Mother's Day, 2012
Dear Friends,
Happy Mother's Day, Happy Spring, Happy Blooms...
How can we not love this fabulous weather? I am always so so happy to get my blue flip flops out of the closet, that I somehow feel free and liberated. Of course it is nice and warm downtown where the shop is, and then I get home and change clothes and freeze. But I don't even care. Our home seems to be caught in a cold zone--perhaps because of the river or the trees. I have no idea why, but I will take the chilly toes and flannel sheets as long as possible.
I don't know what it is about Mother's Day, but I always think more about my own mom than about myself on that weekend. Don't get me wrong, I always get plenty of attention and have certainly had my own treasured abundance of plaster handprints, hand-made cards, and--later--bottles of diet coke. But it never seems like it should be a day about my own motherhood as much as it should be about my Mom's.
I always hit this day with a little twinge of sadness and nostalgia as I see lilacs quietly blooming by the driveway. So this day's for you, Mom--thanks for your smile, your love, and for always reminding me how to be a better mother.
This has been a funny week here at the shop. As the Retreat approaches, Teri and I begin to think and start preparing for many things. The most regretful of which has to do with cleaning. We have just had a few not-so-little places that we have needed to address before September. And then our county Heritage Society--whose board I took my mother's place on--decided that we would do a downtown walking tour of historic buildings that had been reclaimed and put back to use. I had to miss a meeting in March, and when I returned I found that our building was slated to be on it. Oh, joy! Teri was beyond thrilled and I was amenable, but it sort of got us started on our cleaning endeavor. The front hall had gotten quite frightening, so we had to pretty much gut it out, both of us wondering to ourselves how that happens. Then Teri, Sue and Lynnette took on another lovely project that I think was inspired by the recent airing of Dickens' Great Expectations on PBS. They have systematically been removing many Miss-Havisham-like bouquets from our old beamed ceiling and hurrying them to the dumpster. Well, our tour was on Thursday evening and was a grand success. Over a hundred people came through and thank heavens Teri insisted on lots of treats to serve. Now if we can just keep that front hall clean until September.
Here is a great early photo of the shop taken about 1930, when it was a blacksmith shop (top).
Our shop on Thursday with an antique truck parked in front (bottom).
We have so many new and wonderful projects that we are finishing here at the shop. Luckily, our friend, Marilyn, has been in a super stitching mood because she has worked on such fabulous models for us. Sorry, now I have a ton of fun things to show you and talk about...so go get your own mother's day diet coke and settle back with me for a lot of minutes and see what is going on in our world.
Vintage Stars
leaflet by Jeannette Douglas--$14.00
Isn't this a beautiful piece? I just love it--but then I love all Quaker patterns. This one is comprised of alphabets and star variations and makes a fabulous sampler. We have stitched it on a hand-dyed linen that is our very own--32 count Old Earth, and Teri changed the colors to go perfectly with it. I think it would be a wonderful summer project because it reminds me of a starry, summer sky.
The Flock
12-leaflet series by Sam Sarah
When we saw the beginnings of this project at Nashville, we both fell in love with it. It has taken us a while to get it going because we wanted to try it on a more neutral over dyed fabric instead of the Red Pear linen which it shows in the book. (which is also very darling as well.) I know, the patterns get a bit pricey, and I kind of wish that she had done the whole project in 6 instead of 12 leaflets, but it is just adorable and summery, and makes me smile. What you can see above is the first 3 installments and the saying that goes across the whole thing is: Faith is the bird that feels the light when dawn is still dark.
How can you not love that. This is a very happy piece that will certainly bring a song to your soul.
Less and More
4 part series by Lizzie Kate
Marilyn just sent this piece back to us completed and everyone at the shop is in love with it. Aren't these little sayings just the things we say to our kids, our parents, and mostly ourselves? The colors are sweet and lovely, and we have chosen a beautiful linen to work it on, The 4 leaflets run $8.00 a piece and come with a sweet hand-dyed button in each one. Sometimes we have sets of the four together for a great deal--$28.00. Teri and Nancy have made darling complete sets of the whole project that will make you want to get started today. I even think that we have added some other fun buttons to complete, but I am probably dreaming about that one.- we have added some great additional buttons
Super fun new accessories
this is imaginative isn't it?
We ordered many of these in Nashville, but it has taken us a couple of months to get them in and then they sold out so quickly that we had to re-order them.
Old sampler micro fiber cloths--$6.00
We kind of ordered these selfishly for ourselves, and have sold a ton of them. I had to wait for the 2nd re-order to pick one up and now I guard it carefully. It is perfect for all of your favorite devices--ipods, iPads, iPhones, computer screens, and my personal fave--my glasses. It is very small and soft and tucks easily into even my tiny purse so I have it whenever I need it. Plus, she also makes little notebooks--tiny--with various old sampler pictures on the front. They are very neat and sturdy, but still small and
tuck-able. I promise--you'll love them!
Wooden counting Accessories
These very fun wooden accessories are simply great and extremely useful. They are all quite small and pretty and will fit easily in a small stitching bag or case. And of course they all come with Shepherd's Bush them with our little leaping lamb. Yay!!
Rulers and thread holders--$8.20
18-hole palettes--$14.00
Corner gauges--$7.20
And...my personal favorite which Teri didn't photograph for some unknown reason--
Little sheep thread holders--sorry, not sure of the price, but very cute. I think we need to re-order them.
Bringing Home Baby
Hemstitched blankets--$24.00
Hemstitched bibs--$5.80
Edging leaflets
Teri and Nancy love to crochet around baby things and give them as gifts. I loved having little receiving blankets with my boys and took them everywhere. Of course they didn't crochet edgings around them for me--this must be a more recent endeavor. Teri has found a wonderful Utah company who hemstitches around these flannel items getting them ready for the edgings. They are all made out of the absolutely most darling, thick and cozy flannels with coordinating patterns on the front and back. We have different ones all the time, so just call us and we will let you know which sweet fabrics we have in stock. We will also hand pick the perfect perle cotton to go with it for the edging.
These darling bibs are also made out of the beautiful flannel with coordinating front and back prints. They can coordinate with the blankets or just stand alone. Each bib comes with a darling matching perle cotton for the edge and a little pattern for completing your edge. Teri says that she will post the fabrics this week, but otherwise just give us a call and we will describe them to you.
These are the leaflets that you can get which are filled with sweet and clever edging patterns. Each one is different and will make want to get started on the perfect gift for a new little one. Who knows, maybe it will make you want to have a new little one yourself. Or not....
Lizzie Kate Summer Mystery Sampler Club
Well here we go again with something very fun for the long summer nights of stitching. This will be a 3-part mystery project, and best of all--it's Halloween!!!! Can you even believe it? I don't have a picture and I don't have any details on fabric or threads, because it is a mystery. So we all get to have the fun of anticipation and the surprise of seeing it come and grow throughout the summer. The first part will be released the end of June and the other 2 parts to follow in July and August. The sampler will be worked with Weeks Dye Works floss on WDW hand-dyed linen. Each part will include a bonus pattern to be worked with 1 color of floss on a different and fun color of 30 count linen as well.
So...if you want to be included in the spooky, silly fun, just give us a call. Here's how it will work:
If you sign up ahead, we will include you in our initial order which will include a new and exclusive thread color just for this project. We know Linda's (Lizzie Kate) choices of threads for Halloween will be spooky and wonderful, but who knows, we may choose to tweak one or two. We always send your project put together in a fun a creative way and will send it to you as soon as we receive it.
Here are your choices--good luck deciding.
The whole kit: (including 3 bonus fabrics and 3 bonus threads)
30 count linen: $101.00
35 count linen: $102.00
+ $10.00 s/h
The almost whole kit: (without the bonus fabrics and threads)
30 count linen: $82.00
35 count linen: $83.00
+ $10.00 s/h
Patterns and Fabrics only: (no threads)
30 count linen: (including bonus fabrics) $52.00
30 count linen: (without bonus fabrics) $40.00
35 count linen: (including bonus fabrics) $53.00
35 count linen: (without bonus fabrics) $41.00
Note: the 3 bonus fabrics are only available in 30 count
+ $10.00 s/h
Patterns only: $24.00 + $6.00 s/h
Fabrics only:
30 count: $16.00
35 count: $17.00
+ $6.00 s/h
3--30 count Bonus fabrics: $12.00
+ $6.00 s/h
Well, it is time to go and let you get back to your own life again. Next week I will give you a sneak peek at the new designs that we are working on. We are busy and excited with new summer things that will be ready the first of June. They are not too big, but sweet and fun for summer stitching. So watch for us next weekend. In the meantime, don't hesitate to give us a call if we can help you. Sue and I are having fun working on projects for the retreat, but we are always happy for the division of talking to all of you when you call. So have a great week and be safe and well.
hugs, Tina
