Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2014!!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2014 !!!

We have had a really busy Fall and can't believe Christmas is only 4 days away!!! I have had some "blog issues" - basically my computer and blog had a disagreement - but we think we got it all fixed now.

So this is just a quick post to say a HUGE " Thank you" to all of our customers and friends that have supported our shop this past year! We really appreciate your patronage - weather it is by email, phone or visiting us in Branson - we couldn't do what we do with out all of you!!

We hope you have a wonderful Christmas Holiday Season and we wish you a happy and healthy New Year!! We look forward to seeing you in the shop, at one of our retreats, on the internet, or visiting with you on the phone.

We took the girls - Katelyn and Alice to "Supper with Santa" last night at our local Mcdonalds - they had a great visit with Santa!!!

 

We pray all of your Christmas wishes come true!! And we pray for our military for God to keep them safe wherever they are stationed as they serve our country.

 

Take care,

Margaret, Jessica, Amy, Pam, Lori, Cecilia, Krista and Ann

Celebrations of Needlework - St Charles, Missouri!!

Just a quick post to let you all know we will be at Celebrations next week. For those of you that are not familiar with Celebrations, it is the longest running needlework show in the country. There are classes!!! and Vendors!!! All Needlework!!! It is really a lot of fun  - we will be taking a smaller version of Cecilia's to Celebrations -with lots and lots of goodies to sell! And..........we have chocolate!!! We hope to see you there, come by and say "Hi" - we would love to meet you and put a face to the name and voice. Got to go and get more goodies packed. Lori and I will be there next week......hope to see you there!
enjoy your weekend!
Margaret

p.s. below is part 1 of the Lizzie Kate  Mystery Sampler Holly and Hearts - really beautiful!!

Market in 3 weeks!!

We have been having a great Summer here in Branson!! The St Charles Fall Market is in 3 weeks!! Jessica and I will be going ( we are taking Bob, Katey and Alice, too!!), so that will be a lot of fun for us. There are so many new designs and goodies coming out at market, if there is something in particular that you would like us to bring back - just let us know!! Otherwise we will be buying, shopping, and buying, and then buying some more!! This is just a quick update............Jessica and I have been stitching, so I will include some pictures of what we have been up to lately. I have been working on the LHN Sheep Virtues Series (the finished pillows are adorable) and the new Blackbird Loose Feathers  for 2013. Jessica has been working on the Lizzie Kate Jingles series - she is almost done!  We hope you are having a fun summer, getting lots of time to stitch and relax!
Have a good day!! Enjoy the pictures!
Take care,
Margaret, Jessica, Amy, Pam, Cecilia, Krista and Ann

Hot, Hot, Hot!!!

Yes, it is HOT here in Branson, Missouri!! Temperatures in the high 90's today and for most of the week. Summer is officially here!

Cecilia's has been busy during the past month. We were honored to get a visit from Pat Carson ( Designs by Gloria and Pat, Inc). Pat is a dear friend to us and is always ready to help us with her vast knowledge of the needlework industry. We had a wonderful visit and dinner together. And Pat went on to the Precious Moment Chapel in Carthage where she was teaching a class. If you ever get a chance to take a class with Pat - don't miss the opportunity. She is a fantastic teacher and an expert needleworker - you will learn so much from Pat!

My Dad came to visit for 2 weeks in June. We had such a great time with him while he was here. He will be 86 this year and was a World War 2 Tin Can Sailor ! He still works everyday and helped Kenny finish the deck we were building onto our house. And he beat all of us in cribbage, too!

The end of June we had our Summer Retreat - Happy Campers!! We were happy to have Tracy from Ink Circles Designs and Cathy from Hands on Designs at our retreat.The ladies enjoyed visiting with both designers. Cathy and tracy both designed neat charts for our retreat and also brought their newest design models for us all to see! Cathy taught a really awesome finishing class, too!!

Next Summer we will be having a formal class for our Summer Retreat. "History in the Making" is our theme. We will be having Pam Reed from Olde Colonial Designs presenting a Limited Edition hand painted needlework tool box. We will learn how to line the box and stitch smalls to go inside. The box is just georgous! AND we will also be having Susan Greening Davis presenting the history of Antique Handkerchiefs (really facinating information) and she will also be teaching a make it, take it class. Susan will bring her "Boutique" with her - she offers these special items only at her classes. Very unique items that you
won't find anywhere else! The class is limited to only 30 people - so if this interests you, sign up soon!

Part 2 of the Little House Mystery Sampler should be in the shop this week. I have part 1 stitched and am eagerly awaiting part 2 to arrive.Can't wait to see it all together and done!
Lizzie Kate will be offering a Christmas Mystery Sampler soon. You just know it will be adorable just like other Lizzie Kate designs. And Blackbird Designs Loose Feathers will be coming to Cecilia's very soon, too. So much to stitch............so little time!!!

That's about all the news that has happened lately. We hope you are all "keeping cool" this summer. Have a great July and enjoy your needlework!!

Margaret, Jessica, Amy, Pam,Cecilia, Krista and Ann

p.s. Christmas is coming !!! Pre order your JCS ornament magazine now!!

Happy Mother's Day !!

 Happy Mother's Day to you all!!
We hope that you have a great day!! Just a quick update today. Jessie has finished a Lizzie Kate chart - she did it on a real bright green and it looks really great!! Ann finished a fun chart - "I run with scissors" - done on a pretty sparkly purple fabric!

We have been re- arranging the shop - trying to make more room and more organization to what is already there. It is a slow process, like fitting the pieces of a puzzle together, but we are enjoying the change.

We are eagerly waiting for the newest Loose Feathers Chart from Blackbird designs to get here. It is the last Loose Feathers for the 2012 series. And in June (about the middle of June) we will have part one of the new Little House Needleworks Mystery Sampler coming into the shop. Don't forget to sign up for our automatic on this one - from the sneak peeks I have seen it is a beauty!


Got to get going..........have to get stitching. I am working on the Blue Ribbon Mystery Sampler - about 2/3 done. It looks so bright and springy - I will take a picture of it again soon for the blog.
You all take care and have a wonderful weekend!

Enjoy your stitching -
Margaret, Jessica, Amy, Pam, Krista, Cecilia and Ann

Where have we been?

The days and weeks fly by so fast, the next thing we know is a month (or two) has flown by and here we are............we had a good Winter retreat, despite the ice storm. It was smaller than our usual retreats, but still a lot of fun! We raised $25.00 for the Humane society along with dog food and treats for the dogs, too. Cecilia's will round that donation up to $100.00 for the Humane Society - every little bit helps!! We are planning another Winter retreat, just working on the dates for next year.
Our 2 Spring retreats were wonderful!! Lots of fun, goodies and of course Stitching!! We raised $500.00 for Breast Cancer and Cecilia's will double that, so our donation will be $1000.00!!!

We have changed the retreats and we are getting really good feedback from our ladies about the changes! The biggest change is the Hotel reservations. We have separated the Hotel and retreat. What that means is that you can decide if you want to stay at the hotel (we reserve a block of rooms for our retreat), but if you would rather stay at a different hotel,  your timeshare, your home (for the locals), or with a friend or relative that lives in the area you can do that. If you want to stay at the Hotel, you just call the hotel and let them know how many nights that you would like to stay. Our Spring and Fall retreat prices are now $225.00, and you pay the hotel for how many nights that you choose to stay.

We have a NEW MYSTERY SAMPLER coming to the shop in June!!! And it is designed by Little House Needleworks!!! We are already taking reservations for the sampler!! It is on our website front page. Jessie has uploaded all the details that we have about it - the sneak peek looks really neat!!

I have been working on the Blue Ribbon Mystery Sampler - it is a really pretty Spring Sampler - done on a nice bright blue fabric, with lots of Spring type motifs. Now that we have a new mystery sampler coming in June, I had better get stitching.

Another really cute and quick to stitch item we have in the shop is the mini sled. We stitched on gold perforated paper and glued to the sled for a quick finish!! There is also a larger sled available and a miniature bed that finishes as a pincushion! All quick to stitch and finish!
That's about all for today..........hope you are all enjoying Spring and finding time to stitch!
Margaret, Jessica, Amy, Pam, Cecilia, Krista and Ann

Off to Market!!!

February 20, 2013
We are just a day and a half away from our first Winter Retreat!! And Branson is under a Winter weather watch - we are expecting ice!!! It will all work out great - we always enjoy hosting our retreats and the new hotel we're using this year has an indoor pool and hot tub!! It may be icy outside, but we will be nice and warm inside!!

Jessie and I are getting ready for the Nashville Market - we will be leaving on Friday March 1st and be back March 3rd - we should have all the new goodies set up in the shop by Tuesday. We are leaving Pam, Amy, Cecilia and Krista to run the shop while we are gone. They will be eager to help you with your needlework needs. If there is anything that you would like us to bring back from Nashville - just let us know -we will be happy to bring back all the goodies on your list for you.

Got some pictures to share with you - Jessie has been stitching Lizzie Kate's Jingles, she is using 36 count precious metals (it twinkles). I have been stitching the mystery sampler by Blue Ribbon Designs - got part 1 done. The colors are so pretty - really makes you think of spring!! Pam (Moonlit Needlearts) has been making thread keeps - all different designs. She can custom make just about anything that your heart desires.

And about a month ago.......Jessie left Pam and I alone in the shop with 3 (yes 3) of our yarn representatives visiting us over the course of a week. Well..........Pam and I get very excited about yarns and we "may" have ordered way too much yarn - but it is so beautiful!!! We have a new wide ribbon yarn that makes real fluffy and ruffle scarves. We have stretchy yarn, a cotton yarn that looks like mohair(for those of you that are allergic to wool), a flower yarn that makes its own flowers as you knit or crochet, a very delicate yarn with sparkles in pretty spring colors made from cotton and acrylic. New wool blends - wool and silk, wool and alpaca, and new twirly scarf yarns!! So come by the shop and see the huge selection of yarns (and buy some before Pam and I get in too much trouble) Pam even has knitting classes here, if you need lessons!

I'm going to add some pictures and get going. Hope you are all having a good February and I think we are all just about ready for Spring to get here!! Enjoy your needlework!!
Take care,
Margaret, Jessie, Amy, Pam, Cecilia, Krista and Ann

Happy 10th Anniversary to Cecilia's Samplers

January 28, 2013  -  It is 72 degrees and sunny here in Branson!!! Can you believe it!!We have been very fortunate to be having a mild Winter here in Branson. We all hope that you have had a good New Year and that 2013 will be a great year for you.

We are planning an exciting year at Cecilia's - 2013 is our 10th year of being in the needlework business. We plan to be celebrating all year - sales - giveaways and lots of fun!We are LOVING meeting new people and being able to welcome them to our shop, website and retreats. It doesn't seem like 10 years has gone by..........but here we are. And just to dispel any rumors that have been spreading around.......WE ARE NOT GOING OUT OF BUSINESS!

We have so many new goodies for you to see!!! Several automatic going - some monthly, some 3 part , and of course if there is a favorite designer - we can automatically ship all of their new designs to you. We can customize each shipment to your specifications. We have the Blue Ribbon Designs Mystery Sampler - Blue Jeans and Daisies ( I am stitching that one!), Lizzie Kate Jingles (Jessie is stitching that!), Country Cottage Santa's Village, and Little House has 2 series going - The Sheep Virtues (another one for me to stitch) and a Hometown Christmas series with no end in sight - it will last as long as Diane keeps designing!!

We have also gotten many beautiful yarns in the shop - Pam and I were left alone with our yarn reps - like leaving a kid in a candy store -  we are FULL of so many wonderful yarns -different fibers, lots of free patterns, and gorgeous  colors!! Amy, Pam, and Cecilia are having way too much fun with the yarns!! I actually made a felted purse for myself, my first felted project. It was really fun to combine yarns and see the felted result - so pretty!!!

Jessie has been doing some beaded Mill Hill Kits..........she enjoyed doing the beading and they came out really nice!!! Now she is starting on the Lizzie Kate Jingles series........We'll have pictures as soon as she gets going with it.

We are working on our Winter Wonderland Retreat that we will be having next month......then the week after that Jessie and I are off to market in Nashville. If there is anything you would like us to pick up for you , just let us know.

I am going to add some pictures and get back to work...........have a good day!! And take some time to stitch!!

Take Care,
Margaret, Jessie, Amy, Pam, Ann, Krista and Cecilia