Peace & Quiet...

We are back from our wonderful stay at Berwood Hill Inn in Lanesboro, Minnesota.

Total peace & tranquility there...

pretty little bird songs,

cows mooing off in the distance field

&

the noise of grey squirrels rummaging for acorns.

What a beautiful way to wake in the morning...

I am still a country girl at heart

i guess.

Before I had two feet out of the car I knew we had to come back in the summer months. The gardens here must be breathtaking in their prime.

I took 150 plus pictures of the grounds at the Inn...too many to post.

Sit back & enjoy the beauty

of Berwood Hill Inn.

(Click on photos to view a larger image)

A small cottage out in the gardens (pictured above) is rented out in warmer months.

Many of the garden ornaments were crafted from old farm implements, corn cribs & cupola's from old barns.

This chicken lawn ornament was huge, hard to capture size in a picture...probably 10 ft tall!

More cupola's....

beautiful fall colors at Berwood Hill Inn...

more roosters...

&

more cupola's

Can I move in?

I'll be back...

Have a good week,

Brenda

Another finish!

Another photo finish of the free Indian Summer sampler...

this one is from Virginie. Be sure to stop by her blog for a visit, she has some beautiful embroidery on her blog. The blog is in French, but her pictures are wonderful "eye candy".

The piece is over-dyed for a great primitive finish. Virginie then stitched the piece into a small pincushion. Old safety pin with buttons and tiny x's add nice charm to this finished piece.

Great finish Virginie & thanks for sharing!

With thy Needle & Thread,

Brenda

P.S.

Keep those photo finishes coming folks...we love to see finished work!

Sneaking off...

...just my dear husband & I for some

R&R.

(photos courtesy of Berwood Hill Inn)

Our little getaway is taking us to Lanesboro, MN. Lanesboro is the B&B capital of Minnesota. We are staying at the Berwood Hill Inn. I'm looking forward to their 5 course breakfast...sounds overwhelming to someone who usually misses the most important meal of the day! The Berwood Hill Inn is a country Victorian home that sits on 200 plus acres of rolling hills that overlook a hardwood valley. The leaves are supposed to be at peak so I am hopeful there will be a lot of photo opportunities...I'll have my camera in hand!

Lanesboro was chosen as a top "prettiest cities" in the U.S. on both Yahoo.com and Forbes Traveler.com lists for 2009. Another city on this list is Guttenberg, Iowa and we will be swinging through there on our way to Lanesboro. Guttenberg sits on the banks of the mighty Mississippi River.

We have had a week of rain and cold dreary weather...hoping for a warm up for the weekend!

With thy Needle & Thread,

Brenda

Some finishes to share!

I received pictures of 2 finishes

of the

free Indian Summer Sampler

cross stitch chart

&

want to share them

with the rest of you.

These should motivate

you to get yours finished!

Sylvia K. of Germany

has chose

bright cheery tones

to stitch

her piece up in.

Doesn't it look great?

Visit

Sylvia's blog here

for more stunning photos

of her finished piece.

This finished piece

is stitched by

Simone of the Netherlands.

She chose a

darker cloth

and hand dyed,

muted

shades of floss

for a wonderful

"time-worn" look.

Visit

Simone's blog here

to see her

lovely finish of this piece!

It's so nice

to see this design

worked two ways,

one on a lighter background

&

the other

with a darker background.

Thanks Sylvia & Simone

for sharing

&

keep those

photos coming...

We love

to see finished work!

With thy Needle & Thread,

Brenda

Oh Susanna!

No, I'm not singing the "Oh Susanna!"song,

(as I cannot remember all of the words)

BUT

I am doing the happy dance

&

just perhaps to the tune

of Oh Susanna!

You see...

a package arrived today

from Susanna.

This is what was inside...(digitally framed...not certain of finish yet)

She does a beautiful job stitching the tiny stuff...

Finished size is a petite 3 3/4" x 4 7/8",

worked on 28 count over 1

Thank you Susanna!

New cross stitch designs

in the hands of my stitchers

will now start trickling in.

"Merry & Bright II" (shown above)

"Feather Your Nest Sampler"

"Be Kind Be True Sampler"

Patterns for the above mentioned coming soon!

With thy Needle & Thread,

Brenda

My stitching companion...

Carefully perched

upon an old side table

next to my "stitching" chair

you will find

this sweet little bird....

A steel sewing bird clamp ~ Circa 1850's

While the little sewing bird

no longer gets used as once intended,

it does bring much delight

to my surroundings

as I sit and stitch.

I can't help but wonder

what it's story is...
who the woman

was that may have received it

from her soon to be husband...
what it held in it's little "clamp" beak...

was it bedding,

was it clothing

or some other handmade

household item?

Sewing birds' came into fashion

early in the 18th century.

Invented & crafted

in the Georgian period

in England.

It was the first device

that allowed the seamstress

to move the cloth

without having to loosen the clamp.

These sewing birds

were used to attach

one end of a piece of cloth firmly

to a table to enable a seamstress

to hold her sewing nice & tight

with one hand while stitching with the other...

often times

called the "third hand".

These were considered

luxury items

&

were often gifted by

a young man

to his future bride

just months

before their wedding.

While my little bird wasn't gifted to me

by my husband, rather a gift

from me to myself...

I thoroughly enjoy

it's presence as I

sit & stitch.

Watch for an upcoming

cross stitch pattern design,

"starring" my little bird clamp!

Release date for this pattern

is sometime after

the holidays.

With thy Needle & Thread,

Brenda

2 bags later...

Yeppers...

after 2 bags of Haribo Gold bears,

(I call these gummi bears)

& a few cups of coffee

(okay, maybe more then a few)

the pattern instructions for

the 3 new Christmas ornament

cross stitch patterns

are written

& proofed....

yipppeeeee!!!!

As for the gummi bears...

if I don't stop

doing this,

my belly

is going to shake

like a bowlful of jelly...

just like Santa's!!!

Oh dear...

Friday we will begin printing,

collating & packaging the new patterns.

Monday we will begin shipping

&

Tuesday I'll begin my exercise regimen

to work off

those darn gummi bears!

P.S.

The new patterns are now posted on our website for purchase!

With thy Needle & Thread,

Brenda

They're almost ready...

...shouldn't be too much longer!

Here is a little

pattern preview

of the

NEW 2009 Christmas Ornament

cross stitch patterns...

"JOY TO THE WORLD"

Vintage ivory buttons from Grandma's button jar & wings constructed from old sheet music adds extra charm to this angelic ornament!

"RUDOLPH & CO."
Sweet Huck branches make perfect little antlers for this tree ornament. A tiny french knot works perfectly for Rudolph's nose...just love the simplicity of this guy!


"FRENCH HEN"
Inspiration for this design comes from the olde favorite Christmas carol, 12 days of Christmas. This pleasingly plump French hen has various holiday motifs stitched upon her body. Old sheet music for tail feathers and wings gives the French Hen a nice olde-time look. In keeping with the French theme, Merry Christmas is spelled out in French!



I call these "day project" patterns... You can easily finish one of these in a day!
Got to love that!



With thy Needle & Thread,
Brenda

Oh dear...these are cute!!!

After a couple of long days

of intense cross stitching,

I decided it was time

to give the eyes,

hands,

and the neck

a rest for the evening.

Soooo.....

instead of stitching tonight,

I've been baking

these darling

little things...

Oh dear, these are dangerous!!!

You see,

these are bite-sized

treats

&

I am eating

them by the handfuls...

just like popcorn!

Aren't they cute?

Do you want to make some too?

Sure you do...
& I betcha

you can't eat just one!

SPARKLING CANDY CORN COOKIES

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon pure orange extract

1/8 teaspoon salt

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Orange paste or gel food color

Yellow paste or gel food color

Line bottom and sides of a 9" x 5" loaf pan with waxed paper or plastic food wrap. Set aside.

Combine butter and 1 cup sugar in large bowl; beat at medium speed until creamy. Add egg, orange extract and salt. Continue beating until well mixed. Reduce speed to low; add flour and baking soda. Beat until well mixed.

Divide dough into thirds. Press one-third of white dough evenly onto bottom of prepared pan. Place another one-third of dough back into same bowl. Add small amount of orange food color; mix until color is well blended. Press orange dough evenly over white dough in pan. Place remaining one-third of dough into another medium bowl. Add small amount of yellow food color; mix until color is well blended. Press yellow dough evenly over orange dough in pan. Cover with plastic food wrap; refrigerate until firm (at least 2 hours).

Place 1/2 cup sugar in large bowl; set aside.

Heat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Invert loaf pan to remove dough. Peel off waxed paper. Place layered dough onto cutting surface. Cut loaf crosswise into 1/4 inch slices using sharp knife, trimming edges to make even if necessary. Cut each slice into 6-8 wedges. Place 1 inch apart onto un-greased cookie sheets. Bake for 7 - 10 minutes or until edges are firm and bottoms are very lightly browned. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets. Immediately place warm cookies in bowl of sugar; roll in sugar to coat. Place cookies onto cooling rack. Cool completely.

Store in loosely covered container.

Makes 15 dozen miniature cookies.

Enjoy,

Brenda

Brrr......

Frost on the pumpkins....

No, take a closer look... that is snow on the pumpkins!

We awoke this morning to a pretty little dusting of snow...

the first of the season.

The growing season has sadly come to an end...

Time to clear off the gardens,

heap on the wood

&

get the warm woolly sweaters out...

Summer is over...the reality of it is just settlin' in.

A good day to nestle in and do some stitching

&

cook up a batch of soup

to warm

the tummy...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Come along & let's make some soup...
Some Cheesy Pepper Chowder, that is.

Super easy & and equally delicious!


Melt 2 tablespoons butter in large skillet. Add 1 package (3 cups) frozen pepper and onion stir-fry mixture. This can be found in your frozen foods section. Cook vegetables for 5 - 7 minutes or until tender.

Add 2 minced cloves of garlic, stir for 30 seconds.

Add 1/2 pound of chicken fajita meat. Available in the deli-meat section of the grocery store.

Mix 2 teaspoons of chicken bouillon granules into 1 cup of warm water. Stir in 1/8 - 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper. Pour into vegetable/chicken mixture.

Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 5 minutes. It is at this time that I cut up the pepper strips into shorter lengths with the edge of a spatula.

Over medium heat, add 8 ounces shredded Velveeta cheese.

Add 1 cup whipping cream to chicken mixture. Cook and stir until cheese is melted.

Add 1/4 - 1/2 tsp. dried Cilantro; stir to mix in. Let simmer on low heat for 30 minutes, stirring frequently. Watch closely as you don't want this to boil.

I like to serve this chowder with Avocado flavored corn chips (available at Wal-greens...they are yummy!)

Wishing you a warm & cozy evening,

brenda

REMINDER...

there are just a few hours left in our FREE SHIPPING offer! Hurry on over to www.countrystitchesonline.com before it ends tonight at 10:00 pm CST.

Free Shipping at Country Stitches!

WE'RE CELEBRATING COLUMBUS DAY!

In celebration of Columbus Day,

Country Stitches is offering

FREE SHIPPING

to our online shoppers.

Offer applies to orders

shipped within the

United States only.

The free shipping special

ends

Monday, October 12th

at 10:00 pm CST,

no exceptions!

With thy Needle & Thread,

Brenda

A visit to my favorite blog...

How many times a day do you visit your favorite blog?

5 times...

10 times...

15 times...

I'm too embarrased to say how many times I check mine...

Imagine visiting your favorite blog

and finding this...

or this...

Get's me everytime...

This little one really knows how to melt grandma's heart...

New hat to go with two new "toofers", priceless!

have a good wednesday,

brenda

Handy dandy...

The "try it" sample of the Highlighter Tape arrived today

so....

I had to give it a try!

Yeppers, gets my stamp of approval...tis wonderful!

Saves lots of time too...

In fact,

I like it so much

that we will be offering this tape for purchase

to our customers.

Item can be found

under the

NEW ITEMS category on our website.

The tape is a cute little 1/6" wide,

perfect to hold the row you are currently stitching

and then the next.

Tape is removable,

therefore reusable.

You simply tear a strip long enough

to fit the area you are stitching...

I actually have two pieces of tape going...

one on my chart

and the other just off to the side.

After I have stitched the 2 rows

of cross stitches

under the Highlighter tape,

I place the 2nd piece of tape

directly below the originally placed tape,

before removing the top piece of tape.

Now my next two rows

are precisely marked

and I can begin stitching.

I continue this "leap frog" method

with the 2 pieces of tape.

With thy Needle & Thread,

Brenda

My silly one...

I enjoy reading the comments people leave here on my blog. I read each and every one of them and then enjoy checking out the blogs of the people who posts comments...

This morning I was reading through comments from my October 1st post (Welcome October) and came upon the following comment...thought I'd share it with you.

Matthew comments:

Thank you so much Brenda for this freebie! I will have to get my needle and thread out and start it right after I get home from watching Iowa State beat Kansas State!

Now first of all, a comment coming from the male gender doesn't happen too often on my needlework, cross stitching & sewing blog...so the male name sort of stood out! Red flag number 1.

Second of all, the commentators name is Matthew...have I mentioned my #2 child's name is Matthew? Red flag number 2, or just a coincidence?

Third of all, our #2 child is currently in a RV crossing the state of Kansas on his way to the mentioned football game in the comment. Just a coincidence, or red flag number 3!

Hmmm.....

Smells sort of like a stinky fish, don't ya think???

I giggled a bit, finished posting the comments, and then was on my merry way to work. But not before I visited my #2 child's Facebook page. I told him if he needed help threading his needle to just let me know and that I had no idea he enjoyed doing cross stitch in his free time...

Later in the morning the phone rings at Country Stitches...I answer and there is a male sounding voice on the other end. A male that needs to order some DMC floss....

Hmmmmm........

Another stinky fish, perhaps????

Often times it is just fun to play along with this silly one of mine and act like I have no idea who I am talking to...

And then it gets to him, usually when I ask for his address, he can't stand it any longer and bursts into his familiar giggle...love it when he does that! I miss that giggle...darn it, why'd he have to grow up & move halfway across the country???

The blog comment and phone order today don't come as no surprise to me, coming from this silly child of mine. He has been doing this for years...calling mom's answering machine at Country Stitches, after hours, to order some patterns. He consistently ordered pattern number 109...and lots of them! On occasion he would talk a buddy into doing the same...the buddy ordered 50 patterns and then put the order on his credit card. With all seriousness in his voice, he proceeds to give his credit card #0000 0000 0000 0000...at that point I hear that familiar giggle in the background...BUSTED!!!! So reassuring to us parents, knowing this is how your college student is spending his evenings...

Then there is my poor employee Bev, the sweet gal that takes your phone in orders. Bev is well aware of my sons tendencies to do this silly stuff. The phone rings, she answers, a man looking for supplies to make tie dyed shirts....she blurts out "Hi, Matthew" and the gentleman on the other end of the phone says, "no this isn't Matthew, this is so & so and I am interested in supplies for making tie dye shirts (he is dead serious...no silly giggle here), do you carry supplies for this?" Needless to say, we spent the remainder of our day rolling off of our chairs laughing at this poor gentleman...hopefully he found someone that would sell him tie dye supplies!!

The above photo, yes, you're probably wondering what the photo at the top of the post has to do with anything about this post...My son is one of the cheerleaders in this picture , it is SO him...and it is payback time! Can you guess which cheerleader is my son? Hint, he is not one of the two cheerleaders in red plaid skirts...no they are teachers in our school system...scary, huh?

The above photo was taken in 2000 and I am happy to say all of the fine boys pictured have grown up, gone on to be successful in their jobs & some are even married with little ones. As for the two in the red skirts...they are still teachers in our school system...

Yes, this silly child of mine is now 26 years old...perhaps too old to be called a child? He may be all big and grown up now, but he will always be my silly one with the silly giggle. I hope he knows he can call his mother any day at work to order patterns or DMC floss...miss that silly giggle!

Have a good weekend,

Brenda

Find us in the "FINDS"...

Our supply of the new December issue

of the Create & Decorate magazine arrived!

What a thrill

to find our cross stitch pattern line,

With thy Needle & Thread,

featured in their

editorial "FINDS" section of the magazine!

Yeeeeehaaaaa....free publicity is always exciting!

A big "Thank You" to the editors of the Create & Decorate

for giving us this exposure!

Be sure to check out

another wonderful product

featured in the "FINDS" category...

Highlighter Tape!

A brightly colored,

yet translucent,

removable tape

that

marks your row

while working

on cross stitch.

I'm off to order some today!

We have a limited supply

of this magazine

now for sale

on our website.

Have a good weekend,

Brenda

Welcome October!

In celebration of the arrival of October

we are offering

you a FREE

cross stitch chart

for your

stitching pleasure!

copyright 2009 - With thy Needle & Thread

Stitch count: 85 wide X 84 high

Suggested DMC floss colors are:

301

370

371

372

3012

3013

3021

3776

Pattern printing instructions:

You can simply right click on the photo and select print option from right here.

So grab yourself a piece of

your favorite linen,

some yummy autumn colors

of floss,

&

a cup of mulled cider

and stitch until

your hearts

content!

And please do remember...

we love to see

photo finishes!

IMPORTANT ~ this chart is for your own personel use. Chart may not be printed and sold, shared electronically via email, websites or blogs, or used as a free hand out.

Happy October,

brenda