In the beginning......Yes, this is the start of our blog for Dyeing to Stitch. Occassionally I will post some R & R news as well. I am very excited about this.  I hope to keep you posted on shop news, special events and our retreats.

It's been a terrific summer at the shop. So many of our out of town friends have stopped by to see us and lots of stitchers from afar managed to find their way to us.  It was wonderful seeing so many of you and helping you fulfill your stitching wishlists!

Cuurently we are getting in fall mode. Lots of fun stitching projects for Halloween are done and ready for you to see. I just completed Hilda's Brew from With thy Needle and Thread. She turned out so cute and we have the trim and ticking to complete her in the shop. I stitched her on 28 count hand dyed Lugana- really, really fun to stitch on.

We found some new companies this summer that we are so excited about- Threadwork Primitives and Abby Rose Designs.  Threadwork Primitives has many fun  designs and they are quick to stitch.  Nan's finishing ideas are wonderful and give you lots of ideas for future projects. Abby Rose  has a series of small samplers that are really lovely.  The series consists of four: Care Deeply, Love Generously, Speak Kindly and  Live Simply.

I know a lot of you are finishing up Christmas projects already. Don't forget our fall frame sale which will begin October 16th. This sale runs for two weeks so you can get your projects completed  way ahead of the busy holiday season.

We are very excited about a new program we are sponsoring here at the shop to begin in January 2013. Its our first shop club: The Ladies Prim Society. We will be shipping a kit to you every 8-10 weeks. Kits will be complete and include finishing materials as well. The deisgners for this club are Nan from Threadwork Primitives and Barb and Alma from Blackbird Designs.  We will begin taking sign ups November 15th. We will have a sign up form posted on the web site.

We are also expecting a fun new Halloween prim from Liberty Hill the second week of October.. If you are interested in receiving one of these  please let us know right away as they go quickly and there are only a limited number.

When is fall arriving? I am sick of the hot weather and the rain. I know we should be grateful for the rain but honestly- enough already. I am ready for fall clothes, fall decor, fall food! We usually have a taste of fall here in Virginia in September but its not really beautiful fall weather until October. I can't wait!

Pat and I  just returned from the Shepherds Bush retreat. Each retreat is more fabulous than the last one.The theme this time was Christmas. All the projects were so different and each one so special- can't wait to start some of them. We spent three days resting in Ogden- visitng the Shepherds Bush shop, Jill Rensels, searching out those Mormon muffins and shopping. Then- on to Park City. It was truly beautiful there with the trees in full color and a crispness to the air. Pat and I roomed with Jeannette Douglas and Paulette Stewart. What fun. Never talked and laughed so much in my life.  It was great seeing all the stitchers- feels like a family reunion after 16 years of coming. We came home exhausted but  thrilled we had such a great time with such terrific people.

Now we will begin working on our retreat which will be held next October 3-5 at the Cavalier Hotel.  Hope to have information posted before the end of the year. We have our teachers, hotel and theme- sounds like a good start!

If you are coming to the Virginia Beach area and want to come and stitch with us on a Thursday night please email or call for a reservation. We have had some great ladies stitch with us the last few months and our reservations are booking up for the fall.

Hope you are all stitching like mad getting ready for the holidays!                  Ann