Finishes

Just a quick post to show one of my favorite designers' fun tools that's out there.  Blue Ribbon Designs Stitch Starter and Sleeve was one of the "smalls" that I finished this winter.  The Stitch Starter is a nifty little ruler that is a perfect 3 inch square.  It helps with measuring from your finished design for framing or other finishing work, and it helps you figure out just how far 1 or 2 inches from the edge of your fabric you need to be, depending on how much fabric extra you like to leave yourself for finishing.  I picked it up in the fall and absolutely love it. 

This is the front of the sleeve.  The finishing instructions included with the designs are very good - my only recommendation is to miter the corners before adding quilting batting.

This is the back of the sleeve.  I chose DMC 3834, which is a wine-y kinda color, to stitch this entire design.  The fabric is 32 count cream.  Make sure you use 32 count fabric as Belinda suggests in the instructions.  If you use anything smaller or bigger, the stitch count will make the total finished product either smaller or bigger than you need it in order for the stitch starter ruler to fit inside.  You can sorta see the ruler peeking out of the top of the sleeve in these pictures.

I love Blue Ribbon Designs.  They're simple, yet elegant, and so fun to stitch.  Head on over to Belinda's blog - she's having a giveaway in celebration of her 100th design! The giveaway closes this Friday, February 25th, so make sure you get your name in!  Blue Ribbon Designs Blog