Mix a few birds in with some scrappy baskets of flowers, and you have folk art at its best! Notice how the sweet plaids make the burgundies and blues pop. This quilt would be the perfect accent for any room in your home. Barb used a fat quarter pack of  "At Home,"our latest fabric line with Moda Fabrics. She added yardage of several other prints and the look is fun! I'm always surprised how much I love the blue and red and burgundy leaves. It's nice when they don't all have to be green.
     The appliqué shapes are large and simple, making this a quick and easy project. "A Little Flower" is a 60" square.

     Below is pictured # 5 in our Loose Feather series, For the Birds. The same color palette helps to make sure they go together well. "Sing a Song of Seasons" is at the printer and will be picked up on Monday. Then off to the distributors, and they will be ready for you hopefully by the end of next week. I'm working on # 6 now. I know we have missed a couple of months publishing this series. I've had a couple of delays. 

The Light Upon the Lawn is our newest Loose Feathers pattern. (Second in the series) It's on its way to the printer today, and shipping out to the distributors in a weeks time. The floss colors are the same as last month's palette, and I think one set of floss should be enough to do two of these small samplers.


     The title of this pattern is inspired by Emily Dickenson’s poem, ‘A Light Exists in Spring’. In the poem she speaks of the light in spring being colored differently than the rest of the year. I loved the idea of spring light awaiting on the lawn ... ready for us to come outside and view the landscape. You can read her poem here.
     Last weekend Barb and I traveled north for Stitchville USA's retreat in Minnesota. We had a lovey time! Great women, venue and food! Can't beat that combination! This trip really got me thinking about spring.
      After we had driven about 250 miles north, I noticed the landscape had changed. No trees were in bloom and no buds on the trees. I told Barb we could experience about 6 springs a year. Start in the south and slowly travel north over a period of 10 weeks. Might be the perfect bike trip. I digress here....anyway someone from the retreat asked me how we come up with some of the pattern titles. It got me thinking that Barb and I should share how we name our patterns.
    


     I had to wake Corey up for this picture. After our morning walk, he has been sleeping by my chair helping me work. Well....he's not really helping .....he's just lovely companionship. Look at those droopy eyes! Not to worry about any lack of sleep on his part...he's already snoring again.

Until later!

Alma

     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

Quick update!

The second pattern in the Garden Club series will be available soon in your local shops. It was shipped out to the distributors on Friday.



I'm off to the warehouse now to ship out more orders! Such a beautiful day here....hope your weather is nice too.

Until later,

Alma

The third pattern pictured below begins our new Garden Club series.

 

Basket of Cherries

     Welcome to our Garden Club! You’re going to love belonging to our little sewing circle.  There are no offices to fill, and no elections to hold. So you will be able to sit back, stitch and enjoy yourself.

     In the next 12 months, our Garden Club series will reflect a cherished aspect of gardening. It might be a lovely basket of flowers, bees buzzing from flower to flower, or, like this month, an abundant harvest of cherries. In any case, you won’t have to worry about getting your hands dirty!

     On the back cover, you will find our Basket of Cherries made up as a pincushion. But if you’d rather, you can wait and stitch all 12 projects into one large sampler.

      One pattern will be released each month for a year. The picture above shows the front and back cover of the first pattern. All 12 pieces are stitched on 32ct. Weeks Dye Works linen. Each pattern uses a different color of linen. Basket of Cherries was stitched on 32ct. Cocoa. Each piece in the series is a 4" square.
On the back of the pattern cover you can note the first three samplers of the series sewn together.  
 

We've used different linens and sewn them together in some of our patterns before. Above is "Flea Market Souvenir". (This one is sold out.) After piecing quilts, I thought, why not do the same with linen?





The piece above is the bonus patterns from a past Loose Feather's series. (This is sold out also.)


Each bonus pattern was sewn together to form a long sampler. We love the added texture and design of different linen colors.


The pincushion backing is pieced to add a bit of whimsy.

I'm sorry for the lack of posting this summer. I wish I had a good excuse.....but alas there is none. I've been visiting my daughter in Denver, riding my bike, playing the piano and visiting the beach. Hope you all have had a wonderful summer too!

Until later,

Alma

Finally......I've just finished the pattern for the last Loose Feather in the Abecedarian Series. Wanted to give you a peek of them all together. The pattern will be shipped out to the distributors on May 12th, and should be in shops the following week.


Until later!

Alma

Guess what will be sailing your way? We now have an agreement with Sony ATV and can release this pattern. I'd have to say, the process of negotiating with Startling Music Ltd. and Sony ATV was very easy. I'm grateful to say the least. Dave and I were able to keep our house and car. (Just kidding!)
     Paul McCartney wrote this song and he made it a point to use short words and phrases when he wrote it. It was intended to be a fun children’s song with lyrics that kids could easily pick up. I think this piece would be very sweet in a child's room. Barb's vine along the top is perfect for ocean waves.





     I got the flu for Christmas. I wanted to post this earlier, but really, I could hardly drag myself out of bed. Luckily, I'm recovered and none of my kids got it from me! Although I wasn't much fun this year. Lots of hand washing and not much kissing during the holidays. Even though these pictures are late, I'm still sharing them with you. I took this platter to my friend's house for a luncheon and wanted to add a bit of color and thought, "Why not add ornaments for a bit of sparkle and panache." I washed the bulbs a bit (had to be careful as they are vintage) and added them randomly among the cookies.

     All of the recipes are from Sweet Paul - Winter 2014.

     Click the Magazine tab on his top menu, and it will take you to this issue. You can view it on-line for free....but I always purchase my copy from Anthropologie. His cookies were very tasty and looked spectacular. This issue seemed "all about making me look talented and creative." And I'm all about supporting anyone who makes me look good!  Thanks Paul!!!!

     Hope you are all staying well and warm. It's cold here today.

Until later dear friends,

Alma

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 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