March DESIGN

So it's the last day of March, and again I'm almost late for my own SAL - however, I just barely made it! As I'm pretty consistent working on my two main project - Dark Force by Tilton Crafts and Cut Thru' Cottage by Bothy Thready - and I already wrote about both of those designers, I was at a bit of a loss who to write about this month. I even thought about putting a few stitches into one of my older WIPs just to make it count and write about that, but then I got thinking some more...who's the designer who designed most of the projects I'm working at this year, and even almost all of my finishes so far? And thus, the idea for this post was born.

What project are you talking about this month?

My designer of the month is my dear friend Magical, and the project I'm focusing on is the March fob, the first entry in her new series of monthly scissor fobs. Now, I've only known Magical for about a year, but I know she's been designing quilting and cross stitch patterns for a while before she stopped for personal reasons - you can find some of her older patterns on her deviantArt page - and since the start of this year she's back with a monthly series of free ornaments she's been offering on our NCCIH homepage. In March, she also started a 'Fob of the month' series via her blog, and I have to say, so far I've loved everything she's done! For the fob, as you can see I've stitched both sides, but I have yet to cut them out and put them together. As the piece of fabric I'm using is just big enough for two more sides, I think I will wait for the April fob, stitch that up as well and then finish-finish both together.

Have you stitched a project by this designer before?

Yes, the three ornaments of the month that have been released so far:

Would you buy/stitch a design by this designer again? Why/Why not?

I would, and I will! I'm planning to keep up with both the ornament and the fob SAL and I might try myself at some of her older patterns as well.

What made you choose this particular design/designer?

I adore Magical's work, and I had seen how incredibly creative she can be with her own projects - sometimes she puts a lot of planning into them, sometimes she seems to just wing it, but the result is always breathtaking! So when she said she was starting a SAL, and then another, naturally, my interest was peaked, and when I saw the patterns, it was set that I should have to stitch all of them. Also, I can really use a scissor fob, I keep losing the damn things! :D

Did you notice anything that distinguished this designer from others?

Magical's patterns, at least the ones I've used so far, include a lot of freedome. She encourages people to choose their own colors (as I did with the fob - I just took my box of random threads and used whatever seemed fitting, including to different handdyed colors by Joydri Design) or their own way of finishing it (I'm thinking to finish the ornaments as an x-sided biscornu). So while following the pattern, you still get involved in the creative process, which is pretty awesome! She also stitches all of her patterns up herself, so you always get an idea and inspiration of how it might look like when done.