather than taking the first thing's first approach, I will start with the finished thing first.  (oh so obvious yet so hard for me).

Art.  I made new fine art prints, and I am REALLY happy with them.  Maybe more than the first batch. But then it's all a matter of newness, isn't it.  Maybe.  They are listed over here.  I decided to only do an edition of 50 each on this collection.  I did 100 each in the first batch, and there are some quantities left of those still, but they are getting pretty thin.  Also these are a bit bigger, the smaller being 9x12 instead of 8x10 and the larger being 13x19 instead of 11x17. But the prices are the same.  Yippee!

Items on the to-share-more-soon list include:
*Sew Down Nashville was way too much fun and we made beautiful things
*cross-stitch patterns are arriving tomorrow, kits for them following soon after
*we are bulking the whole embroidery shop soon
*we are bulking the solid quilting cottons in the shop too
*I bulked a bit myself on Easter Sunday with lamb and potatoes though I won't actually be sharing anything to do with that beyond that mere mention there
*My remodel is done, I like it so very much
*Mary Anna is walking at 10 (flipping) months, this will probably have to come with video
*Lots of fabric is on the way, all kinds of it
*Juliana's thesis collection is in the Pratt fashion show which we are going to see next week in NYC
*That has me every kind of proud and glowing, which I might get an image of if the right person has a camera while said glowing is going down

And back to it.
kisses, Anna

Dowry

Dowry.  (ps. putting the finishing touches on the above pattern today! Quilt pattern is now here!) I first learned what the word dowry meant from my mom when exploring my grandparents house in Greece as a little girl.  I came across a small closed up room filled with linens all stacked from the floor to taller than me and a cabinet of dishes, etc. too as I recall.  I asked my mom what it was and she said it was my cousin Eleni's dowry.  Cousin Eleni was only a wee girl at the time, but busy family hands had been making for her since before she was born.  Needless to say it made quite an impression and I wasted no time in asking where we kept my dowry.  (I am sure that was good for laughs, as we didn't practice quite the same tradition here in the States.)
Dowry is my newest feature collection of 24 quilting cottons.  (And only quilting cottons actually for this line.)  Here is my collection description: So often beauty comes to us in the form of tangible gifts, passed on by loved ones who have come before us. Even more lovely is when these goods were actually intended for and handmade with us in mind. This to me is the very heart of the handmade world, and I wanted to honor it with a collection that is very personal and built from the handiwork from my own family. Dowry is a compilation of literal translations of some of my own family heirlooms, some imagery is only from memory, and some prints are simply imagined companions that reference the handmade, hand stitched, and the well-loved. Dowry is at once nostalgic and energetic… a new love with a past life.
Each of the colorways is named for a piece of jewelry I've been given.

Rubies & Pearls (a ring from my great, great aunt)

Charm Bracelet (from my parents for my high school graduation)

Brass Locket (from my grandmother Anna Ruth, holding pictures of my grandfather, mom, and aunt)


Being very literal about the translations of artwork from heirloom to fabric was incredibly satisfying. The process inspired me beyond the actual recreated artworks, but also completely reinvigorated my "mark" making. How I stroked the surface for each print. They are all a little different, and in the end sort of reference and pay tribute to several styles of print processes over centuries of making textiles. For instance, the Twill Bouquet was born out of my first needlepoint project as a child, but the texture inspired a twill motif rather than a needlepoint one. Those twill lines running through the bouquet saw fit to take a few turns in the negative space for some contemporary interest (not unlike my juvenile stitches that went in all directions).  (Mom and I made that pillow together several years ago with my Bohemian fabrics after recovering the needlepoint from missing.)

And the Lineage print. This dear deer of Yiayia's. Dear deer of mine (the story is here). It was important to me to invoke the print with the horizontal runnings of a loom, so all the art is created in line and purposefully a little imperfect in it's printing, slightly thinner here, overprinted there. It feels so special to me that way. Already belonging wherever it is. I love it. I cannot tire of it.

Every print and title in this collection is special to me. Close to me and very personal. I could not have anticipated just how personal when I designed it, barely and secretly pregnant exactly a year ago, and still the daughter of a visible mother. I could not have. Yes, it's only fabric. Only things. But so are all of pieces and gifts that inspired the work. When Pierrette and I were shooting the above photo, the mannequin needed just a little something. I was able to pull out one of my mom's crocheted shawls still tucked in a box full of things I had just retrieved from her closet a few days earlier. Perfect. Only a shawl.
But so very good to hold it, and see it. Like everything we give and receive out of love.
While we do sell it, and it is my living, I also offer this with love.  I hope you enjoy it!
yours, Anna Maria

Midoctober

These last weeks have been so good. Everything feels all painted together in bold, broad strokes that look just right.  The weather has been something that I dream about on days when it's otherwise.  Being at my dad's house to begin going through my mother's belongings was very much what I thought it would be like.  I think my sister and I spent more time giggling over things than we did crying.  We felt her right there with us, laughing.  And we teased her memory over some of the fashion choices she made that hung in her closet.  Of course there were tears.  Over shawls we remember braiding the fringe of to stay occupied during Liturgy.  But thankfully there was one for each of us.  That was the good part.  Choosing things for people.  Thinking about who might like a piece of jewelry or a handknit sweater.  It was like continuing her work to spread some love and gifts around.  That was so nice.  Saving things for grand-daughters, looking forward to a special time to give them each something.  We also set aside things for dad to take to Greece this winter.  For his sisters and his sisters-in-law.  They miss her so much.  Dad has a whole huge crate of furniture and such that he is shipping to his house in Greece.  He mentioned plans of putting a quilt in there a few weeks ago that mom made.  I asked him which and his answer made me realize that it was one Mom and I had chosen the fabrics for in NYC on a trip together.  So I asked if he could leave that one here and I would bring him one even bigger and better suited for the bed it was to go on.  I knew full well as I offered that, that I likely didn't have one that size.  So in the midst of lots of other time sensitive work, for three days I stopped to make a new patchwork quilt for him to take to Greece.  And now the other is safe at home with me.  Folded at the end of my bed.  For extra warmth.  Worth the scurry.

My Aunt Beth from Indiana was here for a visit and to meet Miss Mary Anna Louisa.  This woman is an utter joy.  She exudes such an air of peace and joyfulness that it is impossible to not feel peace and joy in her presence.  So much like Mom.  But of course completely unique and wonderful in other ways.  We played with Mary.  I gave her many of Mom's things.  As we went through items she had stories for so much of mom's jewelry that I had never heard.  It was wonderful.  I showed her my fabrics and everything in my studio.  Described what the process of making fabric it is like.  I tested her to see if she could pick out the print discrepancies in my latest strike offs.  We talked so much.  Talked about all the kids.  We shopped.  We bought little gold leather shoes with bows on the toes for Mary.  Her first pair of shoes.  I'm so glad I did that with Aunt Beth.  We bought new buttons for a knitted romper that I made for the baby.  She had the perfect suggestion of using two sizes of buttons since there weren't enough of one size at the store.  It was so simple.  But I wouldn't have thought of it.  We bought new soup bowls for me.  We ate.  We filled the bowls with chili that night and sat with my Uncle Linden and Jeff and all the children around our long dining table and enjoyed conversation that went in all directions.  Baby Mary gave her a million smiles in just two days.  Fell asleep for an hour or two on her lap.  Passed out cold, all limbs splayed out.  She never does that.

And we are doing so much else in the studio.  We have shipped a painted backdrop and lots of other goodies to Houston for my Quilt Market booth.  I am going over Dowry ribbon samples for a late fall delivery- they are so beautiful- oh how I love them.  I've just finished making corrections to the first round strike offs for the Spring'14 fabrics.  I am making plans with Heather to help her teach in Palm Springs in January. I am making plans to teach at MQG Sew Down Nashville in April.  We are shipping out the first batch of pre-sold prints today, the rest should ship out middle of next week.    Then we should be on track to ship as they sell.  This was so fun to do.  Out of the norm here, and just cool to do something entirely independently.  We are planning the next series of Janome free projects and videos.  I will also be guest posting regularly at their FB page and blog starting next month.

I am in disbelief that our baby girl is more than four months.  She babbles entire symphonies, smiles at everyone, absolutely everyone and is the most kissable, huggable, strong and lovely little bitty human.  She just is.  She is so fun to love.  So easy to love.  And buttoning a sweater up to her fat little chin to meet the cool air on the other side of our front door is really all I need.
Even so, there is a whole lot more.
kisses from here, xoxoAnna

Between Home

We've been all over sorta. Babes and I went to my sister's in Columbia SC last week.  It was splendid.  A wholotta sitting on her porch with embroidery and baby and sister and coffee and just chatting then finding ourselves in our pajamas still at 1pm then getting dressed only so we don't look like total losers when everyone else comes home.  That was great.  She said her roses were in bloom for me.  She said her Christmas cactus eeked out a bloom for me too.  My sister is like that.  She knows that blooms happen for people.  She and flowers.  There's something there.  Like she speaks to them and they speak back I think.  She was born on the Spring Equinox.

Now we are off again.  Headed to my Dad's today in East Tennessee.  Meeting my sis again there, this time to begin going through Mom's things.  I am actually looking forward to it.  From here it feels like lots of good memories and tender, personal love to go through.  Might not feel just like that once I am there, but I am hopeful.  As my Aunt Beth (Mom's only sister) instructed me in her handwritten card this week, mingle laughter with tears.  And we will.  And likely wine too.  (That's what she meant by that right?)

I want to thank everyone for the print orders!  Wow, thank you, so so so much.  You are just awesome and supportive and I don't know how to thank you.  It's been a great success which makes me feel so good.  You can't even sew anything with this art and you still want it!  Wow.  Thank you.  I wasn't sure how many to have printed of each and just settled on 100 editions per print.  It appears to have been about the right number as we still have a bit left of each.  So there is still some early gift buying potential for the holidays if you wish!

Have a great weekend.  Lots of love!  xoxoAnna

A Gathering

I took so much sparkley, fun, giddy pleasure in putting this gathering of framed works together on Mary Anna's nursery wall. I have been looking at the blank wall, as in, a wall with absolutely nothing on it, not a thing, don't even think about it, nothing, since about June 9th. That was when I started parking my fanny in the rocker and nursing a two day old... facing that wall. A million and ten times a day. I have had a lot of time to think about that wall and what should go on it. In fact I perhaps have done that very thing more than I have done anything since June 9th with exception to possibly nursing. Let's call it a tie. Because Miss Mary Anna Louisa (Bouisa)'s room was built into the studio I have dubbed her room to be quite art-y and have filled it with lots of handwork, and the like. I will take more pictures of the whole room soon. But The Wall. Sure, I have embroideries. Sure, I have quilts. Yeh, got needlepoints. I wanted to have something framed too. My sister and I went through a huge pile of vintage handkerchiefs that belonged to my Great Grandmother earlier in the Spring. Holy Smokes, they are beautiful.  Most are about 100 years old. Perfect in frames. In smaller frames, some are folded down to show just a small corner.  A few are shown fully. Above is my favorite. Oh it's beautiful! But finally I created the first edition of my own prints. Which mix in so very well. I just adore the wall now, so very much.



So that is a long winded way to let you know that my first limited edition print collection is now for sale in the online shop! This is a *pre-sale and we'll begin shipping them out in about 3 weeks. So sit tight. And dream beautiful wall dreams while you wait.
xoxo, Anna

Rose Soup

I recall a recent conversation I had with Juliana about fabric and prints and why we are so obsessed with flowers to the point where it almost exclusively dominates our decor.  We, being civilization.  The two of us concluded that if one looks to nature as a source of inspiration, what else would you choose, really?  Of course flowers.  They encompass every bit of beauty, architecture, color, repetition, metamorphosis, and perfection one needs to stay inspired and never exhaust the possibilities to portray them some other way.  I find myself trying very hard to exhaust roses in my own work, by playing them out every which way and in various media.  Joyously, I cannot. And so I keep at it.

(Pauses to acknowledge baby girl after a mighty squeal of delight as though she agrees.)

I am starting a new personal project that I have been thinking about FOREVER.  My friend Heather encouraged me to push on and do it about 6 months ago.  I'm so excited to say that I am- limited edition prints of my artwork!  Developing the first release has been really fun, and I will be sharing more soon.  I took a little poll on Instagram, and an overwhelming majority seems to really wanna see Roses, Moths, Butterflies in print form.  What say you?

There will be about 4-6 different prints.  I am hoping to have the final works up for pre-sale as we welcome Autumn in just a couple weeks.  And then we will be shipping them out a few weeks later.  This is something that I hope to do about twice a year, with new editions each time.  I'm really excited and can't wait to show you what I've been working on for them!

Happy Wednesday! xoxo, AnnaMaria

ps.  sign up for my mailing list to be the first to know about the prints!

Studio Summer Rummage

Beginning now in my online SHOP!

I've been dreaming of putting together a little sale like this for months and thanks to Pierrette and a baby who lets her mommy one-hand-edit while nursing we are ready to go. Here's the blurb from the emailer:

A quick note to let you know that we are having our first ever Studio Rummage Sale beginning tomorrow morning, Wednesday 6/26 at 9am EST! We have been doing lots of clearing and cleaning in the studio and reorganizing to make room for new collections coming in this summer and fall.... not to mention the bit of space we stole from the downstairs studio to make a nursery! We came across so much that we love - art, samples, display items, OOP fabrics and other miscellany, -but simply have no room. So we thought passing along the love to our crafty friends seemed appropriate. First come, first serve!

***Check my FB page and IG feed for a few sneak peeks of items that will be up for sale! (You may also come across a giant pile of newborn baby pictures. Maybe.)

*Please note that all RUMMAGE sale purchases are final with exception to defect and we will ship internationally just like all of our shop goods. SALE ENDS Wednesday July 3rd @ midnight EST.

*The BOGO free Scrap Bags will continue thru midnight 7-3-13 as well. 

thanks peoples.  back soon, xoxoxoxAnna

Wondered what I was missing

Then I started to draw. That was it. Then still something not there. Then I turned down the music to hear the pencil slide- rough but velvety -across the paper. That was it. Winter coming feels just right. xoAM

If you need me

I'll be right here. For like a week or so.

Well if I'm not in the kitchen I will be right here.  I am wondering why I've signed myself up for a 5mile run on Thanksgiving morning instead of choosing to be right here.  I do imagine everything will taste 5x as good after the run, so that's something.  And that spot on the left of the couch there,  right up against the log cabin pillow, situated and stretched out just right so the bottoms of me feet are warmed by my hubby at the other end in his spot, yes, even that will feel 5x better after a long run, and a warm meal.  (That's what I tell myself when I cry a little on the inside about 5 miles in the cold.)

What do you think?!! Look!  The living room was clean for like a half of a second so I took a quick pic of the gallery side.  We are really enjoying it.  Feels just right, wall-color-wise.

In other news Cash the puppy ate my only pair of knitting needles.  In other other news Cash the puppy ate my only pair of eye GLASSES.  Glasses.  (You may remember the storied pair of glasses.)  I am so confused.  Glasses don't even taste like anything.  I can see where bamboo knitting needles are wood, and dogs chew wood.  Just like remembering newborns all over again, with puppies (particularly labs I think) you really forget what you are dealing with until you are holding several pieces of what were formerly a pair of tacky grandma from Miami Versace zebra striped eye glasses. Hmpf.

Good try Cash the puppy, but I have contact lenses and new knitting needles and I still love you.
good weekend! xo, AM

Works In Progress

:: Patchwork of wool, and a smidge of linen (sneak peek of my linens for  04/13)

:: Hand-quilting a baby quilt of Field Study Voiles (shipping any day now)

:: Drawer of crochet sunshines getting full but not full enough (pattern my own rendering)

:: My first EVER knitting project!!!  Watched this class with Debbie Stoller and it all finally clicked (then clacked, then knitted, then purled and so on)

:: My growing yarn bowl was in need of some new color (mostly merinos from Manos del Uruguay)

:: The sidewalk is getting crunchier every day (the bright hues giving way to some more somber tones)

:: Our family room mantle awaits the arrival of (hopefully) another pinch pot turkey next week

thanks for the visit, xoxoAnna

Found

I found a sketchbook from college.  There are several, but haven't seen this one for a while, must be about 20 years old exactly.  So many drawings are of my young Juliana.  I can vividly remember this sequence of sketches.



She was in such a spoiled slumber, way deep in the corner of her bed which was also the corner of two walls.  Curled up, still in play shoes and a jacket from having run around outside before collapsing.  Her sleep was such an opportune time.  Practically because of the stillness and quiet.  But such an invitation it was to explore her and to listen to her breathing, slow heaving sighs of needing the sleep so desperately to fuel everything that life would bring.  That day, and onward.



I moved around all sides of her.  Drawing whatever seemed most provocative from each angle.  But it's the sound of her sleeping that I recall most when I look at these.  I am grateful that I learned to be a mother during such young, raw, formative years in learning to be me.  I have enjoyed the experience with each of my children, as I've aged, no less.  And I do look through my sketchbooks and writings from so long ago and give myself a loving roll of the eyes, acknowledging what a fledgling youth I was, an art student no less, where fabricated drama of being such and actual reality necessarily coexisted, but come clean now on these pages.  I can still feel what was felt then though, however far reaching.



On nearby pages there are a few photos of her sleeping torn and attached, I am guessing from one of my photography classes.  I had written down an excerpt of a poem by Anne Sexton underneath that leaves me breathless reading it even today.  Her words are an amazing account of coming to terms with the rawness of new motherhood and also the human spirit.  So here they are for you today:

Yours is the only face I recognize.

Bone at my bone, you drink my answers in.   

Six times a day I prize

your need, the animals of your lips, your skin   

growing warm and plump. I see your eyes

lifting their tents. They are blue stones, they begin   

to outgrow their moss. You blink in surprise

and I wonder what you can see, my funny kin,   

as you trouble my silence. I am a shelter of lies.   

Should I learn to speak again, or hopeless in   

such sanity will I touch some face I recognize? 

love, Anna

Getting There

It is cool outside today. Lovely even, just became sunny a few minutes ago after a lingering cloudiness. A rain through the day, yesterday, most of the night and a surprise little downpour this morning while I was in bed wondering if there was anything better than being in bed. I kept myself very busy with the living room starting Friday and still have a table to paint, some curtain panels to hem, a bookshelf to receive and place and fill, two crafty little homemade light fixtures to hang. Then autumn to do I suppose. I changed around all these things, I thought, out of typical aesthetic preference- simple weariness to that which I've grown accustom. But now that I feel the difference of the space, I realize how much I needed the actual comfort of change. A refresh in the aftermath of a break- really just some broken vases, but maybe it felt like I've broken a little lately too. At least my porcelain feels a little thinner, more fragile. I am a creature that needs to fix, and to mend and to make better. Need it to my core. Broken vases I can sweep up and dump those shattery little noises into the trash. Which doesn't feel like much. But adding a layer of beauty, it feels right. And new. And hopeful.

Today I am greeting the chill with the comforts of my home and those that I love.
 love from here, Anna

On Changing Colors

You may remember a recent, shattering mishap involving vases and mirrors that left my mantle naked and missing the former row of slowly collected over time yellow treasures.  Which now has the vivid yellow chest of drawers (where I conceal lots of yarns, threads and mid-progress handworks) looking lonely for a dance partner.  Jeff gave me one very lovely little green vase for my birthday as a signal to cheer up and move on already.  A new color.

I had been thinking for months of changing up this room a bit.  And here is a list of thoughts should you be so utterly bored as to read through them:

:: Liar, Liar that's not a Fire. As charming as the fireplace is, it is entirely fake.  Yes it's true.  It has a mantle and a deep slate tiled alcove, complete with a stack of logs, but I would burn the whole house down if I built a fire in there.  I fear I would miss the mantle if we dug out and used the space some other way.  So my thought here is to use the open interior space as a spot for a custom built book shelf.  Like this-ish.  Okay next.
 :: Insets. To either side of the (not) fireplace have always been a nice asset to the room and were entirely lined with shelves for knickknacks when we moved in.  I am not much for knickknacks.  Well I was, I guess, until they shattered.  And while portraits are there now, I think I'm ready to see multiple quilts on multiple rods across each inset, instead.  From top to bottom.  Savvy?
:: Color.  I will not be letting go of the deep turquoise mantle wall.  In fact if I could carry that color around in my back pocket all day I would.  I adore it.  The lighter glass blue  of the rest of the room though... I am ready to see something new.  I might be in this room more than any in the house save the attic studio, and I have never been at peace with this color, as nice as it is.  It have always felt it a bit airy for the weight of all of the rest of the color/pattern/art.  So my thoughts now are to go way deep and more neutral.  The deep tones in this post of Holly's are inspiring me. For instance take that turquoise from the mantle and toss in a lot of grey/brown to get a murky swampy, blank slate.  A color you can sink into and get lost in.  It's a big room, so I am not afraid of the dark.
:: Art.  With the thought of the deep wall, and so far two more paintings (from the insets) in need of a home, I think I will expand the "art wall" to stretch across the whole right wall, and not just above the sofa.  I will take that iron garden artifact from behind the chest to the, well, garden. Then hang a lot of art.  I mean a lot.  My attic is filled with more.  And with the dark colored walls I anticipate a feeling of the art emerging from the wall rather than hanging on it.
:: Furnishings.  I will switch out my printed curtains foir some natural linen panels.  I think I will give the big round table a coat of linen white as well while I'm at it to balance the dark walls and help highlight all the trim.  Couches will remain largely the same, though one of them has recently gotten a needlepoint-y makeover which I'll be sharing more about soon.  Rugs.  I've been looking.  Not going to go overboard unless it's a great deal, bc I still have a puppy in training.  But this has caught my eye.  I think it would be amazing in under a creamy table and in a swampy green/blue room.  Though the tassles might well drive me mad, but I could resign myself to snipping them off and repurposing them elsewhere.

And those are the points of my brain's interworkings regarding a living room and also likely the very first time I have been made truly aware of why people Pin.  But I get so overwhelmed at the thought of Pinning.  I spend 5 seconds on there and suddenly I hate all images and never want to look at another poetically esoteric photo of a jello shooter for as long as I live.  Don't hate me because I don't pin.  You can pin.  I still love you.

night, xo,AM

Have a Seat

Details.  I has 'em, more than I can put in one post, in fact.  Thanks for all your nice words on my last post about the booth.  We were very proud (relieved) of how it all came together.  One of the comments, can't remember right now which, mentioned something about an imperfect situation giving rise to creativity.  I guess I have always felt the same, I just don't always believe it in the moment.  Anyway, I've been thinking a lot about that recently- creativity thriving on imperfection.



One of the more talked about items was this dress.  It is a simple bias cut shape with hand appliqued feathers.  The pattern was done on the fly (always the best pattern) the night before we left.  I seamed two 44"w solid cotton pieces side by side for a x2 wider width, then cut the a-line shapes for front and back of the dress from this yardage on the bias.  The front piece lifting a little higher over the bust, the back dipping a bit lower under the shoulder blades.  It's topped with a narrow contrast elastic channel, while the waist elastic channel is wider and hidden on the wrong side of the dress.  I am trying to figure out the best way to share this pattern with you.... more on that soon.  The feather quilt - Featherbed Quilt -is all machine pieced and will be a free pattern when the fabrics launch in August, but I'll also give tips on doing an applique version to accomplish things like the above.



The other most talked about item was my new pet panther.  Whatever wrenches were thrown into my booth planning I never wavered in my relentless search for a life-sized panther to decoupage.  Don't ask.  I can't answer.  I loved making it and I loved showing it and I love having it.  It's weeyud.



Fabric.  Look the fussyyyyyy cutting on that pillow by Ms.Brittney.  I love it so much. The center print is Raindrop Poppies, then Mind's Eye, then Spotted in the Crowd, then two colorways of Fine Feathered.  The pillow to the right is another colorway of Mind's Eye.  I'm going to publish our full market catalog here next so you can see all the fabrics (and patterns) more in depth.



Needlepoint.  So happy to share two new designs on their way later this Summer.  Centerpiece and Sketchbook.



Don't know what to add to that news other than yay.  Find your favorite chair and we'll be back with those soon.



What to do with that needlepoint other than the obvious?  These bags are a glimpse of a sewing pattern in development for fall.  A big carpet style bag and.....



.. a clutch.  I love this pattern, can't wait to get it out there.  The sewing is very straightforward but the shapes are gorgeous and classic.  Of course the pattern is just as lovely simply with a fabric in place of the needlepoint, but just in case you have one complete by then.



Embroidery.  This summer will see a new collection of Pearle cottons and Embroidery Floss in some yummy new palettes that are gorgeous with Field Study.



The pearles, are lovely and pale.  A few are shown here in front of a sampler for my first embroidery pattern collection coming out this month, Love from A to Z.



The new embroidery floss colors are deep and rich and shown here with a few pieces from the Fields Aflutter embroidery pattern collection, also coming out this month. So much to look forward to.



I think this vase of flowers sums up my whole story for Field Study.  Gorgeously natural if not a little uneasy and exploratory.

have a lovely weekend,
xoxo, Anna