The Nashville Market

The Nashville Needlework Market was a great success a couple of weeks ago! Always a fun time . . . always a stressful time!

I had 5 new designs this year for Market.

First up is "Bee Hives Matter". Did you know that 70 out of the top 100 human food crops — which supply about 90 percent of the world’s nutrition — are pollinated by bees?

To make 16 oz. of honey it takes 1,152 bees to travel 112,00 miles to visit 4.5 million flowers! (I don't know how they know that, but it sounds amazing.)

So . . . Bee Hives DO Matter!

There is a wonderful Bee/Honey store "Wild Mountain Bees" in Weaverville, NC just over the mountain from me . . . they have the best wildflower honey! After reading a few articles about how many honeys have other things added to them, I prefer to get my honey from "Wild Mountain Bees" versus buying it at the grocery store.

And so . . . keeping with the bee theme, the next one is "BEE-utiful". I finished this one as a pillow . . . really not as big as it appears . . . the wicker chair is a dolls chair.

Noteworthy Needle and I carried the bee theme to another level with a collaboration. Janis designed smalls to go with my designs called "Small Matters". "Bee Hives Matters" fits on the lid of a cigar type box with "BEE-utiful" fitting inside the lid. All the smalls fit nicely inside. Aren't they too cute ? ? ?

We had a bee theme display complete with bee lights . . .

We also dressed in a bee theme . . . oh the plans we had to carry this to the extreme . . . this was as far as we got.

 Janis even convinced her husband Tom to wear the beekeeper's outfit!

Next is "Faithful Friend" . . . this year's Ripple Effect Pattern. My designer profits from Ripple Effect Patterns are donated to the American Cancer Society in Meg Ripple's memory . . . a friend we lost to cancer.

I had two "early release" patterns available at Market.  The first one, "Frogs In Your Underpants" will be released in April. (Market attendees were able to get it at Market).  I think this one would make a great birth sampler.

And last, but not least is my patriotic offering "God Bless America" that will be released in May. (Market attendees were able to get this on at Market as well).

We joined a group of designer friends for their annual "tour of rooms" beginning with pizza and wine. It's not only fun to see and hear how everyone displays and comes to design their patterns, but tips and suggestion sharing was very helpful . . . what a great bunch!

Had a week at home to recuperate from the lack of sleep work/party fest and it was off to the quilt guild's annual quilting retreat . . . stay tuned for more lack of sleep quilting/party festing ! Is that a word . . . festing?

Always BEE Stitching ~*