Mothers and midwifes!

I'm hooked...absolutely loving the PBS Masterpiece Theater series Call the Midwife!

This wonderful series has it all...life, death, humor, sadness, resourceful midwives, compassionate nuns and babies...lots and lots of babies!

If you haven't caught this series on PBS Masterpiece Theater yet, here's a brief summary. It's a period drama set in the 1950s (love the costumes, hair, etc.) in the poor east end of London.  It's based on the memoirs of a real midwife.A group of awesome midwives are BUSY attending to the women of the poverty-ridden neighborhood. There's definitely no shortage of pregnant bellies in this series! 

The midwives are based in the local nunnery...many midwifes are nuns, but some are laypersons and they share the same space and calling to serve other women.  What makes this show special are the relationships between the ladies...the nuns and other midwives, the midwives and birthing moms, the moms and babies...it's all there! There's a lot of joy in here, but it's not overly sentimental. Life and death go hand in hand in this drama. 

Bonus: The midwives travel by trusty bicycle, strapping their birthing kits on the back as they bump down the road! It's hard to believe this was the 1950s!

Which brings me to the REAL purpose of this blog post. I have a new Mothers design coming out! It's called Mothers (what else?), #164.

This saying has been on my "list" for years, but it finally made it to the top. It's a little late for Mother's Day stitching this year, but aren't Moms important every day of the year?

I stitched the model on some pretty overdyed linen from Picture This Plus called Legacy - how appropriate!

I'm premiering my new collaboration with the gals at Just Another Button Company with this design. They asked me to design some L*K inspired buttons for their collection. After brainstorming lots of interesting button themes, I decided on...well, a button that looks like a BUTTON!

This unique button has 4 drilled holes (new thing for JABCO) so you can attach it using an X or anyway you prefer. The outside color on the button is darker than the middle, so it looks dimensional. We'll offer these buttons in lots of other colors soon. If you don't want to use the button, I offer a stitched alternative on the graph.

I also had some fun designing a couple of pointy hearts...use them for pin pillows, sachets, or just sit and admire them. They're quick one evening projects and super sweet. I stitched them on a rosy tinted neutral linen called Earthen (also from Picture This Plus).

This chartpak is still at the printer, but we're planning to ship to needlework shops on May 12. Yikes! That's the day after Mother's Day and I can see where this is going....a weekend packing orders.

Have a great week, everyone!

TINGLES!!!

What are TINGLES? They're our newest Double Flip series, and we're positively shivering to get these spooky designs ready for you!

Here's some advanced scoop on the Tingles Double Flip series:

* There are 12 designs, and we'll present them in groups of 2 as Double Flips.

* Each Tingles Double Flip will have an embellishment pack with 2 tiny black buttons and one hand-dyed olive button.

* Each Tingles design is a different size and shape and there's a different fun finish on each one. We'll have blog finishing instructions available.

* We stitched the whole series on muddy Milk Chocolate 28 ct. linen. It really makes those Halloween colors pop!

* All 12 designs fit together into a nice, big Halloween-y piece. Stitch count for the big piece is 81W x 333H.

* As always, we'll post a set of FREE instructions for combining the whole series on our website. We'll have thread list, design template and extra stitched areas to fit everything together.

* Finally, there's a secret "hidden message" in the series. It's subtle...we'll see who finds the spooky greeting first!

Sure, we've done other Halloween series before...but the Tingles are a bit different. I was aiming for a more vintage look in my designs, but still keeping the fun L*K style. Don't want to brag, (guess I must!), but I absolutely loved designing and stitching the models for this series! 

Different shapes...different sizes...different finishes...same FUN!

We'll be releasing the first 3 Tingles Double Flips in early May. These are 4 of the 6 designs coming to your favorite needlework shop SOON!

Need some TINGLES in your life (and stitching stash)?  Let your needlework shop know now and they'll be glad to pre-order for you. 

We're still waiting on the printer on these, so we're busy prepping the little embellishment packs on their Glu Dots. As soon as the Tingles deliver, we'll attach all the little 1" x 1" sacks. 

Let the TINGLES fun begin!

Open windows, open doors, what's coming soon!

OH MY! Those are the TRUE signs that spring has finally arrived.

Open doors and windows in my sunny office...

and open doors in the house for great sleeping. Nothing like waking up to a chorus of a zillion assorted birdie friends.

Our yard has miraculously turned GREEN in the past week and the blooming bushes and flowers are fabulous.

I have a couple fat forsythia bushes next to the office which I enjoy on the daily commute to and fro.

The daffodil patch in my front yard is starting to want, but their tulip neighbors are just starting to open.

What to do on such a gorgeous weekend? We're celebrating Fiesta Friday (our own holiday) with a bunch of friends, dining outdoors at a fave Mexi restaurant with a great (sheltered) patio. Sheltered is the operative word here, because Kansas winds and outdoor dining don't always mix!

Tomorrow we hope to take our mountain bikes out for some rails to trails riding just west of Wichita. Can't wait!

Meanwhile, still in the L*K office today working busily on a pile of designs. I have SO many projects in the works right now, it's mind/desk boggling! 

Here's what I'm working on now...

* Next Flip-it series  - the Tingles - is a group of 12 Halloween designs, similar to Jingles Christmas series.

* New chartpak with "Mother" theme has a big design and 2 sweet heart shaped pin pillows/cushions.

* Bee themed grouping of 3 designs - loving the BEEs this year - except for the ones that keep invading my office and Alan relocates them outdoors. We'll include some fun embellishments with this chartpak

* Kitty and Doggy String Snippets are coming soon and they're perfect for all you pet lovers!

* New Inspiration Boxers with the 3 winning sayings from our recent blog contest.

I'm just finishing up stitching the models for the 3 Boxers - just need to finish designing/stitching the 3 Bonus designs. It's always fun to do the little bonus projects! 

Here's a sneak peek pic of the 3 new Inspiration boxers with the winning sayings!

Enjoy your weekend!