Hi friends,
Unlike the rest of the country, Utah is trying hard to turn into spring. We have had a lot of snow this year, but not nearly as much as we need to propel our desert reality through the hot, arid summer. We have been slogging through our grey, drizzly days watching the snow blanket the East knowing that it ought to be us, but still a little relieved it isn't. Our house sits on the north side of the street under many trees, so our front yard has melted down to the bare, winter grass while my neighbors across the street still have a foot of snow. One late afternoon last week I was outside cleaning up the lawn after several months of the joys of a dog in the winter, and across the street, my friend was shoveling her walks. That's Utah. For the past six weeks, we have had a little pack of deer who have migrated down from the mountains living in our neighborhood. Many times lately we have found them clustered in our front yard or ambling up the street and then Lindbergh barks for hours as soon as he goes outside. The other night, Christian was coming home when they walked out in front of the car and just stopped and stared at him. THANK GOODNESS he was going slowly and could stop. He thought they were very large dogs so he had stopped to look at them and then one of them put his face in front of the windshield. (Now I don't want him to drive for fear of hitting one and ruining the car. Bob and I have already done that one.) Ah...the joys of the season.
Time has gone by so quickly since New Year's that in a way I can't believe that it is mid-February. We are leaving for Nashville the end of the week so everyone here at the shop has been going like crazy getting ready for it. We have shipped 14 huge boxes and I am a little worried about getting into our room when we get there. I have tried to talk Teri into going in early and getting it all set up, but she isn't so enthusiastic about that. I am wishing for good weather for all those who are traveling and an uneventful flight for us. I hate flying. We do have lots of great things for the market, and in spite of everything we have finished and sent, we are still waiting for printing to return to us. I think Teri is still stitching on something, but I am ignoring it because I want to be done. It will be so much fun when we get there. The problem is that we should spend all of Friday night setting up our room, but what we will really do is visit forever with friends and then zombie through the wee hours of the night. I am going to have to get lots of sleep on the plane to power through. Teri seems to need no sleep and runs on random excess energy flowing through the cosmos. So.... next week we will have lots of things to tell you about. Watch our web site for all of our new designs, and we will tell you all of the fun things that we have brought back for the shop. It will be fun. (once it's over),
Oh--I am supposed to tell you that on Tuesday the 23rd we are going to have a Nashville Afternoon. Come by in the afternoon and share some yummy treats with us and take a look at all the fun things we have brought back from the market. Of course we will have our new things ready and lots of other treasures that Teri finds back there. So come by for the fun.
In the meantime, we do have some fun pieces that we have stitched for spring. Lizzie Kate's Time for God quite lovely and calm for a busy year. We haven't sent it over to Jill yet for framing, so it is just perched on our front counter.
We added a few buttons and have stitched it on a fun fabric with grays, blues and mauves.
Another darling new design of hers is Easter Sampling. We have made it into a darling pillow, and I think it looks very charming. The backing fabric matches the stitching perfectly. It will make you think spring is around the corner.
This is Lizzie Kate's newest Quick-it, "Easter Sampling." We have stitched it on 10 count Buttermilk and finished it with a darling fabric that just matches. We added a few buttons and have all the supplies available--just in time for Easter stitching. 
This is one of our Spring Displays--brimming with sweet and cheerful pieces!
Teri has been rearranging quite a bit lately keeping up the the seasons and holidays and I thought it might be fun to show you a new spring display she just finished. We have been working at finding wonderful little spring pictures that are sweet, but not so cute. I think you will agree that these seem to fit the bill. I hope you are most inspired.
And finally, in the spirit of Vancouver, we have pulled out our own Shepherd's Bush Olympic pin. It makes me wish I were there and could see all of the fun pins they have for 2010.
We have Olympic fever here. We love to watch the skaters and the skiers. It reminds us of our Olympics in 2002 in Salt Lake City. We have a few of our official Olympic pins from the 2002 Winter Games. It looks like a cross stitch sampler and comes with a chart to stitch. Each pin is numbered.
Well, I have to go. Everyone is lined up for the computer, and I think my time has expired. I hope you are having fun watching the Olympics. I am. But mostly I am totally enjoying having the excuse to stitch, stitch, stitch. A warm blanket, great television and a wonderful project. What more could you ask for. OK--a diet coke. Perfect.
Have a great rest of February. I'll write next week. Stay warm and safe.
fondly, Tina
fondly, Tina
