Early Autumn Blessings
Dear Friends
How lovely for me to spend this afternoon writing to all of you. Where I am, it is one of those days which seems a blessing to me. The weather is both expected and serendipitous today. It is such a nod at the season we have just had. Brilliant sunshine and more hot than warm. It is as though my little corner of the world is hanging on to Summer and willing it to stay with us just a bit longer. Yet I know that in a few hours when the sun lowers and disappears into the Salt Lake, it will be chilly and I will light candles and grab a sweater if I choose to linger on the patio stitching or FaceTiming the kids. And soon even the days will let go of their welcome warmth, and Autumn's briskness will creep in. Hopefully bringing with it some rain to quench the thirst of this parched corner of the earth.
Teri's garden has had a wonderful run this year. Here it is--early October--and we are still enjoying tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and basil and parsley. It will be hard to face not grabbing a quick lunch or dinner out of the backyard. She just has such a green thumb and the patience to spend hours tenderly caring for gardens. I was not blessed with either the talent nor the patience to garden. My one thing I do each year is to plant zinnias in the pots by the front door at work. Last year it was so much fun to watch them grow and see the varying colored blooms as they appeared and lasted. I even shared seeds with Bob to plant in his pots at home and with Teri to add color to her garden to attract pollinators. Both of them had the most beautiful Zinnias which have kept their blooms for months. My 2 tiny pots had long and lovely green stems and leaves--and precisely 1 bloom between them. Seriously! Bob said that I had crowded them, which is probably true, but honestly it did work last year. Oh well, the growing season is almost over, so I just have to get over it and move on.
Everyone at the shop is well and busy as Fall arrives. Like you, we are all doing our best to stay out of the way of this current wave of the pandemic. Sometimes it seems like we are living in a continuous loop, but I think that we are all learning to adjust and regroup as we try to continue our lives in some sort of normal. Everyone still has to wear a mask to come inside the shop, and some days I make it all the way home without even noticing that it is still on. Once winter hits, and people start wearing hats, we might begin to forget what each other looks like. Oh well, that's what photographs are for.
We seem to now be in an odd stage of this virus. Each person having their own specific thoughts on how to navigate and survive. But hopefully, in the passion and distress of finding ourselves almost 20 months into this strange circumstance, we can remind ourselves that we really are in this together--like it or not. And my mother's constant mantra for myself and my siblings returns to me all the time: Just be nice!
I guess that is my wish for our weary, discouraged world as we hopefully enter the last stretch of this long and bitter journey. After all, it can't last forever......can it?
New from Shepherd's Bush
We are excited to show you some new things that we have ready for Autumn stitching.
A Witch's Garden Pin Cushion
kit: $30
This sweet little pin cushion was such a lot of fun to design and stitch. It is worked on 32 count Vintage Country Mocha with Weeks overdyed cotton threads. It has a wonderful dusty purple backing fabric, little hand dyed buttons, and Lady Dot chenille (hand dyed for this kit). I hope it will be fun to work on as Halloween approaches.
Halloween Needle Case
kit: $30.00
I love this little needle case that Teri has been working on. It is so darling and has just the right combination of spooky and autumn. It is stitched on 32 count Shale by PTP ( a very dusty grey/purple) and includes Weeks cotton floss, buttons, grey wool, silk ribbon and Lady Dot chenille-hand dyed for this.
(Supplies for this kit are very limited because that is the world we are living in right now)
Fear Not
kit: $30.00
This lovely little piece was part of our Pop Up series last year. It is fun and filled with the joy of Autumn, but still with a tiny hint of Halloween. It is stitched on 32 count French Country Mocha and includes Weeks overdyed cotton floss and buttons.
Thoughts of Halloween
pattern: $6
button: $6
entire kit: $43.00
I really like this series that Teri adds to now and then. This one is perfect for October and highlights a fabulous Halloween Moon button. We worked ours on 32 count purple linen with a fantastic palette of overdyed cotton floss.
Scary
Chart $8.00
Gray bag: $15.00
Perl cotton thread set $19.55
Orange scissors: $8.50
Shepherd's Bush Halloween scissor fobs
$10.00
I spent our summer outing to the lake working on these fobs. They were fun to do and turned out quite sweet. We have a big variety that are all great, so we will choose the perfect one for you. My trip only lasted so long, so these are limited.
A small new group of bee designs by Shepherd's Bush
These designs came out during the summer, and we thought we would share them with you, I don't think they were on our last blog... when was that??? Busy Notes was on the blog so I did not include it here.
Bee Home
10 count kit: $16
This is a little kit that came out at the end of the summer. It is adorable and perfect for Bee and Home lovers alike. It is a 10 count fabric so it will be quick and easy to finish.
Stitch
pattern: $8
Olive Plaid Bag: $15
Perle cotton set available
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Teri has had so much fun working on this bag. You use perle cotton 5 and stitch it over 2 threads, and it takes hardly any time at all. Well...it didn't take me any time at all. She said it was a blast to do and she loves that the bag fits a whole project--book and all, The bags also come in grey and berry red, and I know she is working on a pattern for Halloween (grey) and Christmas (berry).
She worked the pin cushion and fob by stitching parts of the pattern on a smaller count linen. 32?
What a darling set.
Bee scissors $12.00 each
Sweet bee scissors to add right in.
Mad for Plaid bags
$15.00
New at the shop
New wooden thread pallets
by Under the Garden Moon
$12.00 each
We have a friend, Amy, who does lovely patterns of quilting, wool work, and embroidery. Her newest venture are these beautiful wooden threads drops and pallets with various engraved designs. They are very pretty and smooth, and perfect for storing threads.
New Wooden Thread Drops
by Under the Garden Moon
each set of 6 is $25.00
Autumn Rules chart
by Primrose Cottage
$12.00
kit also available
This is a darling new company, and their charts are so much fun. The best thing is the entire graph in in one chart. Amy just sent back Autumn Rules--she stitched it so fast. Thanks Amy. We have tweaked the colors into overdyed cottons and added buttons. It is such a fun Autumnal piece.
Here are a few of their other designs.
Pumpkin Kisses
chart: $6.50
Happy Halloween
chart: $6.50
Halloween Kisses
chart: $6.50
This is Halloween
chart: $12.00
Witchy Way
chart: $6.50
Christmas Letters
chart: $12.00
Pilgrims pillow by Mani di Donni
partial kit $ ( threads are not included)
This sweet pattern comes with the pins, and the fabric to stitch and to finish the pincushion.
Statehood charts $5.00 each
by Thread Milk
Can you tell which states are which?
It would be so fun to have a bowl of the places you have been.
Here is another new company, and her state patterns are very sweet. So far she has 13 states available and more are on the way.
Milk Cap Thread Drops $15.00
These are so adorable a pack n a ring to hold your threads.
Halloween fobs by My Big Toe
limited quantity
$12.50
Garden update by Teri
My garden has been so fun this year. We have made 2 batches of bread and butter pickles and have eaten tomatoes so many different ways. I love just dashing outside to pick some peppers and tomatoes and cucumbers and whipping up a salad. Last week Reeta picked a huge bowl of cherry tomatoes to take home and it did not look like she had picked any. I am always sad when the weather turns and I have to put my garden to bed. I am trying garlic, I think you plant it in the fall... we shall see.
The grapes we planted a few years ago have taken over and the birds feast on the sweet clumps of grapes. I want to try grape jelly, but I'm not sure how to do that--or if I am up to the mess. Our Mom was a huge canner, every September she canned grape juice, peaches, tomatoes many ways, pickles, and anything she could. Where is she when I need her?????
My little Zinnia patch
so many cherry tomatoes...
