Late July, 2011

Dear Friends

July usually means that summer has finally arrived here in Utah, and along with our long hot days and short cool nights, it also means that it is Rodeo time. As the month creeps to its middle, Ogden embraces its yearly Pioneer Days festivities. Oh, yay! As predictably as the calendar flips from June to July, the hand-painted horses begin to trot and rear their way down our city streets where they will pose tirelessly until someone corrals them up and hauls them away in September. Teri and I spent our childhood summers at unending rodeos, and indeed learned to ride our little Shetland ponies about the same time we learned to walk. We spent our long summer vacations riding with our older brothers up in the mountains behind our house, and oddly enough, I spent a number of my very young years in Junior Posse trying to wrangle my stubborn pony into the elaborate formations that the other children seemed to maneuver with ease. I actually still have several trophies which I mysteriously received, although I suspect my dad must have paid someone for them, as I can hardly imagine I truly won them. Diamond and I did much better racing after my brothers than circling barrels or forming elaborate stars. So each year about this time, I experience a brief nostalgic longing for those days from my past, and I get the urge to go to the rodeo. Bob and the boys are sometimes amenable, but Teri is always a flat-out NO. A couple of years ago, I pestered her into coming with us to watch the calves tied, the bulls bucked and the queens crowned, and on the way home she said that she would rather burn her hair than ever go again. I guess that really does mean NO.

I will say that the Horse-days of summer have been busy and fun at the shop--where it is deliciously lovely and cool. We have lots of wonderful new things some of which I am going to tell you about in this letter, and many new things coming which I will tell you about next week. We are just finishing a great group of new designs from Shepherd's Bush which we were hoping to have ready earlier in the month. But you know how that goes. Next week they will all be ready and I will have beautiful pictures on my blog. I can't wait. So....be watching.

We do have fabulous new things here at the shop, so I will try to show you a taste of some of them in case you are too far to drop by. Jacqueline from Needleprints has just published an awesome new book: The Feller Needlework Collection. Honestly, this is truly a wonderful book. She puts together such a beautiful volume that it is hard to put it down. The photos are fantastic as is the information written within the pages. I know it is a tad on the expensive side at $85.00, but truly it is a great book. Plus the hidden prize is the huge reproduction sampler that you get on the inside cover of the book: a beautiful 17th century sampler. I have pored over it and would love to stitch it. I just invite you to come take a look. But plan to spend the day.

Here is a photo of the large sampler whose graph is included.

Here is just one of a hundred amazing pages to peruse. How can you resist?

Halloween!!!

Teri has been having a blast getting out the beginnings of our Halloween display. I sort of think that this is becoming everyone's favorite stitching holiday. I know each season has its joys, but Halloween just gets to come so early that it makes it especially fun. Plus the darling patterns, crazy fabrics and intriguing colours. Who can really resist. Here is the first table that Teri has filled with darling pieces for that wicked holiday.

There are so many amazing pieces that I am just going to highlight a few and then add to this each week--some old and some new as we get them.

Halloween Branch by Bent Creek is finally finished and framed and it is quite adorable. It is busy and fun and looks like it would be very fun to stitch. It is one of those with multiple parts, or we also have it kitted up with wonderful threads and fabric so that it is all ready to begin.

Hare's Autumn by Plum Street is a continuation of her sweet Hare's series. This one is irresistible with the little Hare family out raking autumn leaves. I love the frame that Jill put on it.

And of course another fab Halloween piece from Lizzie Kate: Halloween Letters. (ok, I hope that is its name. I think it should be, but I am usually confused.) This whimsical alphabet includes great colours, spooky words and darling embellishments. I think it would work up quite quickly and be a lot of fun to do.

These new little pieces from Jeannette Douglas are simply adorable. They are small but exquisite and would be wonderful made into little pin cushions if you prefer. I also think that we just received the next 2 or 3 in the series from her earlier this week. If you want a quick summer project, give them a try.

And finally, a wonderful series of new books from Leisure Arts. Lori from La-D-Da designs, has designed 2 books for them which are quite delightful. Each one has 25-33 pages and is filled with her darling designs. What a great deal. Plus the covers are gentle and sweet and just make you feel happy. I know, but I am a book cover kind of person. Words to Stitch By has many of her darling sayings--some old and some new, or maybe some I just hadn't noticed before. You will love them all. And All Creatures has six animal oriented pieces: cats, dogs, Noah's ark, the elephant and the tiger and a forest creatures design. Each book runs $10.00 which is quite a bargain even if it is just to add to your collection.

And now the weekend is waning and this letter is still not posted. So her it goes off into space to you. Watch for a new letter in about a week with all of our new things on it. Have a great end of July with plenty of time to stitch and a breath of cool air--whether from your air conditioner or from the trees outside your window. Be safe and remember that we will be closed on the 25th for our Utah's founding day. You know--parades, and fireworks, and barbecues. See you on Tuesday. fondly, Tina

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

End of May (March), 2011
Dear Friends,
I know--I don't really think it is March, but I believe that Mother Nature does. Here we are in the middle of the desert, and we are practically floating away. We have a little mountain creek that runs through our backyard, and every day we monitor the amount of water going down it. To say the least, it is simply roaring along right now. Periodically, Christian has to swim in and fetch out various items which have washed down before they get caught at the bottom of my neighbor's yard. Happy Spring! Other than the flooding, our constantly rainy weather has not hurt my feelings as far as yard work is concerned. I am happy to do it in June. Teri has been planting her box gardens in the rain, and I actually think they are looking very good. She had this brilliant idea to plant 2 artichoke plants this year and we were laughing when we looked on the tag and it said the growing period was 120 days. Last year we only had about 60 days of summer, and this year isn't looking much better. So...I'll let you know how our yummy artichokes are coming along. On the flip side, Teri harvested carrots all through the winter whenever it thawed enough to dig them up.

The weather is great for stitching, and we have been taking full advantage of it. Teri has been like a stitching maniac going from one project to another all in the course of an evening. Each day when she brings her projects in to the shop, I think that she must never have gone to bed the night before. We have all been having a great time with the new Mystery Sampler--Birds of a Feather. The border--which is all we have at this point--is just beautiful and has been a lot of fun to work on. I think that the colors are quite special, and I can't wait to see what will be on the inside of the sampler. Not that I have even come close to finishing the border, but you know--always looking ahead. Teri has just been whipping on hers and it is a good thing that I am not a competitive person, or I might have an ulcer. But here is a picture of her sampler so far to give you an idea of how lovely it is--even though she is way further than this by now. I stitched with her over the weekend on this project while we were watching a Doc Martin marathon, and it was an interesting experience. She seems to have enlarged and chopped up her border pattern into small pieces which is quite ingenious as she can pin it to her fabric and sail right along. So the whole weekend, I was the constant recipient of a shower of tiny bits of patterns which seemed just a little confusing to me. But the truly funny and disconcerting part was every so often she would quite cheerfully moan--Oh, dear, I seem to have stitched the wrong thing here. Oh well, So my suggestion for you is that if she offers small bits of border to you---run!

Here is Teri's sampler in progress along with the darling bird scissors and fob which we give you when you order the kit from us. So, if you are inclined, just jump in and join the fun. It isn't too big, so you will have no problem catching up.

Last week we had a great time going to the International Quilt Market which was in Salt Lake City. It was great not having to fly across the country to go to market and even better being able to see a lot of friends who were also here. Teri and I never get to shop a market together, because one of us has to always stay at our own booth. I know that we spent too much, but we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of many wonderful new things. Friday night, we all got together at Bucca for lots of food, laughter, and chatting. Here is a lovely picture of us as we were leaving the restaurant with the girls from Jabco, SamSarah, Crescent Colours, Hillcreek Buttons, and Silver Needle.
Then on Saturday, Lindy and Mona from the Silver Needle and Sharon Crescent of Crescent Colours took the train to Ogden and rode the little trolley to our shop where we spent the whole day together. Honestly, it was so much fun, and we all talked about a million miles a minute. The weekend just went by too quickly, and we were both sad to see it end. Sorry the picture of us at the shop is up above and I can't get it to move.

We have just received a group of very fun new stitching treasures from our friend, Lady Dot, and everyone here at our shop has been going nuts over them. They arrived just in time for our Mystery Sampler kick-off party and everyone loved them. I know that they are very limited in numbers, so if you see something you love, just give us a call while we still have them.

Here is a picture of Leah's Heart, ($14) Wild Rose Scissor Keep, ($12), and Paper Roses Thread Cards, ($12). As you can see, everything is very old-fashioned with beautiful fabrics, pearl buttons, and silk ribbon

We also have a wonderful basket full of these darling treasures. They are real acorn caps shellacked (sorry about spelling) and rimmed with a dusting of sparkle with tiny wool balls for pin cushions. Honestly, they are so adorable, everyone has been choosing colours to match their current projects. ($1)

And here is a lovely little set of 2 emories and a needle book that are as useful as they are sweet. We still have a few of each left, so don't wait too long to snatch yours up. ($30)

Well, I guess I have to go and post this off to you . Stay safe in our crazy weather, and I hope you get plenty of time to put in a few stitches on your favorite projects. ever fondly, Tina

Spring 2011

Dear Friends,

I am just sitting here on a beautiful May evening writing this letter to you and watching the sun and black storm clouds shift and alternate places across the almost-dusk sky. The garden has never had so many spring blooms--tulips, ranunculi, and pansies. And Christian and I were just noticing how abundant and huge the grape hyacinths are this year, and reminiscing how he loved to play with them as a toddler. He never picked or touched them, but he identified the King and Queen and outlying kingdoms and spent hours outside watching them grow and flourish and die off as the season waned. Oh...where has the time gone. This has been such a crazy, busy month for me that it has been hard to get this written as quickly as I wanted. I have to go quickly and get it posted before we are involved in Quilt Market activities the rest of the week. How fun! Kristin's computer is down so we haven't been able to put up our new Shepherd's Bush designs, so I am hopefully going to be able to get them up on this blog. Well--at least Teri may be able to. We have had fun designing some new things for Spring, and I would love to share them with you.

I don't know why, but spring always makes me a little sentimental about my family Perhaps it starts with Mother's Day and then ebbs towards the end of the school year and all the changes that it brings about each year. You know--I don't like change, and as each May pushes my boys ahead to new grades and new changes in their lives, I sometimes just want to grab hold of them and make time stand still. So..our new designs reflect our family mood as you will soon see. Sophie's Pin Cushion is a new little piece that I just love. It is stitched on 32 count Sandcastle Jobelan, and it was quite lovely to work on. The kit runs $20 and comes with a variety of hand-dyed silk and cotton threads, fabulous hand-dyed silk ribbon, and tiny glass beads and buttons dyed to match the piece. The verse around the cushion is written for my Mom, but really is a tribute to the caring and nurturing hearts of all women. I hope you love it as much as I do.

Family is a piece that Teri has designed to go with her Friends piece that is so popular. We dye the 32 count linen for this little piece in our back yard at the shop, and it is stitched with a lovely array of over dyed threads that perfectly compliment its sweet nature. The kit runs $20 and comes complete with 3 darling little charms.

 Come Home is a new addition to our little box series. 
 It is a darling piece depicting a home with a boat 
sailing towards it.  Worked on 32 count Lambswool
 linen with a variety of silks and over dyed cottons, 
it fits perfectly in the little round boxes that we have 
been using.  Only $16.00 for the whole small kit 
plus $17.00 if you want the little creme box as well. 
 You know, I told you that I am turning sentimental 
and missing my boy who is staying to work at school
 for the  summer.  But I think all of us live our lives 
yearning to come home or bring someone home to us.
         And Teri's new 9-pane leaflet--Mother's Hope--
is fabulous.  I think that the colours as so sweet, 
and the design is just perfect for a quick springtime
 project.  Cecile at the Button Company made this 
wonderful heart button of a mom's garden to go in 
the center of it. Don't you just love it?  The leaflet
 runs $6.00 and the button also runs $6.00, and 
we are happy to send you just those or send 
you the whole kit with the windowpane fabric 
and the over dyed cotton floss all packaged up
 in a darling bag.  For a while we even have the
 beautiful backing fabrics to go with it.
          Here are just a few other fun things to tempt you. 
 We are totally into pin cushions here at the shop, and
 Pat and Ann have been  dying scrumptious chenille
 to go around the edges of your cushions.  It is 
beautiful to use and easy to attach and finishes them
off perfectly.  Teri and  I have been couching it on a
 wool appliqué project that we are working on and 
it is so much fun to use.  Just take a look at the 
delicious colours.  I think it runs $5.00 for 5 yards.
        And just take a look at the darling mini ric rac that they 
are also dyeing.  Can't wait to use it on a project.
        And speaking of pin cushions, I have to show you this
 picture of a piece that we designed for Chris Stott.  It is in 
a leaflet that just  came out in her memory, and I think that 
it turned out quite fun.  Anyway, it makes me happy seeing
 it and thinking about our friend, Chris.  We have this leaflet 
available at the shop and all the supplies to make this as well..
        I know that I need to finish this up and enlist Teri's help in
trying to post it on our computer.  So...I am going to leave you 
with a few pictures from our Royal Wedding Celebration.  
We had a party all day on the day of the royal wedding and 
it was so much fun.  A few good sports wore their hats and 
crowns, although none of them really measured up to what 
showed up in London I think.  That was quite amazing.  As  
you can see, our tea was quite spectacular!  We had stayed
 up most of the night before--well pretty much until the actual 
wedding began--making our treats which we served all the 
next day.  We had used my grandmother's recipes and I think 
even she would have been pleased:  cucumber sandwiches,
 lime curd and shortbread tarts, profiteroles with vanilla pastry 
creme and chocolate ganache, and princess cupcakes--which
 we didn't actually make but ordered from a  local cupcake 
shop.  All was very yummy.  And in spite of everything, I think  
you  had to be pretty hard-hearted to not sort of get into the 
spirit of  that beautiful wedding.  And so I will just leave you 
with these darling pictures and  wish you the happiest of
 springs.  Be happy...hugs, Tina  
PS: The Mystery Sampler is on its way to us as I write and we 
are very excited,  If you have pre-ordered it, we will send it the
 first part of next week.  We will also be having little get 
together on the early evening of the 17th- Tuesday- if you live 
close by.   I will write next week and give you more info on this 
 fun new project, in case you want to join in.  Until then...T


PPS. I know this has posted weird... but it is now very late and
 I can not figure it out, maybe a fresh look tomorrow.... or some 
help from Kristin who usually does this blog- so just think of it 
as a puzzle... and we will figure it out soon- good night- Teri


 



      



   

April, 2011

Dear Friends,

I would love to say Happy Spring, but I am not really sure which season we are in. Here in Utah, we seem to be caught in a continual loop between spring and winter--sweaters one day and hats and gloves the next. Only Lindbergh seems to be content with a walk in whatever weather comes his way. Well, as some of you have figured out by now, we have taken that great step known to the 21st century inhabitants as Facebook. OK--I should clarify--the we part is a little inaccurate since my only venture into this adventure was to watch The Social Network with Christian. So I guess Teri is now on Facebook and having fun tending to the Shepherd's Bush page when she gets a chance--or thinks about it. It is definitely a mind-set. She seems to like adding things to her wall and corresponding with friends who have posted on it. I think I am not really a social network person. (I guess first of all I would have to be social.) I can never quite get past messages with spelling corrections for her. Really? You just have to accept that about Teri--she spells only according to her own mental dictionary which simply has nothing to do with the rules or suggestions from Oxford. Heaven knows it seems she has spelled her own name wrong her whole life. Don't worry, you'll get used to it. Sometimes it can be quite fun like solving a crossword or suduku puzzle. Well, anyway, if you are a Facebook person, I'll invite you to look our shop page up once in a while and see what we have going.

I have some fun things to talk about in this letter and I hope you will catch our excitement for some new things that are coming our way. First of all, Teri has been on a felt pincushion kick the last little while. We have 2 friends who are doing new pincushions--different from each other--and we have been having so much fun with them at the shop. Patti from SamSarah is doing a fruit and vegie group of cushions and I told you that Teri was working on the watermelon. Well she has finished it and it is so darling! She loved doing it and I think is moving on to the carrot next. She said it was fun to stitch and easy to finish.

Now another friend, Cecille from Just Another Button Co., has a daughter, Rachael, working in the business with her who is making a series of felt pincushions. We had her make us two of them and they are simply darling. I love the little blackbird and would love to make one of these for myself. Yeah, right.

But the strawberry is also very darling and might be easier to make. We have had several customers making them, however, and they said that they are very easy and have great instructions. Plus there are other darling ones that we carry but do not have made up yet: an adorable snowman, a carrot, ice cream sundae, and a box of chocolates that is amazing. Oh and Teri just told me that the newest one is a sheep--fab!

Now here is something fun that is coming of this month. In celebration of Prince William's marriage to Kate, Paula, at Kelmscott has designed a darling little commemorative set to mark the day. I know, that sounds a little odd, but it is very sweet and what a little, dear treasure of a part of our world's history. Growing up with a British grandmother, we have some memorabilia from the Royals that I have always loved. We have a tin with Queen Elizabeth's portrait on it made to commemorate her becoming Queen that we always stored our Christmas cookies in every year. I have always loved it and every year, we bring it out and lovingly wash it and put it away after the holidays. I also have a tea cup celebrating another event in her life that sits in my china hutch that I have always treasured. Someday William and Kate will be the King and Queen, and you will have these hidden in your stitching box as a remembrance. Or if you are like one of my many friends who are anxiously awaiting April 29th and planning to watch the entire grand proceedings from beginning to end, you will definitely want this.

There is a pincushion with their initials and a crown which she has paired with one of her cameo crown magnets and a tiny pair of gold Elizabeth I embroidery scissors. I just love them. The pattern--which comes with silk ribbon for the edge--runs $7.00, the magnet--royal purple of course--runs $9.50, and the scissors--$11.50. We are stitching it right now, and of course Teri has done her own colours. We will be offering a kit with the fabric, silks strands and a suggestion for a matching fob. I am not sure of the price of the little kit, but you could call us and we will know. We also have another commemorative pattern coming this week from Sampler Girl which is very different from this one, but is also very darling--a little more whimsical and colorful. So if you are into the whole royal family--and secretly, who isn't--don't miss out. Plus, on Friday, April 29th, we will be serving cucumber sandwiches and lime-curd tarts all day if you want to stop by and share the Royal fever. I know it won't be quite the spread coming out in London, but it will be very fun. Hey, bring your pincushion with you and we'll all work on it. See you then.

Now, I have some very fun news which we have just found out about this past week. With Thy Needle is starting up a new sampler experience called Birds of a Feather Mystery Sampler. We are very excited about it and hope that you all will be as well. Of course, because it is a mystery, we are not privy to very much specific information about it, but we think it will be a very fun spring and summer project to work on. If you are familiar with her things, you will know that she does lovely designs, and this one sounds sort of in the traditional sampler style. ??? I have no idea if this will be a limited thing or will continue to be available, but here is how we are going to work it if you are in from the beginning. The first portion will come out sometime around mid-May and will include the border pattern. Then the remaining sampler will arrive in 2 separate parts in June and July. Here are the details of the actual project:

Patterns only--to come in 3 parts--$21.00

Complete Kit: includes all patterns, fabric, threads--$75.00

Partial Kit: includes all patterns and fabric (no threads)--$37.00

If we will need to ship these to you, it will be an extra $9.00 to cover the 3 shipments.

I don't know what the colours will be like, but I do know that many of the colours require more than 1 skein so beware. If you would like to customize the threads, that will be possible if you are purchasing the complete kit. The fabric will be available in your choice of 30, 35 or 40 count. Also, we will include a fun little stitching gift to go with this sampler if you purchase the complete kit from us. So...if you are as excited as we are..just give us a call to sign up and we will be sure that you are included in the initial order. We will take down all your information, but we will not charge your card until we are ready to send the first installment which will include the border pattern and the fabric, needle, and threads. And, if you happen to be close by, we will be doing a potluck stitching night here at the shop to kick off the sampler. We will let you know the date when we find out. Just watch the blog for any updates, and give us a call if you have questions.

Well, I have to go and I have to send this off to Kristin to post before Teri has my head. She is excited about all of this and wants you to get excited as well. So... until next week--or the next--I am sending you hugs.

fondly, Tina

PS--I am mystified by those of you who mentioned laughing your heads off at our downspout dilemma. Did I make it sound funny? Hmmm... Did I also mention that the perpetrator is now living next door to the shop? I have to wonder what happened to the concept of jail.

The Spring Equinox, 2011

Dear Friends,

This world never ceases to astonish me. Teri and I have had our shop for 25 years and were little more than children when we opened it-- both of us just out of college. And through the years we have had many odd and funny adventures. Certainly one of our grand experiences has been living in a hundred and thirty year old carriage and blacksmith shop where we have encountered many of the joys that an old building shares with its resident people. So...why was I at all surprised when we arrived at work recently and stopped in front of the door to lament that Sebastian had removed our Christmas lights. Then I hesitated thinking that something else looked odd. And odd it was, since the 40 foot copper downspout had vanished off our building. Teri and I simply stared truly wondering how a person removes such a thing on a busy, main street in the middle of the downtown--one block from the police station. I know, I have sat through many heritage meetings where we heard about the growing thefts of copper wiring from old buildings, but my downspout? Really? So after a quick and singularly unsatisfactory call to the police, Teri's super sleuth mode set in convincing me that her childhood obsession with every Nancy Drew book ever written had finally served her well. Within an hour, she had found the unfortunate fixture hidden in a veritable Dickens-esque warren of unsavory characters and activities, where we looked in dismay at our downspout flattened and chopped into 1 foot lengths. I am happy to say that we did turn it over to the police at that point, after I convinced Teri that I was drawing the line at tracking down the chief suspect ourselves. Unfortunately, in spite of the day or two of excitement, we are now left with a front porch slightly reminiscent of Niagara Falls on a rainy day, and the almost constant job of guarding the matching downspout on the other side of the building.

In spite of being very busy chasing suspects and look-alike suspects, we have actually been working quite hard inside of the shop. For better or for worse, Teri has taken down most of our snow things and brought out Easter and Spring in all their glory. Of course that means that we will undoubtedly get snow this weekend. But in the meantime I promised to show you some of the new, fun things that we picked up at Market. If you are a person who loves little darling sewing implements, you have to take a look at the sweet needle books and quilting tomatoes.

The tomatoes come in several colours and run only $5.00 with an adorable stick pin and $4.00 without one. ( Oddly, some colours come with, and some without.) I love the little needle books. They are sweet and small and would fit in your box perfectly. They come in gold, green and rose and run $6.00 each. Plus--when you purchase one, we will put in a new, gold needle.

Here is a little pattern that we had at market and I have finally gotten it put together in a little kit with everything you will need to complete it. It is called--Tiny Bee Garden pin cushion. It goes with the Tiny Garden Fob and is part of a series that Teri is going to be adding to. The price for the little kit is and it includes everything needed--including the silver bee charm-- except the stuffing.

If you haven't had a chance to see the new SamSarah books, we are sending you a picture. They are super sweet and very fun for spring. Harried Hare just makes me smile with its picture of a rapid rabbit on egg delivery. The colors are fun and cheerful, and if you are more into a quicker project, you can do what Teri is doing and just stitch the darling carrot pin cushions that go along with it. She spent yesterday afternoon gathering supplies to come home and stitch them up, so I will keep you posted as to her progress. I know I am much better at gathering the perfect materials, than I am at stitching the project.

She has also been busy stitching one of the darling totes from the Spring Totes book and said it was a lot of fun to do. These mesh totes come in different colours and are the perfect thing to carry your projects in while you are on the go.

And finally Market Fresh is a series featuring fresh fruits. The first one is Watermelon and I thing Teri has secretly gathered supplies to make the pin cushion on that book. Hmm...we'll see.

I also promised a picture of the new Blackbird books. A Stitcher's Journey is fabulous and filled with wonderful projects. Lynnette is quite quickly working her way through many of them and they are fantastic. She just picked up 2 from Jill and they are wonderful. I am sure they are hanging in her house by now.

And here are the series of Rewards of Merit pieces that I thing are so dear. They all vary in size and theme, but are truly so endearing. Did I mention that I have almost finished Dear Friend. Maybe I can show it next time I write.

The new limited edition sewing accessory pack from Little House is very fun and we still have a few left before they are gone. Fresh From the Garden is a pattern booklet and threads which funs $23.00 and the pre-finished Accessory pack includes a darling stuffed tomato and needle book in sweet, sweet fabrics for only $28.00. I think these were a one-time thing from market, so be sure to get them while they are still available.

Finally, you just have to see the darling new sampler that our friend Marilyn has stitched for us. It is a wonderful Long Dog piece, From the Hand of Friendship. I just love the colour Teri has used from both the linen and the thread, and I can't wait to see what Jill does with it.

OK, I have to finish this up and get it off to you. My family is restless and whining about dinner, so I guess I have to get it going. I think we are going to have Chicken Cacciatore--I only hope I can fix it better than I can spell it. Enjoy the rain if it is coming your way, and otherwise I hope that you have a crocus blooming in your garden.
ever fondly, Tina