Out with the old...

&

In with the new...

Wishing everyone a happy & healthy 2011!

With thy Needle & Thread,

Brenda

P.S....

I love "Grandma Calendars"...thanks Beckham!

On the eve of New Years Eve Musings...

It's a mild & balmy 40-some degrees here in NW Iowa. Not too much activity at the bird feeders this morn. A quiet day at the feeders sometimes indicates there is a hawk near by...

The squirrels were busy... frolicking to and fro in the trees outside the window this morning as I sat and stitched on Ann Dickinson. Even the squirrels didn't seem to venture too far out of the trees to become fair game for any lurking hawk...I'm pretty sure there is a hawk visiting again. Just waiting for a not so intelligent squirrel or bird...

I took some time to snap a couple of pics of this one fat squirrel...look at it's tummy...too many Christmas Cookies???...that is how I feel!! Tomorrow will be a different story I'm afraid...we are in a winter weather advisory for tomorrow into Saturday...rain, ice and a snow mix is headed our way.


The Ann Dickinson sampler is progressing nicely. The last motif I completed was an oak leaf/acorn design. It is a motif I would have chosen too, as I love autumn time when the acorns have fallen with their crunchy sound underfoot. I like to reap a small harvest of acorns each autumn to enjoy indoors...the rest I leave for the little fat red squirrels that depend on these for their winter food supply. In my readings of the Red Squirrel, I have learned that they collect way more food than they can ever possibly eat. They are the "wasteful" saver...makes me feel better about bringing a few handfuls into the house!!

Back to Ann Dickinson...
I am now working on the center panel...I love the little meandering heart vine that surrounds the center verse.
Speaking of hearts...
Cupid is Coming

&

a sneak peek at what is in store...

It is once again that time of year...
time for conversation hearts and new patterns with a love-theme...
coming soon...

stay tuned!

With thy Needle & Thread,
Brenda

Some 191 years later...

Circa 1819 from the needle of Ann Dickinson...

Stitched once again,

some 191 years later,

with thy needle & thread...

The Ann Dickinson sampler

will be stitched

once again.

Beginning date,

the day after Christmas

2010...

My linen of choice,

30 count over-dyed linen

by R&R Reproductions

worked over 2 threads

using DMC flosses.

The little basket of fruit

reminded me of the

little clementine mandarin oranges

that we all feasted upon

during this holiday season...

My goal is to stitch

at least one motif a day,

until I get to the center panel

and bottom border...

this will take a few more days.

With thy Needle & Thread,

Brenda

P.S. After posting this post, I noticed a boo boo...

do you see it?

Let the tearing out begin!! Not a good way to start...

White Christmas...

I wouldn't say that I live in Iowa because I love the cold & snowy winters...

BUT

I would miss having a white Christmas and awakening to mornings such as this morning.

Hoar Frost...

we awoke this morning to everything candy coated in frost. We only get treated to mornings like this a couple times each winter...

this makes up for all those cold, windy & sub zero days that we put up with.

It's beautiful.

Santa brought me a new lens for my camera...perfect lens for these kinds of mornings. I was able to zoom in close to the little ice crystals of the hoar frost & I'll be able to sneak up on the birds as well. I've always wanted to get into bird photography but never really quite had the right lens for that. Now I do...thanks Santa!!

So I strapped on my boots this morning and with new camera lens in hand, snapped a few pics of our white frosty morning here in Iowa...

Mother nature painted us a beautiful picture this morning...

The morning bird chores have been done, there are plenty of left overs from the holidays...no cooking today. I have a day of stitching planned for today...I am starting the Ann Dickinson sampler today!!

With thy Needle & Thread,

Brenda

Mrs. Ulrich came to town...

Just sent my dear husband a text message, that reads something like this...
"Guess who's coming to town?" Along with the below picture. I am making some major brownie points here today, folks!

First of all...let me explain my text message a bit...the part about who's coming to town. When our children were young it was a common sight and sound, on Sunday mornings, to hear the dh in the kitchen making his famous pancakes while singing the following song...

"Zee pannee cake mon is coming to town, coming to town, coming to town." This translates into, the pancake man is coming to town, coming to town, coming to town... Our little ones would giggle as their dad sang this made-up song of his while flippin' cakes. As the kids grew older they would just flat out ask their dad on Sunday mornings, "Is zee pannee cake mon coming to town today?" That's all it would take, and in a matter of moments he would be thumbing through my Amish cookbook for his "secret recipe". He still sings this song to me, on the rare occasions when he gets the pancake griddle out... and I still love it! It's not so much his singing I love, rather then the fact that it is so out of character for this usually quiet and reserve man that I call my dh.
(Back to my text message)

Except...

I'm not flippin pancakes today folks & I'm not singing that song either.

Nope.

Rather, I'm rolling out the dh's all-time favorite cookies, Mrs. Ulrich's Sugar Cookies. A recipe that has been in his family since he was a child. This was THEE Christmas cookie at the Gervais household. The above recipe card was given to me at my bridal shower by my soon-to-be sister-in-law Maria.


It has begun to show it's 30 plus years of use, with vanilla spills here & there...

but it's a classic...

So, the answer to my question, "Guess who's coming to town?"

Today it was Mrs. Ulrich,

not Zee Pannee Cake Mon...

But I'm really thinking that Zee Pannee Cake Mon needs to get his griddle out, brush up on his singing and share this with his 2 year old grandson this Christmas tide. What better time to restart this tradition, only now, at Grandpa & Grandma's house...

Glad Tidings,
Brenda

Wondering...

Could this be the same Ann Dickinson?


You all may recall from my previous posts that I have acquired a sampler - Ann Dickinson 1819 and am in the midst of reproducing the piece. Several days ago I received an email from a dear Joanne informing me about another sampler (pictured above) that she located in one of her sampler books stitched by an Ann Dickinson. She was inquiring if it was stitched by the same girl. The mentioned sampler is featured in the book titled, Samplers & Samplermakers by Mary Naene Edmonds. After receiving Joanne's email, I immediately went through my library of sampler books and it was one that I did not have. It appears the book is out of print, but I did locate a gently used book on the Internet.

The book arrived yesterday and now I sit and wonder. Could this be the same girl? I am far from being a sampler historian and am not quite sure where to begin or where my little investigation will lead me...

I spent last evening and again early this morning with book in lap and sampler by my side, comparing. There are similarities. Neither sampler has an alphabet. Both samplers have a house centered on the piece flanked by sweet little picket fences. There are motifs that are common on both samplers. I've circled the motifs on the above sampler that also appear on the sampler I own (click on photo to enlarge). The satin stitched silk grass is also common on both samplers. Ann was 13 at the time she stitch the sampler I own, and if it is the same girl, would have been 21 when the above sampler, with fancier stitches, was stitched...very possible.

Here is where it gets a little interesting...I purchased my sampler from a dealer in England. He didn't have much information on the piece other then he had purchased it from an estate auction. The sampler shown in the Sampler & Samplermakers book puts that piece originating in New Jersey. And I quote the last sentence of the article on the above sampler, "Ann W. Dickinson is probably the same Ann Dickinson who married John Stitcher in Salem County, New Jersey, in 1834". This would make my Ann Dickinson 28 when she married...very possible.

If what the dealer I purchased my sampler from is indeed factual, it means Ann Dickinson would have immigrated to the new world (if it's the same Ann)...very possible. The sampler I own has 2 ship motifs as well...do they symbolize a future voyage across the waters to the new world, the New England. Very possible...

I will let you know where my investigating takes me with this...stay tuned! And a big "THANK YOU" to blog follower, Joanne, for pointing this out to me!

WANTED!

A little elf to do the following jobs for me...

put the lights on my tree & decorate it

drag the Christmas decorations out of the downstairs closet and bring them upstairs for me (and while you're at it decorate too)

finish my shopping

wrap my gifts

clean my house

bake Christmas cookies

& I'm sure there is an item or two or three or four or five that I'm forgetting...

Just a wee tad frazzled,

Brenda

Mister Postman...

look & see
if there's a box in your bag for me
I been waiting such a long time...

Valdani 3 strand floss - check

Scissors & Needle Minders - check

Patterns from Stacy Nash - check

Thanks Mister Postman!

If you are waiting for any of the above items, we will begin filling/shipping backorders & orders in waiting today with these arrivals! Thanks for your patience...

Cat nap...

Look what my human mom has left on the floor during one of her recent photo shoots? A quilt. A little part of a quilt. A quilt just my size...well almost my size. She really could stand to sew a couple more rows of squares onto this for me. What do you think of the color? I think I blend right in, maybe my human mom won't even notice me lying here. A camo quilt! I've been hearing my human parents talking about a blizzard heading our way. Snow today, blizzard tomorrow with 25 degrees below zero wind chills...brrr....If you don't mind, I think I'll just curl up on this quilt and cat nap for the next couple of days.

Wishing you all days of warm cat naps under your favorite quilt,

Agassi

Almost Ready to Begin...

The floss colors and linen have been chosen for the Ann Dickinson sampler. I've chose a linen that best matches the feel of the original piece. The count is one stitch larger, but I felt it was important to use a linen that looks & feels most like the original sampler. So the reproduced piece will be a tad bit larger. I've stitched sample stitches, regular cross stitches, petite cross stitches and satin stitch on the linen of choice as a test. These are the 3 stitches that will be used in this sampler. It looks like the linen is a go...after a gentle bath in walnut ink crystals. I will also over dye my threads with walnut ink before beginning. This will give them the "time-worn" look of the threads in my antique sampler...toning and fading down the colors of my new flosses.



And all good things must come to an end...
Today is day 12, the final day of the Home for the Holidays Blog Hop. Make sure to hop on over to Stacy of Buttermilk Basins Blog for a darling wool mitten pattern and a sinfully delicious cookie recipe that she is sharing with you all. I'd like to say a big "THANK YOU" to Stacy for organizing and inviting me to be a part of this fun holiday event.


We enjoyed a 40 plus degree day yesterday, so the dh and I got the outside trimmings put up on the house last evening. The 5 fresh wreaths are waiting for bows and then they will go up on the front of the house over the weekend. Today the dh and I are going Christmas shopping...I have one day to get it done...eekkk, nothing like pressure or anything?!!! Hopefully the tree will come into the house sometime over the weekend. The following weekend will be spent decorating the inside of the house...and then it's just a week and Christmas will be here. Where did December go?? We are in a blizzard watch for the weekend, starting tonight. Sounds like it may be a weekend of snow & stitching...

Goodwill...

in the drive-thru at Taco Johns.

Yesterday's lunch destination was a quick drive thru at Taco Johns. The line was out to the street, everybody in town must have been craving Potato Ole's or Nachos Navidad. So I sat in line and waited my turn. I took note of how terrible my ink stained hands look, how badly my car needs vacuuming, how badly I need a manicure, the South Dakota license plate of the vehicle in front of me, the University of South Dakota sticker in it's window, as I was waiting. After several minutes, I made my way to the pick-up window. The lady handed me my potato Ole's smothered in cheese sauce and told me my meal had been taken care of. I said, "what"? She proceeded to tell me that the gentlemen in the vehicle in front of me paid for my meal and told the clerk to wish me a "Merry Christmas". It stopped me in my tracks...I've never had such a kind gesture from a total stranger before. What a wonderful gift from a person that I have no way of thanking. So this noon hour I shall return to Taco Johns and return this gesture of goodwill.

"Peace on Earth, Goodwill toward men".

My Little Blue Chair...

When our children were small we had a little wooden chair in our dwelling, a chair just their size. Our son Matthew took a liking to the little mustard yellow chair and well let's just say it was his 5Th appendage. He drug the chair around with him from point A to point B,from our humble little apartment out to the play area in the yard, to get from the floor to the counter top, to the box of cereal in the cupboard, from sun up to sun down... Can you visualize this, yet? Yep, pretty much used it to get into things a three year old shouldn't be into. But then there were the sweet innocent moments of him perched on it as he watched is favorite TV show, Mr. Rogers or next to his Daddy's drafting table late at night, watching his Daddy draft.

Then one day, some 25 years ago, in comes a crying Matthew with just a heap of mustard yellow sticks in his arms. There were big crocodile tears and lots of sobbing. The neighborhood bully (who was all of 6 years old) took the chair and broke it against the chain link fence. I'm not sure who was more saddened by the destruction of the little mustard yellow chair...Matthew or I. BUT...we got over it, the kids grew up and our house remained "little chair-less" for many many years.

It was about a year ago I came upon this sweet little chair at the Whistle Stop Country Store. A sweet little store in Elkhorn, Nebraska. It wasn't mustard yellow, but I figured a little blue chair would have to do. I knew it needed to come home with me. A grandma's house needs a little chair, right?

It wasn't until Thanksgiving time that Beckham noticed this little chair, his chair. He discovered bottled water and the little chair on the same visit to grandma's house. He insisted that he should sit on the little chair while he drinks from his very own little bottle of bottled water. A whole new concept of drinking for him. A step up from the sippy cups he uses at home. Always trying to screw the lid back on in between each sip. To be honest with you, he thought he was pretty cool! Not always realizing that you can't hold the bottle side ways and expect the water to stay put. THEN...what we were all waiting for, happened. It happened in slow motion. The chair starts to slide, on the hardwood floors, just as he's taking a seat on his little chair with his bottle of bottled water. The lid is off the water. Kaboom! I & his mother seemed to be glued to our seats. We couldn't get up fast enough...expecting there to be giant crocodile tears, once again. Instead in this cutest little voice he looks up at us & says, "Ohhhhhhh, noooooooo" (in a long & drawn out way, heavy accent on the O and the N). "I okay". "I wipe it up", as he's smearing water on the floor with his sweet little hands. We laughed and laughed, it was so cute. I will never forget this cute little response.

I was shopping on eBay a few days ago and I came upon this sweet little hooked rug. It arrived in the mail yesterday. I knew exactly where this little rug would spend it's winter days...it's a perfect fit for my little blue chair, don't you think? The rug is hooked by Sherry of "From Sherry's Heart"

Thanks Sherry, I love it! I'm hoping Beckham likes it too...

* * * * * * * * *

REMEMBER...

today is day 11 of the Home for the Holidays Blog Hop.

Hop on over to Debbie Busy from Wooden Spool Designs. She has a darling dimensional wool applique mistletoe ball pattern that she is sharing with you all and a wonderful cookie recipe too!

Re-purposing...

Have you heard? The new word seems to be "re purposed" or "re purposing". It means, taking old stuff (or junk as our darling husbands call it) and turning it into cool old things used for different purposes...

A new little treasure arrived in the mail today...perfect for re purposing. I'm pretty excited about my new addition to my ironstone collection. I'm always scouring antique shops, etsy & ebay for new & different pieces of ironstone that I can't live without. My new addition, according to whom I purchased it from, is a tooth brush holder. Hmmm...would make a neat place to store your toothbrushes, but I have this thing about storing my toothbrush in the same place that someone else stored theirs. Am I being weird, here?? I do really love my new piece, though...it is nicely "yellowed"...just how i like my ironstone to look. I've decided the piece won't be in my bathroom, however I will re purpose the piece instead...

After a bath in warm soapy water, I decided it would be the perfect little spot to keep my sewing ditties... And I guess I don't have a problem with that!

What have you re purposed lately?

New lovelies...

in our mailbox today!

Just arrived are two Christmas time cross stitch charts from Pineberry Lane. Christmas is drawing near, but if you work real hard there's still time! Remember... a cross stitch piece, in progress, looks festive in an old wooden hoop. I always have a seasonal piece in my hoop and enjoy working up a display that includes the piece before the stitching is complete.

And more scissors from Kelmscott...

All items are now posted on our website for purchase.

Posting today's blog update with pizza and soda at hand...tis another working lunch hour! I have my dh helping here today at Country Stitches. Keeping him busy emptying my garbage cans, collating & packaging patterns, cutting hornbooks, running to the post office and there is more things to do on my "honey do" list. He treated me to pizza for lunch...bless his heart!

Contemplation...

I finished charting the Ann Dickinson sampler late last evening. That, in itself, feels like a major accomplishment. I charted the sampler just as the 13 year old Ann stitched it. I left her stitching errors, as is, in keeping with an exact reproduction of the piece.

Now what type of linen to stitch it on...

CONTEMPLATION

As of late, I've felt much like this sweet little girl from the cover of my July 1928 issue of Needlecraft Magazine (at a cost of 10 cents)...

Although, she is a bit further along with her sampler then I. She is probably contemplating frame choice or maybe just admiring...

There is just something about an old sampler...it's fun to stand back and take in each little motif, each tiny stitch & just admire!

* * * * * * * *

REMEMBER...

Today is day 10 of the Home for the Holidays Blog Hop. Hop on over to Tara Darr of Sew Unique Creations blog for a sweet little winter time penny rug and her yummy cookie recipe.

It's lightly snowing here this morning, the ground has a thin new blanket of snow....so pretty! It will be a working weekend for me...hoping yours is filled with stitching!

Have a good weekend,
Brenda

Brrr....

it's "code" outside!

Sorry, couldn't help myself...

after a visit from our grandson, Beckham I always find my self talking like a 2 year old. Must be a grandma-thing!

Brrr...it really is cold outside this morning here in NW Iowa. I'm thinking it might be time to get the winter coat out today.

I'd like to say a gigantic "THANK YOU" to all of those who participated in our Cyber Monday event. The elves at Country Stitches will be putting in some over time hours!

Just curious... are all these patterns, being shipped, going to be made into gifts or are you just filling your nests with stash??? Please tell! It's okay to be "squirrel-like"...we all know the winters can get long and it's about survival, right?

* * * * * * *

I've been slowly, but surely, making progress on charting the Ann Dickinson sampler. My goal has been to chart one motif a day. Last evening I was really on a roll, making much progress. I'm to the easy stuff now...gesh, the bottom band was long & tedius. I'm hoping to have the charting finished by weeks end. Then the stitching begins. It will be my winter project... reproducing this piece, 191 years later, onto linen once again.

* * * * * * *

Also...

Don't forget today is day 9 of the Home for the Holidays blog hop. Jan Patek is today's featured designer. Last time I checked, things weren't quite ready BUT hop on over to her blog to see what she has in store for us today! I can hardly wait, I love Jan's style and I'm sure it will be wonderfully prim & scrappy.

Bundle up cuz "it's code outside" & have a good day,

Brenda