Well, I've managed to squander away another two months without updating my blog. Figures. We have had quite a busy summer, though. Our summers are always so short here in Minnesota (*sigh*). During our busy summer, I did manage to get a few things ready for St. Charles market, though. The first one is a new twist on a popular design from Nashville Market in February. I had made up about 150 kite fob kits for Nashville and we sold out. I had so many people inquire about more kite kits after market that I went out in search of more trim for the kite tail (which is included in the kit). Well, I couldn't find the exact trim that I had in the first kite kit, but I managed to find one that is just as cute, if not cuter. I used the same pattern, but changed the colors to compliment the new kite tail trim. It turned out great. The back has the phrase, "go fly a kite" stitched in multicolor threads over one.
The second design is my Limeted Edition "Mystery Moon Fortune Sampler". This one was really fun to design. I had these really cool moon buttons that I found at market last year. The moon buttons were in an assorted mix of four different colors. Then I picked up some Limited Edition Belle Soie silk that Sharon Crescent (of Crescent Colours) had for sale in bulk. I had a large stash of some 32 ct. black linen and all that was left to come up with was the design. It is really fun to design "in reverse" like that. It really makes you use your creativity. My favorite thing about this one is that it is a surprise as to which color moon button you are going to get. The moon button is wrapped in a fortune so that you cannot see what color it is in the kit. The kit comes with the 32 ct. black linen, the pattern, the moon button wrapped in a fortune, the Limited Edition Belle Soie silks, and the needle. It is a quick stitch and I love the quote. I also like the way the black frame looks next to the black fabric. In the photo it is a little hard to see the four silk colors against the black, but they are orange, pale blue, lime green and a peach blush color. Super fun!
The third item I have for market is a pattern titled,"The Vera Tuber Sampler". This design is part of the “Jenny Bean and Friends Series”. For those of you that don’t know, Jenny Bean is a fictional stitcher that my business partner in Raise the Roof Designs came up with, Basically, Jenny Bean is Theresa’s stitching alter ego. Theresa has designed several Jenny Bean samplers under her Shakespeare’s Peddler label and each new piece seems to be cuter than the next. But Jenny was lonely and Theresa thought it would be fun if Jenny had some stitching friends, so she approached several designers and invited us to invent our own fictional stitcher. She suggested that our fictional stitcher’s pen name should have a garden related name (like “Bean”) to connect them and to add a little humor in the process. Other than that, we were free to design whatever the heck we wanted. Mine is stitched on 32 ct. Vintage Charcoal linen from Lakeside Linens. It is mostly cross stitch, with a small area of over one work and a section of Smyrna crosses. I used Crescent Colours Belle Soie silk for the fibers, but also included a DMC conversion.
Vera Tuber is the fictional name that I picked out, but in my heart she is really fashioned after my Great Aunt Vera. Aunt Vera was one of those people that made a lasting impression on me, even though I only met her a handful of times when I was very young. She once made me this really cool pioneer girl bonnet and it hung on my bedpost in my bedroom for years. I still have it, actually, and I think of her every time I see it. She was such an interesting person and my mom has told us many stories about her life. While Vera did do some stitching, she was known more so for being a talented writer and poet. She was born in the early 1900s and spent her early years in the north woods of Minnesota. Her mother died of complications related to childbirth when Vera was just five years old. Vera’s life eventually brought her to Idaho, (which is how I came up with the last name “Tuber”), but she had such fond memories of her childhood home in Minnesota that she purchased a cabin and some land in the area when she was an adult. Her mother is buried in the cemetery just down the road from where she purchased her cabin. My parents now own the cabin that Vera bought. It is a log cabin that was built in 1901 and even though it is over 100 years old, it still stands strong and true. I’m planning to design more samplers based on Vera’s life and her writings.
Lastly, the tree house is coming along nicely. It is a project that has quickly spiraled out of control both financially and size-wise. When Phil and Rosie told me they were going to build a treehouse this summer, I was picturing some plywood nailed in the crux of a tree with a rope ladder leading to the little fort. Not our version. When we are finished with it, it will essentially be a storage shed in a tree. Phil has done a terrific job on it. He has no prior building experience whatsoever and so far it all looks pretty darn good. I think he is having the time of his life actually. Rosie is also gaining some mad skills in the process. She is a master at screwing in screws with the drill and does quite well with a hammer and nails, too. You can see their progress in the photos that follow. Talk to you soon!
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