Friday, November 30, 2012

It took a village to get this shop moved to our new location. We could not have done this without our many friends. Many. many thanks to: Sybil, Mary, Debra, Norma, Wendy, Joe, John, George, Donald, and Mr. Gates. It took many long days in an unheated shop to get this project completed. Pat spent many hours on the ladder rehanging over 400 models and we spent long hours prepping our 40 foot fiber wall. BUT - It's done and it looks fabulous if I do say so myself. We did manage to get some new things in the shop even though we were moving. We have all the new Shepherds Bush kits and Pat has both the little stockings already stitched- just darling. I am working on the new WTNT Santa pillow. I managed to find the red ticking and hope to have it made up quickly. Next week we will have new Lizzie Kate and the new Christmas sampler from Stacy Nash- fabulous! I hope you all enjoyed your holiday. I love Thanksgiving- from the decor, to the food, to the parade, to the gathering of friends and family. My daughter and her boyfriend came and we had a great time. We cooked enough food for half this city, laughed ouselves silly over many episodes of Duck Dynasty,and watched a multitude of football. We didn't do any Black Friday shopping - too many last minute things to do so we could open the shop on Saturday. We had our reopening on Saturday. It was so busy and people seemed to love our new space. If you haven't come by- please do. We can't wait to hear what you think! We are hoping to post the reservation form for our Ladies Prim Society by next week. This is an exclusive club through DTS featuring Threadworks Primitive and Blackbird Designs. Every 8-10 weeks you will receive a complete kit including any finishing supplies needed. Maybe a sneak peak before the end of the year. Love this first one- you will too! This is going to be FUN! Don't forget to mark your calendars for our retreat Oct 3-5, 2013. We will be posting full info by January 1st- teachers, tracks, etc. We are so excited about this retreat and are coming up with more ideas than we can possibly accomplish but its great fun picking the ones we will complete. If you are looking for that special gift for a stitching friend- we have lots of fun things to pick from or a gift card is always a welcome choice. These can be purchased in person or by phone. We are happy to mail it to the recepient of your choice. We will be accepting framing and finishing until December 8th for Christmas delivery. Please drop your projects off as soon as you can. Next week I will post pictures of the new shop! I know this is such a busy time of year. As we go about our preparations for the upcoming holidays lets remember the true meaning of Christmas- Peace, goodwill towards men......

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

What a great birthday celebration we had! So many people, so much fun! Many thanks to Nan Lewis for coming to share the weekend with us. People were lined up to meet and talk with her. The goodies were goobled up- especially the whoopie pies. We had over 50 models for sale and there's not many left. Thanks to all of you who came to help us celebrate.

Our time with Nan and her husband Bill was a blast. I am not sure we ever stopped talking. Nan's friend Ivonne and her husband Kevin, from the Crackling Crows, also made a trip to see us and what a pleasure they were. We took everyone to our favorite restaurant- Primos for a fabulous Italian meal to top the weekend off. Thanks, Nan for everything!

We received all the new With thy Needle and Thread charts last week along with the new Drawn Threads. Ugh- now what to stitch first. Oh- I think I will just start two or three and see where the spirit moves me...... Pat just finished  Be Thankful from Little House and it is framed and up in the shop. She is zooming through Santas Night from Prairie Schooler on black and has a basketful of Christmas projects that will probably get done before Thanksgiving.

Starting Friday we will be closing the shop for a week so we can move down the street. This is a major undertaking and we are so grateful for all the folks who are helping and have offered to help. We are excited to change things up a bit and redo some things - what a way to energize everyone.  Hope you will come by and see how it turns out beginning Saturday, November 24th which just happens to be Small Business Saturday! Perfect!

Today is Veterans Day- I am so grateful to all who serve and have served especially my grandfathers, my dad, brother, uncle, husband,  my business partner Pat, and many, many friends.. Thank you so much for your service.

Can you believe its almost Thanksgiving? This is my favorite holiday. Somehow it seems to get lost in the shuffle sometimes which makes me sad. Its such a great day- a time to give thanks for all we have, the people we love and the many blessings in our lives. When we found out we were moving the shop that week I stated that I guess I wouldn't have time to cook and that was loudly vetoed. So I am cooking for family and friends.  That's okay- its my pleasure.......

We are still accepting framing and finishing for Christmas. You still have time to complete that last minute project and get it in here. We have had multitudes of ornaments come in these past few weeks and I suspect the stockings will be flying in here next.

I hope to show pictures of the before and after at the new shop. Its always fun to see the transformation! The new shop is painted and has brand new carpet- they are waiting on us to start packing and moving things on Friday. It should be exciting..............

I hope each of you has a wonderful, blessed Thanksgiving. Isn't it a wonderful thing to be with family and friends? I can't wait....................




Ann and Nan Lewis, Threadwork PrimitivesNan Lewis, of Threadwork Primitives, signing a chart


Display of Threadwork Primitive models

More Threadwork Primitive models on display

Everyone is busy working

One happy customer chatting with Nan Lewis, Threadwork Primitives

Ivonne of The Crackling Crow and Nan Lewis of Threadowk Primitives

Snacks!Look at those yummy Whoopie Pies that Ann made!

Shop models on sale

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

We're back! What a trip it was! The first five  hours not even a flake of snow. I finally sent my daughter a text and said" Where is the snow?" Then we went around a big curve and whamo, there was the snow. It was piled up 3-4 feet in some spots. It became very foggy and it was just us and the snow plows on the interstate. This road I-68 had been closed on Tuesday and was opened up just a few hours before we got there. The last hour was pretty nerve wracking but after my hair going even greyer if that's  possible we arrived.

Can you indulge me in a proud mom moment.?  I have such an amazing daughter. She should open a bed and breakfast! She cooks like Ina Garten and her home is magazine worthy. It was pretty heavenly! She also has two adorable dogs- Norman and Lucy and two crazy cats. She not only was the most incredible hostess but she allowed a friend of ours that she did not know to spend several days in her home so our friend could attend our lecture. I am a lucky, lucky mom! Thanks Jennifer!

The lecture went very well. Thanks so much to all of our friends who came from afar for this event in the horrible weather. Thanks to Linda, Lori, Rabbit, Rita, and Diane.Pat even did a bunch of research on West Virginia  so she had tons of interesting facts to relate.

We sure enjoyed our time in Morgantown. We were treated to a tour of a stone house built   there in the late 1700's. The tour was very special and we were so delighted  to be included. We also had a chance to speak at length to a history professor from the college who gave us tons of background on the area. You know that stuff is right up our alley!

 The football game on Saturday was awesome.. It had been many, many years since either of us had attended a college game.The only drawback was  how cold it was. We were  outside in 40 degree weather with winds blowing at about 25 mph for over 6 hours. We went to a tailgate party first and then the game. It was a blast but its been years since I was that cold!

Don't forget about our big  7th birthday party bash this Saturday We are so thrilled to have Nan Lewis from Threadwork Primitives coming as our guest. She is bringing  models and will be available to sign  charts . I hope you will have a chance to come by to meet her.  We have wonderful sale items and TONS of models on sale. ( we don't want to take everything to the new store!) I will be busy baking lots of yummy treats too.

For all of you interested in coming to our retreat in 2013 we have the dates: October 3-5. I will be posting more information soon. We have our teachers, the hotel, the theme and the dates. Here's a hint: we have some teachers who have been here before and some who have not!  We are very excited about it- its going to be the best one yet!

Please don't forget we will be closing the shop on November 16 and will reopen Saturday November 24 in our new location. New address: 5312 Kemps River Drive.  We will look forward to seeing all of you then.

n