Y is for Year of Chalk
Have you noticed how popular chalkboards are getting lately? I remember when our elementary school got whiteboards installed. It was a big deal because they were the next best thing, and no longer would teachers have to deal with dirty, dusty, squeaky chalkboards. But the humble chalkboard is certainly making a comeback, and that has filtered into cross stitch too. 
Hands On Design has come out with a monthly pattern series they're calling A Year in Chalk. There's new small pattern released for each month (they're up to June at the moment). The idea is to stitch the light colored motifs on black or dark gray fabric, and then end up looking like little stitched chalkboards. 
With my love of all things involving monthly patterns, I wasn't sure about these at first. Frankly, I found them a little boring. But I've been watching one of the blogs I read work her way through the designs and I've started liking them a lot more. I like how some months add subtle touches of color, giving the design new life, but still making it look like it was created with pastel colored chalk. It will be interesting to see the rest of the series revealed as the series goes on.One of the other A to Z blogs I've been reading had the excellent idea of adding links to previous posts at the end of a particular day. So if you'd like to see my previous A to Z entries:
A is for Alphabet
B is for Britty Kitty
C is for Carousel
D is for Debbie Mumm
E is for Eat
F is for Frogs
G is for Garden Cat
H is for Hats
I is for Ice
J is for Joan Elliott
K is for Kokeshi
L is for Lesley Teare
M is for Margaret Sherry
N is for Noah's Ark
O is for Owls
P is for Pumpkins
Q is for Quaker
R is for Rules
S is Sue Hillis
T is for Travel
U is for Ursula Michael
V is for Vermillion Stitchery
W is for Wreath
X is for X's and Oh's
And see you tomorrow for the final day!
I have seen these designs all over blogland and they are cute.
ReplyDeleteLinda
These are new to me. I'll have to check them out!
ReplyDeleteI can hear the chalk squeaking on the board. Eeeeek!
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ReplyDeleteWe always had chalkboards, from elementary up to high school, and they are still used a lot here at university. But I do love my whiteboard for personal notes too :D And those designs are cute ^_^
ReplyDeleteI'm not a fan of trends so it pains me that I love these little designs so very, very much. The whole chalkboard thing doesn't do much for me and I've resisted every crafty thing that's chalkboard-related but when I saw these little designs I squealed with glee (double-bonus.....they're small, cute AND they're monthly - yes, I too am a sucker for monthly designs/charts etc.). I have yet to purchase any of them but they're all on my Wish List. I keep my beady eyes open for a sign of them on the weekly sale at 1-2-3 Stitch....so far nothing....sigh. Oh well, it's not like I don't have a ton of other things to stitch!! Good job on keeping up on these posts...your perseverance is impressive!!
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