Trying to master...

the eyelet stitch.

I love the eyelet stitch.

I love old samplers

 with eyelet stitches.

I just don't

 love

 stitching them...

I'm trying to master this stitch.

Trying to per-fect it,

and

 I still struggle...

A future pattern,

Strawberry Hill will have a few

eyelet stitches in it.

Nothing too showy,

not a lot of contrast between linen and floss...

 just for a few eyelet stitches
here and there
for texture, 

really.

Here's a peak...

 

I see a couple of eyelets that need frogging.

It's my tension,

I'm not pulling the floss tight enough

and

 having problems with the tension of the 

first stitch.

I am currently just holding my loose end
on the backside.
 My next attempt will be using a waste knot,
sort of method...
I'm thinking this may allow me to pull the threads tension
on that first stitch as it gets
woven through some stitches to secure.

Do we have any master eyelet stitchers out there?
What is your method?

Inquiring minds want to know... 

So as I sit and stitch,

 and frog,

my eyelet stitches,

I look around

the house

at 

these.

Old samplers...

my eyes fixating

 on the eyelets stitches,

 looking at the uniformity of the center holes,

the floss tension...

and 

I find myself 

in total amazement,

 that a 10 year old

 could

make such beautiful

 eyelet stitches...

(sigh)

I tell myself,

if a 10 year old

 can stitch

 a perfect

 eyelet stitch,

so can I...

Practice.

Practice.

Practice.

With thy Needle & Thread,

Brenda

It's a worm Grandma!

I received an email

 from our

little grandson,

 Beckham

 yesterday.

 Subject line read... 

It's a worm Grandma!

No words necessary,

the picture says it all...

I just know he's thinking,

where are it's eyes??!!!!

 I love getting emails

 from Beckam.

 Have a good week everyone,

 Brenda

Have you...

bought your 

12 oz sampler box

 of 

Whitmans Chocolates yet?? 

If not, it's time to!

STRAWBERRY HILL SAMPLER sewing box

is coming soon! 

The theme

 for the re purposed 

Whitman's chocolate sampler box

 will be...

 strawberries,

you guessed it!

Here is a peek at the floss colors and linen...

a nice warm buttery yellow 35 count linen.

The plans are...

the box will be re purposed into a little sewing box.

A box that has a cross stitched pincushion top.

You'll open the lid of the box

to find a sweet little sampler needle roll,

strawberry emery

and 

more!

Stay tuned...

Have a good evening,
Brenda

Becoming a big brother...

I was looking through some photos 

that I snapped at the hospital

 after the birth of Avry. 

 I came upon this one...

I love the photo.

That first glimpse

 of his new baby sister.

  So focused

 on her tiny little mouth,

 tiny little nose 

and

 tiny little hat...

Big brother

 decided

 she's a keeper,

  lets take her home!

Have a good Tuesday everyone,
Brenda

Mmmmmmmm.....

It was another one of those weekends 

where I rather spend my time stitching

then in the kitchen.

 Anyone else have this disorder?

Thanks to daughter Erin 

for her recipe share

 I was able to whip up a delicious light lunch

 and the darling husband 

couldn't seem to get enough mmmm's

 in while eating his lunch.

 I just won't tell him how easy it was.

 I think I'll just let him believe

 that I labored hours in the kitchen

preparing this delightful meal.

Mozzarella Tomato & Avocado  Brueschetta

1 container cherry tomatoes, cut in half (I prefer the oval or grape tomatoes)

1 carton fresh mozzarella cheese pearls, drained

2 avocado, peeled and diced

1/3 cut fresh basil, julienned

2 T. fresh parsley, chopped

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/4 cup extra light olive oil

freshly ground salt and pepper

french baguette bread

In a large bowl, combine tomatoes, mozzarella, basil and parsley.  Set aside.  In a small bowl, whisk the lemon juice, oil, salt and pepper.  Pour over tomato mixture.  Toss to coat.  Let set for 30 minutes so flavors can mix.  Just before serving, stir in the chopped avocados.  Slice french baguette bread and apply light olive oil onto both sides with a pastry brush.  Place under broiler to toast, toasting both sides.  Place tomato mixture onto toasted bread.

X  X  X  X  X  X

And I leave you this Monday morning with a little peak 

at the

Francis Pool sampler.

I'm about half way done!

Have a good week,

Brenda

She is here!

Meet Miss Avry Brooklyn 

 7 1/2 pounds 

19 1/2" long

 born April 12, 2012 

at 3:55 AM

Mother and baby are both doing wonderful! 

Big brother is getting to know his new little sister

 and 

Daddy's pretty proud!

Thanks for your thoughts and well wishes for a safe delivery,

Brenda

NOTICE

I got the phone call from daughter Erin, contractions are about 9 minutes apart!  I am out of the office until further notice and unable to fill orders.   I ask that you refrain from placing orders during this time when I'm gone...they are just going to sit in my inbox and grow old, thank you for understanding!  I will keep you all updated in regards to my return date.

Gotta run,
Brenda

SPAM keys & Pincushions...

I collect antique & vintage pincushions.

 This one sits in a little vignette,

 along with other pincushions,

 on a little side table

next to my stitching settee.

I bought it as is...

loaded 

with

 pins

 and 

threaded needles.

 It is this little rocker

 that catches my eye

 and

 makes me laugh

from

time

to 

time...

For some crazy reason

 it reminds me of SPAM.

Yea, that's right...

the meat in the can!

Any SPAM lovers out there?

Any SPAM key lovers out there?

 You know,

 the little key that you used

 to take the top off

 of the

 SPAM can?

Loved that key...

 It formed such a cute little curl of steel...

 much like the little curls

 on my little rocking chair pincushion.  

A pincushion made from a pop can.

 I always wonder,

 did they use the SPAM key to create these little chairs?

 Inquiring minds want to know...

 And by the way,

 I don't like SPAM.

 Mom would try sneaking it past us

 when we were kids...

 fry it up nice and brown

 and put it on bread,

drown it with mustard

 and

they'll never know it came from a can...

right?

WRONG.

 I didn't like this so-called mystery meat,

 but

 I WAS

 captivated by it's little key

 and

 the cute little spiral of steel...

Have a good day,

Brenda

Friday is garbage day...

and

 you know what that means?

 Someone gets to
wait
 and
 watch for

 

 one of these ...

Ah yes, the garbage truck!

That is the highlight of this little darlings Friday.

Fridays are busy days for this 3 year old.
  Momma has her ob doc appointments also.

That's a lot to have to squeeze into a Friday morning
 for a
3 year old...

Waiting and listening for the garbage truck
to arrive,
 and
 then having to go to the doctors
office and wait some more...
and
then getting to hear a heart beat
of this little person,
that everyone calls,
 little baby sister...

  The doctors say things are starting to progress
 and the baby
 could arrive
 any day now!
Yayyyyyyyy!!

And now here's the cute part,
 the part that made my day...
(momma called me and told me the cute little story,
I love these cute little Beckham stories - cause you just never know what he is going to say)
 

Upon leaving the doctor's office,
 this past Friday,
 Beckham told the doctor
 that he was going to go home
 and
 watch garbage trucks (of course)
 and
 then go pick up his baby sister!!
First things first, though...

  So,
 I'm thinking these weekly
 Friday doctor appointments
 are starting to conflict
with someones garbage-truck-watching days.
Someone has decided
 it's just time to go
 and
 pick this little sister up,
 and
 get over this weekly
nonsense of doctor visits...
it's really starting to cut into his
garbage truck watching days...

I still can't stop laughing!   

Have a blessed Easter everyone,

Brenda

P.S.

New punch needle patterns should be posted on the website on Monday...unless the baby arrives!  Also, the 35 count Abecedarian linen has arrived and the 30 count Parchment will be here this coming week.

New Patterns!

It's getting close now!

 Flosses are being kitted,

 linen is being cut

 and

you might say,

I'm just getting

 all my little

 ducks in a row,

before the release

of the following new patterns. 

So here is what is coming!

You can expect these to be added to our 

website just as soon
 as that last
 little straying duck

gets in line!!

SIT & STITCH

Is a cross stitch chart

 for a fun little sewing box chair

 that you construct from 

linen-covered cardboard. 

  The seat cushion lifts up,

 revealing a little box

 to keep all your

 sewing needfuls in!

This 9" chair

 has a crisply box pleated ruffle 

and her

 little wooden legs 

are old wooden thread spools...

how cute is that?

  All letters of the alphabet

 are included

 so you may personalize your chair!

   Also included in this pattern

 is a sweet coordinating pincushion, 

complete with cross stitched motifs,

 old mother of pearl buttons

 and 

antique ticking. 

MAY WORD PLAY

The 8th of the 12 monthly series

 is now ready

 for your stitching pleasure!

  Full and partial floss packs 

will be available

 as always.

SAMPLER OF THE SEASON - SPRING

After a little delay,

 the Spring sampler

 in this 4 sampler series

 is now ready! 

 It's an earth-warming spring day

 on the homestead,

gentle breezes are blowing,

it's time to get the quilts out

 for their annual airing.

  Design is worked on

 30 count Parchment linen 

over 2 strands,

 using GAST flosses throughout.

A big "THANK YOU" to Valley House Primitives
for supplying us with another one
of their beautifully hand-grained frames.

Moving onto NEW punchneedle patterns...

DAYS GONE BY

A sweet little huswife pocket 

with antique crock and rabbit pull toy. 

 Wool penny tabs 

and 

antique mother of pearl buttons

 adds extra detail

 and

 texture to this piece.

   A perfect little piece

 to hang from the corner 

of a ladder back chair

 or

 cupboard knob.

PARSNIP PIE

"My garden is beauty full"...

Here we have chambray skirt & straw bonnet clad gardener,

 admiring her bumper crop 

of

  carrots and parsnips. 

Oh there are rows and rows of other 

produce and sunflowers too,

 but is is the parsnips that she

has her eyes on...

 She is thinking Parsnip Pie,

 just like the ones

 her granny used to make.  

   Design is mounted on a linen weave fabric 

with

 wool flower accents

 at it's corners.

That's all for now folks!

Have a good week,

Brenda

P.S. no baby yet!

Awaiting her arrival...

Every time the phone rings,

 at work or at home,

 I am now thinking... is this the call? 

The call saying momma's in labor. 

 We are all excited to meet the little one. 

 Her due date is April 15th.

Her big brother came 10 days early...

So that phone call

 could really

 happen any day now!

Grandma has been busy working long days

 and

 weekends to get caught up

 so I can take a few days off

 to go and meet our new grand daughter

and

 just help out.

Please know that there will be slight shipping delays of orders 

whenever the little one decides

 to make her entrance into the world. 

 I'm working very hard to keep up,

 so I can sneak away for a few days.

Thanks for understanding, 

this is an exciting

time for us all

 and I wouldn't 

miss it for the world. 

I'll keep you all informed when the big event happens,

that way you will have a little heads up 

about shipping delays

 before you place an order.

Have a good day,

Brenda

Now I feel an urgency...

Several weeks ago I received an email from a gentleman...

He had stumbled upon my blog posting, 

the day that I shared photos

 of my Mary Wrigley sampler.  

You may recall,

 this is the first antique American sampler

 that I purchased.  

 I fell in love with her colors

 and 

the farm girl in me,

fell in love

with the

rooster motifs.  

 The email went on to read

 that this gentleman 

was a direct descendant of Robert and Mary Kay Wrigley,

 from Clearfield, PA.  

 They would be the parents

 to the Mary

that stitched the below sampler. 

 You can only imagine my total excitement

 in regards to this email.

  I had a person to connect 

this sampler to

 and that is pretty cool.

He went onto to say 

that they own a sampler made by Mary's mother,

 Mary Kay. 

 The sampler is dated 1806. 

 This gentleman's great great grandfather

 was a brother to the Mary

 that stitched my Mary. 

  Are you confused yet? 

 Yes, 

mother and daughter

 share the same name.

  The mother's sampler, 

was unfortunately damaged by water

 from a house fire 

many years ago,

 but is still quite readable. 

   He was curious

 how the daughter's sampler

 made it's way from Clearfield, PA

 into my hands,

 here in Iowa. 

  I purchased the sampler

 from a antique dealer

 out of Wisconsin,

 at a Minnesota antique fair....

If only we knew

 how she got from there to here...

what were her stops along the way? 

 Did she spend many years

 just hanging in an antique shop? 

 Maybe so. 

  It is really sad 

that something such

 as this 

gets out of the hands of family. 

 These are family heirlooms.  

  A part of me now feels guilty

 owning this...

She should be with family. 

  I feel the urgency

 to reproduce this into a chart,

 so a reproduced Mary Wrigley 1834 

can go home,

 to hang upon the same wall,

as her mother's sampler.

The sampler hangs on the wall next to my stitching settee. 

 This is where I spend a great share of my time,

 when at home.  

 This is where 

I

 sit & stitch.  

 In between stitches,

 when my eyes need a break,

 I look at Mary for inspiration.

Only now,

 it is

 with wonderment

 of what her mother's sampler

 looks like...

  Are they similar?

  Are the colors similar? 

 And of course,

I must wonder,

 does it have 

roosters

 on it?

Have a good day,
Brenda

MIA...

I've been somewhat missing in action as a blogger as of late...

Sorry.

 Life has been busy.

(we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of grand baby #2 in early April, ultrasound shows little girl parts!)

Work has been busy,

 and,

 well,

blogging

 has had to take a back seat.

It's a priority thing...

You may remember

 last fall I blogged about

a new pattern series

 that would be releasing in 2012.

Here is a little sneaky peeky... 

Teensy tiny little cross stitched purse necklaces...

only big enough

 to hold 

a thimble,

or 

whatever

 tiny little treasure 

you may have...

Or it doesn't really need to hold anything,

just wear it as a fun piece of jewelry

to your next stitching class or retreat!

Don't cross stitch?  Don't cry...

there are plans for wool applique and punch needle

in this series as well.

I'm thinking these will be sold as little kits

that will include the purse frame,

necklace chain,

linen and flosses.

More details on this series to follow...

Have a good week everyone,

Brenda

29 Candles!!

Happy Birthday
 wishes go out today
 to Matthew!
 Today Matthew reaches
 the # 29 milestone,
still clinging onto his twenties!

Happy Birthday Sonny Boy!

We Love You,

Mom and Dad

Winner Winner, Chicken Dinner!!

 We have a winner!

No one guessed all three correct, but 13 of you got 2 correct! Those thirteen participants got their names listed two times. I used Random Organizer, listing all of those who had correct guess. I then, with a click of a button, randomized the list.   Since May is our fifth month, it was predetermined, that the fifth name listed after being randomized would be the winner. 

The name that was listed as number 5 was Charlene (heart) SC.  Congratulations Charlene!  Please email me Charlene at order@countrystitchesonline.com with your mailing address.

The peacock blue floss...

a little woman in her large-brimmed gardening hat.

No one guessed this correctly.

 

The red floss...

an old-fashioned wheel barrow.

No one guessed this one correctly either.

 

The red and peacock blue floss is also used in the American flag. There were a lot of correct guesses for flag.

The mellow golden yellow floss...

a busy little bumble bee.

No one guessed this correctly.

Thanks everyone who participated in the give-away.  It was fun reading your guesses!

Watch for the release of May Word Play on April 1st.

Have a good evening,

Brenda

Midweek Musings...

The Spring Sampler of the Season is done!

 After a linen dilemma, and then a change of heart, it is done! Well almost done, just needs her frame. This pattern will release along with May's Word Play, and with some Spring-themed punch needle patterns around the 1st of April.

 

And a little sneaky peeky

at 

May's Word Play

floss selection...

Stitching of May's Word Play will begin this evening as I'm in front of the TV watching/listening to American Idol.   I'm enjoying some TV as of late.   The Voice on Monday evenings, followed by Smash, and then two evenings of Idol, and throw in a little Anderson Cooper too...the most prime time TV that I've watched in a very very long time. 

On a side note...

We received another bolt of potting soil brown ticking yesterday...yayyyyyy!  While I was hoping for more then the 1 bolt, I'll take what I can get!  Hoping to get more bolts directly from the manufacturer today or tomorrow.   I didn't get this pulled from the website before some orders came in, so we over-sold.    Once I have all the pre-sold orders filled, and I feel I have remaining inventory, I will mark the House of Blues & Browns Sampler supply kit and ticking available for purchase once again.  

 It's such guesswork...guessing what the demand for an item will be.  I make my best guess, and hope for the best.  My guess was a bit on the conservative side, when it came to what the response to the pattern "House of Blues & Browns Sampler" would be.  In other words, I will not have yards and yards of brown ticking, and wondering what I'm going to do with it all!  Nope, the dh will not be wearing any ticking shirts or undies!!

   The funny thing is, this design had been in my cross stitch library for 3 years.  Each design cycle I scroll through unpublished work and I would always opened this design, always.    I'd change the colors to brights, then to not-so-brights,  then I'd changed it to red-work, then to blue-work, then I  changed it to blues and browns...that was my a-ha moment, and the rest is history.  I do though, have that design saved 4 different ways...sometimes it just takes you a while before you really fall in love with a design. So I guess you could say, this pattern had been in the making for 3 years!

We lost more of our snow yesterday, heard robins in the yard this morning...

love this time of year!

And I almost forgot...let's have a little fun, shall we?

Let's have a little blog contest!  

Enlarge that picture of those flosses above.

Take a good look at those pretty spring-time colors...

Take a guess at what those colors of flosses will be used for in

 the May's Word Play.

See that mellow golden yellow?

See that brighter red in the center?

See that peacock blue?

Leave a comment,

 telling me what motif will be stitched using those three colors.

If you get any of them right, your name will go into a drawing for a free floss kit and pattern for May's Word Play when the pattern releases.   The contest will remain open through this Sunday. 

I'll announce the winner on Monday.  Your name will get put into the pot as many times as the amount of correct guesses you make.  One comment per person, pulease!

Enjoy the day,
Brenda

Have you ever wondered...

what it

looks like

before someone 

lets

the cat

outta the bag??

Silly kitty.

No,

I'm not traveling.

I've been home

 for quite some time,

actually.

The kitty found this spot

before

 I got things put away...

{sigh}

and he's just so cute

all curled up 

in my new

Amy Butler travel bag

that I haven't had the heart

to put it away.

This is one of those 

cats that 

owns a human...

Have a good evening,
Brenda

Just a little "b-hind"

My goal 

was to have my new Spring/Easter-time punch needle pattern designs

 ready to go

 on March 1st,

that's what my little calendar says anyway...

butt ,

but,

I'm running

 a little behind...

{sigh} 

 

Have a good day,

Brenda

P.S.

New patterns are starting to arrive,

watch for new Stacy Nash,

 Blackbird Designs, 

Scarlett Letter,

 Plum Street Samplers patterns

and others.

  New scissors from Kelmscott 

and new sheep and owl charms...

they are darling!

Thank you Frances...

I have a tiny little start on the antique reproduction piece, Frances Pool - 1832. 

I'm really liking the floss selection thus far on this sampler.  

While stitching those purple and blue berries I had a thought. 

 Don't you love it

 how your mind just goes somewhere else

when you stitch? 

Is this just me?

 While stitching those purple berries, 

I decided that they must be mulberries. 

 A bird will get stitched upon that twig of mulberries...

Those little X's of mulberry purple and blue

 reminded me of our young little family,

several years ago, 

dating back to when the dh was a student at Iowa State University. 

  Our young little family 

lived in married student housing

 that sat on the outskirts of campus, 

near a pasture 

where the horses were kept,

 just a hop and a skip from the horse barns 

on campus. 

 Yes, there are horse barns on campus..

ISU is well known for it's

 agriculture

 and vet med studies.  

On summer evenings, 

Erin would hop onto her white Huffy bicycle, 

with the purple banana seat and white wicker basket,

and 

little brother Matthew would be on his

 Big Wheel...

legs going just as fast as can be,

 to keep up, 

I must add. 

Click, click, click...

remember the sounds those Big Wheels made?

 Mom and Dad would be on foot

 and

 we'd go for a 

walk/ride to the feed the horses.

It was decided upon 

by the kids

 that horses eat carrots,

so that is what they fed them!

 After the horses were stuffed of carrots,

 (dear lord, I'm hoping those horses weren't any big part of any research study...)

 we would head east to a bike path

 that ran through a fairly heavily wooded area.

Trees hung over both sides of the path,

 it always felt 20 degrees cooler upon entering the path.

The area was brimming with birds,

 lots and lots of cardinals

 and 

mulberry trees.

  If we were lucky enough to beat the birds to the mulberries,

 we'd each pick a handful

 and

 put them in Erin's little white bicycle basket

 and

 head home to enjoy a treat of 

sugared mulberries and ice cream...

yummy!  

That was 25 plus years ago,

I had forgotten about those

 mulberry

 and

 ice cream days,

until

 I put those X's onto my linen.

 The thought of those days

 brought a smile to my face...  

Thank you 

Frances Pool.

Digging out from yesterdays blizzard,

Brenda

New Patterns!

Spring time patterns are here for your stitching pleasure! 

House of Blues & Browns Sampler Pillow

worked on 22 count Fine Ariosa over 2 threads.

Finished size - 11" x 23" 

Peter & Peep

worked on 22 count Fine Ariosa over 2 threads

Finished size - 15" x 20"

April Word Play

 worked on 35 count Abecedarian over 2 threads.

Floss kits, linens and fabrics for the above new charts are all available from us online.  Items are now posted on our website.

NEW FLOSS KEEPS!

Margaret Lucas 1832

&

Emma Triegel 1878

Have a good weekend,

Brenda