Nashville 2012

Nashville, 2012

Dear Friends,

Well here are a few pictures from our time in Nashville. Here is the door to our room with all of Teri's decorations. Pretty cute, right? She also had the window decorated as well with a garden of flowers as well as the branch from the apple tree with apples. (Our theme was Adam and Eve since that was our sampler.) I am not sure that many people got it, but we had fun doing it.

Gosh, I can't believe that we are back home again. We had such a fine time and found so many wonderful things to bring back. Teri is busy cooking for our little Nashville open house, so I decided that I would write to you and put up the pictures of the things we took to market. Then tomorrow or Wednesday we will update with the things we brought back with us. I don't know if any of you took a look on Facebook, as Teri tried to update it each night. She had the best of intentions, but it turned out to be a bit sketchy. I think she updated her page the first and maybe the second day, but then on the third day she was sitting on the floor of our room with books and kits and all sorts of other things spread out around her trying to get them all checked and priced before packing them away. So I---mostly out of guilt--offered to write her post for her. So she sort of dictated what she wanted to say, and I typed it in the little box on my iPad. The problem was that after writing a very long paragraph and with Teri still chattering on, I fell asleep and my finger seemed to touch the box on the screen and deleted it. So I had to start over and try to remember what she had told me. And...I did that 3 times in a row. She was shouting at me, but honestly I was tired. I don't seem to have been blessed with her 24/7 stamina--but who would be? So we'll be back in the shop tomorrow and busily preparing for our open house in the afternoon. We will open at noon, so drop by any time after that for all the fun.

A picture with friends at breakfast this morning before everyone went their separate ways across the country. From left to right: Alma from Blackbird, Vickie Jennet from Needlework Press, Charland, Teri and I, Sydney, and Cecile from Jabco. We are all surrounding Dave from Norden.

Char and I chose to visit albeit from our cars while everyone else went shopping at Hobby Lobby. Here are some of the fun things that we brought to Nashville. Hope you like them.

Eve's Garden

kit: $70.00

Adam and Eve samplers are such a quintessential form of sampler making, and I have wanted to design one for a long time. So I have been working on this one for almost a year. It is worked with fabulous silk threads on a 32 count linen that Zweigart dyed especially for us. And I think that Jill's frame and mat are simply wonderful. While I was working on the final pattern, I had it sitting home on my mantel and I truly loved looking at it. It is filled with exuberant flowers surrounding the guilty couple, and comes complete with bare feet, fig leaves, a little verse, and a snake. And...for a little while, your kit will come with one of our very fun A & E tags which we have been working on all month.

design size: 6" x 12"

Adam and Eve in their garden sweet

of many delightsome fruits did eat

But when the serpent offered one

then came their gentle world undone

Eden's Lament Pin Cushion

kit: $20.00

This is a little pin cushion that I designed to go with the big sampler. Worked on the same linen as the sampler, it is filled with garden motifs and surrounded by a fun border and verse. It is very fun and I hope you will enjoy doing it. It comes with everything to stitch it as well as a great ribbon which Teri hand-tinted and curled for this kit.

A girl a snake a rosy bite

A boy a leaf a hasty flight

All Season s Scissor Fob

kit: $16.00

Teri designed this sweet scissor fob which shows a sheep for all seasons. You will love the seasonal themes and colors as well as the little verse about friendship. A perfect quick thing to stitch for yourself or for a friend.

Friends Bloom

Kit: $20.00

This adorable companion piece to the fob above is stitched on hand-dyed 28 count Jobelan. Also a piece about friendship, it is the perfect quick project for a gift for a good friend. It includes a combination of beautiful over dyed and cotton threads and features a little strip of hand dyed ric rac.

Sheep in the Garden

leaflet:: $6.00

Isn't this such a sweet pillow? I just love everything about it. It is worked on the Window Pane fabric with over dyed floss and features one of Just Another Button Co's sheep button. It would be such a fun this to work on. And don't forget to order the backing fabric while we still have it in stock.

Flower Power Picture

Pattern: free with purchase of $8.00 flower button

This little Flower Power piece will take almost no time at all to complete, and whether you choose to make a pillow with this wonderful fabric, or to have Jill frame it with her amazing mat and cut out flowers, you will have a true treasure. And don't forget the fantastic button that our friend Diane made for us.

OK, I am once again drifting away. Luckily I am just typing nonsense rather than deleting what I have written. I hope you will be able to come to our little party tomorrow, but if you can't, just give us a quick call, and we will sent it right out.

For now, good night, and I will try to send you another letter in the next day or two with new things from the market. Until then, hugs--Tina

February 2012

February 14, 2012

Dear Friends,

Happy Valentine's Day.

Teri is the nicest person know. I actually know a lot of very nice people, and I admit that she is my sister, but then that should make the complement even more real. But truly, she spends her life doing nice, sweet things for other people. So it was no surprise to me when said that she left church on Sunday to find a plethora of hearts were sprinkled from the door and down the sidewalk to to her car. Plus her car completely covered in valentines. Happy Heart Day, Teri

Now, that gives one something to think about doesn't it? The only down side to the whole thing was that it happened to snow in the afternoon and as she drove down the street, little hearts detached themselves from her car and flew through the air. I drove with her down to the shop to pick something up and as we would pass other cars--especially guys--they sort of stared at her car in surprise. And then off would fly a little heart and sail right onto their cars causing even more surprise I am sure.

So then she spent Sunday and Monday dipping strawberries in scrumptious white and dark chocolate and making heart shaped sugar cookies and chocolate shortbread. As usual I just stitched while she cooked--and then enjoyed the result of her labors. Now she has taken plates full of her sweet treats to neighbors and friends and my family and the postman and the UPS guy and the printer and the customers at work and the gas station where she buys her cokes.

I tell you....

These chocolate shortbread hearts were very very yummy!

And who could resist a plate full of freshly dipped strawberries?

Well it is barely over 1 week until the Nashville market, and we are just this side of frantic at the shop. All I am doing after work is stitching and Teri is working like a maniac doing hundreds of other projects for the market. Lynnette is cutting fabric by the bolt and Sue is packaging things as fast as we get them out. Which leaves the girls out in the front of the shop wondering why no one ever emerges from the back. It will be a relief to one and all when we are done and back. In the meantime, I think we have a lot of fun things to take to market with us. Teri has been busy planning our minute by minute itinerary. She has the decorations for the outside of the room planned as well as a new and lovely layout for the inside of our room. She has her many and various events scheduled as well as dinners and brief excursions throughout the market. It has all sounded great to me except her recent announcement that she is going to be hanging a grouping of pictures over the television. Really????? I am wondering what I am going to be doing while she is out visiting and make it and take it--ing. Watching movies through images of colored snowmen, I guess.

No--we are very excited and can't wait to share our new designs with you as well as the new things we will be bringing back with us. We will be having our Nashville Afternoon on Tuesday, February 28th from noon to five. We will have delicious treats and tables full of our new finds from market. We have already previewed a lot of darling things, so don't be late. Just take the afternoon off and plan to come spend the day with us. I promise you won't be disappointed. There are going to be so many amazing things. Teri has been talking to Barb and Alma at Blackbird designs and she said they are bringing fabulous things. Can't wait.

Remember---if there is something specific that you have seen that you want us to pick up for you, just give Teri a call. She loves to be a personal shopper. In fact, there is nothing she likes more than a grabbing a friend and setting off on a little mission.

For those of you on Facebook, keep your eye on the Shepherd's Bush page as she is planning on writing a little market scoop every night. It might be late, but I will remind her to do it while I am busy sleeping.

In the meantime, here are a few fun new things we have at the shop.

Valentine's and Heart Display

Center Display

As winter wanes, here in Utah, spring is making its way to the front of the shop. Here are some of our favorite spring and Easter pieces reminding us that sun may visit us again in the future. In the next picture you will see Cricket's Spring picture which Jill just brought back to us. Isn't it most fabulous? We are slowly making our way through the year, and I think that this one is just adorable. I thought it would be hard to top Autumn and Winter, but this one gives them a run. Teri has tweaked the colors and Jill has painted a fantastic mat. Don't you just love it?

Love Spoken Here

This sweet piece by La D Dah is quite wonderful. Its gentle simplicity and soothing colors make me want to stitch it myself. And with a house full of boys/men this is the perfect reminder. OK, I should probably just stitch my mantra in big block letters in some garish hue--BE NICE-- but I would enjoy the subtlety of this piece much better.

Token of Love

This new sampler by Pineberry Lane is wonderful and old fashioned and contemporary at the same time. I love the rose fabric that she chose and the silk thread. She sort of wants to make it into a wedding sampler and I think that it would be quite lovely. Can you imagine getting that for a wedding present or anniversary present?

One Hundred Years Ago

We just picked this piece up from Jill, and are enjoying its simple message. Another great Lizzie Kate design.

My super stitcher, Nancy, has already finished her La D Dah Mystery Sampler and has brought it into the shop for a while. Isn't it beautiful? She has totally been keeping up with the new, fun things since Teri and I have had to focus on the market.

And this is Nancy's completed 2011 Blackbird Loose Feather piece. I think it is so pretty. I will be sad when she finally decides she wants it at her own home.

I hope this gives you a window into our world these past few weeks. I was going to include a sneak peak at one of the pieces we are taking with us to Nashville, but I forgot and took it to Jill last night. Oh well.

I am going back to my stitching and will send this on to you. Watch our blog next week when we will post our new things and if you are in our neck of the woods, plan to come by on the 29th and have a fun afternoon with us. In the meantime, we will see you on Facebook.

fondly, Tina