Love Struck!

Lots and lots of love-themed stitching has been going on!

Valentines Day always sneaks up on me.  

It' seems like I'm just recovering from the Christmas rush 

and Valentines needs to be done,

and now 

I have Easter in my hoop!

Happy to share with you

two new 

love-themed

 patterns.

Not to "Valentinesy",

 but perfect for this upcoming holiday!

~ CUPIDS ARROW ~

 Punch needle design inspired by old PA Dutch frakturs

 Reminiscent of old book plates created on parchment 

with watercolor and ink drawings

 many many years ago... 

This simple little rug will find a spot on one of my small antique stacking benches. :)

~ Mary Valentine's Handework ~

A  love-themed pattern filled with 5 quick stitch projects. 

 The "Forget Me Not" pinkeep is fashioned and sized to look like a vintage postcard. 

 A perfect little piece to place on an ironstone plate 

and surround with old buttons and thimbles...makes a perfect vignette.  

"The gift is small, but love is all"  These are the words that young Mary Valentine chose to stitch on her simple little sampler. 

 I've always loved this verse!

  A piece of worn ticking

 and 

old buttons adds extra detail and charm to the sampler.

The remaining 3 projects all center around re-purposing

 Russel Stover's or Whitman's Chocolates Valentines heart-shaped boxes.  

Mary's Sewing Box top is decorated with various cross-stitched motifs worked in rows, giving it a feel of a band sampler.   

The box is lined with old sheet music 

and old thread spools becomes it's legs. 

 Perfect for storing your needles

 and

 favorite embroidery scissors.

Posies for Thee

a smaller box, perfect for storing thimbles! 

 And lastly, Key to the Heart

uses just the bottom of the smaller box.  

 The little box becomes a little hanging display of a stitched vine and bluebird. 

 You will try your hand at building a bird's nest...

what fun that is, 

twisting and entwining thread remnants among flax!  

The verse, "feather your nest with love" 

and a little key finishes this piece off so sweetly.

  And yes, there are tiny eggs in my nest...

the little birdie must have approved of my nest making skills!!

All designs on this chart are worked on 35 count Old Town Blend linen using various hand-dyed flosses.

That's all for now, 

the bunny in my hoop 

is calling me!

Have a good week everyone,

Brenda

Coming Soon!

~Mary Valentine's Handework~

worn ticking

old buttons

x x x x

hearts

flowers

x x x x x 

paper heart doilies

old keys

heart boxes

x x x x x

sweet sentiments stitched

in post-card style

x x x x x

"the gift is small

but

love is all"

Mary Valentine's Handework

coming soon!

x x x x x

Found my hearts & a change of heart...

You would think after all the practice that I have had

 that I would get it right on the first try...

I have had a change of heart.

I have changed linen choice.

Not enough contrast between linen and some flosses,

 so I have restarted

 on the slightly darker

 Old Town Blend linen.

So far, so good.

I am working this using 2 strands over 2 threads, 

something I rarely do,

 but this too,

will help those lighter shades of floss

 pop off the linen.  

When I work with two strands,

I lay my stitches with a laying tool...

I don't work as fast when I stitch this way,

but,

 it does make for perfectly laid stitches.

If you worked last years Valentine sampler, the box choices for 2014 are the same as 2013.

I am using the Russel Stovers 4.75 Red Foil Heart  & the 1 .75 Photo Heart. 

If you happen to find Whitman's hearts, these are the sizes that will work from this brand:
4.5 and 1.6 oz boxes.
While the weight of the boxes are lighter,
 the heart shaped box is the same size
 as the slightly heavier Russel Stovers.

It is a bitterly cold day here,

 temperatures were near 50 degrees below zero overnight.

Schools are cancelled,

 businesses are closed,

people are warned to stay inside.

The dear husband got a call over the weekend 

from the utility company that his workplace must go on alternative fuel

 until Tuesday,

 due to the big demand of electricity.  

The electricity flickered early this morning...

yikes!

Fingers and toes crossed that we don't lose power.

I too will be staying home today.

I've got lots of stitching to get done, 

in a short amount of time.

I am working through some arm pain since a week before Christmas. 

 I think I injured it moving a shipment of cover stock paper.

   It feels like somebody "slug bugged" me in the shoulder.

   Of course,

 it is my stitching arm

 that has my "mouse finger" on it,

 and is the arm I tuck under my pillow and sleep on...

none of these things help a sore arm!

   Sleep has been very restless,

 and stitching,

 quite uncomfortable.  

Off to stitch,

stay warm,

Brenda  

Working backwards...

The sun is warming me this morning...

it's warm rays coming through the window are so deceiving on

this frigid second day of the New Year.

Bird chores were done early this morning.

You know it's not good when you check Weatherbug on your phone

and there sits an igloo by the days forecast...

~brrrrrrr~

I am still patiently waiting for the stores to get their Russell Stovers/Whitman's heart boxes in.

I make trips each day, and even visited a Target in a larger town,

 in hopes of finding them there.

No such luck.

I asked a clerk and she said two more weeks.

I must have had the "TWO MORE WEEKS!" look on my face,

as the clerk gave me,

"WHAT'S YOUR RUSH LADY, IT'S ONLY JANUARY!"  

look on her face. ;)

Last year at this time I already had some stitching started for the heart boxes.

I had boxes in hand and chocolates were long gone...

I've made daily checks to  russellstover.com and no Valentines there either!

Am getting nervous...

don't they know we've got candy to nibble and stitching to do?

Usually, I focus around whatever heart box I choose and begin there.  

With no boxes in hand yet, I am working backwards this year.  

Tentative plans are for the 2014 Valentines Sampler chart to be that of a young schoolgirl's work,

the year is 1822,

her name is

Mary  B. Valentine.

Small samplers, redwork, stitching needfuls and reward of merit projects.

 Each project will have a theme of love,

but not too

 "Valentinesy"...

something that can be kept out

 and 

enjoyed all year.

The tentative color palette...

Soft, 

subtle, 

and

 faded

for a time-worn look...

Stay warm,

Brenda

As the year winds down...

Taking some time to reflect on 2013,

 reviewing,

 and planning,

 as I move onto

 new designs

 for 2014...

~ 2013 ~

 A year in review...

 

 And that concludes my design work for 2013 folks!  

  I would like to say "THANK YOU"

for supporting me & my work in 2013! 

   I've said it before, 

and I'll say it again, 

"needleworker's are some of the most honest, kind & down to earth people". 

 I feel blessed to work for such a wonderful group of people. 

THANK YOU!

Wishing each of you each

 a healthy & happy

 2014,

Brenda

A Christmas Day Finish!

Our family left early Christmas morning

so it was a relatively quiet Christmas day at the Gervais'.

There were lots and lots of goodies leftover for nibbling,

no need to spend too much time in the kitchen.  Perfect.

Twas a very cold Christmas day here in Iowa...

a perfect day to SNUGGLE IN,

 light a fire,

 enjoy the house all decked out in her Christmas attire,

and 

just 

STITCH...

I had my final finish of 2013 on Christmas evening.

ELIZABETH CLARK sampler is now finished!

Elizabeth is now draped across the back of my "stitching spot".

Each time I pass her by,

I stop for a visit...

just to ADMIRE her ~

I always feel energized after the Christmas rush is over,

 and am ready for a fresh start 

on design work for 2014. 

 I spent yesterday looking through piles of papers filled with 

DOODLES & SKETCHES that I've drawn over the past several years. 

 It is always exciting so see line drawings come to life, in fabric and fibers.

I made my annual trip to check out the VALENTINES candy aisle yesterday,

 as well.

 The transformation from Christmas to Valentines candy 

is just starting to happen at the stores.  

 I figure in a couple of days I will go back and decide on this years box or boxes to use for my 3rd annual

  WHITMAN'S CHOCOLATES 

candy box valentines cross stitch pattern.  

  I will keep you all posted on which box will be used so you have time to locate it.

Today I am changing gears a bit,

 my punch needle is threaded!

  I have a few new pieces drawn up for punch needle and will work on them today and tomorrow on the road trip home to Minnesota for

"CHRISTMAS AT THE FARM"

With thy Needle & Thread,
Brenda

If I stitch just 3 flowers a day...

it will be finished in 4 days
 (or so I thought...more on that later)

 Does anyone else do this?

Count motifs, estimate how many you will stitch a day,

and then do the math to determine a finish date?

I do this,
 can't help myself...

 I've been telling myself, for some time, that

I am about done with the stitching of this sampler...

I am about done,

 but,
 when a piece has 20,000+ stitches,
the problem is,

it can look about done
and still have a few thousand stitches to go...

The "over-ones" are all done.
 That is always a sense of accomplishment!
Love the verse on this one...

The verse is a hymn penned by John Fawcett (1740 - 1817)

Elizabeth Clark has been an enjoyable stitch.
I don't get a lot of stitching time in during the holidays,
but,
 I try try try to sneak in a few stitches a day!

The antique sampler shows lots of fading.
You can see the difference in colors of floss,
 from old to new.
The piece is lovely in it's faded state,
however in charting,
 I have stayed true to the original floss colors
 used by Elizabeth.

When I purchase an antique sampler
 it often times is just one motif that speaks to me,
 and says,

"buy me"!
See those big leaves?
Look harder...do you see the big clusters of grapes?

It is those grapes and grapevine motifs
 that stole my heart...

I'll tell you a little story...
During our college living days,
 the dh & I would load up the kids in our little Dodge Omni hatchback
 and take Sunday drives
through the Des Moines river valley
in search of grapevine.
The area is beautiful in the fall
 and the kiddo's didn't seem to mind!

 It was easy to spot grapevine when the tree leaves started turning.
The crimson to almost deep amethyst colored leaves of the grapevine are very visible then.
 We pulled, tugged, and cut grapevine from the trees
and
stashed it into the back of our little Dodge Omni.
Bungee cords were used to hold the trunk shut
 and off we'd head down Lincoln Highway 30 towards Ames...
grapevine hanging from our trunk!
Quite the sight...

The vine then got soaked in the kids' blue plastic swimming pool,
to soften the vine.  (Sorry kids, no swimming today!)
 Once softened,
I would create grapevine wreaths.
The wreaths were then decorated with various little hand stitched bears
 or painted wooden geese
and
sold to local shops.
We are talking early 80's here...
when geese, bears & bunnies
were the decorating craze!

Upon shooting the below photo for today's blog posting,
I noticed another border that I didn't see while charting....ugh

Do you see it?
Look hard, over to the far right, near the frayed edges...

{sigh}

Back to charting,
more stitching,
and more "doin' the math thing".
Scratch any idea that
 this sampler will be done in 4 days...

With thy Needle & Thread,
Brenda

Ho Ho Ho

New items continue to arrive...

 

 

Hills of snow, skinny pines, snowman and quaint little cottages surround

Rudolph and a jolly old soul named,
Santa. 

Punch needle is finished into a ditty pocket and then filled with fresh pine and dried rosehips.

 

 

4 NEW Floss Keep designs have been added to our collection.

(Pictured are 2 of the 4)

 

"Homestead Sampler"

 

&

"Needleworker's Sampler"

 

 

Visit us online at www.countrystitchesonline.com to view these new items.

New pattern from Pineberry Lane arrived yesterday....it is darling!

Other NEW great patterns from various designers have been added to the website also,

check them out!

 

It is terribly cold here today...

stay warm,

Brenda