Oh my, the countdown to the Nashville market is on, and I barely feel ready!

This market is a special one to me because I'll be releasing my very first Bring-Your-Own-Fabric kit. I've always loved kits because they take the challenge out of pulling everything together, and they're easy to grab-and-start when I need something new to work on. And while I've always toyed with the idea of releasing a kit myself, I've held back because of the simple fact that not everyone may like the same linen color or count I choose to work on.

So I lamented a bit about it to my good friend Pat, and she suggested this: "Why don't you just do the chart and threads?" And I thought, "Of course! The chart, the threads, and the finishing trim!" And that's how my very first B.Y.O.F. kit came into my imagination.

As a stitcher, one of the things that I find so appealing is a bowl full of pin cushions or other "smalls" that I stumble across online (or better yet, in person!). I suddenly get this extreme urge to hunt down every design I see represented in that bowl so that I can have one of my own collections – Patriotic cushions, Christmas cushions, Halloween cushions – I want them all! (Isn't that one of the best parts of this wonderful hobby of ours – to find something that makes our hearts sing? Or all-out bellow, like mine does?)

With that in mind, I've decided to release a series of small designs, in various themes, to satisfy that part of me that needs to just put stuff in bowls. Which brings me back to my first-ever chart-and-threads-and-trim kit, which will release at market.

I'm calling this endeavor the Serial Bowl Collection. There will be different themes in this collection in the coming months, but the first theme is going to be titled Sampler Lessons, which are designs bearing some of the honest and valuable teachings that young girls stitched onto their samplers long ago.

The photo above shows the luscious threads from Classic Colorworks that will be carded up and included in the chart pack, and below you'll see a peek at the finished design.

Also included in this pack will be the chenille trim from R&R Reproductions for the finished cushion. As for fabric, I've got listed on the chart what the model uses, but of course you can go smaller, bigger, brighter, or more neutral, if you'd like. There are so many beautiful fabrics that your shop owner can get for you, so pull out the thread card and do a few floss-tosses onto different colors of fabric to see what suits your eye the best.

Remember, our stitching is for our fancy, so whatever you find beautiful will go beautifully in your home. Don't worry about  "what looks right."  If it is lovely to you, it will make you happy to stitch it!

I hope you like my first go at this… I will be bringing a limited number of these packs to market, but I haven't decided yet if, after market, I'll continue them in their packaged form or if I'll go forward with just the chart. Since I've never done this before, I have no idea what to expect, so I really don't know what my plan is after this first run.

Please let your shop owner know if you are interested in one of these packs, and hopefully she or he will find me at market! It's going to be an exciting one!