End of June, 2011

Dear Friends,

Welcome to Glacier National Park! Here is a lovely picture of us crashing Bob and Charland's family reunion in West Glacier. They were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary and we just showed up--since we are her Utah sisters. We had the best, best time and were only sad at how quickly the week went by. I hadn't been to Glacier since I was a small child, and it was just so beautiful. Of course the weather was the same as we had been having in Utah all spring which meant it was freezing and rainy almost the entire week. But that didn't stop us at all, and we had a great time traveling through the park, hiking, shopping (much to my boys dismay), and taking pictures. And the true bonus was getting to spend a week with our friends from Canada. I loved the fact that the park was still so much like it was in the 1920s. There does not seem to be a lot of construction or change. The lodges are still so charming, we just wanted to cozy up by the fires and relax. And the beauty was simply awe inspiring. Even my boys were amazed. What a great trip. Wish you could have been there.

Just one of a thousand fabulous views in the park.

...and...
My happy crew in front of the Glacier Red Jammers.

So now we are back from our grand adventure and busy at the shop. We are working on a group of very fun new kits that I hope we will have ready mid-July, so I will tell you more about those in a week or so. I have many projects going right now, so every night I have to decide what I am going to work on. Sometimes I stitch and many nights I just sit and draw--happily anticipating choosing fabrics and threads.

Our little mountain creek behind my house has turned into a raging river as the abundance of snowmelt makes it way down into the valley. I just love sitting out by it and stitching in the evening, listening to it make its frantic path past me, and kind of happy that I don't have to worry about toddlers getting too near. My Christian was horrible about getting into it as soon as he could break the ice on its surface. At the end of Winter it was always calm and slow and Chris would sneak out and play in its icy pools. But, come run-off time, I had to be vigilant and never let him out of my sight. This is definitely one of those years. But honestly, as big as he is now, I am not sure he could get in and out of it the way it is running right now. So, since I don't have to worry about him, I can just design and stitch to my heart's content. Be watching for fun new things to come.

The picture below is of the Jenny Bean Friendship Sampler. We have loved it since it came out a few months ago and we finally had our friend, Marilyn, stitch it for the shop. Isn't it just darling? The colours are sweet and I just love the way the alphabet is sprinkled around the entire sampler. Whether you stitch it for yourself or for a friend, I think you will just love working on it.

Teri just ordered in some darling new scissors which seem just perfect for summer projects. Aren't they wonderful? I think they run between $10.00 and $12.00 and most of them are sweet pinks and purples and greens. But the ones in the very center are great patriotic scissors in traditional red, white, and blue. We are always looking for that kind of scissor, but they are not always easy to find. So if you are in the market for them.

We have just received our new polka dot scissors and they are super sweet! I am hoping to do a little fob to go with them. They are only $5.00 and they are a very nice pair of scissors. Big finger holes and very sharp. They come in pale blue, pink, or lime green all with white polka dots. I know you will love them. We have all bought many colours because we can't decide our favorite.

And finally Teri included a picture of an upcoming class here at the shop. Our local guild did a wool felt applique class in May and we all had such a great time. So now we are having the same teacher--Terri from In Your Bonnet come to teach her bucket class which everyone was very excited about. The appliqued bucket is fabulous, but I also think that the little squares would be wonderful made into a little wall hanging as well. Anyway, we will be having it here at the shop on August 1 and September 12 from 5:00-9:00. If you are interested, just give us a call and we will give you any more information that you might want. I know that we will have a blast and would love to include you in it.
So...here it is Saturday, and I haven't sent this off yet. Hey, have a wonderful 4th of July. Did I mention that aerial fireworks are legal in Utah this year--who knows why. So one person in my household is excited. Be safe over this long weekend, don't shoot off too many fire starters. But mostly find a quiet, cool spot to stitch and just be calm. fondly, Tina

Early June, 2011
Dear Friends,
Graduation Day!!! Sue's Mary and my Christian have gone to school together since kindergarten, and here they are on graduation day--both of them graduating with honors. I could cry just looking at them. Sue has been so brave all year, and I have been just a mess. But, I have to say that we were both a bit of a wreck last week. My friend, Tammy, told me this would happen and she was right--I spent the whole last school year thinking: last swim meet, last debate meet, last dance, last... I even thought--last parent/teacher conference and I always dread slogging through those, so that tells you how pitiful I have become. I think I am just not ready to be done with this part of my life. I still long to lie out on the grass with my little boys and find constellations, or take their kites to the school and try to launch them, or ride our bikes to the university pond to feed the ducks. Well, I guess we could still try the bike ride thing, but Chris would probably be there and back 5 times while I would be peddling along. I know that all parts of parenthood have their own joys, and now it is my time to celebrate new ones. I can take great joy in the fact that Christian had his hair cut into a mohawk with steps at his school's all night graduation party, and I can take even greater joy that it is quickly growing out and he thinks he is a little tired of it. (Of course Mary just had darling, wispy bangs cut.) Ok, I am going to be fine with the next great adventure. (Besides, Bob told me to get a grip. So grip I am going to get.)

Birds of a Feather Mystery Sampler

(If you haven't joined us, give us a call and get going on this perfect summer project. )

Well, as you can see, Teri is speeding right along on her mystery sampler. Actually she is finished with the first part, and it looks quite fabulous. In truth, everyone at the shop is stitching quite quickly, and now we are sort of anxiously awaiting the next part which should be arriving sometime towards the end of next week. Hopefully. I think that we have all had a great time working on it. Even I--who rarely finishes anything--have been using up all my nervous, graduation energy in stitching, stitching, stitching. Unfortunately I have made many mistakes, but I don't even care. I think I have forgotten about most of them, anyway. One thing that some of our friends who are stitching this are struggling with is some of the colour symbols. We stitched the 2 outline borders in Sage, but quite a number of others are using the blue. So now that I look closely at it, it is hard to tell whether the symbol is an up-arrow or a plus. It does look very pretty in the blue as well, but who knows which it is supposed to be. If you haven't done that part yet, maybe look at it under a magnifying glass. As soon as we receive the 2nd part, we will send it off to you. For you locals, I think we will be having our get together on the 21st around 5:00. But you are welcome to stop by earlier if you need to. Can't wait.

I have to admit that I am ready to start putting up Halloween, but Teri reminds me that ' to everything there is a season.' So, I guess this is Bee Season. Here is her wonderful Bee display with such darling pictures, that you won't want to resist. I am a little more leery of this collection because it was the very day she put it up last year that we got our swarm of bees in the shop. Here's hoping. And you just have to see the newest felt pin cushion from Just Another Button Co. It was inspired by the button that they made for our Summer Flies pillow, and it is simply darling. The kit for this one runs $55.00, and includes all the fabulous embellishments that you can see on the model. Teri wants to take it home and use it, but we are making her leave it here.

Well, Teri must have read my mind, because look at the last picture that she gave me to write about. Halloween! We just received this one from our stitcher and isn't it amazing? It is called For Thine is the Trick and the Treat by Prairie Moon. We have all spent many minutes just staring at all of the fabulous motifs, and everyday I still see something that I hadn't noticed before. I do think it is quite wonderful and not too, too big. We had a fabric specially dyed just for it, and it is perfect! Pattern: $14.00 Fabric: $15.00

And finally, you have to see these darling sewing cases that we ordered at Quilt Market. I think that they are really quite darling--sweet colours, super useful, adorable. I think that they would also make such great graduation gifts for someone who is venturing off to college. But then again, it would be useful for me who can never seem to find any of my simple sewing and mending supplies. Only $8.00

Well, somehow this day has just zipped away. Time to go and meet the dinner, dog, and evening routine head-on. I am hoping to post this before I go. I hope that you are having sunshine and a few June minutes in which to stitch. Be safe.
fondly,

Tina