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!)