2011

A year in review

of pattern designs

brought to you 

by

Country Stitches - With thy Needle & Thread...

The year of 2011 was a good year for Country Stitches - With thy Needle & Thread. There were a few firsts for us in 2011...

Began our first Mystery Sampler Club (Birds of a Feather), 

reproduced three antique reproductions samplers,

and

started a new monthly series,

Word Play.

Designed a limited edition pattern

titled Soar,

for all the eagle followers 

of the Decorah, Iowa eagle cam.

A donation of over $2000.00

was made to the Raptor Resource Organization

  from portions

of the proceeds

from this

cross stitch chart.

As 2011 is coming to an end and we hang our new 2012 calendars,

I reflect upon the past year

and look towards the new year...

what to bring our customers

in the form of needlework patterns

for the upcoming year???

I am always open to your comments,

and suggestions...

so let us know what you'd like to see

in patterns from us.

I tend to follow the saying, "if it's not broken, don't fix it"...

so you can expect more new pattern designs

in cross stitch and punch needle,

as this is what you all seem to be wanting from us.

It's been fun hearing from customers who are now

getting back into cross stitch,

many haven't picked up a needle and linen in 20 plus years

and

we are also hearing from new customers

who want to learn the art of punch needle

on a daily basis...

A NEW pattern series

will be released in 2012

that I'm very excited about!

Stay tuned for more details to come..

think tiny,

think purse,

think wear them around your neck...

This series will include cross stitch, punch needle & wool applique/embroidery.

Also in the plans for 2012

are more antique samplers, from my personal collection,

will be reproduced.

More of my punch needle designs

will be converted into cross stitch charts.

And a few surprises are in store for you in 2012,

we'll keep them,

just that...

surprises!

I'd like to say "THANK YOU"

to all our customers

for supporting Country Stitches/With thy Needle & Thread

in 2011,

making it

one of our best years

to date.

I appreciate your patronage, loyalty, friendship

and enjoy keeping you all in stitches.

Wishing you all a

NEW YEAR

filled with

peace,

love,

good health,

&

prosperity,

Brenda

February's Word Play

is here!

The printing is done,
my office is lined with stacks of them everywhere
and
I must admit,
I love the smell of freshly printed patterns...

  The weekend will be spent packaging
them,
so we can begin shipping next week.


A word about floss kits for this 12 month series...we will stock a particular month's floss kit for 2 months.  Currently we are selling floss kits for December, January and February.  November kit will fall off as soon as we are sold out of them (only a couple remain).  When March's pattern releases, the December floss kit will fall off and so on down the line.    So...if you want floss kits for these, do not delay!

We will have full and partial floss kits for the February Word Play.  The partial floss kit is for those of you who have already purchased flosses for the October, November, December and January kits...you then will not need to purchase all of February's flosses.  If you are just jumpin' on the Word Play bandwagon and haven't done all of the months, you will want to purchase a full floss kit.

I am also receiving questions about auto-ships...
there is no auto-ship available for this series.

Reminder...

Country Stitches' shipping 

is closed through January 2nd.

  We'll be back to shipping orders on the 3rd of January,

for those of you who placed orders,

during the holiday shut-down. 

Happy New Year everyone,
Brenda

Watching Grass Grow???

Well... Agassi must have been a good boy,

because Santa

brought him Kitty Grass Kits

for Christmas.

Agassi loves kitty grass...

I planted Agassi's grass for him

and found a nice sunny spot for his grass to grow in,

on the end of our kitchen table,

near the big sunny window...

placement of grass was

unbeknownst to this fur child (so I thought). 

  Upon returning home from the grocery store yesterday,

with my soup-makin' goodies,

 this is what I found

sitting on my kitchen table ...

Agassi always always practices good kitty manners

and

stays off the counters

and kitchen table...   

and if those big blue eyes could talk,

I just know they were telling me,

I'm just

simply watching

my  grass grow...

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

Thanks You for all your get- well wishes!

  Sounds like everyone in blog land has had this crud.

Why shoot, 

if we didn't all live in all the corners of the world,

I would have invited

you all over

for hot tea and honey.  

We could have sat around

and

blown our red noses together!!!

The chicken soup was delicious, 

I enjoyed it by myself 

as the dh is out of town on business.

I had some leftover cream from the holidays, 

so I added it to the broth

and turned it into creamy chicken noodle soup...yummers! 

The sore throat is better,

I'm just now to the coughing stage...

you know,

can't get it up,

can't get it down!

Feels like I have a hunk of gunk, the size

of Rhode Island, residing in my throat...

other then that

I think I might survive!

Have a good day,

Brenda

Vacation???

Sipping hot green tea & honey

and

making homemade chicken noodle soup

were not on my list of things to do

during this time away from work,

vacation,

vacation from work,

or whatever you want to call it...

{sigh}

I seemed to have caught the sniffles that were going around the family at Christmas time...

sore throat, body aches, sinus gunk,

and 

an overall feeling of 

yuck.

I'm hoping the chicken soup simmering on the stove will work wonders and I'll be good as new

in the morning...

 

Signed,

Brenda,

who has a kleenex stuck up her nose to stop the dripping so she can type...

{sigh}

Coming Home...

A favorite verse,

especially at Christmas time... 

Having my family home at the holidays 

is the best gift from

thee to me.

It's all I want for Christmas...

I cherish this family time,

the coming home

for Christmas time.

Blessings,
Brenda

 

Whoever said...

this guiding Santa's sleigh is easy stuff,

has had a few

too many 

egg nogs!

Just ask my human mom, 

it cost her

"purrt near"

a whole bag of kitty treats....

Meowy Christmas Everyone,

Agassi

Home for the Holidays

I've had several emails from you all wanting and wondering if there is, or is there going to be a pattern for the Christmas scene banner at the top of my blog.  This banner was created with the motifs for the HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS pattern, I just sort of squished everything together in a row, rather then in a stocking shape!  So yes, there is a pattern...kind of... and it is for sale under the CROSS STITCH category, sub-category PATTERNS on our website.

Also, am thrilled beyond thrilled, that you all aren't expecting some goofy leprechaun on March's Word Play...that's a relief!   Thanks for you input!  Release date for February's Word Play is January 3rd, upon returning from our year end shut down.

Have a good evening,
Brenda

Working on February's...

Word Play
and
stressing over
March's Word Play...

I just am really struggling with leprechauns...
wish me luck...
off to eat my morning bowl
of Lucky Charms...

Have a good week everyone,
Brenda

Noise over head...

This evening,
upon leaving the house,
the sky over-head was full of crows,
lots of crows,
lots of noisy crows.

My first thought was,
we are going to get do-doed on,
and my second thought was,
don't look up!
Yep,
don't look up
when crows are over head...

Several years ago,
I received a phone call from daughter Erin,
when she was a student at ISU.
She was crying and in distress,
sobbing really...
She had just gotten home
from a student health visit
after looking up,
into the crow-filled trees
on campus
and
bingo bango...
crow poop
right in her eye.

She's crying,
telling Mom what happened,
and Mom is trying her hardest not to laugh...
maybe I did laugh...
(no mother of the year awards for me)

So long story short,
a crow has very acidic do-do
and it causes
the eye to mucus
over rather quickly,
thus the need for medical attention
and eye drops
to prevent infection.

So
whenever I see crows,
as I did this evening,
I think of Erin
and
chuckle
and
then always think...
don't look up!

But I just couldn't help myself,
the amount of crows in the sky
was totally amazing
and
they seemed to be very agitated.
Agitated birds
usually mean there are larger birds of prey
in the area.

Then I spotted it,
a Great Horned Owl!

Wishing so badly
that my night time photography skills
were better,
as it would have been
a very very cool picture.

For those of you who haven't seen one of these guys,
they are big...
they stand about 2 feet tall
and have distinct horns on their head.

(Above is a borrowed photo from Audubon)
Isn't he pretty?
Just look at those eyes...

Yep,
I'm supposing
the fella out in our tree
is using those big eyes,
in search
of,
the Peter Rabbits
that come to feed on
dropped bird seed
in our yard at night.
I know,
poor bunnies...

Have a good week,
Brenda

I'm still here...

but

there is just no time for blogging.

Sorry,

putting in long days
filling and packaging
your orders

and

getting them on their way...

Our Christmas cut off date of December 8th has now come and gone. We no longer can meet the delivery of in stock items in time for Christmas Eve delivery. And a friendly reminder...as our website and shopping cart states, please allow 10 - 14 days of time for delivery of your order during the months of September - December. With the brisk shopping on CYBER MONDAY it is closer to the 14 days, then 10.... This applies to domestic orders only, international deliveries can take 2 - 4 weeks.

ALSO...

For those of you waiting for either single skeins of floss #1101 Light Khaki from Weeks Dye Works or the complete floss kits for "Boughs of Holly", the floss arrived yesterday and those shipped yesterday, as well.

Til later,

Brenda

Snow in the Forecast

and these spring-colored

flosses
are screaming
at me...

The linen is now here,
flosses are chosen,
let the stitching begin on the Spring Sampler of the Season.

Now is my next dilemma...
do I stitch it myself
or
pass it on to one of my model stitchers?
I estimate 77 hours of stitching time on this piece (ouch),
yes it gets expensive to hire...
however,
I'm asking myself
when I'm going to find the 77 hours
to stitch this...

There is this little monthly
pattern series called
Word Play
that has us hoppin'.
Which reminds me, I need to put the finishing touches to
the February chart
and start the stitching (eekkk)
Too bad I require sleep...

Which also reminds me it is December,
Christmas is less then a month away (eeekkkkk again),
no gifts are bought, :\
however,
I have bought the gift wrap ;)
the trees not up,
the wreaths aren't hung,
the lights aren't strung,
I haven't ordered my garland yet,
we may just have to be this house...
I'm in a tizzy
can you tell?
Too bad I require sleep...

Sorry, got lost there in all that fretting...
The original release date was December 21st, however due to a delay in getting the linen, the release for the Spring Sampler of the Season will need to be pushed back...hoping for mid January. This sampler is not as seasonal as the Autumn and Winter's, it is really an everyday sampler, with just hints of Spring.

ALSO....
The Weeks Parchment 30 count linen for the Mansion at Fox Hollow is HERE! Yes, you heard me correctly...it's been a long wait. For those of you who have been so patiently waiting for this, we thank you for being so patient. The darling husband has offered to work at Country Stitches this cold Saturday, and guess what what he gets to do? He doesn't know this yet, but he gets to cut linen! We'll start sending the linen to those of you who have it on back order on Monday. If there is any left after the back orders are filled we'll re-list this as an in-stock item on the website for purchase. We also got a partial shipment of the 35 count Abecedarian and 30 count Iced Cappuccino too, those are now listed as in stock on our site. Still waiting for the 35 count Straw by Weeks...

Twismas Twees...

Beckham went Christmas tree shopping with Mommy & Grandma
and was adamant about the two tiny
"twismas twees"
coming into the house,
with him,
upon arrival...

Momma really bought them to put in a big pot for outdoor decorating...

but,
Beckham had his own plans for the twees...

no lights or ornaments needed...
Just Thomas the Train,
and a train track,
will do,
for this 3 year old.


Have a good night,
Brenda

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

To our loyal customers who shopped online with us on Cyber Monday!

We like keeping you in stitches and your business is truly appreciated...we enjoy serving you!

Also,
have been receiving emails about when will there be more floss keeps. We are waiting for supplies... Once we have the supplies, more will be made and listed on our website.

Have a good day,
Brenda

Cyber Monday $avings

Save 10% store-wide
on Cyber Monday
at
www.countrystitchesonline.com
(sale ends at 10:00 PM Central Standard time)
CYBER MONDAY EVENT HAS NOW ENDED

Enter discount code
CYBER MONDAY
in the discount coupon box,
upon checking out,
click recalculate tab
to receive
the discount on your online order.
YOU MUST DO THE ABOVE TWO STEPS
TO RECEIVE THE 10% DISCOUNT.
This applies to in stock items only, no back orders.

&
the January Word Play chart has released...
a few days earlier then originally planned.
Just in time for Cyber Monday Savings!

Full and partial floss paks are available for the January Word Play.

Have a good week,
Brenda

Three years ago today...

This little ISU Cyclone fan was born.Who would have ever guessed

it would be

so much fun!

HAPPY 3rd BIRTHDAY BECKHAM!!
There are no just words to express how much we love this little guy...

3rd Birthday pictures to follow...
We are waiting for Uncle Matthew to come home,
for a visit,
and we'll all celebrate
Beckham's birthday
together next weekend.

On a side note,
about the first picture above
of Beckham in his little
Iowa State Cyclone Hat and Booties...

This photo just had to be the one
to choose
for this posting...
You see,
rumor has it,
that Beckham's Daddy
still has not come off cloud nine
after his ISU Cyclones handed
the number 2 team,
in the nation,
their first loss
last Friday night...
GO CYCLONES!

Have a good week,
Brenda

Gift Certificates...

Country Stitches online is now offering gift certificates...
just in time for your holiday shopping!

Certificates will be offered in the following dollar quantities,
$15.00
$25.00
$50.00
$75.00

The certificates are being printed and here is a peek at my final printing proof.
Sorry it's so small, but it will have to do until the real ones arrive next week.

These will be real paper certificates, mailed to you in the mail. Yes, we choose to support the struggling USPS! Certificates will not be offered as e-certificates. You have the option of us sending them to the recipient, or we can send them to you, so that you may gift them to the recipient yourself. These are a one-time-use certificate, credit balances due not carry over. So therefore, whole dollar amount of certificate must be used at once.

So...
if there is a floss keep,
or a pair of little scissors,
or a new pattern or book
that makes your heart go pitter patter,
put
Country Stitches Gift Certificate
on your wish list this holiday season...
you're dh will love you!

A few holiday shopping deadline dates to keep in mind...
To ensure delivery of orders for holiday gift giving, please have your orders to us by December 8th. This applies to in-stock items.

Country Stitches will be closed for Christmas family gatherings, year-end duties, and just time to rejuvenate and work on a new design or two from December 23 - January 2nd. No orders will ship during this time frame. You are welcome to shop online during this time, however. Orders placed during the shut-down will ship in the order received after we open again on January 3rd.

Orders placed after December 19th will not ship until we get back from our December 23 - January 2nd shut down.

Please keep these dates in mind!

Have a good day,
Brenda

Turning cartwheels...

about my new find!

I have this small collection of these...

antique linen grain sacks.

I.LOVE.THEM.

Not sure why, but probably because they remind me of the good old days. Days of when I would sneak into the granary to play,
pretend,
and make conversation with myself...
Did any of you talk to yourself when you were young? I think I would get the award for this, seriously! I would lock myself in the bathroom, stand on the stool, fling open the mirror on the medicine cabinet, and talk to myself in the mirror!
Yep, secret is now out of the bag!

The granary that housed the feed mill. This is where Dad turned his harvested corn into meal for the pigs. I loved playing in the corn, running freshly ground corn through my fingers, it had such a nice cool feel to it on a hot summer's day. Then there was the smell thing...loved that smell of corn grinding. This is also where I would find baby mice...tiny pink mice with no fur. Eeeekkk, you're thinking right?

My collection started out with a couple sacks with blue stripes and then I added a couple of gold stripes.
not sure why...
Am thinking it may be a subconscious thing...these were our high school colors.

But back to the cartwheel that I turned.
I was excited, beyond excited about this new find...

a grain sack with my initials stitched upon it!
It's red,
I love red,
but it sort of messed up
the whole gold and blue thing I had going...

Can't wait to used this piece in my Christmas decorating...won't it look wonderful sitting on an old bench as a table-topper with a few sprigs of fresh pine greenery, tucked inside my big ironstone pitcher and a Christmas ditty or two?

And lastly, I must mention...
we have some fabric on order that has the look and feel of these antique linen grain sacks.
and you can even cross stitch on it...
Will keep you posted.
Be patient,
sometimes the wait for fabric can seem like an eternity!

Have a good day,
Brenda

Did you know...

that snow goes "nigh-nigh"?

According to soon-to-be 3 year old grandson Beckham,
when snow melts
it goes "nigh-nigh"...

Yep,
that is what he told his momma yesterday,
upon going outside
and
finding that their snow cover had melted.

Grandma loves it
when momma phones her
with these sweet little comments.
It makes being 50 not so bad...

Speaking of snow,
sharing just a little sneak peek
at
January's Word Play...

the stitching is done
and
just waiting to be sewn and stuffed.

Thinking this one,
is my personal favorite to date...

The charting of February's was started
over the weekend
and
this one of course,
will have a Valentines/Love theme.

I'm really enjoying stitching these
and
love that fact
that they can be completed
in just a week's worth
of casual morning coffee stitching...

Charting and floss selection
is also now completed
for the
Spring Sampler of the Season.

I'm getting a wee bit nervous,
as I don't have the linen needed to start,
and
may need to push the release date
for this pattern to after the holidays.

Also on the sketch pad
is a design
I'm working on
for the Piecework Magazine, March/April 2012 issue.

This issue will focus on
tools of the trade...
How our needlework tools
have evolved and their origins.

Should be an interesting read!

One of the tools/forms of needlework focused upon
will be punch needle.
I've been invited to supply the pattern design
for this particular topic.

Also, are you a pincushion maker?
If so, hop on over to Interweave to
enter their pincushion contest.

Have a good week everyone,
Brenda