happy new year to my web customers -- SALE on everything 12/31 - 1/31!

Once again I have managed to take on the HTML monster and I have programmed my website to offer my faithful customers 20% off everything in the store December 31 through January 31, 2010. Please use code 012010 on checkout and whatever happens, do let me know if it doesn't work! I have mentioned before that I do all of my own website maintenance with no real understanding of how to do anything, so when things go wrong despite my best intentions, I appreciate your feedback!

Today I got an advance copy of "The Complete Photo Guide to Ribbon Crafts" by Elaine Schmidt. What a treat! Dozens of ideas for things to make with ribbon, from bows to sewing crafts, and many featuring my LFN Textiles jacquard ribbons. With Elaine's permission I am showing a few shots here. There is a particularly good page on Tips for Sewing With Ribbon, which I really appreciate as there is thoughtful advice for handling ribbon effectively. Thanks, Elaine!

Shown here are projects using Dahlia, Tiny Cakes Lavender, Cakes, Auricula Brown, Suzani Pink, & Bukhara Pink.

studio sale accomplished!

I have been so busy in the "real" world that I have not posted in some time, but this evening I concluded my first studio sale in New Harmony: I joined with about 10 other artists in the region and we made a tour of open studios with a map and an incentive gift prize for those who made t to all 6 locations. Having moved here from the BIG city I have to admit I was skeptical about whether a studio sale would attract enough visitors to make it worthwhile but the answer is yes! Thank you New Harmony, and my artist friends i n the region whose good idea this was (Karen Sanders, Tom Wintczak, Kathy Sands, John Graves, and Dave Powell). It worked!

I decorated my studio with garlands I sewed from scraps of ribbon, buttons, and Chinese metallic paper -- it was festive. And I sold ribbons, gift items, pillows, and even a couple of jacquard woven wall hangings.

Mistletoe

Here is the new photo from my partner, Renaissance Ribbons (wholesaler of my LFN Ribbons) -- featuring my Mistletoe and Arabesque Ribbons. It puts me in the mood to get my house decorated!

Leaves falling

Two more colorways of my LEAVES ribbon arrived today: each features the same vibrant maple leaves. One is on a mysterious plum ground, and the other on an espresso brown. The brown version is just like the great brown kitchen towels I designed for Crate & Barrel this season (now I LOVE a brown towel, as it never shows stains!) And what do you know -- they are on sale right now! I also love a great deal!

free shipping!

I am so proud of myself! I do all of my own website work and it is often a struggle to get through the process to achieve what I want to do. I loathe paying high shipping fees when I want to order just one little thing online -- so I decided some time ago to offer free shipping on all US orders of my ribbons, but couldn't figure out how to change the website calculations -- until tonight!
So now, if I did it all right, you won't be charged shipping on your orders within the USA (unless you want it overnight -- but gotta say, I can't figure out how to offer that option anyway!) Does this sound like an amateur?

leaves

This is the beautiful new postcard from my wholesale distributor, Renaissance Ribbons. Welcome Fall!

and MORE new ribbons

They just keep on coming! I have listed these today on www.lfntextiles.com:

Suzani Flower, 22 mm

Leaves - gold, 1.5"

Primrose- violet, 22 mm (approx. 7/8")

more new ribbons

I have been so busy in the studio -- still working on Fall 2010 designs for Crate & Barrel, among other projects -- that I forgot to post the other new ribbons which have now arrived in stock. Doily is based on crochet doilies, and has the apprearance of rather baroque snowflakes. Creamy white, lacy doilies float above a ground of the same pattern woven in 2 tones of either red, or deep blue.

And it has a WOVEN edge! This is thrilling for me: when I began my ribbon business I went with the relatively new, much-maligned broadloom construction, where the ribbons are woven as a wide sheet and then slit apart into narrow strips. Much less expensive to produce, the edge has a simulated selvedge but was spurned for some time by true ribbon connoisseurs, who preferred the woven edge. On "real" woven edge ribbon, a tiny shuttle races back & forth on each separate ribbon. If they are 1.5" wide, and you are weaving them on a 54" loom, you an see how many tiny little shuttles would be needed to weave all those strips. But now, by teaming up with Renaissance Ribbons, I am able to design constructions that I could only dream about as tiny little LFN.

The other new woven-edge ribbon is Mistletoe, which comes in red with bright green leaves, or deep red with celadon leaves. Both are sumptuous, woven with beautifully detailed leaves and bright white berries which sit like pearls on the surface.

Quilting has also arrived; it is delightful. I originally designed it as a print, on a rather sophisticated khaki ground. Now it has the look of old handwoven coverlets, with a cream ground and either red or blue brocading. I love the tiny little stitches throughout the design, which I meant to look like the tiny stitches of hand quilting.

new ribbons in stock!

Wheee-- some of the new ribbons have arrived! As soon as I got them online orders began pouring in -- I guess that means that a) it has been a real long time since I posted something new and b) maybe this recession is over ???
Here are the ones which arrived today. click on the image and it will take you to the website.

a sewing kit for the quilt show

I love working with the ribbons I design, to find new uses for them. "Quilting" is a re-issue of a design I originally did as a printed satin. It is terrific as a reversible woven, 7/8" wide. The look is reminiscent of old coverlets, and I love the stitching detail. I should have it up on the website in about 10 days.

I have been interested in sewing kits, pincushions, and needle books, so I designed a sewing set using antique linen ticking and wool felt to make a needle book with pockets for scissors and notions; then made a wrist pincushion, using the ribbon as the casing for an elastic band. Finally I made one of my signature lavender-stuffed square pincushions. I made box corners to make it look even more like a little mattress in its crisp ticking. The edges are all bound with my red Plaid ribbon.

I am toying with the idea of designing a line of sewing patterns for items like this -- what do you think? Please weigh in with comments!

here come the new ribbons!

Although they are not here in my own stock yet Renaissance Ribbons has posted a number of my new LFN ribbons on their website already. (As you know, RR is wholesale only; my own website, www.lfntextiles.com, is retail only.) I don't post until I have the stock on hand as I always ship the same or next day when receiving your orders. But they will be here soon -- along with others! Watch this space!

Crazy Ribbon Quilt

When I was at the Creative Festival Show in Cinncinati this summer, one of my fellow vendors, Sherrill Lewis of The Bead Ranch, offered to make a crazy quilt sample using LFN Ribbons, so we made a nice little trade. Her 2 small crazies arrived in the mail late last week and I thought that you would enjoy seeing Sherrill's take on my ribbons. I always am amazed at the different directions people take with designs that start here with me. Each quilt measure around 14" x 16".
Thanks, Sherrill!

(some of the LFN ribbons featured here are:
Yellow Poppy
Dahlia
Arabesque violet
Allium
How to Crochet
Brocade Dot lime and pink
Honeybee
Auricula Grey

new and coming soon!

The new ribbons are beginning to roll in. This one is a glory: Suzani Flower, a 1.5" voluptuous beauty. It is on order, and we'll add a 7/8" coordinate. Watch the website for its arrival soon!
(Photo credit: Renaissance Ribbons)

World of Interiors

A wonderful British shelter magazine, The World of Interiors, has included my Dandelion ribbon and my tapestry, Big Green Barn, in the antennae section of the current issue: August 2009.

this one's for the boys

Next weekend is one of my favorite events here in Posey County -- the antique tractor show! Earlier in the summer they have another wonderful event, for which I don't quite understand the purpose or the entire production -- when the farmers all drive these tractors in a long parade down Main Street, over on Church street, loop around and parade back out on Main Street. As I am a Chicago girl I just marvel at all of this exotic display. I find the tractors delightful, charming, accessible -- whereas when one of those 2-story tall modern cornfield machines (I don't know what they are called) drives past my studio building on Main street on a regular workday, the whole building shudders and it is certainly not "quaint", though there is still plenty of marvel.

Last year I took my camera to the fairgrounds and photographed a number of these wonderful old tractors, and then I made a design from them which I am very proud of!! as I ususally only do what must be thought of as "girly" stuff. Here is an upcoming tractor ribbon -- not quite finalized, this is a sample here, but it should be available in a few weeks.

fall already?

This week some of my designs for fall 2009 have turned up at Crate & Barrel: you'll find my leaves -- similar to the ribbon design in an earlier post -- embroidered on dark brown towels; and acorns embroidered on rust or dark brown hemstitched towels. More to come -- watch this space or go to www.CrateandBarrel.com

VOTE FOR ME!

In a shameless appeal for your vote, I am adding a link to the weekly Spoonflower fabric contest, which each week chooses 6 artist's designs and lets the public vote on their favorite. Spoonflower is a terrific digital printing service which I have been using to produce limited amounts of my fabric designs.

You can see the designs and vote (for me! for me!) here:

http://blog.spoonflower.com/

proprietary notions

It's not that I have not been creative, lately: now that I keep a blog I like the rhythm of keeping records of my design process. But this is the time of the season when I am working madly on new designs which don't just belong to me. I design for Renaissance Ribbons, for my line of LFN Textiles Artist's Ribbons, and we had a very satisfying couple of days in California earlier in the month going over lots of new design ideas. We have about 10 new ribbons in sampling right now. Such excitement! There will be at least 2, maybe 3 new holiday designs; 2-3 for fall; 2 new colorways for the brocaded Butterfly, and various & sundry other marvels to tempt you with ... but I don't feel quite sanguine about posting designs before final approval!

I have been working on a great new rug design for Crate & Barrel, hopefully for fall 2010 -- can't show you! And another rug for Land of Nod, a new and delightful client of mine. And some bedding sets as well -- dream work, to be sure. Imagine drawing the kind of bed you would have loved to wake up in as a 10 year old. And the rug to go in the room, too.

I hope that in the next few weeks I will have several new ribbons to write about; the new Crate & Barrel items, for fall 2009, should show up on the market in August. So we will all have to be patient.

Here is a little preview. (just couldn't keep it all to myself!)

spotted on Cole Haan!

The other day a woman I know walked into the gallery shop downstairs in sandals that looked very familiar: Erika squealed out "Laura! Come see" and Vicki's cute flipflops turned out to be trimmed in my Bukhara ribbon, and made by Cole Haan! I haven't been able to turn them up online --- must have been a collection which has sold out already, or from last year! Since I don't do my own wholesaling I rarely know who buys them until moments like this. Fun!