Remember...

At 12:01 am CST on Tuesday,

November 2nd

the

Home for the Holidays

blog hop officially begins!

Join me right here

for Day 1

of these 11

days of cookies,

complimentary holiday themed projects

&

just good old-fashioned fun!!

Don't forget...

tie a bow

around your finger

if you have to!

Home for the Holidays Quilt Designer Line Up!
Nov 2nd * Brenda Gervais from www.withthyneedleandthread.blogspot.com
Nov 5th * Debbie Field from www.granolagirldesigns.blogspot.com
Nov 9th * Jan Patek from www.janpatek.blogspot.com
Nov 12th * Kathy Schmitz from www.kathyschmitzstudio.blogspot.com
Nov 16th * Renee Plains from www.libertystar.typepad.com
Nov 19th * Tracy from www.plumcutedesigns.typepad.com
Nov 22nd * Lisa Bongean from www.lisabongean.wordpress.com
Nov 26th * Lynda Hall from www.primitivepiecesbylynda.blogspot.com
Nov 29th * Cheri Saffiote-Payne from www.quiltsbycheri.blogspot.com
Dec 3rd * Tara Darr from www.sewuniquecreationsblog.com
Dec 7th * Debbie Busby from www.woodenspooldesigns.blogspot.com
Dec 10th * Stacy West from www.buttermilkbasin.blogspot.com

<

See you on Tuesday,

Brenda

Happy Halloween...

from our

fur child to you

&

yours...

Wishing you a spook-tacular Halloween,

Brenda

They're here...

and a day sooner then I expected!!

5 NEW cross stitch patterns for your stitching pleasure...

"A Winter's Skate"

4 3/4" tall skate tree ornament

worked on Prairie Cloth over 1 thread

************

"Home for the Holidays"

11" tall Christmas stocking

worked on 30 count R&R Reproductions linen (Dk. Chino) over 2 threads

*******

"Partridge in a Pear Tree"

6" pear

worked on 32 count Belfast (Platinum) over 2 threads

*******

"Snow Day"

6 1/2" x 8 3/8"

worked on 35 count Confederate Grey linen by Weeks Dye Works over 2 threads
*******

"Needles & Pins Heart Pinkeep"

6" pinkeep

worked on 35 count Northern Cross linen (cream) over 2 threads
*******

Taking the rest of the afternoon off to tidy up my surroundings...

my house, my office, my laundry & my cooking all take a hit when I'm in the "design mode". My husband (one handed and all) bless his heart, picks up the slack around the home front during this time...I probably owe him a lovely home cooked candlelight dinner this evening!!

Have a swell weekend everyone,

Brenda

P.S.

Don't forget...the blog hop starts Tuesday!

Home for the Holidays Blog Hop

You are invited to join in on the fun!

12 days of holiday traditions,

favorite recipes

& 12 free projects

from 12 different designers!!

Home for the Holidays Quilt Designer Line Up!
Nov 2nd * Brenda Gervais from www.withthyneedleandthread.blogspot.com
Nov 5th * Debbie Field from www.granolagirldesigns.blogspot.com
Nov 9th * Jan Patek from www.janpatek.blogspot.com
Nov 12th * Kathy Schmitz from www.kathyschmitzstudio.blogspot.com
Nov 16th * Renee Plains from www.libertystar.typepad.com
Nov 19th * Tracy from www.plumcutedesigns.typepad.com
Nov 22nd * Lisa Bongean from www.lisabongean.wordpress.com
Nov 26th * Lynda Hall from www.primitivepiecesbylynda.blogspot.com
Nov 29th * Cheri Saffiote-Payne from www.quiltsbycheri.blogspot.com
Dec 3rd * Tara Darr from www.sewuniquecreationsblog.com
Dec 7th * Debbie Busby from www.woodenspooldesigns.blogspot.com
Dec 10th * Stacy West from www.buttermilkbasin.blogspot.com

Mark your calendars for November 2ND and join me right

here on my blog as I kick off 10 days of Home for the Holidays fun!

With thy Needle & Thread,
Brenda

Mark your calender...

Santa is coming to Country Stitches

& his sleigh

will be loaded

with new cross stitch patterns

for your stitching pleasure!

Mark your calendar for his arrival on Saturday, October 30Th

for the unveiling of...

"Partridge in a Pear Tree"

"A Winter's Skate"

"Home for the Holidays"

"Snow Day"

"Needles & Pins Heart Pinkeep"

Join us on the 30Th!!

With thy Needle & Thread,

Brenda

A snowy forecast!!

Snowy things are coming our way!

And it's not the kind you have to shovel....

youhooo...

but rather pretty little snow flaked designs to stitch!

Get your needles & linen ready folks, new patterns coming soon!!!

Have a good day,

Brenda

ALSO...a BIG thank you to all my blogging friends for your concerns, thoughts and prayers for my Dad. He is back home once again, wearing a heart monitor for 48 hours and then back to the clinic for a follow up. Hoping things get turned around with his heart rhythm. Talked to him on the phone last evening and he sounds good and is in good spirits... THANKS AGAIN!

My new treasure & a crazy AM...

I've had one of those types of mornings...

didn't sleep well, been up and out of bed since 4:30 AM

and gots too much coffee in me (sorry, I'm feeling grammatically challenged today due to caffeine overload).

At 7:30 AM took a phone call from Mom,

she informs me Dad's in the hospital...irregular heart beat.

Okay, now the caffeine from the 7 cups of coffee I have consumed

this morning

have kicked in

and I feel like maybe my heart is doing a cartwheel or two, also.

So I try to busy myself

and head to the post office to find two yellow cards in our post office box...

love it when I have these in my box because that means I have packages.

One package was from Suzanne,

one of my model cross stitchers

and immediately tore into that package

the minute I got into the car.

Thanks Suzanne...once again, your stitching is PERFECT!!

I didn't recognize the name of the California sender of package number 2, so I elected to wait until I got home to open that package.

Upon opening the package

I remembered it was my recent eBay purchase, a spinning pincushion/spool holder. The piece is much smaller then it appeared in the photo....just a mere 3" tall. I love the "petite-ness" of it...I immediately fell in love with the pincushion's old worn corduroy cloth...

you know, the old faded orangish reddish red...LOVE that color, it's my fav!

So I thought I'd share a picture of my new little pincushion/thread spool keep with you all...

it is my new favorite treasure!

Not sure how my next days will unfold. Will be spending my day sitting by the phone, waiting for it to ring probably....

Have a good weekend,
Brenda

Our day at Pumpkin Fest

Hi everyone, this is Beckham and I'm filling in as guest blogger once again for Grandma Brenda. Today's post is about our day spent at the Center Grove Orchard in Cambridge, IA. for their Pumpkin Fest weekend festivities.

First off there was farming to do...

This farming stuff is hard work...would you mind giving me a hand Grandpa Dave.


Just beyond where I was doing my farming on my tractor was the Billy Goat Haven. There were goats everywhere! I knew goats could climb, but jeepers I had no idea how high they like to climb. I'm getting pretty good at climbing myself...


We continued around the farm yard checking out all the other animals.

Meet Mama sheep...


Meet Mama sheep's baby... Isn't he/she cute? I thought I'd get a good close-up look at this little guy/girl so I got real close to the fence...things were going pretty good until Momma sheep let out a humongous baaaaa....scared the you know what out of me (let's just say I about soiled my diaper).

Here are the 3 little pigs...you know the ones from the story about the big bad wolf. The 3 little pigs houses were also at the orchard but I was still a bit frazzled from the whole Momma sheep baaing at me so I decided that I'd wait until next year to check them out.

And more silly goats...

Oh dear, hope he doesn't fall...

Guess what chickens that live at an apple orchard eat for treats?? Apple peelings, silly!! I had a hard time taking my eye off this chicken...the one with the silly hairdo.

Meet the turkeys...

I found them to be somewhat loud, wasn't too fond of all that noise.

Well isn't this a cute little house? This is where the ducks live. Look real hard and you can see the duck just inside the door.

I liked the ducks. They just quietly swam in their pond without making too much farmyard noise. I was even brave enough to go right up to the fence and watch...

Grandma Brenda likes this picture...here she did some editing to the photo. She wants to get this picture printed real big-like and hang it in her house.

Sorry, here I am again starring at this silly chicken...

Yet another goat...

A brand new, still wobbly-legged, baby goat and it's momma...

After we were done farming and feeding the animals it was time for our hay ride around the farm. Now I was pretty excited about riding on a "cocka" (tractor) but when you get right down to it, I was scared. Shhh....don't tell anyone!

The hayride took us around the orchard and out to the pumpkin patch. We already had our pumpkins bought so we didn't hop off to pick a pumpkin, but momma said maybe next year.

Here is a cute little family picking their pumpkins. Look.at.all.those.pumpkins.

After the hayride we went to the Feed Bunk and grabbed some lunch. I ordered a grilled cheese, fresh Iowa sweet corn and homemade apple sauce. Here I am drinking my apple sauce...

Last of all we went down thee biggest slippery slide I have ever seen. It was pretty high up there so I asked Momma if she wanted to go along with me. We sat on gunny sacks...

READY...

SET...

GO!

What a fun way to spend an Autumn Sunday afternoon! If you live within driving distance of Cambridge, Iowa I would highly recommend visiting the Center Grove Orchard!

Oh, I almost forgot...

they have 31 varieties of apples and the Honey Crisp apples are my new favorite snack!

Have a good day,

Beckham

Just a little heads up...

We are bursting with excitement...
but our lips are zipped!
Blog fun
is coming
your way,
beginning November 2nd!

(Mr. Jack & Scaredy Cat pattern , shown above, available from www.countrystitchesonline.com)

Stay tuned
right here
on our blog
for further updates...
let the fun begin!

With thy Needle & Thread,
Brenda

New Arrivals...

Freshly "rained" acorns now available for purchase!

Sold in cute little bags of 15 acorns...there are even quite a few doubles! Consider yourself lucky if you have a double in your bag. I love to scatter acorns on tables, put in bowls , or to surround a pillar candle on a plate for a wonderful autumn time decor.

Also,

9 yummy new colors of 3 strand floss from

Valdani arrived today...

Watch for these new items to be posted for purchase on our website sometime this weekend.

Have a good weekend,
Brenda

Box of Doodles...

Meet

her box

of doodles!

In the early morn

hours

you will find her

with her "doodle box".

Page by page

she will thumb

through them.

After a few minutes,

you will find her surrounded by sheets & sheets of doodles...

possible future punch needle pattern designs.

Often times,

designs that didn't make it through previous years

look better the next.

A pink tub

full of several years of doodles

patiently waiting for their turn,

their turn

to be put

to

needle & thread.

Now there is no organization to her box,

nothing is in order

and

nothing sorted according to season...

but this is how she creates.

Her so-called

creative clutter...

clutter

that

inspires her.

So she will spend this beautiful Autumn day

making final decisions

on the next round

of

"holidayish"

punch needle patterns.

She hasn't picked up

a punch needle

since March or April...

Her needle is calling her,

Brenda

I'm wearing a hat today...

a dunce hat,

that is.

While putting together a floss kit for the Give Thanks pattern for a sweet customer from the Netherlands I came upon an error on the materials needed list for this pattern.

Soooooo....

for those of you whose patterns are already in route, please take note that the floss color 1227 Bright Leaf has been omitted on the materials needed list on the back cover of the pattern. The instructions and chart of the pattern are correct as is.

Just don't forget you need this color when shopping for your floss.

My apologies,

Brenda

Joy Ride...

The weekend weather here in NW Iowa was B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L, a warm 86 degrees with no wind and no humidity...something that is a rarity in these parts. A nice day to go for a ride...
a joy ride,
as my mother called them.

Our journey took us a few miles north to two little communities situated in the Little Sioux River valley. The color was spectacular. With a wetter then normal summer, we are still mowing and enjoying lush green lawns, a lovely contrast to the shades of the leaves.

Come along and enjoy our Sunday Joy Ride...

The weatherman says we are in for another nice week. Last year at this time we already had snow...so we just keep enjoying each and every nice day and keep our fingers crossed that the snow awaits us.

And one more thing...

A HUGE "Thank You" to all of you who placed orders over the weekend, taking in on the free shipping promo. Looks like there are going to be lots and lots of busy needles out there. If you haven't stopped by our website, there are a few more hours of free shipping shopping, but offer ends tonight at 10:00 PM CST sharp.

Have a good week,

Brenda