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Winter Bouquet, a wildboho embroidery pattern

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I am excited to introduce you to my very first, limited edition, seasonal embroidery pattern, Winter Bouquet. It is available for instant download in my Etsy Shop and is available until March 31st. On April 1, a Spring pattern will be released.


With this pattern, you can follow the color chart and stitch guide to embroider a project that looks just like this example:


Or you can use the pattern to create a project with your own color choices for a completely different look!

If you stitch this pattern, be sure to tag any pictures you post with #wildbohopatterns so that I can see how you worked up your own Winter Bouquet!

Boho Stitch Along 

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You may recognize this hoop from several of my posts over the last year; it is my in-between big projects hoop. This hoop is something that I’m been stitching just for me. There are no due dates looming, no color choices to run past anyone….it is completely relaxing and one of my favorite pieces!

This year, I invite you to stitch along with me….Boho style!

What do you need?

How about we start with what you don’t need! You don’t need to have advanced embroidery skills. You don’t need a specific pattern. You don’t need to meet deadlines. This is a carefree Boho challenge!

So, what do you need?

The key item is a piece of fabric that you love. After all, you will be looking at this piece for a good deal of time. An embroidery hoop that works with your fabric…you determine the best size. A selection of thread/floss, embroidery needles, small scissors. And there you have it!

And what is the challenge?

With the fabric you have selected, you will gradually, throughout the year, embroider your piece. This is a great opportunity to practice new stitches and also work with stitches that you love. Sharing your progress with others will keep you motivated and you may even pick up some ideas from others! You may have only a few minutes a week, in between other things, but that is the most enjoyable part of a project like this. By the end of the year, working in little bits of time, you should have a project that is as complete as you want it to be!

I will post my first picture on Sunday, January 1st and I invite you to post with me! Use the hashtag #BohoSAL and I will post some of my favorites here every month. I will post my own progress every Sunday throughout the year, but you pick to post when it works for you. Again, this is a carefree challenge, so no deadlines!
If you have been following along with my page for awhile, and want to learn embroidery, this is the perfect project for you! I’m here to answer any questions, and oh, did I mention that I wrote an embroidery book?! In it, along with color and pattern inspiration, I show you how to stitch 16 embroidery stitches that work great with embellishing fabric.
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So, January 1st starts a very Boho sort of embroidery challenge! I’ll see you then!

Heartland Fabrics Blog Stop

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I was asked by Amy Friend of During Quiet Time to join in with a handful of other makers for the Heartland Fabrics Blog Tour. Have you checked out Amy’s Gilmore Girls coffee cup sew along yet? Pause here so you can go check out her character inspired coffee cups! Is anyone else as excited for the Netflix reboot as I am?!

But back to Heartland Fabrics! Designed by Pat Bravo for Art Gallery Fabrics, these fabrics are a muted palette of Scandinavian inspired designs. I say muted, because I’m usually all about the color…the more saturated the better! It was a challenge that I welcomed to tone down my usual color palette and work with the palest shades of mint, ivory and pink!

Choosing my threads was easy, having picked up several shades of the newest Eleganza Perle Cotton thread colors at Quilt Market. The newest colors (available very soon!) are based on a more primitive color palette and were just the colors I needed for stitching on these Heartland Fabrics. For the delicate bit of sparkle, I used Cosmo Shabon-dama, which I also picked up at Quilt Market.


I chose to create a hoop art trio from my fabric selections.



Here is the full list of makers for this blog tour…be sure to check out what they created with this fabric too!

November 7 Debbie, A Quilter’s Table
November 8 Jess, Craftiness Is Not Optional and Charise, Charise Creates
November 9 Jade, Stitch Mischief
November 10 Amanda, Jedi Craft Girl
November 11 Kari, Craft Happy
November 14 Stephanie, Spontaneous Threads
November 15 Christopher, The Tattooed Quilter
November 16 Kerry, Kid Giddy
November 17 Nichole (that’s me!)
November 18 Krista, Poppyprint

And would you like the chance to stitch a hoop with this gorgeous fabric and thread palette? Leave a comment here for your chance to win!

 

 

All things sparkly and shiny

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If you like the look of a metallic thread but the thought of actually using a metallic thread makes you want to throw your scissors, needles and thread up in defeat, then keep reading!

These are my tried and true thread recommendations that won’t have you dealing with tangles and halted projects!


From left to right, I have pictured my favorite sparkly and shiny threads:

Eleganza Dazzle by Sue Spargo/Wonderfil Specialty Threads in Bistro
Eleganza Razzle by Sue Spargo/Wonderfil Specialty Threads in Coconut Kiss
nishikiito by Cosmo Lucien in no. 29
Shabon-dama by Cosmo Lucien in col. 6 (not sure this one is in stores yet)


In the above picture, you can get a sense of how thick these threads are. The Razzle and Dazzle on the left are comparable to 3 strands of a 6-strand skein of floss and the nishikiito and Shabon-dama are comparable to 1-2 strands of a 6-strand skein of floss.

The Dazzle on the far left has one metallic strand running through (there’s the metallic part!) and the Razzle next to it is a Rayon blend, which gives it a silk-like feel and finish (there’s the shine part!) I find when I use either of these threads, I need to use a needle with a slightly larger eye than I’m used to using…it makes it easier to thread the needle.

The nishikiito and Shabon-dama are both metallic and shimmery and I love to use them along with regular Eleganza perle cotton for little bits of sparkle throughout my stitching.

With all four of these varieties, I’ve never had to deal with tangles…the work-slowing kind that you may be thinking of when you hear “metallic thread”!! I also like that they all come on a spool, which further reduces tangles in your work bin!

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If you end up giving any of these a try, let me know! I would love to her what you think of them too!

Quilt market recap

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Last week was my first time at Quilt Market in Houston, TX and it was also where I saw my book, Boho Embroidery, for the first time! So it was a pretty special few days…which went by in a whirlwind of amazing fabrics and threads. I’ve been sharing a few of my favorite highlights on Instagram, but here’s my full recap! Prepare yourself for a photo heavy post, because, Quilt Market!

First up, the Lucky Spool schoolhouses.


Jacquie Gering wowed the crowd with several of her quilts from her upcoming book, Walk.


Amy Friend of @duringquiettime presented several projects from her upcoming book, Improv Paper Piecing, which were just awesome.


And then I presented and had a giveaway of 2 books while there!

The next day, bright and early, I was able to check out the Lucky Spool booth, which was filled with projects from several of the upcoming books.

And there’s my wall o’ hoops! These are all hoops that made it into the book and braved the flight to TX from PA in my carry on!

Book signing with my book and a mini hoop and embroidery pattern giveaway. Both of these went crazy fast!


And now, prepare for a picture overload with some of my favorites from Quilt Market:

The Alison Glass Booth….always a favorite!


The Andover Fabrics booth with several of my hoops and other gorgeousness!

The colors of Tula Pink’s booth…swoon!

You know I’m all about Sue Spargo and Wonderfil Specialty Threads, so seeing all of these colors in one place!!! And then finally meeting Sue Spargo and her daughters, Kelly and Aimee was so great!


The Alexander Henry booth…


Anna Maria Horner, who I was so excited to meet and was just as sweet as I thought she would be…


Emily Martin aka The Black Apple, one of my favorite artists…

Jennifer Sampou and her Black & White line…


Heather Givans…a true book fan with her new Literary line… and I snagged one of her Anne of Green Gables stickers!!!



There was so much more, but my first quilt market was a really great experience. And then, because Waco is only about 3-ish hours from Houston and we have family there, we had to squeeze in a trip to Magnolia!!!



And I’ll leave you with those sunny Texas skies and silo views!

Mighty Lucky Quilting Club

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I’m excited to have created the October challenge for the Mighty Lucky Quilting Club for Lucky Spool: Create Your Own Embroidery Pattern. Here’s a preview and if you haven’t signed up to try this challenge yet, this month would be a great time to start! I’ll be checking out the progress shots this month on Instagram using this hashtag: #mightylucky . So be sure to follow along! I can’t wait to see what embroidery projects you take on during this challenge!

 

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Mini Tour of My Studio

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My studio is a tiny room in our very old house.  Built in 1904, the house has just two small closets.  One closet is not even the depth of a hanger! That room is where my studio sits in the house.  I am fortunate to have a dedicated studio space…I know some of you may be working with just a desk in the corner of a family room! Over the years, I have condensed and organized and then condensed and organized once again. I am finally left with a room that has some semblance of order and is a good workspace.  Let the mini tour commence!

An entire wall is dedicated to my painted pegboard hoop storage:

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Paints are easily accessible and just plain prettier when stored horizontally in an old sewing machine drawer hung on the wall:

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And finally (for this mini-tour) my favorite stitched collage, featuring girls from fabric by Cori Dantini and Teagan White. This was assembled and free-motion stitched on my machine. One of the few pieces that I haven’t stitched by hand!

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Stay tuned for more mini-tours to come!

Scandinavian Inspired Hoop

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Several weeks ago, I was asked by RJR Fabrics if I would like to participate in the #whatshaderu blog hop for their Cotton Supreme Solids. I was excited but also realized this would be a challenge as I normally choose to work with patterned fabric over solids. A huge fan of Cotton and Steel, which is a division of RJR Fabrics (as you see noted on every keep-worthy bit of selvage!), I decided to choose 12 colors that would stand out on an assortment of grey Cotton and Steel Basics. I also knew that my design would be Scandinavian-inspired, just because. I drew up a pattern for a straight row of brightly colored houses, a funky floral design and, as pictured below, a geometric heart made of 54 diamond and half-diamond pieces. Time consuming? Absolutely! But well worth the effort to have solids like red, coral, pink and purple playing nicely together!

Check out RJR Fabrics Quilt with love blog for my entry and read on to see what others have done with Cotton Supreme Solids!

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Little House on the Prairie Hoop

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I am working on several Andover Fabrics hoops for the International Quilt Market in Houston, TX this Fall. The upcoming Little House on the Prairie fabric is inspired by the illustrations found in the “Little House” novels. When you see this fabric, you will feel both the rustic nature of life on the prairie combined with dainty floral prints meant to give women a touch of femininity in their hard-working lives.

This hoop is based on the motif of the running girl and is a favorite piece of mine.  Here she is in her pre-stitched glory:


To see the full line in each of the motifs, check out Andover Fabrics blog.