Dear Friends,

In Utah, Spring comes tentatively. It appears to creep its way along slowly and silently all too often giving way to continued snow showers. It seems like one minute we are wearing winter coats and the next minute a sweater is more than enough. I am still grateful for flannel sheets right now, but almost every day that I have opened my bedroom windows, I have had to get up shivering in the night to close them. The tulips in my garden have been slow in coming this year and have lasted forever. The iris are still tightly closed, and every day I tell myself to be patient. The garden is so orderly and fresh right now, that I just watch in happy anticipation for each new prospective bloom. This year, even the trees are slow and sleepy to awaken. One of the last things to come back to life is the Virginia Creeper. I know--I am one of the few souls who loves that plant. I love it in every season. All my grown-up life I have lived in a house covered with its magnificent foliage, and every spring I watch in worry for its first leaves to begin to unfold. In March, I circle the house checking signs for green on its apparently lifeless tendrils fearful that this is the year it won't make it back from the long winter. Just this week, as I opened my bedroom shutters, I saw the first tiny leaves appearing. It made me happy. Then I know that winter is truly over. In our back yard at the shop we have several lilac bushes which my mom planted for us 24 years ago when we opened. The starts she planted are double old fashioned lilacs which she took from my grandparent's home almost 50 years ago and planted in her new yard. Now they have grown into the most splendid bushes outside the back door at the shop. Teri gathered an enormous armful yesterday to put in a vase by the front door, and they are so heartbreakingly beautiful. There is just something about spring flowers which is both unexpected and miraculous and always reminds me of my mom who filled our home with nature's offerings. Happy spring wherever and whenever yours arrives.

This week has been busy at the shop. We are crazy working on the retreat and getting everything ready for the Columbus market the first part of June. We finally got the patriotic Baubles back from the finisher, and I think you will love it. We do. Watch for the picture below. Have a good week, and in the midst of everything, may your weather be gentle and mild.

fondly, Tina

Here is the Patriotic Bauble....
We have used the design from another one of Patty's ( Sam Sarah) patterns to stitch this great piece. We have the conversion, buttons and the threads. Fun!!

Charland gave us this marvelous lamb. We love to fill it with seasonal flowers. Today our lilacs fill the shop with such a wonderful scent.

A bouquet of lilacs from our back makes me so happy. I love them!!!

Hi Friends,

Teri and I are taking a computer class. We bought a new Mac at the end of last year because our printer can no longer read the files from our beloved ancient Mac and wants us to learn a new program. It has only taken us 4 months to get going on our class and we have to travel to the Apple store in Salt Lake to take it. We can go once a week and you just wouldn't believe how fast that class rolls around. Basically, I think it is a good idea to take classes, because in spite of the fact that I work on both a PC and a Mac all the time, I just do those things I need to and most of the computer remains a total mystery to me. It does remind me of another computer class I took once with Teri and Bob a hundred years ago in Community Ed. I was so bad at it. I just simply didn't get one thing about it. The whole class was oohing and aahing and congratulating themselves--Teri and Bob--included, and I just sat there for 2 hours staring at the screen unable to do one single thing. Now that I think about it, I am not sure I could even turn it on. Every now and then one of them would ask me how I was doing and I would cheerfully answer "Perfect! I can do everything." In reality, I could nothing. Our class this time around is a bit of deja vu for me--except that the people at Apple are so nice and patient. Teri just flys in and gets the computer set up and ready to go and she absorbs everything that the fellow happens to show us. Like, it actually makes sense to her. I do a lot of smiling and pretending. My newest plan is that I drop her off near the store because the computer is pretty heavy and the parking lot is a long ways away. Then I spend quite a long time finding just the right parking place. Once I even had to return and change for a better place. Then I take a quick look in Old Navy on my way to class and glance longingly at Barnes and Noble. By the time I get there, the class is moving quite nicely along without me, and I take a stroll along the I-pod row as I go. (Teri might be catching on, though. This last time she "forgot" to save me a place.)

This week Teri and the girls have been working on the new Baubles. July is just darling for summer. I think we have a picture of it at the end of this letter. It is flip-flops and she has matched it up with the most adorable Mary Englebreit fabric for a pillow. All the little buttons are so cute. I think you will love it. We have had a lot of people who also want a patriotic Bauble, so we have adapted another one of Sam/Sarah's patterns to fit perfectly on the fabric like the other Baubles. We are just finishing it up, so next week we will put it on the blog.

Sorry, I have to go. This is Christian's night at Civil Air Patrol, and I have to get him out to Layton. Have a great week, and I will talk to you next week.

fondly, Tina

Here is the July Baubles... It is so darling!!! We have finished it off with darling Mary Engelbreit fabric, and adorable buttons!!! Do not despair if you were wanting a Fourth of July pillow. We have adapted another one of SamSarah's patterns into a flag bauble. We will put it up next week. Let us know if you would like either or both.

Tuesday, April 29, 2008--this is the day I started this entry

Hi Friends,

Yesterday was my Christian's birthday--15 years old and I can hardly believe it. We had so much fun and we were so busy that he was opening presents at midnight with me chiding him to hurry and get on to bed. But today, I am feeling sort of blue. He is my baby and he is growing up too quickly. I hate that he's 15 and pestering me to take him to get his driver's permit. Peter was 4 when I found out that I was pregnant with Christian, and I remember wondering how I would ever love another child as much as I loved Peter. Well, everyone else knows the answer to that one. Christian is definitely a child who keeps us hopping. A little like Teri in that there is usually a big plan or a crisis. But always a lot of fun. He had decided long ago what he wanted to do for his birthday. We have a brand new train which is going from Ogden to Salt Lake City, and its first day was Saturday. Chris wanted to take the train down to meet Bob and Peter for dinner--and then I thought that we could ride home with Bob. Well, it turned out to be one of 3 free days for riding the Frontrunner, and 30,000 other souls had the same thought. Yikes!!! Going down to Salt Lake wasn't too bad in a claustrophobic sort of way. It was exciting and entertaining. Christian never stopped looking out the window and Teri entertained various toddlers in her inimitable way. After dinner, Chris--a train lover from the day he was born--was determined to take the train home again and Teri kept reminding me that it was after all his birthday, so away we went. Bob make it home in 45 minutes and we made it home in 3.5 hours. At one point he called to tell us that the train he just passed looked like the India Express. He was right--people practically hanging off the windows. I will be glad to pay for my next ride.

It is a huge thing for us and very exciting. Bob took it to work yesterday and I hope that he will do it often. And for any of you coming to Salt Lake and not wanting to rent a car, we are such a pleasant and easy shot on the Frontrunner. If you were staying in downtown Salt Lake, it is a quick ride on the public transit to the train and a fun ride to Ogden. We are an easy 2 block walk from the station. It is going to be great.

OK--here it is Thursday, and I have yet to finish this. So I am going to send it off and move on. Next week we have some fun new things coming that are just being finished. 2 new Baubles. The retreat is overflowing and Teri and I are very excited. We spent all last weekend working on a project for it and it is very fun. You will all flip--well if you are coming to the retreat that is. Have a great week, plenty of calm and lots of accomplishments. That is also what I hope for myself. I think I am chaperoning a band trip tomorrow evening and I am too scared to call and find out.

fondly, Tina

ps--still snowing.
pps--not kidding.

Hi Friends,

I seem to be having one of those days--or weeks. "Mom--I left my band tuxedo home and we have a competition in 30 minutes." "Can you just run me home to change?" "I have a math assignment that doesn't make any sense and I forgot my book." "I have a tennis meet after school, can you change my saxophone lesson?" "I have to make 2 posters and type a resume by tomorrow." "Mow the lawn? What lawn?" "Could you pick me up at Ben Lomond so I don't have to take the bus home?" "What's for dinner? I'm starved!" I guess that's why I am late writing my blog this week. I only hope I can get it done before my phone rings with my next command performance. Who ever said that cell phones made life easier? Sometimes I feel like a marionette.

OK, I have to make this sort of fast. Everyone is yakking all around me, and Kari needs to do the shipping at this computer shortly. I do have to tell you about the most darling items we have just unpacked. A sweet woman who was here on vacation offered to make us some things she uses with her Q-snaps. So Teri--who of course was very excited--sent her off some of our favorite fabrics to use with her own fun fabrics. Well, we just unpacked them and they are fabulous. They fit over your Q-Snaps to totally protect your stitching and hold the excess fabric out of your way when you stitch. I think Teri is adding some pictures and her own inimitable commentary at the end of this blog so that you can see what I mean. They really are ingenious and for only $12.00--at least for now. We have a huge variety of patterns and they come in 6", 8" and 11." If you want to order one, just call us and we will describe what fabrics we have available or just tell us whether you want bright, soft, cute, floral, etc. I think it is so much fun to run into brilliant women with such good ideas. Everyone who stitches with Q-snaps loves them, but worries about cleanliness and battling with excess fabric. Here is the solution. Teri has been dancing around the shop and has demonstrated them to me at least 5 times--hence my struggle with writing this blog. These little items are called Snap-Wraps, so scroll down and take a look.

Hopefully, I will write earlier next week. In the meantime, put on some opera, chill out, and enjoy your stitching. I will imagine that I am doing the same.

fondly, Tina

Here are the new "Snap Wraps" They are sooo great!!! They just fit around your Q-snap frames and hold everything in.

This is such a great idea!!!, If you have a project that has tons of extra fabric, like the Red Thread Snapperland, (It is 46" long) you can roll the fabric inside the Snap Wrap see below.

We have rolled the extra fabric up and tucked it inside the "Snap Wrap" to keep it under control. You can also slip in a small pair of scissors and a couple of skeins of floss if you are on the go. If you tuck in scissors, please make sure they are in a sheath.

"Snap Wraps" come in fun fabrics. They come in small- to fit the 6 x 6 Q-Snap, Med to fit the 8 x 8 Q-Snap, and Large to fit the 11 x 11 Q-snap. Call us to find out what is available, or let us pick our favorite. All sizes- small medium, and large run $12.00 each.

Hi friends,

I bought a new car yesterday. Well, actually we bought it a couple of weeks ago, but picked it up yesterday. You know how exciting that can be--as well as nerve wracking. Now, there are certain streets I just can't drive on, I must avoid Jake's Shakes, and I am taking great risk maneuvering through the Ogden High parking lots. Yikes!! I have come to realize that to every good thing, there is also the hesitation--the first scratch, the first spill. I know it is inevitable and sometimes even memorable. The last time we bought a new family car was almost 12 years ago--Peter was 8 and Christian was 3. I remember that before we drove our car home, Peter and I had our picture taken by it, and the dealership made a calendar for us. We had the picture up for years. I remember how much fun we had in that old Outback--trips to Bear Lake loaded to the roof with bikes on top, as well as Lindbergh looking out the windows barking at cows. Pre-school field trips with 3 car seats strapped across the back seat. A crock pot filled with hot fudge that mysteriously tipped over on the back seat while 2 boys were holding onto it. Cub Scout camp outs when I wanted to abandon tent, crawl into the car and turn the heater on. I remember teaching Peter to drive in this car--stick shift and all--and traveling for hours along the least used roads we could find listening to a special tape he made filled with music we could both agree on. As Christian says--"Good times." So as we drove home last night--Bob elatedly played with every button and programmed radio stations on our 3 free months of X-radio. And I looked out the window and thought about the Subaru with tears running down my cheeks. Today, I am mostly over it. I just gave myself a reality check by remembering that I can still visit it often--now filled with college text books, bags of dirty clothes, guitars, and amps. OK--maybe I'm not missing it quite so much.

The reason it took me so long to get the car was the fact that we have been working almost non-stop on the retreat. As most of you know, we put up the brochure last Thursday, and the fax and phone have been going ever since. It is always so much fun to hear from friends who are returning, and we always look forward to meeting those who are coming for the very first time. At this point, it is pretty much filled up. We are now taking a waiting list, so if you are wanting to come, do sign up right away and we will hope to work you in. We are planning so much fun.

In addition to the retreat brochure and sign ups, we have also finished 2 darling new pieces for mothers. We have a sweet 10-count kit called Dear Mother as well as a smaller count linen kit called My Mom's Garden. I think there will be pictures at the end of this blog, so be sure to take a look. Both pieces were a lot of fun to do. The larger count kit will work up very quickly and be a perfect gift for the mother in your life. My linen kit--My Mom's Garden--is worked with gentle colours of silks with a few Quaker motifs and places and instructions for personalizing it for your family. I stitched it for my own family. It has my own mother's initials as well as the initials of each of my siblings. I just love it and need to do another one to hang in my bedroom. You know, it is part of that whole nostalgia thing.

Dear Mother

My Mom's Garden

We have had wonderful new designs arriving at the shop in the past few weeks. On Saturday, Teri and I spent a long time picking new fabrics and threads and getting them ready for stitching. I am excited to see them.

Well that's the news from Shepherd's Bush. I hope your spring is warming up and you are getting a chance to go out in the sunshine. In Utah, we can't seem to decide whether it is spring or winter, but that's OK. I know it will be 100 degrees before we blink. Have a safe week.

fondly, Tina

June Baubles--Darling, as always!!!!

I have been hanging up some wooden flowers around the door garland. They look so springy!!

Hi friends,

Just this very week, Teri has won 5 awards--from me--for her mechanical genius. First, she fixed the barbecue grill, then she fixed my I-Pod and the computer, and I can't remember what the other 2 things were, but they must have been great because I gave her an award for them. Me, on the other hand, not so good. All morning so far, Teri has followed me around fixing the messes I have made. Then Christian left his saxophone music home on the table where he was practicing, and I needed to get it to him. I left a message on his phone, but I didn't think he would listen to it in time. I decided to text him since I knew he would check his texts at lunch. So I tried to send a message. It began with wwww...which happened on my way to find a y. I tried to get rid of this and couldn't, so I continued on rather successfully with mussic at home and that's where it all fell apart. I tried to skip a space and ended up with a new word for home didn't look very nice at all, and in trying to correct that, I ended up with cajkkk***?? I finally sent it and thought I would explain later. Pretty soon I got a message back which I was more successful at opening. He was very happy, told me he would meet me at the door and never mentioned the message he had received. When I asked him about it, he wasn't rude, just said--Oh, I knew it was you. I thought the last word meant we were having cake for dinner. I have to come up to the 21st century, but I'm not sure texting will be my thing.

This has been a busy week here at the Bush. We are trying to get the brochure for the upcoming retreat posted on the website by Thursday, so we have spent the better part of 2 weeks working on it. Teri has been engrossed in a wonderful project for the retreat itself and has been working at it quite steadily--and sort of ignoring the brochure. I have been ignoring it as well, but finally put pencil to paper to get it ready. Now I have to get Bob to sit down and help us with some of the graphics, AND I asked Teri if we could file for an extension. (On the brochure that is.) She looked so hopeful and relieved at the suggestion, but everyone at work says--NO. So, I guess Thursday it is.

If you go onto the website, you will see that we have updated the tour and added more current pictures. Teri noticed that we still had a lot of Halloween pics on the tour, so she has been flying about taking new pictures. OK, here are 2 darling new things we have in the shop. One is--Love Me--by Hands to Work. It is very fun and unusual and Teri has used such great colours on it. There is a place for 2 names and would make such a sweet wedding or anniversary present--even for yourself. I am hoping she will put the picture on at the end of this. Then the new June Baubles is all finished and is being made into a pillow. Its theme is strawberries, and Teri has picked the perfect backing fabric for it to be made into a pillow. I think she changed the colours a little as well. Anyway, watch for a picture of it, because it is fantastic.

I am supposed to go out and look at the bird nest which has been built in the garland above the door. I hope there are eggs. How fun. Keep your fingers crossed for Thursday. Have a great week.

fondly, Tina

Love Me, by Hands to Work, is a new addition to our wedding samplers.

Here is a photo of our bird's nest. I was redecorating the front door garland for spring today, and found this darling nest. . . . The birds have brought twigs from the back yard, and all sorts of great nest stuff. If you come to visit, look up before you come through the door.

Sophie and Brett came to visit on Saturday with their parents. As you can see the excitement of visiting his "favorite" place has worn him out!!

Dear Friends,

I am actually starting this blog on Monday for a change. I am sure that in the end it will be Tuesday or Wednesday before it makes its way out of my computer, but you will know that my intentions were good. Here is my problem with Mondays. We have been separated from each other for 2 whole days and everyone is busy catching up from the weekend. You have to remember that many of us see each other at work more often than we see our own siblings, so we have just become our own family. And after 2 whole days apart, there is lots to talk about.

Here is a typical Monday:
Chyrl only comes to us on Mondays--except today since she is home sick--so everyone has to visit with her for a bit and catch up on life. Teri works with Chyrl out in the shop, and they always have a million things to share: what happened at church, newest quilting project, and family. Mondays always go quickly for them helping customers, taking inventory, and ordering for the week.

Lynnette is always in between the front and the back on Mondays--often helping the front girls with their first-of-the-week projects or cleaning up whatever mess I have left on her desk from Saturday. I truly have the best of intentions to keep it as pristine as I found it, but sometimes the weekend lures me off too soon. I think that sometimes the front is an escape for her from the eternal stack of fabrics to be cut and kits to be assembled. But then, everyone knows that the back is the most fun--which is why they accuse us of not working.

Sue is always busy with the phone on Mondays which is both a challenge and a joy. I always leave her a table full of orders from Saturday, so finding a small, clear spot to even write out a message is difficult. Her Mary is the same age as Christian and they go to the same school, so we always have something to chew over about high school life.

Kari comes late from Jill these days, so she is busy getting caught up on all of the things she does. I always know when Kari arrives because she turns on our music in the back and it seems so nice.

Poor Nancy, Leslie and Lonni do not have the pleasures of working on Mondays, so catch up for them happens later in the week. We only wish they worked every day with us.

And that just leaves me. I try to get the blog written, which you know may or may not happen. But just remember if you don't read this until Tuesday or Wednesday, too much is going on on Monday to get it finished.

This week, we have fun, new things here at the shop. Diane, who has been making the Thread Spinners, brought some new ones in on Saturday. All of these come on either big or little hearts and they are so darling! There is a beautiful cross, a sweet angel, a fantastic moon and stars, sweet little pets, and a cute bird. I think Teri and Kristin are putting photos underneath here so you can see them. Truly so pretty. Teri and I worked on the new June Baubles on Saturday. This one is strawberries which look so luscious that we had to go to Costco and buy some--real ones-- for dinner. Judy came right down to pick it up to stitch for us, but we don't have it back yet so watch the web site for the photo later--maybe next week. Of course Teri picked out very cool colours and as soon as we have it back she will pick out the perfect buttons and backing fabric for it. If you want to be on an auto for these darling projects, just let us know and we will send them off to you. Oh, which reminds me that the new Loose Feathers is here. It is very fun and should work up quite quickly. I can't wait to get started. I wish I had the last one completed.

New Thread spinners: Cross small only, $14.25, Moon Large only $14.75

More fun thread spinners. Pets -top left, come in large and small hearts; bird- top right comes in both large and small hearts; butterfly comes only on the small heart; and the angel comes on both the large and the small heart. Large hearts run $14.75 and the small ones run $14.25.

OK here is my other problem with Mondays--we are out of change so I have to go to the bank and then the plant man will come in for a check, and I'm pretty sure the window washer will show up as well. I guess I am just going to move on and leave you all until next week. I am also supposed to be working on the Retreat Brochure, but it is coming along about as quickly as this blog, so please don't hold your breath.

Have a wonderful week with perhaps a hint of spring. Until next week, fondly, Tina

PS--still snowing!

Here is a close up of a fabulous piece, "Curly Q' Ewe" by Cottage Needlework . Amy stitched it over 1 thread on 28 count fabric it is amazing!!! we added treasures and it is wonderful!!

"Sam's Socks" is the latest one we have stitched from Raise the roof. We have stitched it on a great blueish fabric and added different buttons.

This sweet display shows a few family and Mother's Day projects.

I have started bringing out bee things for spring and summer...I love bees things!!!