Lebanon shop reflects owner’s passion for primitive home decor

Sheri Glasscock’s kingdom is over the moon.

The mixed-media artist pieces quilts and hooks rugs on the second floor of Calico Moon. The small Lebanon shop has a large selection of primitive-style American-made home decor items on the first floor. Candles, lamps and textiles. Wire and woven baskets. Wreaths and florals. Seasonal folk art such as bunnies peek out for Easter. Quilting, embroidery and rug hooking samples and supplies fill three upstairs rooms.

“We make all the samples for all the patterns we sell in the shop,” said Sheri, whose mom, Deb Stark, opened the business 24 years ago. “When someone has a question, we can answer it. This is the way my house is. This is our lifestyle. We like the primitive early-American lifestyle. This is my home away from home.”

Sheri, 48, works in the front room upstairs. She may be piecing a quilt, weaving strips of wool into a hooked rug, or appliqueing wool flowers or words, such as “home” or “love” or “sew” onto a piece. She designs and embellishes as she goes. Everything she needs is just steps away.

Her wool palette is warm, rich shades. The majority of fabrics are Civil War prints and homespuns.

“Our shop has a certain look,” said Sheri. “That’s what makes it special. We have the largest selection of wool in the area.”

That’s what Sheri uses in her hooked rugs.

“The reason I learned to rug hook is because I wanted to make rugs for our house,” said Sheri, a self-taught artist who lives in Glen Carbon with husband Dan and two dogs. “It’s like anything. The more you do it, the better you get. The more time you invest, you break out of your comfort zone.”

On a recent Friday morning, a rug that looked like a work of art rested on a table behind her.

“They are made to be used,” she said. “They’re on the floor at home. Dogs love them. It’s just like making a quilt to sleep under. Wool is durable. You can vacuum it off.”

Several quilt blocks sat next to the rug.

“Things are in various stages of doneness because I’m always working,” said Sheri, who grew up sleeping under quilts her grandma made. “People see they are in progress. When they come back, the sample is finished.”

One of Sheri’s favorite samples, a Halloween-themed quilt with wool appliqued witches, pumpkins, spiderwebs and more, hangs on a wall across from her. The pattern is from Buttermilk Basin, a company whose patterns fit Sheri’s style. Sheri often makes samples and interprets designs for them.

“I could work on Halloween all year long,” she said. “I sold Halloween yesterday. We advertise in ‘Quilt Travelers Companion,’ (a guidebook of shops across the country). People who travel from far away only get here once or twice a year. If I have a sample done, I keep it out.”

Customer Carol O’Donnell discovered Calico Moon soon after it opened in 1993. She first bought Deb’s wood painting kits, then graduated to rug hooking and wool applique.

“I wanted to decorate my house in primitives,” said Carol, of Belleville. “I was up there all the time. She carries stuff I am interested in ... They are current on what is new. Sheri is very good at what she does. When she makes her samples, they pop.”

If Carol needs help with fabric choices or design, Sheri will assist.

That morning, Sheri clamped binding into place on a small muted raspberry, green and brown quilt with an embroidered spring scene.

“Mom gave this to me yesterday,” Sheri said. “She did the embroidery work. I pieced the little quilt ... One good thing, we both have the same likes. I used to tease her, ‘Here comes Mom with more junk for the house.’ Now, we are both collecting the same junk.”

How it all began

Deb liked to shop in downtown Lebanon when her two daughters, Sheri and Heather, were young.

Back then, she worked in medical records at Barnes Hospital in St. Louis, collected antiques and dreamed of owning a business.

“One day, my husband (Ed) came up here and saw an empty building,” said Deb. “At the time I was painting and designing wood painting kits. I had taught painting. From there, I started with home decor, then began building a fabric line. We ordered five bolts at a time and thought we were big time. We had fabric stuck under tables. That’s how (using the upstairs) came about. The primitive look has always been the main look.”

Calico Moon was at 208 W. St. Louis St. for 18 months, then moved a few doors down to a tall, narrow two-story building. Its name is from the popular homespun fabric and the stick-on stars and moon that Sheri had on her bedroom ceiling when she was growing up.

Deb often embroiders at the front desk as she chats with customers.

“When the girls were growing up, I’d do embroidery work, crewel work,” she said. “Sheri is more talented than I ever was. I still love to embroider. I love the handwork, the detail. When I look at it, I can see my imperfections, but I have had people come in and say, ‘Is this all done by machine?’ The first time I heard that, I was taken aback.”

She displays what she sells in things with a past. Candles are sorted in rectangular metal containers joined together. They came from a commercial bakery.

“The bakery could make four loaves at a time.”

An old sap bucket from Maine holds flower arrangements.

“This table came from Louisiana. It was made from flooring in a one-room schoolhouse to be a farm table. In this 28-drawer apothecary chest, each drawer has to fit in. All are handmade and won’t fit in another hole.”

“Our philosophy is to carry the things we would put in our own homes,” said Sheri. “Everything we would spend our time looking for.”

Sheri, who has a health information management degree from St. Louis University and worked in the university’s medical records department, began filling in for her mom at the shop.

“That’s how she started rug hooking,” said Deb. “She would be watching the shop and didn’t have enough to do.”

They worked around their full-time jobs until the shop became their full-time job.

“This was our passion,” said Deb, who lives in Collinsville. “This was our love. We turned our loves into the shop.”

“The shop is a reflection of all the things that we like,” said Sheri. “We stick to carrying things we know about, that we like to do.”

Both decorate their homes in the style of the shop.

“We are not minimalists,” said Sheri.

The mother-daughter duo didn’t take vacations until six years ago. Now, they close the last week of May.

“On vacation, I take a few hand things with me,” said Sheri. “If it’s raining and you are at the beach and can’t be out, you can sit and stitch.”

Eventually, that stitching makes its way onto a wall at Calico Moon, inspiring customers.

“People say, ‘I can’t wait to get home and stitch. I can’t wait to get started,’” said Sheri. “That’s what it’s all about. We give them inspiration and the nudge to get creative.”

This story was originally published March 24, 2016 at 4:48 AM with the headline "Lebanon shop reflects owner’s passion for primitive home decor."