My first fabric collection for Avlyn!!

This is the main fabric from my new collection Cute As a Bug for Avlyn Inc. The glow worms and lightning bugs glow in the dark!!

The main fabric and this one with the black background have sold out already! I'm thrilled.

This one also has glow-in-the-dark ink. The buzzle bees are adorable!

The quality of the fabric and the printing really exceeds my expectations. This is fabric I am proud to say will be available exclusively in independent quilt and fabric shops!

It’s hard to see in this tiny photo, but these are itty bitty lollypop roses that echo the design of the snail shells.

What fun! I’m over the moon, to finally see this as a finished product—and I’m working on the next collection right now.

Keep checking back. There may be a fat-quarter give away in the next week or so!! Tee hee!

Threadography goddess in northern California!!

Meet Zerita. She is a member of the California Association of Machine Embroiderers (CAME). She was in my Altered Photo Artistry workshop at their annual seminar in 2010. It was a delightful surprise to see her in the same workshop earlier this month. Little did I know, she has become a Threadography® GODDESS!

This time she worked on a cluster of beautiful California poppies. She was too modest to tell me this wasn't her second, or even third, Altered Photo Artistry piece (Threadography). Our mutual friend Rhoda spoke up to inform me Zerita had made 15 in the last year!!!

"These are my passion!" she says enthusiastically. Zerita’s husband enjoys working with Photoshop Elements, so they are collaborative efforts. This is a photo of one wall in their home theater with a display of Threadographies.

A shot of another wall shows they have room for a few more pieces!

I didn’t ask her what this flower is. We saw it in a garden, blooming on an unfamiliar (to me) succulent. The stamen and pistils really “pop” because Zerita painstakingly outlined each of the floral elements.

Purple-and-white iris are a particular favorite of mine and this one really complimented the rainbow of pink, yellow, orange, and blue blossoms in the groupings.

Orange day lily is a good choice for a quilter working on a first-time Threadograph.

Zerita’s 16th piece is a kaleidoscope stitched for a friend—and highlighted with hot-fix crystal rhinestones.

Dahlias are dramatic and beautiful, but I recommend them for a second or third project, because they require so much outlining.

Zerita has done an outstanding job of enhancing the illusion of depth by outlining the flower and not the leaves.

Roses are a favorite subject for altered photos. The curling petals offer plenty of variety in highlights and shadows.

I think these must be hibiscus. Love the detail in the veins of the petals!

Hollyhocks with single petals are fun to stitch, but the intricacies of double or ruffled petals add a richness to the composition.

I'm tempted to say these look like snapdragons, but I'm not positive. Their petals are similar shaped—and they have spotted details deep in the blossoms’ throats.

Oriental poppies with their textured centers offer a stitching challenge, but the finished piece is well worth the effort!

Zerita's husband made the mock-up of a magazine cover as a surprise. Maybe I'll have to add this as a project in my new online Photoshop Elements class!