|
Cross Stitch has become my nightly ritual. The slow stitching and little bits of progress calm me down. It is a meditation of sorts, pulling my mind from whatever thing it is worried/stressed/spinning about into a focus of "stitch, stitch, stitch."  When I had the urge to try some of my designs as a cross over with the fabrics, I had no idea I would fall so completely in love with cross stitch. It has now become something I try to add first thing in the morning, with one strand of floss stitched while I have my morning coffee (can you tell I like that particular green?). And for the last 4 fabric collections I've introduced coordinating cross stitch designs. With Superbloom I am so happy to announce that Moda Fabrics is kitting some of the new designs!!  I was happy to launch these at Quilt Market for the first showing!  There are three sizes of kits-with simple cross stitch only supplies, or with fabric for mounting the cross stitch onto or more to make a project. All kits are made with COSMO flosses from LeCien. They have yummy colors and a lovely silky feel. It is a really nice floss to stitch with. "Queen Bee" is a smaller kit with Natural Aida, floss, needle and pattern.  The next size up has lots of colorful flosses (16 to be exact), a needle, pattern, Natural Aida AND a fat quarter of Indigo Dotty Thatched. I have floated my model in an 11" x 14" frame on top of the fabric. I will be making a youtube video to share how I do this.  Anther idea for the Superbloom Bouquet is to break up the flowers and stitch them individually. I found this tote at Ikea and thought it would match well with the Natural Aida. I used a 1/3 Yard of the Superbloom Ombre in Jewel (ombre runs the 42" width-of-fabric on this print) to add a band of fabric to the tote. Then I stitched my flowers and added them with a running stitch in floss to the top. I slightly frayed the edges to give it a more rustic look, which I felt was appropriate for wild flowers. If you were worried of it fraying more I'd first iron some interfacing like Pellon SF101 to the backside where you want the fraying to stop and this would give it more stability. I love how this tote turned out and think it would be fun to try this with any of your favorite tote patterns.   And the biggest kit is for my Stitch Lovely Floral Sewing Machine. This kit has 13 flosses, needle, pattern, Aida AND 2/3 yard cuts of two fabrics, Dotty Thatched in Crimson and Thatched Blizzard, with instructions to make the sewing machine cover that is on the front. The fabric gives you enough to make the cover top and binding/ties. You will need to add fabric for the inside of the cover and add a batting or foam. I used Pellon Flex Foam 2 Sided Fusible for my sewing machine cover and like the shape it holds.   If you want to extend sides to be wider or make panels to go on the ends to make it a closed cover (vs tied on sides) I'd suggest a colorful patchwork using a mini charm pack of Superbloom fabrics. Another option for the stitch is to finish it as a pillow. I've used the same flying geese units on mine but flipped them to point the opposite direction from the machine cover.  Another kit coming that I didn't get finished in time to show at Market is my Butterfly Blooms. It will be a small kit like the Queen Bee. Hopefully I'll get to share some finishing ideas for this soon!  The kits are available for shops to order from Moda Fabrics for an APRIL 2025 delivery. Please let your local quilt or needlework shop know if you would like them to order some. If you can't find a local shop that will be carrying them, I will set up some preorder listings for consumers on my shop in the next few weeks. I do not have access to the kits till April as well (I order them just like any other shop). I only sell retail for kits, not wholesale. Wholesale goes through Moda. They have set up a "notions only wholesale" account so shops can set up an account with a lower minimum and it allows them to buy notions, the kits, precuts of fabrics, additional Cosmo flosses and other supplies. You can not order bolts of fabric through a notions only account but you can order fat quarter bundles, layer cakes and other precuts. Shops can get more info on the Moda Fabrics website (modafabrics.com) or send an email to [email protected] YES the charts will be available as patterns only too. I hope to have all four of these sent off to the printer next week. That means they should be ready in about another week after that.
Happy stitching!
16 Comments
It's been a moment since sharing since life has been so busy! 2024 has been a whirlwind and one of my highlights has been a trip to Paris with my lovely daughter (AMAZING!). Lots of house project too. But I've been having so many happy times lately that I've been soaking them up and not worrying too much about posting to social media and blogging because I sometimes need to be more present in the moments of my life. I bet you understand! However, I am super happy to share more info about SUPERBLOOM! And the fun of Quilt Market. The next post will focus on the new cross stitch with this group. Oh, all the stitchy fun!  A couple years ago I did the Wild Blossoms collection with an ombre print of wildflowers that took up the entire width of the fabric, 42", selvage to selvage. There are so many beautiful wildflowers out there and it seemed time to do a sister collection with some other wild beauties. Meet my sister collection, SUPERBLOOM.  "A superbloom is a rare desert botanical phenomenon in California and Arizona in which an unusually high proportion of wildflowers whose seeds have lain dormant in desert soil germinate and blossom at roughly the same time. The phenomenon is associated with an unusually wet rainy season."- according to the contributors to Wikipedia. All I know is driving through the areas of California at certain times can be an explosion of color, if you time it right. That is quite SUPER! And colorful.  I have a mix of poppies, black-eyed Susans, coneflowers, asters and scruffy little blooms that I have no name for, going across the fabric on the entire 42" width, selvage to selvage. This time we have TWO colorways of the width-of-fabric print. The backgrounds are either the "pastel" version with lighter pinks and peaches and lavender color, or the "jewel" tones of deeper purple, red, and indigo.   My main single flower is the red Poppy. My first collection for Moda Fabrics was Poppy Mae and this brings back those big bright blooms with a scale change and some updates. Coordinating fabrics include a print of makeshift vases like watering cans and pitchers to use as flower display, a posy party watercolor print, coneflowers tossed, scribble stripes, a leafy print, butterflies flitting among the tiny leaves and 8 colors of Dotty Thatched as pretty blenders or backgrounds.  Color families are the creams, pinks, red, purples, blues. It is fun to mix periwinkle and dalia and freesia and indigo or group cream, soft pink of carnation with lively fuchsia.  Also coordinating with the group are the blender prints of 8 colors of Dotty Thatched!   I was excited to create some quilt projects that can utilize the WOF print. I designed 4 new quilt patterns: Gathering Wildflowers, Centerpieced, Fiona's Daisy Chain and Turn Signal. Gathering Wildflowers uses fat quarters or 1/4 yard cuts with the ombre print and a background fabric to make a wall/lap size quilt. A perky row of flowers sits upon the ombre print, in honor of the colorful mix of florals. All the quilts use traditional piecing (not foundation paper pieced). Moda is kitting the dark background version.   Fiona's Daisy Chain looks at what it is like to cut that big ombre print up into squares to be used within a background of an Irish chain quilt. You can still arrange them to get the ombre effect or stagger them for a scrappier look. You can also use squares from a Layer Cake in the spaces that are shown with the ombre print. By selecting corner fabrics in the 9-patch that are closer to the background, a daisy flower emerges for the chain. I had a lot of fun playing with the colors on this one and could not decide which one to make. So why not make them all??   Centerpieced is a table runner of 40", 60", or 80" in length, depending on the size you need for your table. Little 3" blocks run down the center of this runner, letting big borders of wildflowers be a good size and color contrast. I've used a 5" square Charm Pack for the center blocks. I recommend using 1" finished triangle paper for these blocks. That makes the little blocks easier. The backside of these runners is the perfect place for the "Makeshift Vases" print.   And the final quilt is the most modern of the designs: Turn Signal. This is a Jelly Roll quilt using 2 1/2" strips that turn and have strong direction. They are set off with panels of the ombre print on the top left and bottom right. I used the darker prints for the left and lighter prints on the right. I also think this would be striking as only one vertical half as a wall quilt, hanging in a high ceiling area or vaulted ceiling or above a fireplace.   There are cross stitch projects too but that will wait for the next post. It is hard to express how touching it is to go to Quilt Market, year after year, and see familiar faces and friends from afar. I enjoy my time with Moda Fabrics and we have some meetings and do some goofy things. The other designers are delightful and I consider myself extremely lucky to be a part of this "family."  Time with designer friends is a treat!  I was also very excited to meet Emily Van Hoff since my daughter introduced me to her fabulous sculptural quilted pieces on instagram. I am so glad Moda has partnered with her to make her Groove collection.   Some of my favorite people to see at Market? The women from the mill in Korea who do such an amazing job at bringing our artwork into reality!  My booth! Can you say FLOWERS? That is Superbloom in full bloom!   I had a lot of fun meeting Linsee of The Quilt Spot. She does sewing themed jewelry that is wonderful! I am working on a design for a really cool round cross-stitch friendly medallion she carries that I hope to have at Quiltcon!  The bubbly groups from JK Quilts, Oh Sew Sweet, What the Fabric?    And my own moment of Fan-Girling over the Primrose Cottage ladies! I saw Nettie and ran after her and met everyone else after. They are all so lovely! I am in love with their beautiful cross stitch designs!  The Moda overall booth was a Christmas wonderland theme. Lots of spirit and cheer everywhere. Don't you love those Moda peeps?    An elf even snuck into my booth!!  I was very excited to share some new cross stitch designs and the next post will cover those! I think I am still settling in from the trip and the excitement and all the adrenaline rush of each day. I hope you enjoyed seeing some of my Superbloom group, the quilts, and a little peek into Quilt Market days!  Superbloom will ship in April 2025 to quilt shops. Let your local shop know if you want them to order it (orders go in now for the mill). I'll be getting new patterns up in the shop as soon as possible. Gathering Wildflowers and Centerpieced will be up soon at RobinPickensInc.com or check your local quilt shop. Let the blooming begin!!
|
About ROBINDesigner of colorful florals for Moda fabrics. Modern to transitional quilt designer. Illustrator, sewist, crafter. I am proud to be a designer for Moda Fabrics!
Shop Robin's Designs
 I am an affiliate for Fat Quarter Shop and may earn a small commission through my links. Thank you for your support!
Check the March 6, 2017 Episode!
Categories
All
Archives
November 2024
© Robin Pickens Inc. All rights reserved. No images may be reproduced without permission.
|
RSS Feed
