Join us for a stitch a long...

Introducing "Soar Sampler" cross stitch chart!

Like so many of you, I've spent many of hours watching the eagle family via web-cam here in Iowa. It's inspired me to create a little momento to remember this event of 2011. After watching a 2008 documentary on PBS, about this daddy eagle and all of his trials and tribulations, late last evening, I knew I wanted to create a sampler in honor of this eagle family. So I arose at 5 AM this morning and started to create the below sampler on one computer screen, while watching the eagle cam on my monitor to my right....yes, call me a geek, a dork, a nerd, or whatever... By 9:30 AM the sampler was finished!

You will find things tucked throughout the sampler that are familiar to you, if you follow the web-cam. The tree is a great Cottonwood...just like the one the nest sits in. The crown symbolizes the majesty of this bird...the bird our founding fathers chose as our country's bird in the year 1782. The 13 points around the sampler represent the first 13 original colonies.

The remaining motifs represent what we see from time to time when the web cam zooms out...the horses in the pasture & the white granary. Eagles like to build their nests along moving water...you will find the river on the bottom of the sampler. Then there are the two cottontails towards the top & the fish in the river...well, we all know what they represent. While it was never fun seeing one of these in their nest, this is life!

The flag, I just added, because!

"SOAR SAMPLER PATTERN"

To purchase pattern, look to the upper right/top side of blog.

I will be offering this pattern, for purchase, exclusively here on my blog. We are limiting this pattern to a printing of 100. Five dollars of each pattern sale will be donated to the Raptor Research Organization. Pattern price includes travel fare to you. USA orders accepted only, thanks for understanding.

Let's see how much we can raise for this great organization! I will keep a running total of dollars raised over to the right side of the article. The pattern will not feature a photo of a finished piece on the cover, as I am under other stitching time constraints on another piece, currently...and I wanted to get this started.

BUT,

how's about if we have a stitch a long and I'll stitch mine along with you?

Sound like fun?!! Are you in??!!

So here's how the stitch a long will work: You purchase the pattern, you stitch the piece and please feel free to work the sampler in thread colors and linens of your choice....be brave, go outside of the box! That's what makes stitch a longs more interesting...lots of different thread and linen choices. Then send me pictures of your work in progress @ order@countrystitchesonline.com (with a subject line reading - Soar Stitch Along) and I'll post pictures of the WIP on each Friday. And most important...send us pictures of the finished piece!

Back to the PBS documentary as I mentioned above...it is very educational & entertaining! You will want to watch this 50 minute piece, on the life of our daddy eagle, who lives near a fish hatchery in rural Iowa....have a Kleenex handy, though! Bob Anderson, the "eagle guy" narrates pieces of this documentary.

Have a pleasant evening,

Brenda