L F N T E X T I L E S

a new rug for Crate & Barrel

2012-01-11T07:44:00.000-06:00

This morning my latest rug for Crate & Barrel went online. Fun to design, and a beautiful, deeply saturated wool pile rug. My last rug for them, Kincaid, was not such a burst of color as this one is. And it is always fun to step out of character -- from vegetables to geometric blocks! -- and make something different. The inspiration was Crate & Barrel's selected Pantone chart for the year.

tableware for Monticello

2012-01-09T08:23:00.001-06:00

In 1992, a gardening friend sent me a magazine article about the restoration of Thomas Jefferson's vegetable garden at Monticello which totally focused my work for many years afterward.

If you don't know this garden, you might be interested to hear that Thomas Jefferson, in addition to being the principal author of the Declaration of Independence and our nation's third president, was an avid gardener and researched and wrote extensively about farming and gardening as an American activity. He used his vegetable gardens for research, growing, for example, fifteen different varieties of the English pea, his favorite vegetable.

The vegetable garden itself lay across the flat top of Monticello mountain in long ribbon -- 80 feet by 1000 feet -- patterned with row after horizontal row of varying vegetables, up to 80 varieties of vegetables, herbs, and edible flowers per season. In, I might add, the extraordinarily beautiful landscape of the mountains of Charlottesville, Virginia.

I am not much of a historian: That's just about enough of the story for me, right there. As an artist, I was thrilled by the visual, by what I saw as a textile opportunity in the ribbon and the pattern, by the simpler story of a learned man who loved, above all, to grow vegetables, and so off I went! I visited the garden as soon as I could get there, sketchbook and camera in hand, and was soon interviewing the gardeners, being taken to the head of the gardens -- a scholar and plantsman named Peter Hatch -- and shown the greenhouses, the tool sheds, anything I wanted to see.

I wove a set of tapestries about that garden which I named the Thousand Foot Garden. The centerpiece was a set of 68 different woven panels of most of the vegetables growing there during the season in which I visited -- they had kindly shared their planting diagrams for summer 1992. I also made an elevation of the garden, a bird's eye view plan, and a number of pieces describing the potting sheds, the tools, etc -- in other words, the process of making the garden.

This particular piece, Harvest 1992, proved a seminal piece of work for me. It involved researching and drawing many differnet varieties of plants, but more importantly, figuring out how to weave things like santolina, or lavender. The root vegetables were straightforward by comparison, but I had developed a rationale for how I would "draw", row by row on the loom, and had to figure out how to incorporate all of these new types of form in my woven language.

Eventually when I began my ribbon business, for which this blog is named, one of the first few ribbons I designed was vegetables. Given the expense of designing very long repeats (the economy of weaving my ribbons was in the length of the repeat, if you can believe it, as I was charged for the number of repetitions of the design unit. If it was a 9" repeat, it would be much more expensive to purchase 5000 repeats of that than if it were a 2" repeat, where I might be ordering 15,000 repeats --do the math on that to convert it to yardage! Hence I had to choose a very few vegetables to represent it all). I would have loved to make the ribbon with a 160" repeat -- it is possible but has anyone done it? That is why I call my company LFN Textiles: Artist's Ribbons, because the artist in me is drawn to challenges like this!

This was - and still is - a popular ribbon, and I was able to convince the small gift shop at Monticello to begin carrying such a peculiarly un-touristy item as ribbon, because of it s strong relationship to the place.

A number of years later, in the recent past, Monticello built a grand new Visitor's center farther down the mountain, which has a good cafe, theater, museum and a vastly improved shop. Since I had been licensing my designs for a few years to Crate & Barrel, and they had loved the vegetable motifs, I persuaded the buyer to license a fresh version of the design - in fact, the design which forms the header of this blog! -- for use on products, to bring a fresh look at the history. And the new products are now available in their spring catalogue, as well as in the shop in Charlottesville. Naturally, they went on table ware!

And of course, here is the new version of the design as a ribbon!

new thoughts

2012-01-02T22:17:00.000-06:00

How funny that one seems to need to start a new post with the adjective "new". Especially when the last post was very, very long ago (even though it also had "new" in the title).

There has been a hiatus here, I admit. I had gotten dissatisfied with my approach to writing on this blog -- which I view as my design blog -- vs. my art blog, http://laurafosternicholson.com, which has een devoted to the more personal -- less commercial? -- activity of making artwork and musing about it.

I lecture to art schools and conferences about the relationship between art, craft & design in my work, yet I have separated these into two blogs and an etsy site. Now I am re-thinking the role of design in my creative life -- as I am doing so much of it! I often thought it was the fun, rather thoughtless side of my work -- decorative, patterned, fun, carefree. Certainly my commercial clients need it to be that way, but I have been considering design as a more tightly conceptual aspect of my artwork lately. Spoonflower still intrigues me, in that it makes very accessible relatively inexpensive prints of my ideas on fabrics with which I might make items that could be thoughtful as well as decorative.

Recently I decided to start to try to express some of my more basic ideas about ecologically responsible living in useful textiles; I have been experimenting with silkscreening on towels and handkerchiefs and trying to use imagery which is inspired and fairly clear in its meaning. Such as, "Here is a cloth napkin as an alternative to something you might throw away. And it is nice, so you will want to have it!" I hope to create a series this spring of household textiles, when I decide how I want to portray my messages.

I designed 3 different towels so far for Spoonflower: one speaks of the importance of trees and the other two about the delight of eating fresh, local produce.

They are available now for sale through Spoonflower -- you will have to hem them yourself: one yard of 54" fabric yields 4 towels -- or soon, on my etsy site.

You see, already I am writing more about ideas and less about "product"!

all images and designs copyright Laura Foster Nicholson, 2011.

new suzani rugs for land of Nod

2011-10-10T17:18:00.001-05:00

My old favorite suzani flower design (which is available as ribbon in 3 colorways, and had an earlier incarnation as a right colored doormat for Crate & Barrel) has arrived at Land of Nod as a sweet floral wool rug. It comes in pink or blue and has the charming name of Hello Mums (I love the copywriter for LON!), and in several sizes.

Housewife for Monticello

2011-09-09T15:04:00.000-05:00

I am happy to report that the sewing kits (housewives) I designed & made for Monticello are now available online: http://www.monticellocatalog.org/205433.html for the adult version with fine scissors (below)

http://www.monticellocatalog.org/205432.html for the young adult version, with folding scissors.

travel pincushion

2011-08-26T10:08:00.001-05:00

I have been fascinated recently with the idea of sewing kits. I am more & more convinced that everyone should know how to sew, and that everyone should certainly begin to re-value possessions enough to consider mending them. I have made other needle books and sewing kits before.

I just filled an order for 125 "housewife" sewing kits for the Monticello gift shop (yes, that Monticello) based on Martha Jefferson's daughter's pocket sewing kit. The idea of a housewife was to carry your sewing kit with you on travels (I expect it got the name from soldiers carrying them into the battlefields, to take the place of their loving wives in mending their socks). It is ingenious, a length of fabric with pockets into which fit your little necessities. I put tiny embroidery scissors, buttons, small spools of thread, needle threader, and needles & pins in the ones I made. I was quite a production line with many steps, and I was proud in a Henry Ford kind of way to do hand crafted items on that level of production (and make any money at all!) I made two versions, one in sober blue & white like the original, and one in kid-friendly colors. All fabrics were reproductions from the same era as the original. This project was so much fun!

the original Housewife, from Monticello's collections

my version of a housewife in child-friendly colors, all reproduction fabrics from the era.

Yesterday I was playing with some of those lovely little tins -- I had bought them to put beeswax-based salves in, another kind of hobby obsession I have, to make things that smell good -- and it occurred to me that they would be great for little pincushions with lids to carry around. So here they are. They are trimmed with my Quilting ribbon and the fabric inside is an early 19th century reproduction fabric, left over from making the housewives (thrift, of course, is a value too!).

three travel pincusions in 2" tins.

Ribbon crazy quilt

2011-08-17T14:05:00.002-05:00

Today I was sent a link to a delightful blog by Allison Aller, Allie's in Stitches, by my partner ribbon company, Renaissance Ribbons. They commissioned Allie to make a crazy quilt using a variety of their ribbons and I spotted a great number of my own, along with their Kaffe Fassett ribbons and several other RR exclusives. I wrote to Allie and asked her permission to link to her blog and use her photos, and she wrote a charming acceptance which I just had to quote here:

"Hi Laura!
How that great that you found this....
I've been a fan and user of your designs for years. When I walked by RR's booth at Quilt Market I was stopped in my tracks...there were my beloved ribbons! So I contacted Edith and begged her to let me use some of them in a quilt for her. We settled on an orange/pink scheme, and I was in heaven working on it.
So yes indeed, you may link to this and use whatever photos you like. I am attaching a pic of the quilt after I added a few more touches, though. Take your pick!
And keep up your great work; you make many, many crazy quilters very happy.
My best,
Allie

p.s. I loved your ribbon dress... ;-)"

Oh gee! so flattering. You know, often when I pick up the phone and identify myself to someone calling about something on my website, I get this surprised and happy reaction that I answer my own phone. "You mean this is THE Laura?" Folks, this is a tiny world here. I am not a corporation or even really a company, it is just me! And Renaissance is around half a dozen lovely and knowable people too. These connections between creative people are so meaningful and inspiring. I am always so delighted to know that out in that great big world there, someone is familiar with -- and likes! and uses! -- something I have designed.

And I like what Allie has done. Here are some teaser photos, to see the whole project go to her blog, Allie's in Stitches.

ribbons, coutesy Allison Aller

tutorial shot, courtesy Allison Aller

finished quilt, Renaissance 9 Patch by Allison Aller

Ribbon Cakes by Melissa Bickle

2011-08-08T15:15:00.000-05:00

One of the best booths I saw at the Craft & Hobby Association trade show in July was Ribbon Rings. The actual product being sold were called "ribbon tamers", clever devices for keeping ribbon samples straight and organized (I sure could have used them in the old days when I wholesaled my own ribbons!). But the booth itself had these tremendously ornate cakes & cupcakes made of ribbon curls and furbelows. Amazing! I snapped some photos so here you see designer Melissa Bickle with some of the cakes (she is as pretty as the cakes), and then I found she wrote a book on how to make them, available at Amazon, called A Notion to Celebrate.

Ribbon Cake and Ribbon Cupcakes by Ribbon Rings

Ribbon Wedding Cake

ribbon cupcakes and ribbon doughnuts

How to Make the Ribbon Dress

2011-08-04T15:21:00.003-05:00

I am not very adept at writing tutorials but if you will bear with me, I will show you a bit of how I constructed my ribbon dress in yesterday's post. A real apology: I have been between cameras, and these photos were taken with my not-very-smart phone.

I used the basic party dress pattern from The Party Dress Book by Mary Adams. I traced the bodice pattern pieces onto fusible interfacing, and placed each piece fusible side up on my ironing board (shown here covered with one of my old Crate & Barrel tea towels!).

Then I cut the ribbons for this piece carefully to a length about 1" wider than the widest part of this bodice, adding extra where necessary for complete whole flower motifs. This is where it gets tricky: I chose this ribbon becasue each repeat was square: i.e., each flower was as tall as it was wide, so when it is crossed perpendicular with a woven ribbon it will line up the pattern almost perfectly. I chose 3 colorways of the same ribbon (Lacy Flowers) as they all coordinated well, but you could also weave solid color ribbons in one direction and patterned ribbons in the other. I pinned each ribbon in place at its edge, straight into the ironing board.

By lifting up every other ribbon, I laid down the first row of weft ribbon. I pushed it hard up against the pins and made sure the flower motifs lined up.

I continued to weave in ribbon strips until the whole piece was woven, then I carefully pressed it with my iron, using the setting for polyester. You have to hold the iron in place in eavery spot for a few seconds so the fusible interfacing will bond to the ribbon.

Then I carefully turned it over and ironed it again to make sure it was fused, and then cut around the pattern shape. I took it over to the sewing machine and ran a basting stitch around the edge to hold the ribbons in place further. I repeated this process for each bodice section, and then sewed it together at the seams and clipped them and pressed them open.

The skirt looked easier to do: it was a full circle skirt, and I had an idea of radiating ribbon stripes stitched down to a fabric ground. I chose nylon netting as my under fabric, but that was a MISTAKE, I should have used something firmly woven and lightweight. The netting stretched out of shape and caused the ribbons to buckle. I lost count of the number of yards of ribbon I sewed down. I sewed most of them down the entire length, so I worked in groups, first laying out the reds like spokes of a wheel, then sewing, then adding color or pattern between all around & sewing down, etc. I probably would have done better to get more mathematical and stitch more pieces cut from the middle down and attach them first, then ending up with the ribbons running all the way down from the waist. It would have been less bulky at the top. But I have the temperament to think out sewing projects in my head, do minimal calculations, and then make it up as I go along!

I then constructed the dress, putting in a back zipper, cutting the hem evenly, and making a big frilly net petticoat to hold the skirt out. Around the hem, to help it to stand out more fully, I sewwed a ribbon edging. This is a cool thing about polyester: as this is a curved edge there is of course a differential in the lengths of the inner & outer curves. So you press the top edge of the ribbon (before sewing it down) to make it shrink evenly along its lengthe, then sew the longer bottom edge in place aroudn the skirt edge, and then sew the upper edge in place. You might still have to ease it a bit but the shrink-shaping works very well.

A beautiful friend modeled the dress for me but she won't let me show her face or her name, so thank you, Anonymous Lady! Soon we will have more photos of the dress to post online.

Thanks too to Renaissance Ribbons for donating the grosgrain and satin ribbons used in this project.

Craft and Hobby Association show, Chicago

2011-08-03T09:50:00.002-05:00

In July I went up to Chicago to participate a bit in the huge trade show of the Craft and Hobby Association. This is the group of manufacturers and vendors who supply the large (and small) craft stores with beads, glue, scrapbook papers, stickers, crafting tools, etc. There is a place for designers in all of this and I went up to participate in the Designer's Showcase. I also submitted a dress, made of ribbon and tulle, to the Crafty Couture exhibition, where better known craft project designers than I presented their ideas for dresses out of myriad kinds of craft supplies, largely paper and various embellishments. There was one made of oilcloth & duct tape trimmed with a skirtful of bright scissors in holsters: somehow I missed photographing this!

My dress, co-sponsored by Renaissance Ribbons, who produce all of my ribbons and sell them to the wholesale market, was made of a woven ribbon bodice and a tulle circle skirt with radiating sewn-down ribbon stripes. I based it on the basic dress from the fabulous Party Dress Book, by Mary Adams. I wove the entire bodice in a flat sheet with ribbons, then cut out the bodice pieces to sew together into this fitted little bustier. The dimensions provided for the mannequin were miniscule but fortunately I have a good friend who is just that small, and she agreed to be my dress form as I made it. It took YARDS of ribbon, and I didn't keep track of the quantity (!), though I did take photos along the way and will post them soon on this blog with a step-by-step. I used the Lacy Flower ribbon, as it has a square repeat, which is essential if you want the pattern to work well in a woven design, and it comes in three colors which all coordinate well. I supplemented the patterned ribbon with an array of Renaissance's beautiful grosgrains.

Below are some of the dresses on display, and the placards give the names of the creators andthe materials used.

So here is my dress, and a few of the others on display. The color isn't great here as the light at these shows is ghastly! Renaissance Ribbons now has the dress and will be photographing it in a much more flattering light soon, so watchthis space!

new dishtowels for Crate & Barrel

2011-07-25T08:58:00.000-05:00

Seems a little early for fall -- it is still in the 90's every day! -- but Crate & Barrel has posted the new fall dishtowels by LFN Textiles. Both are cotton prints in saturated colors. Autumn Squash is the same design that won a Spoonflower fabric contest last fall (so you can buy yardage of it there if you like!), a great design of heirloom pumpkins and gourds. Acorns is sprays of (still green!) oak leaves with little embroidered acorns. Cute!

2011-07-25T08:50:00.001-05:00

House Beautiful

2011-07-13T09:27:00.000-05:00

I want to share the latest press with you from this month's House Beautiful magazine -- featuring my Vegetables ribbon as sold at the Cooper Hewitt Museum, one of our best customers. (Sadly, not available through their online shop, though you can find it at www.lfntextiles.com) It is an honor to have my ribbons in their shop, known for cutting edge modern design icons --items must have a strong link to their collections or an exhibition to be sold there. Fortunately for me I am well-represented in the collection of Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum of the Smithsonian Institution (whew!), as I have a jacquard weaving as well as the entire line of LFN Textiles ribbons as of 2005 in the permanent textile collection. So I will wear this nice badge of "The Best" with honor & pride!

summery ribbons

2011-07-11T20:20:00.000-05:00

A long hiatus since the last post, during which time studio work has been at a fever pitch. I was delighted to receive Edith and Sheila from Renaissance Ribbons here at the New Harmony studio in late May, and we spent an intensely creative 36 hours together plotting new delights. Trouble is of course I can't just show you what is in production as a result, but I can show you the pretty photo of recently arrived LFN Ribbons.

From the top, Teatime and Teatime Cakes ( which relate to the Tea Time bedding sets for Land of Nod), Tiny Veggies Aqua, Lacy Flower in aqua, red & blue.

Next week I am off to Chicago for the Craft & Hobby Association trade show, and will be exhibiting a dress made totally of ribbon, so watch this space!

Eggemoggin Textile Studio

2011-05-17T08:46:00.003-05:00

Back in the days when I wholesaled my own ribbon, I developed some wonderful friendships with my customers, who would call to placean order and then we would chat about sewing, design, textiles, trends, ideas. I miss that, even though I am no marketing genius and was very happy to turn over the wholesale marketing of LFN Textiles Artists Ribbons to Renaissance Ribbons in 2007.

I got to know Chris Leith in that way. Chris owns Eggemoggin Textile Studio in Sedgewick, Maine, and like me, she is primarily a handweaver. Once she sent me a lovely little package with sea urchins, delicately wrapped in hand-dyed threads, which are on a shelf here in my studio to this day. Studying them provided the basis for my various Sea Urchin patterns, which I sell over at Spoonflower.

Sea Urchin 6

Chris sent a newsletter out this morning, and she wrote that she is featuring a series of Garden Pillows each hand woven or hand-dyed, and all trimmed with my ribbons. How delightful! I love living in a world where we makers and designers and small businesses are all REAL people with names and personalities and ideas, with whom you can correspond. Another reason it seems so silly to even think of shopping at places like Michael's and Joann Fabrics, where all is the same and no one knows your name.

Garden Series 1 pillow by Chris Leith, Eggemoggin Studio 2010
(note: Tree ribbon in this width is no longer available, it is now 1 7/8" wide)

ribbon and crochet

2011-05-16T18:12:00.000-05:00

A while back, I spent a year researching crochet . I was totally inspired by Sophie Digard's scarves (I own two! Lucky me!) and thought it would be great to be able to take off from her wonderful color blends and ring motifs.

I first tried actually crocheting and got several very cool books on Japanaese motif crochet. Etsy sellers carry these wonderful Japanese books with such a different take on crochet, I often look at Pomadour24's shop.

So I spent that winter crocheting by the fire and quickly realized that -- although I pour plenty of time into weaving -- I simply don't have the time to get expert at this for my own purposes. I hired out some crochet sample making from a lovely lady named Rose who I found on etsy, and sent thread & patterns back and forth to try color experiments. That was fun but not getting me where I wanted to be in terms of using crochet as a basis for textile design.

Finally I did what I have always done with my art: I drew what I cannot otherwise have. I began drawing crochet doilies, and they morphed into all sorts of lovely designs, such as my Teatime Bedding set for Land of Nod.

I also designed a number of great Spoonflower fabrics based on doilies.

Meanwhile I was also paying attention to designing ribbons which referenced crochet. Long ago I did a print ribbon, How to Crochet. I also designed How to Knit, which took off, as knitting was craft queen then, and I still sew knitting needle cases for the shop at the Cooper Hewitt Museum with that ribbon as trim. (they also sell loads of LFN Ribbons there, and LFN Ribbons are proudly in their permanent collection).

Then I did Doilies for Renaissance Ribbons, based on lacy crochet doilies.

And Fun Squares, aka Granny Squares (we sometimes name the same pattern differently!) inpired by Sophie Digard's lovely use of granny squares (above).

And now we have Lacy Flowers coming out, based on a loose drawing of crochet flowers from the Japanese motif days.

Renaissance Ribbons at Quilt Market

2011-05-04T14:35:00.001-05:00

LFN Textiles Artist's Ribbons will be well-represented by my wholesale partner Renaissance Ribbons at the upcoming Quilt Market, May 13-15 in Salt Lake City. We will have loads of new designs by LFN Textiles, Kaffe Fassett, Sue Spargo and more designers. See my new Teatime, Dessert, and Lacy Flowers ribbons there!

Spoonflower and LFN

2011-05-01T16:59:00.001-05:00

I was recently invited by Leesa Hubbell of Surface Design Association -- she edits the Newsblog -- to write about my experiences in designing for Spoonflower, the online fabric print-on-demand service. The article went live today, so do check it out! Leesa will be chairing a panel that I will pariticpate on, along with Dawn Zero Erickson, Mary Jaeger, and Janelle Torrence at the 2011 SDA Conference in Minneapolis June 4-17.

New Ribbons!

2011-04-27T19:42:00.001-05:00

Oh, I have been waiting for this day. One of the best parts of my job is when the designs finally lift out of the computer and the actual textile appears. After much sampling and back-and-forth, it is so much fun to have physical, textured ribbon! Not exactly in my hands yet but photographed and on the way, here are 5 new ribbons for spring from me, LFN Textiles, and my wholesale partner, Renaissance Ribbons. I will post them on the website as soon as they arrive in the studio. Until then start imagining what you will do with them!

Teatime, 7/8"

Desserts, 7/8"

Lacy Flowers, blue 1 1/2"

Lacy Flowers, red, 1 1/2"

Lacy Flowers, turquoise, 1 1/2"

more dog collars!

2011-04-27T19:34:00.000-05:00

photo courtesy dog-en-vogue

My wholesale partner, Renaissance Ribbons, forwarded this link to me today: Dog En Vogue, a German site that really has 'em barking! Featuring LFN Textiles Bukhara ribbon in 2 colors as beautifully crafted dog collars.

ribbon dog collars

2011-04-20T18:01:00.001-05:00

Many of our ribbon customers use it to make dog collars and leads, and I was happy to hear from another design client yesterday telling me she had spotted my designs while shopping at Wonderdog. So of course I trotted over to their website and saw many many LFN Ribbons made into such cute collars. Thanks for the tip, Aileen, and thanks for using them, Wonderdog!

all images courtesy wonderdognyc.com

planting cycles

2011-03-18T08:49:00.003-05:00

Vegetables ribbon, copyright LFN Textiles

I love vegetables -- I love to eat them, I love to grow them, I love to draw them. When I first saw the vegetable garden at Monticello, first designed by Thomas Jefferson in the late 18th century, restored under Peter Hatch at Monticello in the 1980s, I was mesmerized by its beauty and its long, ribbon-like proportions. At about 80 fet wide by a thousand feet long, it seemed like a giant, patterned textile just unfurled from the loom. So I set about making a series of tapestries trying to describe the scope of the garden, from seed-sprouting and seed saving, through a woven catalogue of dozens of vegetables planted there.

the vegetable garden at Monticello

detail, "Harvest, 1992". 1993, hand woven. copyright Laura Foster Nicholson

This last piece, "Harvest 1992" (1992 was the planting year I referenced, it was woven in 1993) became a lexicon for me of woven form which I have referred to over and over again ever since. Long after the tapestries had been exhibited and sold, I designed a ribbon with some of the vegetables which we still produce' Crate & barrel licensed that design for kitchen towels for several seasons too. And most recently I was contacted by The Battery Park Conservancy, who have now licensed the design for use in fund raising efforts for their Urban Garden, due to open this spring.

From their website,
"The Battery Conservancy presents the first Urban Farm at the Battery since the Dutch planted their cottage gardens in New Amsterdam in 1625.
This innovative project began with a request from students of Millennium
High School’s Environmental Club to plant a vegetable garden in the park.
Saying YES launched a farming initiative that now includes EIGHT schools with over 450 students (K-12).
The Battery Conservancy is expanding the program to include community groups, residents, and the neighboring workforce who long to give their hands and hearts to cultivating and harvesting home-grown food." How cool is that ?

Shell Sheets

2011-02-09T13:34:00.003-06:00

I just got a note from my customer, Jeanette Scarola of Hip Dragonfly, who had ordered my Shells ribbon in aqua to trim custom monogrammed sheets. She sent me these photos, along with her very helpful ribbon sewing tips, which I quote here.

"This is Jeannette Scarola, from www.hipdragonfly.com, I didn't realize that you had an etsy store front, so do I, I want to forward you the pics. of this finished sheet order set for which I used your beautiful ribbon.

I applied the trim: w/the teflon sewing foot; using mettler poly sheen thread; needle #11; stitch length 2.50; machine tension on #1, do not iron the trim w/steam, just press w/cloth. Hope this info is beneficial for your other customers."

I am always grateful to customers who send photos of things to make with ribbon. I am happy, with permission, to publish them here, so please let me know when you make something wonderful!

Thanks, Jeanette!

and then it is baby time

2011-01-28T14:24:00.001-06:00

Actually I should have said my first two bedding collections for Land of Nod. I am nearly falling over in glee, just got done posting about the Teatime bedding collection below, and then thought "hey, that must mean the baby bedding is live too! So here is the fabulously titled "how does your garden crib bedding bedding grow" set. It comprises a crib bumper and applique flower quilt, and the design relates to the "better floors & gardens" rug I designed which came out at LON last fall. All photos courtesy Land of Nod.

Teatime at the Land of Nod

2011-01-28T14:13:00.000-06:00

Oh, yay! My first bedding collection for Land of Nod went online today. Called Teatime, it is centered around my big Doilies pattern and has related linens, throw pillows and curtain panels. I love the prose Land of Nod uses in their catalogues:
"This calls for a parade!"
"Tea parties come and tea parties go, but this bedding is designed to stick with your little lady as she grows. Fun and playful, yet unconventional and modern, making it an ideal look for older kids. An eclectic array of printed doilies covers the pink comforter cover. Add appliquéd Pink or Green rickrack sheets for an understated touch. Coordinating throw pillows (sold separately) will be just your daughter's cup of tea."

Teatime pillow case, photo courtesy LON

Teatime throw pillow, photo courtesy LON

Teatime bedding ensemble, photo courtesy LON

Teatime curtain panels, photo courtesy LON

and not only that...

2011-01-22T08:14:00.000-06:00

Another new LFN design online at Crate & Barrel now is the valentine dishtowel & mug. Couldn't be more different in design from the Kincaid rug, hence the new post! I had a lot of fun designing this -- heart tulips. I feel lucky when things go like this!

a new rug for Crate & Barrel

2011-01-22T08:04:00.002-06:00

I have always wanted to design rugs. In fact I have busily designed them for a while now, and in the last 3 monthsI have actually managed to get 2 out on the market! The first was for Land of Nod, and I wrote about it in an earlier post. My new rug for Crate & Barrel, Kincaid, is now available online and in stores. It is all wool from New Zealand & Europe, hooked, and comes in 4 sizes. I love wool.

or maybe Gold?

2011-01-18T16:35:00.000-06:00

We have had a runaway best seller with the Suzani Flower design. Not only have I done it in ribbon, but I have also had 2 doormats produced by Crate & Barrel spring & fall last year with those big, happy flowers. Now I am glad to announce that we have brought Suzani Flower out with a modified, lighter palette for spring. My partner Edith Minne at Renaissance Ribbons, who is charmingly French, suggested this palette as more South of France in inspiration an a softer, yellow gold ground.

This ribbon is available in 2 widths, as are the others: 7/8" (22mm) and 1.5" (38mm). Think spring.

is purple to be the color of the year?

2011-01-05T14:03:00.000-06:00

The latest shipment of new LFN ribbons which arrived from Renaissance Ribbons a couple of weeks ago was virtually all purple. I have been slow about posting them, let alone uploading them to the website, due to holidays and other circumstances beyond my control. But here are photos of them and they should be online shortly.

top to bottom: Primrose violet 5/8", Primrose violet 1 1/2", Suzani Flower Gold 1 1/2", Suzani Flower Gold 7/8", Kale 1 1/2"

Roses and ribbons

2010-12-06T07:57:00.002-06:00

On Friday I received a heavy box of new ribbons from my partner in all of this, Renaissance Ribbons, who manufacture and wholesale my designs. It contained designs which I worked on last fall with Sheila Rolfer, their elegant and stylish head of sales. She came to visit me last fall and we spent a hard & fast 4 hours in my studio, rummaging through all of my design files, flipping through dozens of colorings in Photoshop, and coming up with a number of new ribbons which have slowly arrived across 2010. It was loads of fun, a dream for both of us. Renaissance Ribbons is in northern California, I am in southern Indiana, and though we meet from time to time at trade shows our main communications are by email and telephone.

Getting together in person and going through my hundreds of designs was both intensely creative and efficient. Shelia has exquisite taste, and a finely tuned sense of our market through years of selling ribbons for Renaissance (which is the most exclusively wonderful American ribbon company, period) While I will project colorings from an artist's point of view, frequently coming up with challenging palettes not yet seen (I have an intuitive grasp of when the world has seen enough of a trendy color and what the antidote is likely to be), Sheila understands what our customers want now, and how that fits in the worlds of fashion and interiors to which ribbon is linked. Our collaboration -- along with owner, Edith Minne, who has a deep love of ribbon and adds a keen business perspective -- is balanced then by the points of view of many camps. Getting together in person is almost giddy with ideas, we talk until our minds are spinning and then it is time to part and get it all done from our various corners of the ribbon empire.

Sheila sometimes makes design suggestions to me, and sooner or later I manage to catch the vision through her eyes and come up with something new. She had wanted a two-tone rose design for some time, and because we were together last year I could draw and color it as she watched, we looked at the thread color book together, and we came up with this dramatic beauty, which I call, of course, "Sheila's Rose". It is a heavy satin damask in either warm antique gold or rich crimson, with black. More colors to follow in the spring.

sewing ribbon belts

2010-11-30T17:28:00.004-06:00

here I am in a narrow belt of my Granny Squares on black.

I posted a while ago with that great photo of the mannequin at Vogue Fabrics wrapped in circles of ribbons around the waist, and today they wrote about me writing about them on the Vogue Fabrics blog. Occurred to me that I hadn't shown you the belts I have been making all fall. Here they are on display at the TSA conference in Nebraska last month. (sorry the photo is so very yellow!)

To make a belt, I cut 1 1/4 yard (that is about 45") of ribbon, and select the same length of a coordinating grosgrain ribbon in the same width. May Arts offers a great grosgrain ribbon in the 2.5" width, which is particularly hard to find. (Most of my ribbons are 1 1/2" wide, and it is quite easy to find 1 1/2" grosgrain in a variety of colors) One could also back a belt with fabric, or with another coordinating LFN ribbon, of course. I lay the ribbons back to back, and sew carefully down each side as close to the edge as possible. When that is done, I heat up my woodburner pen tool, lay a metal ruler across the end and cut carefully with the hot knife, which evens and seals the cut so that it will not ravel. Repeating on the other end, I then lap one end though the buckle about 2", fold it down and sew in place by machine. I take it over to the ironing board and steam press it on the wrong side, using a medium heat setting. Polyester ribbons will shrink rather dramatically from the application of direct heat so I don't press on the face of the ribbon, but a good pressing on the back makes it lay flat and gives it more suppleness.

purse project by K Andrew Designs

2010-11-10T08:41:00.000-06:00

Blogland is so wonderful. New friends all the time. Yesterday K. Andrew left a generous comment on my blog post and I went off to hers to see what she is making with my ribbon, and found this charming purse, made with Mistletoe and brocade dot ribbons.
There is even a tutorial and a giveaway contest involving it! Please go check this blog out -- full of ideas. And please feel free to send me links to your own posts involving LFN Ribbons.

Vogue Fabrics

2010-11-07T18:19:00.001-06:00

Vogue Fabrics in Evanston & Chicago, IL has got to be my all time favorite fabric store. I have been shopping at the Evanston store since I was in seventh grade and beginning to sew. We would make pilgrimages up from the northern suburbs and pore over all manner of useful and exotic fabric, always being sure to hit the remnant room to collect an armload of bargains before heading home to the sewing machine. I sewed addictively and it was sewing that led me to a life and career in textiles.

I was thrilled when they began carrying my line of artist's ribbons, which they still proudly label as "designed by hometown artist Laura Foster Nicholson" years after I decamped to southern Indiana. Loyalty begets loyalty, I guess.

When I was at Crate & Barrel offices last week showing my new designs for next fall, one of the buyers told me that Vogue had displayed a wide range of my ribbons draped on a dress form in the window. Here it is, with a reflection of Evanston in the background. Thanks Katie!

LFN at the Land of Nod

2010-10-21T08:52:00.005-05:00

these photos courtesy of Land of Nod

I have been waiting for today -- my first Land of Nod products went live on their website today! For those of you with grown kids (and no grandchildren yet) Land of Nod is a partner company of Crate & Barrel and I have been working with the for a couple of years now developing designs for rugs and bedding. I have always loved their style and it is particularly fun to design furnishings intended for children but with a certain sophistication. Above are two tufted wool rugs, which come in 3 sizes and these two colorways.

these photos courtesy of Land of Nod

Above here are a coordinating Christmas tree skirt & stocking made of linen appliqued with felt, based on the bright banners I filled the windows in the New Harmony Contemporary Gallery Shop last year.

I have also designed several bedding sets for Land of Nod, which I believe will come out in early spring 2011. Fun!

on a lighter note...

2010-10-18T08:42:00.001-05:00

From pirates to Santa: sounds like Disneyland! Just got word that the Santa ribbon we have worked long and hard on (so much detail to fit into a tiny textile) has been ordered and if I am good as gold, Santa will deliver him to me before Christmas ... keep your fingers crossed!

approval sample of 1.5" Santa Ribbon, courtesy Renaissance Ribbons

with all this exposure there is always a danger....

2010-10-16T15:11:00.003-05:00

LFN Textiles Orange Suzani Ribbon 2.5" wide

...and I am not talking about the Social Network movie. This week I got a cheery note from my British sister in law telling me she had seen my ribbons on a vendor's stall at a show in London, and she gave me the URL. I always like to see who sells my ribbon so I looked it up and was horrified to find 11 of "my" ribbons, actually knockoffs of popular LFN ribbon designs. Utterly recognizable designs, but poorly woven, colors off, narrower widths and yes, cheaper prices. I include four of my designs which were among the knockoffs, and there were 7 others at least. (these are my designs, not the copies, pictured)

LFN TIny Christmas Cakes ribbon, 1" wide

most people think only Gucci bags and music get pirated or knocked off. They enjoy getting designer goods at a cut-rate price and think it doesn't really hurt anybody. I am here to tell you that any creator is likely to suffer. Copyright laws exist but are difficult to enforce, and most copycats know that minor changes are enough to render a design "new " and original enough.

This is the third instance in as many years that I have uncovered knockoffs of my designs, always by accident when someone tells me they have seen my ribbon somewhere (last year was a shoe manufacturer who actually got samples from us and then had the designs printed more cheaply).

LFN Big Bee ribbon, 1.5" wide

The damage this does is twofold. Of course, I am not being paid for my designs. It also introduces a cheaper, less well made item, which is detrimental to the reputation of my beautifully designed ribbons. Their prices undersell mine which causes its own harm.

Having things manufactured abroad, notably in Asia, exposes one to this kind of piracy much more easily. One never can blame the little guy who is buying these ribbons, not knowing the harm done; but it is really difficult to trace the source and it is nearly impossible to prosecute.

Auricula Ribbon, LFN Textiles, 1.5" wide, brown ground

I would like to ask you, my supporters, to keep an LFN watch out for me for a while. Let me know whenever you see ribbons you think might be mine, for sale in stores abroad. I am particularly on the hunt for the British distributor right now. We are pursuing our own investigations at Renaissance Ribbons, but I could use your help. You can leave comments here or email me at laura@lfntextiles.com. Thanks!

PS: I have now heard from the shop owner who was unwittingly carrying these ribbons and she quite reasonably asked me to remove her photos from this posting, which I have done, so I am only showing the original LFN designs, not the copies. You may use your imagination, they were similar enough but the widths and colors were slightly different. Others copied include Allium, several colors of Palmette and Suzani and Poppy.

I should add that the shop owner was mortified and quite lovely about taking the offending ribbons off her website. She purchased them Asia and saw them everywhere there. It is frightening -- but some people have pointed out it is the way of the world and I should feel flattered and keep moving. The answer is always new designs. Not sure I agree, but what else can you do?

Spoonflower Conquest!

2010-10-11T09:13:00.000-05:00

I have been entering Spoonflower's Fabric of the Week contests occasionally when the theme matches something in my portfolio. Last week I was surprised and delighted to find out that I had won the Gourd contest! My prize: $100 worth of Spoonflower fabric, so I was able to print out a number of designs in my portfolio. As you might imagine I design far more than I can afford to print -- so this is a great boon to me. I think I will make aprons out of my fabrics, there seems to be a demand for them at our New Harmony Coffee House & General Store. It is so lovely to be selected from a field of talented peers, and to be chosen by peers. Thanks, Spoonflower!

Textile Society of America

2010-10-11T07:02:00.001-05:00

Last week, I took my ribbons out to Lincoln, Nebraska to offer them for sale in the Marketplace at the Textile Society of America symposium. Although, because I sat in the market, I was not able to attend the many fascinating seminars, many friends & colleagues were in attendance and I was able to socialize and network at night and when people visited my booth. The other vendors had fascinating goods: beyond the usual expected shibori and hand woven scarves, there were dealers of South Asian quilts, (Thomas Mond of Maine) and moroccan and central Asian textiles (Ethnofacts from Lawrence, KS); high end handmade clothing dealers such as Santa Fe Weaving Gallery and Carol Lee Shanks; artist cooperatives representatives such as Creative Bee from India and Quilts for Kids, Nepal. Natural dyeing was a major theme of the symposium and Carol Leigh's Hillcreek Studio brought masses of natural dye substances and mordants. ( I was able to resist most of the textiles, but indulged my curiosity about natural dying by purchasing madder root, logwood and mordants -- watch my art blog for what happens with that!).

Ethnofacts

Carol Leigh's Hillcreek Fiber Studio

Quilts for Kids, Nepal

Carol Lee Shanks clothing

I got to the International Quilt Study Museum to see a fantastic exhibition of quilts from India, Pakistan & Bangladesh, and made connections with their museum store and several others for selling LFN Ribbons.

At my booth I was delighted to have conversations with dozens of fascinating conferees about all sorts of textile subjects, and was gratified to hear from many of them that they had previously purchased LFN Ribbons at diverse stores all across the country.

John Marshall Japanese Textiles

Thomas Mond Quilts

LFN Display

LFN ribbon belts

The drive home yesterday in the October sunshine was sparkling and sunny, and today I am soooooooo happy to return to my studio.

October!

2010-10-03T23:38:00.004-05:00

Yikes, a month since posting! any day now the mail will bring me the new Beets ribbon and I will need to get it online for you: here is a peek now.

Also, I have another design in a Spoonflower contest for gourd fabrics, my heirloom pumpkins. (if you want to vote for me, it is #60!)

http://www.spoonflower.com/profiles/lfntextiles

This week I am off to Lincoln, Nebraska to sell ribbon at the Textile Society of America conference -- looking forward to meeting a fascinating group of people. More to come!

what I am really doing instead of writing on my blog

2010-09-03T22:02:00.003-05:00

OK, so I have not been posting much this summer. It IS summer, after all. But today, the third of September, the weather has uncannily changed, as it always does exactly at the beginning of September, to cool, clear, breezy days and nearly chilly nights. I love September as I love New Year's: both signal time to get back to serious work after a holiday.

I have been working, too, mostly weaving as I look at the calendar and realize that the two shows I have lined up for next spring are looming (!) ever closer. I also am lucky enough to have some commissioned work (see my artwork blog, laurafosternicholson.blogspot.com for comments about all of that).

I have been designing new ribbons and anticipating the arrival of the fall ribbons I have already designed: Coleus, Kale, Grapevines, Beets among others. I am anticipating the arrival of the next Land of Nod catalog (October 21!) which will contain my first designs for them-- what fun that has been! But all of this work can't be shown until it is on the market so I can't post it now.

And it would seem that most of the time I have been working at the design for my new website, which I hope to switch to on October 1. (same address, new look!) I have always done all of my own webwork, but finally hit a wall when I just couldn't figure out how to add project pages, a cleaner design, a more integrated feel. So I have been feverishly working with a new host and hope to go live with it by the end of the month. It is always more work than you think it ever could be --even if you have help. The biggest change for my customers -- other than the addition of project pages -- will be the ability to buy as little as 1/4 yard! Up until now I worked in units of 1 yard. So keep your eyes open and be sure to visit us soon. Here's what the new home page should look like:

I plan to have an area where I can upload customer's ribbon projects, so by all means please email me your LFN ribbon masterpieces if you want me to feature them. Come to think of it there is no reason I couldn't do that right here, right now on this blog. You can send ideas to me at laura@lfntextiles.com.

ribbon luggage rack

2010-09-01T15:44:00.001-05:00

When I visited my sister Sandy last week, the luggage rack in the guest room was woefully tattered. An easy fix! I had an assortment of ribbons with me and Sandy chose the claret Pears. I sewed on a pale pear green satin backing ribbon of the same width, cut the ribbon into 20" lengths, and Sandy stapled them back on the rack. Done in less than 30 minutes!

fall at Crate & Barrel

2010-08-30T22:52:00.001-05:00

This fall I am happy to have a new version of the suzani flower as a doormat at Crate & Barrel. This was done for summer 2010 in brights and now it is printed on coco fiber in warm autumnal colors. You might recognize the pattern, it is one of my best-selling ribbons as well!

spoonflower contests

2010-08-18T13:23:00.000-05:00

I do have fun entering Spoonflower's themed fabric design contests. Recently I have entered 3 contests, and you can look for my designs -- and vote for them! -- here. And if you are so inclined, you may look at a number of designs I have made available for public view and purchase by searching Spoonflower for lfntextiles.
Here is my entry for Surrealist Fruit, closing tomorrow. An earlier incarnation of this design was used a couple of years ago on an apron & mitt set from Crate & Barrel.

Upcoming contests I have entered:

Windows & Doors (next week)

Tractors

Kindly remember that all content, images and text, on this blog is copyright Laura Foster Nicholson.

Marigolds

2010-07-31T15:23:00.000-05:00

I have always loved Marigolds, with their odd tomato like smell. In our vegetable garden we have tomatoes interplanted with marigolds and nasturtiums to add color and deter pests. (Tonight I will spend processing MORE tomatoes, they are burgeoning right now!

I worked long & hard on this design of marigolds, starting with a black and white, linocut type image and them working it into color (the opposite of my usual way of working color first). We tried several different constructions for the ribbon before settling on this beautiful, somewhat hefty but supple woven edge ribbon, I received my spools last week and have posted it online now for sale, and it comes in 3 color grounds.

Santa Fe International Folk Art Market

2010-07-11T11:15:00.000-05:00

I am writing this from Santa Fe, where I have come to see the International Folk Art Market. I was invited by Docey Lewis, on behalf of Hand/Eye Magazine (now THAT'S a fab read!) and Hand/Eye Fund, to design the logo for their fund-raising booth, A Million Hearts for Haiti, at the market. Docey has worked with Haitian artisans for years, helping them develop product for American markets under the auspices of Aid to Artisans. Most of these people lost their workshops in the earthquake, so the goal right now is to raise a million dollars from the sale of Haitian hearts to replace their ateliers. (see Hand/Eye Fund to make a contribution). Hearts sold briskly during opening night and yesterday; I was gratified that all the souvenir button pins (see above, sponsored by Tesoros Trading company) I designed already sold out , as well as all of the t-shirts with the logo. They should be available through Tesoros shortly.

I had the opportunity to walk around the market, agog at the depth of skilled artisanry on every available surface by people of many lands. The entire market place was decorated with fabulously festive flowers, garlands, color everywhere. I was too busy looking at the beautiful crafts to take many pictures, but here are a few.

There was a large proportion of artisans from Uzbekistan in particular, suzanis abounding. Persuaded by a charming Uzbek man to try on a peacock green ikat chapan robe -- which, alas, has no place in my simple wardrobe -- I gave him a length of my Suzani ribbon, which pleased him very much.

I also stopped in at Patina Gallery -- my representatives in Santa Fe -- to drop off a tapestry and say hello to Ivan & Alison Barnett. The gallery looked gorgeous as always and my most recent work, the Beehives and Goldenrod, as well as Shed with Bales, were hanging.

crocheting ribbon

2010-06-15T23:16:00.007-05:00

My love affair with the image of crochet is continuing. Having designed the rather prim Doily ribbon, we now are introducing a fairly rambunctious design based on Granny Square afghans. Over the winter I was determined to learn to crochet, inspired by Sophie Digard's incredible crochet scarves (I own two). These are hand crocheted of extremely fine wool or linen threads, sometimes bundled together in heathery combos. One of my scarves is in shades of coral an the other in shades of verdigris: between them they go with nearly everything I own and I wear them all winter.

So I slaved away in front of the fire every night during the winter, working on more blanket-scaled grannies, trying to make the color sing like in my Digard scarves -- and, well, I should stick to weaving. It WAS fun. Then I took the inspiration and went back to the computer and have designed a series of things based on crochet. The new Granny Squares ribbons are a part of all of that work. Hopefully other designs will make their way on to the market too. I have had lots of fun, and I think it shows here.

Wonderdog NY

2010-06-09T12:42:00.004-05:00

Oh, more is coming! I have sold a lot of ribbon over the years to dog leash and collar makers but look how particularly pretty this one is (using the Suzani Flower 22 mm in ivory)

Sea Parrot Kaleidoscopes

2010-06-09T10:26:00.004-05:00

People are always asking me what to do with my ribbons. Well, I had never thought of making kaleidoscopes with them! To be exact, Sea Parrot Kaleidoscopes uses LFN and other ribbons, encased in glass, to form the side boxes for their exquisite kaleidoscopes.

"Kaleidoscope designer, Bob Rioux has been working with glass since 1976. Using creativity and fine craftsmanship he designs and produces beautiful works of art. Bob’s wife and business partner, Elissa comes to The Sea Parrot with 20 years of experience from her business, Elissa Glassworks. A love of glass and textiles has inspired her to design several new kaleidoscopes in the collection."
(this from their artist statement)

It is a pity that I don't have the technical know how to reproduce the fabulous spinning kaleidoscopic images of what one actually sees through this ribbon box -- for that please visit the website, www.seaparrotkaleidoscopes.com. Stunning and imaginative! Thank you, Bob & Elissa, for these glorious things!

Sew WOW Magazine

2010-06-08T13:55:00.004-05:00

Waechter's Fine Fabrics in Asheville NC has a gorgeous online magazine called Sew WOW. I love Waechter's and they have obligingly carried LFN Ribbons for years. Their fabric selection is interesting and unusual, and Joyce specializes now in beautiful pattens & idea for children's garments. I had the nice surprise of finding they have used Dahlia ribbon in the current issue, as a trim for a vibrant girl's sundress.

recycled fabric potholders

2010-05-31T13:24:00.004-05:00

I have been at a loss for a long time as to how to make use of recycled materials within my own aesthetic. Funny to hear, I am sure, as there is so much creative thought and work out there on the subject! I recently read Natalie Chanin's Alabama Stitch Book, and saw she was using recycled T-shirts to make the most sumptuous garments imaginable (I want them all), so off I went to the recycling center and picked up an armload of T-shirts in pretty colors, then sat on them for weeks wondering what to make.

The book had a project featuring a dishtowel made of T-shirt jersey, so at last one morning I lighted on the idea of potholders (I never have enough attractive potholders). I cut the jersey up into 8" squares using a wave-edge rotary cutter, sorted them into piles of five layers, and sewed them together with fancy stitches, using a scrap of LFN Ribbon as a center anchor and another as a loop. I made up 6 in well under an hour. Nice project!

thanks, Jane Brocket!

2010-05-10T18:03:00.004-05:00

Last week Jane Brocket graciously wrote about my ribbons in her luscious blog, Yarnstorm. This is the second time she has been kind enough to do so and I get a little blast of what it must be like to have her life as my blog and my website are inundated with visitors from all corners of the world who stop in on her recommendation. Jane writes eloquently about domestic life and has the most sumptuously colored photos of -- well, this week, tulips -- one could hope for. I won't lift one here but by all means visit her and see a color maestro in action.

BEADWORK magazine

2010-04-20T09:03:00.005-05:00

I am thrilled to have 4 of my ribbons listed as Editor's Picks again in BEADS 2010 for Beadwork Magazine (Interweave Press). They have chosen Doily in blue, Suzani Flower, Morning Glory in pink, and Primrose in violet. Interweave is a wonderful press full of interesting textile related magazines and books. Thanks, Interweave!

tractor time again in New Harmony

2010-04-19T08:21:00.010-05:00

Every so often -- and I am unaware of the schedule -- we have a glorious parade north on Main street, turning the corner on Church, and going back out to IN 69 again, of the Keck-Gonnerman antique tractors that folks around here love to show off. Saturday was one of those days when we all stepped out of the Church Street Coffee House, attracted by the flashing of Scottie's police lights at the intersection, and were able to watch the entire parade snaking toward us. I particularly love the cart full of kids with the sign -- reminiscent of the fire trucks full of kids in my small hometown's annual July 4th parade.

I always love seeing these quiet old farm machines -- they PURR -- but I also get a thrill when new farm machines come through town (frequently) as they are more like brontosaurouses with their deafening roars, and story-high towers on axles that seem to span the width of the entire street. The contrast with our pretty & prim Victorian facades downtown is priceless.

greening up

2010-04-01T10:43:00.007-05:00

It is funny to post irregularly and go from snow to green in this short physical space! I have entered Spoonflower's contest again, with my design Everything for the Garden. This was originally designed when I was learning jacquard design at Philadelphia U's Artist Jacquard Project (coordinated by Bhakti Ziek)in the mid-90s.
My kids were tiny and I incorporated their drawings into the design -- William at the age of 9 was an expert at drawing skeletons, and Rose at 4 made me a many-legged centipede (or caterpillar?). This design was woven in a 2-weft damask weave wit ha wonderful yellow space-dyed thread as ground, on top of basic black & white.

I took the original design drawing and revised it for print for the Spoonflower contest. Not bad!

If you like it please vote for it by scrolling through all the entries and clicking on mine. Thanks!

snow!?

2010-02-25T12:01:00.003-06:00

Here I am trying to focus on spring -- and it is colder than usual here, though the snow has all melted -- and now Spoonflower - the online fqabric printing service -- has to remind us of the weather. Their weekly fabric design contest is here and the subject is snow: I entered my starburst design because it is plenty snowy enough for me! I adore just about everything I design when I first do it, (then slowly reality sets in and Iget more critical!), but at the moment I sure love this design and if you do too, help me out by voting for it please, this week only.

(this design, and all others you see on my blog, are copyright Laura Foster Nicholson)

primroses!

2010-02-14T21:42:00.005-06:00

Here it is grey & snowy outside and I have received the most springlike photo from Renaissance Ribbons imaginable -- so dewy and luscious it nearly made me blush! Featuring new colorways of favorite LFN Textiles ribbons, you see here an ivory version of the runaway best seller Suzani Flower in two widths, 1.5" and 7/8", and the mouth watering pink and green version of Auricula -- or Primrose, as Renaissance prefers to call it. We have scaled that in 3 sizes: 1.5", 7/8" and a darling 5/8". And then there is the adorable Ice Cream, on either shell pink or mint grounds. The solids to the left are Renaissance Ribbons' satiny rep stripe ribbons in ice cream colors. I will do my best to get them scanned and uploaded to the website in the next couple of days.

violet? or purple?

2010-01-18T09:44:00.004-06:00

Whatever you want to call this color it certainly is everywhere. I was in Marshall Field's (OK, Macy's) men's department in Chicago before Christmas looking at men's ties (the only pretty thing men get to wear) and there was an astonishing array of lavender, orchid, violet, purple, and magenta ties to choose from. I didn't buy any of them for Ben -- don't think he is ready for it! -- but I did ask the salesperson if men had any aversion to wearing this color and she replied that they were taking it up avidly. We have been adding it to the LFN ribbon line as well, and here is Rose's purple photo of the ribbons.

(in the photo you can see, top to bottom and then left to right:
Rose's black & white Cat, Suzani Flower, Brocade dot, Auricula Lavender, Butterfly lavender, Primrose violet, Suzani Flower 22mm, Samarkand amethyst, black & white Plaid, Arabesque violet, and Chairs)

famous green raincoat

2010-01-15T11:42:00.007-06:00

I bought a raincoat a couple of weeks ago, a trench style which is a dark British green, very snappy indeed, and fits beautifully. Trouble is, the color makes me look a bit grey. So I thought, "Ribbon!" and I knew it was meant for me because the color exactly matched my Dark Allium ribbon, and the collar is the perfect size to sew the 2 1/2" ribbon to. I sewed it both inside and outside, and it provides just the right spark of color & chic to make that coat my own.

(BTW: the collar is a slight curve, so here's a tip: I sew the ribbon along the longer outer curve line first, then iron the unsewn edge which causes it to shrink slightly, so it will lie flat when sewing the shorter, inner part of the curve).

field day

2010-01-14T16:13:00.004-06:00

Every fall just after the harvest, our friends John & Claudia host a wonderful event for antique tractors and plows -- even with horses -- come to plow up their harvested land. Ben & I went over to watch in November and I couldn't resist taking along some of my new Tractor Ribbons to give to the farmers in honor of their lovely machines. They were typically a bit bemused about what one might do with a scrap of ribbon, but their wives would snaffle it up and say they would add it to a quilt or some other sewing project. I wish this were more modern, in that the wives would drive the tractors (well, they do!) and the men would take the ribbons for the quilts they are working on. Anyway it was fun -- but Ben was amused by the fact that although they all recognized the tractors on my ribbon (John Deere, Massey Harris & Waterloo, which were drawn from the Antique Tractor Festival hosted by Keck Gonnerman, the same outfit behind this event), each said that he would prefer a ribbon featuring only his particular make of tractor and none of the others. Rather like trying to design a dog ribbon: no matter what dog is shown, someone would always ask for their "own" breed.

photo day

2010-01-05T16:51:00.004-06:00

Today I cajoled my daughter Rose to come into the studio and take some ribbon photographs for me. Rose has had an interest in photography for some time now. Her camera is WAY better than mine: hope you can see the difference! She also has an interesting eye for composition & color. Here are a couple of shots she took -- which will be used for postcards.

photo credit: Rose Nicholson, copyright 2010

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

2009-12-30T13:04:00.004-06:00

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!

2009-12-18T14:30:00.015-06:00

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!

2009-12-13T18:43:00.005-06:00

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

2009-12-05T07:45:00.002-06:00

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

2009-11-09T19:41:00.005-06:00

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!

2009-11-08T20:15:00.004-06:00

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

2009-11-02T13:14:00.003-06:00

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

and MORE new ribbons

2009-10-26T10:37:00.005-05:00

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

2009-10-15T07:03:00.005-05:00

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!

2009-09-23T15:01:00.007-05:00

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

2009-09-16T16:04:00.007-05:00

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!

2009-09-15T16:27:00.011-05:00

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

2009-09-15T16:12:00.005-05:00

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!

2009-08-07T17:22:00.002-05:00

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

2009-08-06T15:45:00.004-05:00

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

2009-07-29T22:55:00.005-05:00

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?

2009-07-29T22:43:00.002-05:00

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!

2009-07-23T06:55:00.004-05:00

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

2009-07-01T20:45:00.004-05:00

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!

2009-06-11T14:59:00.003-05:00

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!

what do you think of these colors?

2009-06-05T08:53:00.007-05:00

I just adore color. It really is one of my reasons to make art. I found myself giving unsolicited advice yesterday to a neighbor painting the facade of his new restaurant here in New Harmony, to change a tiny little detail in a scroll color -- and prefaced it with the fact that I am a Colorist. (oh, please! I can be a bit high handed, I am sure).

Here are some proposed new colorways for my Auricula Ribbon. I want to do it in a narrower width -- maybe 7/8" -- and think the round flowers will look like punchy polka dots at that scale.

Please weigh in with comments as to which colors you like best!

These designs are copyright Laura Foster Nicholson 2009.

creative mending with ribbon

2009-06-03T09:26:00.005-05:00

I have been advocating mending for while now as the truly eco thing to do, yet I find myself happier making something from scratch than mending something old & familiar. The creative in me I guess. But I adore my Uzbek embroidered bag, so yesterday I mended the frayed handles by enclosing them in ribbon. I was particularly happy about this because it gave me a chance to decorate an original piece of Uzbek stitchery with one of my suzani ribbons -- Samarkand Scroll -- which is an homage to Uzbek stitching ("Suzani" comes from the word meaning "stitch").

There is a detailed account of this project on Rayela's Fiber Focus blog, where this is posted as my first guest blog.

next ribbon show

2009-05-29T13:47:00.003-05:00

I will be taking my ribbons on the road again in June, to the Original Creative Festival in Cincinnati. I thought it would be a good way to build on the positive response to the ribbons in Paducah.

Show dates are June 25-27 at the Sharonville Convention Center, 11355 Chester Road, Sharonville OH. Come visit if you are in the area!

I wish I could make these things

2009-05-22T07:26:00.010-05:00

I was just scrolling through my files of "things to make with ribbon" and I found these images which have always inspired me. These are some of the best things I could ever dream of making -- but as you can see, somewhat time intensive. All of these images are courtesy of the Victoria & Albert's amazing website.

summer's sweetest oranges

2009-05-22T07:19:00.005-05:00

What a lovely photo, no? I received this yesterday from Renaissance Ribbons -- it is part of a new promotion for LFN Textiles ribbons, and the photographer, Keith Walley, has added such magic to the ribbons!

new ribbon ideas

2009-05-13T07:13:00.008-05:00

It has been my intention for some time to show some of the things that my customers make with the ribbons I design. Yesterday a fellow etsy seller contacted me telling me she had made this wonderful sash with them. Wow! what a great display of plumage! Her shop name is EachDayIsRemarkable.

She has a second shop, Goodblossoms, selling wonderful fabric flowers, and had contacted me earlier regarding a fun flower using the red suzani ribbon as a center. She still has this charming bloom made with the lavender Auricula ribbon as a center.

Easter Basket

2009-04-12T19:56:00.006-05:00

We have gone oddball for the holidays lately. For Christmas, unable to do the simplest function of getting out and buying a tree, we resorted at the last minute to taking one of the poor, dead, but beloved espalier trees which we had unsuccessfully moved from our Chicago garden, and strung it with lights and ornaments. Though it might have struck some as a Charlie Brown Christmas tree, we thought it was transcendentally beautiful.

This weekend our friend Christine and her son Desmond joined us for Easter. Christine is fabulously unconventional, and as Desmond is getting to the age where the Easter Bunny might soon be of interest, I asked her to pull together the Easter basket for the center of the table to hold all of the assorted chocolates and Peeps I had brought in. We ended up with a silver soup tureen lined with straw brought in from the garden, and filled up with blue & yellow Peeps and marzipan eggs. Splendid!

next stop: Paducah Quilt Show

2009-04-06T13:36:00.004-05:00

April 22-25 will find me in Paducah Kentucky, offering my ribbons to the world of quilters at the AQS Quilt Show. This is the first time I have done this show but sold LFN Textiles Artist's Ribbons really well a few years ago at the International Quilt Festival in Chicago. I will be selling ribbon by the yard, and packaged in selected mixes, along with ribbon books, sewing patterns, and even a few kits.

I am partnering with my dear friend Rita Davis, of Pumpkin Run Hill Drygoods, who will bring her wonderful mix of vintage feed sacks, quilt tops and blocks. We have worked hard to ensure that our mix of products is inspired and complementary; the booth will be gorgeous! We will be in the Galleria section at the hotel, in booth 5411-G. If you are planning to be at the show please stop in and visit!

Knitting Letters : A to Z: S is for Suzani

2009-03-14T15:45:00.003-05:00

Knitting Letters : A to Z: S is for Suzani

A great discussion of Suzanis, good pix, and a link to my suzani ribbons.

scout's fancy

2009-03-08T15:39:00.001-05:00

My young friend Scout turned up at the post office the same time I did the other day and proudly showed me her pretty dress. It was a warm spring day and she & mom decided she needed to dress up for it. Here she is, trimmed with my Chard ribbon and looking fine!

pocket fun

2009-03-01T07:29:00.006-06:00

I get a little thrill out of having things manufactured. Why is that? It is like major birthday when the objects arrive -- that is why I started my ribbon business. It wasn't enough, I suppose, to make one of a kind tapestries every few weeks; I needed thousands of yards of fabric which sprang from my prolific interior designer. Well, not jsut that, I suppose: I love having things made which I can't make myself here in the studio by hand, and it also throws the handmade into a special new light for me, often when I am taking it for granted. Making cloth by hand is totally unlike the kind of cloth one can have manufactured -- both can be wondrous but they exercise different attitudes for me.

A long way around to introducing my new toy -- a pocket mirror design. I have thought these little things were charming for some time. Last year, for Arts In Harmony (the art fair for which I was the founding chair here in New Harmony -- coming up again this May!) we had little pin on buttons made with various artist's imagery and sold them as a little fund -- fun -- raiser. So great! What is it about these little tschotskes! so far from my MFA...

The same company that made the buttons, Busy Beaver in Chicago, makes pocket mirrors, so I had a bunch made with the Dahlia ribbon design I am so fond of. Then I decided to make little felt cases for them -- a sweet and fun day's project on what I call my toy sewing machine. This is an inexpensive Janome which makes 5 or 6 pretty little embroidery stitches.
I am almost embarrassed to tell you how much fun I had making these: using all these luscious colors of wool felt, I found quite happily that this ribbon goes with the whole rainbow (well, a slightly pastellated version of it). Coordinating color is sort of a crucial aspect of designing trim, after all!

The finished products are on etsy (where else?)

ribbon remnants

2009-02-16T08:16:00.006-06:00

One of the more popular items on my website is the ribbon remnant bag. For $20 you get a quart-size ziplock bag of ribbon scraps; some are pretty small (around 2" square) but they range up to 1/2 or 3/4 of a yard. The tiny bits, I worry, might exasperate some people, but in reality, like my mother did, I tend to save ANYTHING that might be useful, and I already know how useful those bits are! I posted earlier about using a wood-burning tool to cut ribbon so that the ends don't ravel: this makes it into charming little appliques. To wit, here are some things I have used ribbon appliques on. Many of the items were purchased at places like Target: I am determined to make ribbons that blend across the marketplace and can go on anything. Since they are polyester, they are washable. When sewing doesn't work, a hot-melt glue gun is great! (see "Glue Gun Decor" by Marian McEvoy -- and now you can get at at Amazon for 52 cents, the wonderful thing about waiting a couple of years to buy a book!)

where I work

2009-02-11T18:02:00.006-06:00

I was writing to someone today describing the wonderful place where I live & work and I thought, I should post this on the blog. So here is my beautiful studio building in New Harmony. I am smack dab in the middle of Main Street, and my studio comprises the second floor of what is actually two buildings.

The building on the left houses the gallery shop of the New Harmony Gallery of Contemporary Art. I sold ribbon here long before I moved to New Harmony: I was bemused by the number of people, who when seeing my ribbons, would comment "you know, I bought some of these ribbons in a small town in Indiana ..."

The building on the right ensconces the venerable Main Cafe, which has been noted in a column by Jane & Michael Stern (who write about good regional food on the road). They are open from 5:30 am to 1:00 pm: how's that for a working day? I smell bacon & eggs all day upstairs.

Crate & Barrel Time

2009-02-11T12:12:00.011-06:00

I have five new products online now at Crate & Barrel!

Tulip cocktail napkins

http://www.crateandbarrel.com/family.aspx?c=445&f=32005

Wildflower Doormat

http://www.crateandbarrel.com/family.aspx?c=1261&f=32610

Garden Harvest Embroidered Towel

http://www.crateandbarrel.com/family.aspx?c=684&f=30865

Allium Waffle Embroidered Towel

http://www.crateandbarrel.com/family.aspx?c=684&f=30883

Stones Pillow

http://www.crateandbarrel.com/family.aspx?c=1273&f=29158

And for the bargain-minded among you, here are some LFN sale items

Stones Pillow

http://www.crateandbarrel.com/family.aspx?c=4150&f=29159

Auricula Towels

http://www.crateandbarrel.com/family.aspx?c=4760&f=29646

Arbor Towels

http://www.crateandbarrel.com/family.aspx?c=4760&f=29645

Teapot towels (embroidered)

http://www.crateandbarrel.com/family.aspx?c=4760&f=29476

Teapot towels (print)

http://www.crateandbarrel.com/family.aspx?c=4760&f=31029

Fruit compote towels

http://www.crateandbarrel.com/family.aspx?c=4760&f=24843

Quinlan Apron. Potholder & Mitt:

http://www.crateandbarrel.com/family.aspx?c=4760&f=29695

ribbon trimmed linens

2009-02-02T09:25:00.007-06:00

I posted my sister Cathy's tips about sewing with my ribbons a few weeks ago; she has made many things with them, trimming towels and pillowcases and placemats. Here are a couple more tips:

My ribbons are almost all polyester, which is, sigh, a plastic. The upside of this is that they are amazingly durable! and also that plastic MELTS at certain temperatures. I have a little wood burner tool which has been essential to making things with ribbon: it looks like a pen, has a variety of tips, and is available at crafts stores for under $10 (unless you get the fancy kits, which are overrated). I use a long, conical pointed tip, and a steel straightedge, to cut the ribbon when I don't want the ends to ravel. You need to do this on a metal surface (I use a sheet of craft aluminum, but before I found that I was using the removable base of a cake pan). The tool has to be very hot, and do watch your fingers! And don't inhale while you do it, as the fumes of burning polyester can't be good for you!

The other issue with this melting point is that if you iron over ribbon, you must use a low heat setting. Otherwise the heat of the iron will make the ribbon shrink, and if it is already sewn down, that makes for serious puckering. You can pre-shrink it by ironing it first, and then sewing it down, if it is going on 100% cotton or linen that you know will have to be ironed.

OK, with that, onto the linens! I used to buy white cotton pillowcases wholesale, sew ribbon along their hems, and sell them in pairs at bazaars. Lovely gifts. Sometimes, like my sister does, I would make the pillowcases from scratch; this is great for gifts, and you can choose from so many wonderful fabrics that way, but tends to get expensive if you want to re-sell them. I also would buy wholesale linen fingertip towels and sew ribbon on the hems, package them in cello bags and re-sell at wholesale along with the ribbons (when I was still wholesaling ribbon). For some reason a linen guest towel commands a higher price than a pillowcase or a kitchen towel.

One of these days, when I get further into web design (I do it all myself) I will include these ribbon ideas on my website. Until then, here's my blog!

photo: Kelly McKaig illustration: Anna Brewer

Tree Trimming

2009-01-06T13:12:00.013-06:00

Another beautiful photo by Kelly McKaig, this of my Trees ribbon trimming a straw hat and a velvet throw.

The Tree ribbon was inspired by a William Morris tapestry entitled Woodpecker. I added the blue spruce to bring in that beautiful blue green acanthus leaves Morris used.

book markings re-visited

2009-01-06T13:06:00.004-06:00

This is the photo, by Kelly McKaig, that inspired Anna to do the drawing in the last post. The ribbons shown here are How to Knit (similar to my more recent Knit Wit ribbon) and Manikin. I sewed the ribbons into cloth bookcovers, made much the same way I used to cover books in folded brown paper (re-cycled grocery bags!) when I was a school girl.

ribbon marks

2009-01-03T08:06:00.004-06:00

Some time ago I asked Anna Brewer, one of the most talented illustrators I know, to do a series of drawings of things to do with the ribbons I design. I will begin posting these charming drawings to share the ideas with you. Mark Your Books -- from using a ribbon as a bookmark to binding it into handmade books. It features several ribbons: Seven-Circuit Labyrinth, Labyrinth, Oranges, and Manikin.

Be sure to look at Anna's own blog, Frogblog -- she is unsurpassed as an observer of nature!

ribbon sewing tips from my sister

2009-01-03T06:13:00.003-06:00

My sister Cathy has been an avid supporter of my ribbon endeavors to the point where she began using it a couple of years ago on items of her own creation which she sells at craft shows in Virginia and thereabouts. Cathy has always been a much more careful seamstress than myself (all 4 of us Foster girls were brought up sewing and she & I continue the tradition!). Not to mention a better writer! So when she placed this comment a few posts ago about sewing with my ribbon, I thought it would be a good thing to have on the front page for general tips & ideas. thank you, Cathy!

"I love this ribbon! Thanks for your prompt service, Laura! I am using it as embellishment on hand towels for gifts to all the myriad of people who are not family: some colleagues, family friends, clients, service providers, etc.

"The towels I prefer are thick, burgundy hand towels I found at Marshall's. (Marshall's and T J Maxx are my favorite source of very high quality but inexpensive linens for the home.)

I've been using your ribbons for several years for my business, Camellia Cove Creations. If any of your customers are inclined to sew their own guest towels, I have several tips:
1. Prewash and dry the towels, cold setting for the wash and hot for the dryer. Use Shout color trappers if you are washing more than one color, or deep colors. If you don't prewash and dry, you run the risk of the towels shrinking and puckering your ribbon.
2. I use an old-fashioned sewing machine, with straight stitch and zig-zag stitch functions. You don't need anything fancy to achieve fantastic results.
3. Don't pre-cut a bunch of ribbon if you are embellishing more than one towel. Each towel has a unique width, even if it's from the same manufacturer. Cut one ribbon per towel.
4. Lay the ribbon along the horizontal width of the towel. Ribbons work best if they are just slightly narrower than the nap-less strip of the towel.
5. Your first seam should be straight stitch along the horizontal width with the majority of the towel crowding between the needle and the arm of the sewing machine. The beauty of lfntextiles ribbon is that there is a barely perceptible border on the edge of the ribbon. I use this border as my stitch guide.
6. At the end of the first straight stitch seam, leave the needle in the ribbon and towel; lift the presser foot and pivot; change the stitch width to zigzag and the length to very narrow; put the presser foot down; and zigzag along the edge until you reach the next corner. Leaving the needle in the ribbon/towel, lift the presser foot, pivot the fabric, put the presser foot down, and change the width back to straight stitch and the length to 10-12 stitches per inch. Sew in straight stitch to the edge of the towel, and repeat changes to zigzag width and length. Zigzag stitch to final corner; tack back, and you're done.

I get rave reviews from customers and friends about these towels.

Sincerely,
Cathy Walsh
Camellia Cove Creations"

ribbons for spring

2009-01-03T05:33:00.013-06:00

I spent the afternoon yesterday updating my website to include 7 new ribbons for spring. It is always somewhat arduous to do and I feel like shouting from the rooftops when I finally mange to pull off a new look or add new items. For those of you who don't know me, I have a sort of crazy determination to do everything -- except change the oil, mow the grass, and vacuum the house -- for myself. Not knowing any HTML, keeping a website is a tough proposition! It means stretching the tiny confines of the stiff little templates that come with the website admin package. I wish it were as easy as blogging!

So here are the new ribbons I added. I hope to add projects with them soon. Please comment if you enjoy them!