Happy New Year!

On the eve of not only a new year, but a new decade, best wishes for a safe, healthy and happy New Year! Don't you love these vintage postcards? I do! I have a different one on my web site What's New page and another below - couldn't decide on just one! The one above I find particularly sweet with the dear cherub, presumably Baby New Year? dressed in red and carrying a gold ornament-bedecked Christmas tree.



This postcard has great symbolism with the old year heading into the sunset perhaps, depicted by the old man, and the young, new year coming on - maybe that's actually a new sunrise? I guess you could read it either way. And I love the holly artwork. Just a beautiful image.

It's already 2010 "down under"! Shout out to all the revelers down there where it's summertime for you folks! That said, we're bracing in the Northeast for a double-whammy of two snowstorms heading our way. Mother Nature's New Year's gift to us!

My ancestors are of Scottish descent and in Scotland there is a New Year's Eve tradition called the "First Footing". To insure good luck for the household in the new year, the "first foot" within should be "a dark male" and he should bring with him symbolic items like a piece of coal, shortbread, salt, "black bun" and "a wee dram of whiskey"! Sounds like a party! For years we practiced our own sort of "First Footing" by putting money outside the door before midnight and bringing it back into the house after midnight - symbolizing the first thing coming into the household is money, meaning a prosperous new year for the family. Hasn't quite worked for us, maybe we're doing something wrong! But - it can't hurt!

Whatever your holiday traditions within your family, enjoy a fun night! Next time I'll revisit more of the results of a customer survey from back in the fall and maybe a few New Year's resolutions too.

Cheers!

Holiday Hangover

After months of preparation, WHOOSH!! Christmas is over in a flash. I'm always amazed at how quickly it's over once the day arrives. This year was particularly busy with various family get-togethers and things going on at work. Much food was prepared and consumed, and I'm so looking forward to getting on that treadmill at lunchtime tomorrow! I've fallen off the diet bandwagon badly since Thanksgiving and it's time to atone!



It's also time to start putting things on sale to help make way for the new. Shown above is Santa & Snow by Lake View Primitives, one of a handful of doll patterns added back to the web site and in the Sale Bin at half-price. You'll also find some patterns by Walnut Ridge Primitives there.

Some cross-stitch patterns from PrimitiveBettys have been placed in the Sale Bin in the new Cross-Stitch section as well. I'll be adding more things as I have time to gather them and update the web site.

Hope you had a great Christmas! This will be a short week with New Year's Eve on Thursday. We'll stay home as usual and keep off the roads, probably watching some of the Three Stooges' marathon on AMC or the annual Twilight Zone marathon on Sy Fy. What party animals we are! Well, better head off to bed - 5:45 will be here before I know it...

Cheers,

Merry Christmas!

Sneaking a minute to wish all a very Merry Christmas! It's been a busy week and a busy Christmas Eve but we're winding down for a long winter's nap soon. After I watch my Alistair Sim version of "A Christmas Carol" - wouldn't be Christmas Eve without that movie! One of my brothers says Scrooge turns good too quickly, but I love the story and the message just the same. I'll be wiping away tears at the end...

My Christmas wish for you is... May you get all the Peace, Love, Joy and Happiness your heart can hold! God Bless us - Everyone!

Merry Christmas,

Almost Christmas!

Whew! The past couple of weeks have been super-busy with all sorts of activity around Christmas. There was a last-minute decision to travel down to Massachusetts to visit with my family before one of my brothers and wife and 5-month old niece left for a trip to Vietnam. They are there now and will be gone until the end of January. Being baby's first Christmas I just had to see her! Another brother, my mother and son and girlfriend met us as well and we had a lovely holiday get-together at Longfellow's Wayside Inn in Sudbury, Mass. Check it out via the link under the Links You'll Like section on the left (scroll down a bit). I'm a big "atmosphere girl" and a restaurant's ambiance is almost more important than the food! The Wayside Inn is the oldest operating inn in the country. Very cool! One of my brothers was married at the Martha Mary Chapel on the grounds. They delivered the bride and groom to the church in a horse-drawn carriage. That was many moons ago, not last weekend! We all had a great holiday visit, but my husband and I came home a bit empty feeling like the holiday was already over. Trying to shake that feeling and make it a special holiday for us.

The pattern shown above is Notforgotten Farm's popular "Jingle All The Way" cross-stitch design. I just got more in stock recently, it's a perennial favorite at Christmastime. Also available is another annual favorite, "Parson Brown". A new needlepunch pattern called "Merry Stockings" caught my eye and has been a new popular item. This is one I'll have to make myself.

Monday the 21st is the last day to ship packages in time for Christmas, according to the US Postal Service. Although I'm not sure about that, I'm putting it out there! Priority Mail has the best chance of reaching you before Christmas. I'll be shipping whatever I can on Monday and keeping fingers, toes and eyes crossed for good luck!

My little primitive tulip hooked mat got done in time for the rug guild holiday mat swap, which got changed to the February meeting without my knowing. Oh well... At least it's done! I'll post a picture when I can get hubby to upload things from the camera. It's cute but I might want to keep it instead of swap it! I've become attached to it! I can't figure out how folks can part with things they've made!

Hope your holiday plans are coming along! All the gifts bought? Wrapped? Tree up and decorated? Holiday meal all figured out? I'm not sure what I'll be cooking yet, leaning towards a wonderful pork tenderloin with a mulled cider-spiced glaze that I made years ago and got rave reviews. We'll see. We must decide soon!

Cold still, hope you are warm and snug on this Saturday night, less than a week before Christmas. I'll write again during the week.

Season's Greetings!

Looking like Christmas!

Frosty Trim a Tree is one of several new patterns just in from Country Stitches. This guy is made from a clear ball ornament, painted, with a sculpted head. Too clever. Brenda Gervais has also created more whimsical patterns with her signature litte mouse, who appears quite frequently and is sooo cute!



Wild Pomegranate is from Blackbird Designs and is gorgeous! Big, dramatic 20" blocks and a pink ruggled edge. Just so feminine, as are most of their beautiful quilt designs. Some previously sold-out books of theirs are back in stock as well, plus a few other quilt-related books. Details on my What's New page.

My husband and I had a rare day off to escape to the White Mountains region of New Hampshire and do some Christmas shopping today. Loved seeing the snow-capped Mt. Washington off in the distance! We took pictures, maybe I'll have to post one when I get a chance to upload them from the camera. We left early, went to a cute little place called Peaches in North Conway for breakfast - awesome food! - then shopped until we dropped in the afternoon. We're only a little over an hour away so it's definitely a trip we can do every so often. I kept gazing all around me at the mountains! Can't imagine being able to live out there, that would be cool.

Back to work tomorrow, but now it's only a 2-day week. I've got to get serious about finishing an 8" hooked tulip mat for a swap at my rug hooking guild soon and there's a craft fair at work that I need to make things for... Way too much going on and not enough days! I need better time management skills and being on this computer updating all the places I need to udpate takes so much of my time these days. Facebook, Twitter, web site, blog, newsletters... I don't know. All this techy stuff is taking time away from actually creating things! How do you manage it all? Any pointers? I'm all ears!

Enjoy the rest of your week,

Online Shopping Day!

The busiest online shopping day of the year! My Black Friday/Thanksgiving weekend sale items will remain in effect on Monday, November 30.

Have fun shopping online!

The After Thanksgiving Let-Down

Sigh... It was over in a flash! Thanksgiving is probably my favorite holiday, so cozy and warm with wonderful smells of the meal cooking all day, candles flickering on tables and countertops, a flurry of activity as the meal comes together all at once, and the always-too-short time to visit with family. This year was extra-special because we had my mom and youngest brother up from Massachusetts who've never seen our new house up here in Maine. They came up on The Downeaster from Boston. My middle brother and girlfriend came down from the Bar Harbor area and my son was also up from Massachusetts with his girlfriend. We had overnight guests both Wednesday and Thursday nights. I loved having a house full of family! It was great fun spoiling and entertaining them and I realized how much I miss doing that! I was the one who hosted all the holidays back home in Massachusetts and when it's just my husband and me it always feels like something is missing.

My son left Thanksgiving evening after dessert and the rest of us went over to Freeport and had breakfast out before bringing my mom and brother back down to Portland to the train station. We saw them off and all of a sudden it was over - we were alone again! It was pouring buckets of rain on Friday, a very gloomy day that just reinforced the gloom we felt knowing that the holiday was over. Last night I was back to listening to every creek and bump that this house makes, feeling very lonesome and homesick! I'll get over it I suppose. We'll see some of the folks at Christmas in a few more weeks. Then we'll have the BIG let-down! But, we'll save that whining for next month...

So, I meant to get some sale items figured out for Black Friday but was enjoying my company too much! I managed to get an email sent out late last night announcing a Thanksgiving weekend sale.



Check out my What's New page on the web site for details. Just to recap, both the Cameo and Super Luxo punchneedles are at 15% off and I've posted some hand-dyed wool roving from Kindred Spirits as well as some patterns using needlefelting techniques.



Making a return to the Wool Applique/penny rug Pattern category are vintage holiday designs from Lake View Primitives. Shown is Under the Mistletoe. I've always loved Jackie Apessos' whimsical style and these patterns are classics. And they're also on sale!

Well, at least I have two more days off - Monday my husband and I are heading over to North Conway, NH for some tax-free shopping and general hanging out together. We are actually in a great location here in midcoast Maine. About 25 minutes from the coast and about an hour to the NH border and White Mountains. It's the best of both worlds! I just wish the weather forecast was a little brighter for Monday. We're expecting showery conditions most of the day. Hopefully there won't be snow over there. I know it's almost December but I'm never ready for the snow! So why am I living in Maine, you ask?? Because it's beautiful all year 'round, snow be darned. I accept it and deal with it! We planted tulips all along some big boulders at the side of our driveway back in October so that'll give me something to keep looking for as spring nears.

This is probably enough rambling for this day. I've got a dish of lasagna in the oven that'll be ready soon. It's a traditional after Thanksgiving meal for when we're "turkey'd out". Tomorrow we'll be making turkey soup - one of my favorite things about the holiday! No recipe, just winging it. Hope it turns out well!

I hope your Thanksgiving was just as special. We all have lots to be thankful for.

Take good care,

Happy Thanksgiving!

Here's a little Thanksgiving poem I penned this morning, feeling all festive and everything:

May your Thanksgiving turkey be golden and plump,
Your gravy like velvet with nary a lump;
May your apple pie dazzle them all at meal's end,
Have a blessed Thanksgiving with family and friends!

That was fun! I saw a group of wild turkeys at the edge of our woods this morning that looked a lot like the fellow getting ready to peck at that pumpkin. Pretty brazen I thought, with Thanksgiving just a day away. I suppose they figure everyone's already gotten their holiday bird by now so it's safe to come back out!

I thought I'd share a favorite dessert recipe that I make every Thanksgiving. I love it because it's a make-ahead dish and I'm all about making whatever I can ahead! Once the mixture is in my 2-quart glass baking dish I cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate until after the meal. Then, when everyone is ready for pie, coffee and other desserts I pop this in the microwave for 15 minutes - easy peasy! My son especially loves this and looks forward to it every year. Hope you enjoy it too!

Cranberry Apple Crisp

5 cups peeled & sliced apples
1-1/2 cups chopped cranberries
1 cup sugar
3 tbsp flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup quick-cooking rolled oats
½ cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/3 cup flour
¼ cup butter or margarine, melted
½ cup chopped nuts
Frozen yogurt, vanilla ice cream or whipped cream (optional)

In a large bowl, combine apples, cranberries, sugar, the 3 tbsp flour and cinnamon. Spoon into an ungreased 2-qt. microwave-safe casserole. In a small bowl combine rolled oats, brown sugar, the 1/3 cup flour, butter or margarine and nuts; mix well. Sprinkle crumb mixture evenly over the fruit. Microwave on HIGH 15-20 minutes or until apples are tender. Remove from microwave carefully with oven mitts as dish will be VERY hot! Let cool as desired and top with frozen yogurt, ice cream or whipped cream.

Have a safe and happy holiday surrounded by those you love!

Peace,

The Results are in...

Well, I've begun sorting through the responses to my customer survey and what I've seen so far has really got my gears turning! As promised, I'll share the results over several posts starting here. There were over 570 responses! I've got a lot of reading to do with the write-in comments that most folks provided. So thank you again! For right now I'll share what my "composite customer" looks like.


You are mostly quilters - over 75% of you - with wool applique/penny rug makers coming in second, followed by cross-stitchers and rug hookers (virtually tied), needlepunchers fourth and a lot of various fiber arts you wrote in under "Other". Most of "Other" was knitting but you also do non-quilt-related sewing, some needlefelting and doll and craft making.

You are mostly at an advanced level of expertise in your favorite craft.

You shop mostly online from retailers who sell a variety of designer offerings and you also love to shop from vendors at quilt and rug hooking events - me too!

From a question dealing with what was most important to your online shopping such as variety of products, free shipping, frequent sales and a user-friendly web site, your overwhelming most important factor is shopping at a user-friendly web site. You weren't really swayed by shipping costs or even discounts. If we want something, we want it! Variety of products came in second.

Also, a sign of the times were comments I read over and over that said that you are digging deeper into your own stashes for projects and materials, therefore don't always require a "one stop" kind of shopping experience. You may have much of what you need for a project at home already.

Most respondents reside here in the Northeast with the Midwest coming in second. The rest of you are from all corners of the country with a fair amount of folks overseas too, especially Canada and "Down Under"!

That's enough to digest for this post. I want to study the "meat" of your detailed comments before I write more on this. After the holiday!

May your turkey be plump, your gravy with nary a lump and may you be surrounded by the warmth of family and friends this Thanksgiving!

Gobble Gobble!

Information Gathering

Oh my gosh... Has it really been THAT LONG since I posted something here?? Egads! In all that time school started up again, my husband had a birthday and we took a vacation in the White Mtns of New Hampshire, I vended at a great new hook-in up here in Maine hosted by Camp Wool, Hallowe'en came and went as did Veteran's Day. How time (and crows) fly! And now Thanksgiving is this week...

I'm starting to think about 2010 these days and the direction I want to take.



So, last week I sent out a customer survey to get some feedback about buying habits and general information about what people are doing these days. The results have been very interesting and eye-opening, and I plan to share them in much more detail in the coming weeks. I'm also giving a 15% discount coupon good for an order placed after New Year's. Would you like to take the survey if you haven't already? There's a link on my What's New page where you can answer the seven questions and provide additional comments if you like. Thank you in advance for your feedback!

Thanksgiving will be busy for me with lots of family members coming north and south to converge on our house for the big meal. That meant this weekend was spent spit-shining the place as my mom and youngest brother have never seen our house yet. Tuesday and Wednesday will be baking nights with banana and cranberry breads made on Tuesday. Wednesday is traditionally "pie night" when I do my pumpkin and apple pies and try to prepare as much other stuff ahead as possible. Another dessert will be my "famous" apple-cranberry crisp and can be totally put together ahead in a nice glass baking dish and refrigerated, covered with plastic wrap until after the big meal. Then it's only a matter of microwaving it for about 15 minutes, break out the whipped cream and frozen yogurt and let 'em have at it! Oh, I'm getting hungry just thinking about it all! What are your traditional Thanksgiving preparations? Or are you dining out and letting someone else do all the work? That's fun too!

It continues to be a challenge working full-time and trying to maintain a web-based business and all that goes along with it, but I'm keeping my head above water for now. The coming weeks will be busy getting a hooked mat finished for a rug guild swap in mid-December as well as a craft fair at my work for which I committed to making some ornaments and needlepunched pins. Tough to get motivated after working all day and having to prepare a meal, clean up after and try to wind down from the day. Hopefully I can pull a rabbit out of my hat and get everything done so I can enjoy the final weeks leading up to Christmas! I'll post a picture of my little mat, a primitive tulip inspired by one on a needlepunched pincushion I bought from Betty Dekat (primitivebettys) on eBay a few years ago. It's great hooking practice for me but I hope it looks good enough for someone to want to swap at the guild party!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours and I promise to be back again soon!

Maggie, Oh!

Isn't this awesome?? It's a spectacular wool bed quilt designed by Maggie Bonanomi called "Settler's Pride". The gorgeous hand-dyed wools used are from Blackberry Primitives. The finished size is approximately 56" x 60". The pattern is available as well as an installment/block-of-the-month sort of option that includes Blackberry Primitives wool kits. Stop in and visit the What's New page on my web site for many more details.

I first came to know Maggie Bonanomi's work through the Need'l Love "Threads" books where she was usually a contributing designer. She has since published several of her own patterns and last year's best-selling book, With These Hands: 19th Century-Inspired Primitive Projects for Your Home highlighted her fantastic folk art talents with wonderful wool and fiber projects, all done by hand. A new book coming out next month will be titled Nature's Offerings: Primitive Projects Inspired by the Four Seasons, and I am just chomping at the bit waiting for it! Definitely available for pre-holiday buying for yourself and gift-giving. I'll give a shout out when that's available.

More new goodies arriving soon from Blackbird Designs, Country Stitches, Stacy Nash and Primitive Pieces by Lynda too! The fall design release season is getting underway! Stay tuned!

In Stitches,

Geez'em Crow!

That's a saying they use up here in Maine - it's a nicer way to exclaim something else. Anyway - has it really been a month since I posted anything?? Again I say, "Geez'em Crow!" I guess time really does get away from a person. I find myself routinely swept away in the tide of full-time work, nightly routine of preparing a meal for hubby and myself, clean-up afterwards and making lunches and snacks for the next workday, not to mention wanting a little breathing time to relax, maybe watch a little TV and catch up with what's going on with my husband too. Oh, and I have a web site and all that's involved there as well... All of a sudden I'm pooped!! BUT - I do have some newsworthy updates, so watch this space for another post soon, promise!

Penny Rug Revisited

Back after a period of absence is the first penny rug pattern I ever offered, my "Simple Folk" penny rug, based on my web site logo. The model pictured was originally stitched by Jackie Apessos of Lake View Primitives. We lived near each other in Massachusetts several years ago and worked on this and another penny rug project together, "The Reverend David Thurston", which will also be re-released soon. Trying to get back to offering some of my own things after being swept away in the current of buying lots of other designers' patterns over the years and never having time for my own ideas.

Today's garage sale with Kim Dubay of Primitive Pastimes in No. Yarmouth, Maine was fun and we had a good turnout. If you were there thanks for coming! Now the focus is turning to Camp Wool's hook-in in mid-September. I need to sit down and figure out what I'll be bringing to that.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

2nd Annual Fiber and Folk Art Flea Mart this Saturday!

Looks like the rain in Maine will let up for Saturday when Simple Folk and Primitive Pastimes of North Yarmouth will present our 2nd Annual Fiber and Folk Art Flea Mart! We'll have handmade and imported folk art pieces, books, patterns, supplies for rug hooking and crafts, kits, notecards and lots more! Click on the link for my web site and check out my What's New page for more details and a link for directions from Mapquest.

Hope to see you on Saturday!

New Stuff

Just arrived from Need'l Love, Cottage Garden. This book has 8 garden-inspired quilts designed by Gerry Kimmel-Carr and featuring Andover Fabrics' line by Renee Nanneman called Stone Cottage. Beautiful, pink and girly, for piecers and appliquers alike.



The July issue of The Wool Street Journal is here with loads of articles on hooking and dyeing wool, recipes, free patterns, some needlepunch and of course lots of eye candy inspiration for your hooking projects.



From Hollyhock Farm is new from Stacy Nash with 5 neat primitive designs for cross-stitch sewing needfuls, Stacy's trademark. All the items were inspired by things Stacy saw at a wonderful homestead, Hollyhock Farm.

Can't believe I haven't posted anything since the 4th of July! I think I'm still struggling with the question of whether I really have anything of interest to say to my readers! I can't quite log a post about the mundane daily "stuff" that goes on in my life even though other blogs do. Now and then when something really moves me I can justify it but not every day. I just don't want to waste anyone's time! Am I being silly? Oh well...

Oops!! Actually forgot an important item I really do want to post but will do that separately! See you in another minute or two...

A Holiday for America

"Proclaim Liberty Throughout All the Land Unto All the Inhabitants Thereof."
- inscription on the Liberty Bell

Happy Birthday, America!

Whether you're attending your town's 4th of July parade, local field day or muster, cook-out or fireworks, enjoy a safe and happy holiday with friends and family!

We've finally broken through the clouds and rain in Maine and will have a mostly sunny weekend, whooppee!! Time to play outdoors!

Have fun!

Summer Sale Winding Down!

We're in the final hours of my 15% off "Summer Sale", ending at midnight today, June 30th. People have been getting some great deals as everything on the web site (in stock) is on sale, including already-reduced Sale Bin items. I must clear out inventory to make room for new things that will be coming along for fall and the holiday season, so come out and take advantage of my over-zealous buying habits over the past several years! In a few weeks much of my inventory will be offered at a joint Fiber and Folk Art Flea Mart (info below in a previous post or on my What's New page on the web site) and what's left will probably be off to eBay.

Still raining in Maine! Wait, I can make a poem out of that:
The rain in Maine is sogging up my brain!

That and my poor annuals that are turning to mush... But, the one gleaming bit of hope on the horizon is Saturday, the 4th of July - we're actually supposed to see some sunshine! Now that will be something to shoot off a few fireworks about!

Have a safe and happy 4th if I don't get the chance to post again before that.

Passings

It's been a sobering few days with the high-profile celebrity deaths in the news. Two on the same day with Farrah Fawcett losing her battle with anal cancer, then the shocking news about Michael Jackson. Jackson's death immediately took over news reporting, putting Farrah Fawcett's story on the back burner and all the news media scrambling to put memorials and tributes together for both of them. God, their heads must have been spinning! Mine was just trying to comprehend it all. Then yesterday we heard about famous pitch man Billy Mays (OxiClean, Orange Glo, etc.) and his surprise death after being hit on the head during a rough plane landing in Tampa. Today's news seems to rule out the hit on the head as a cause of death, listing underlying heart disease, but my money's still on the hit on the head. I'll be very interested to know the results of Michael Jackson's autopsy. Liza Minnelli was quoted as saying, "All Hell's gonna break loose" after the results are in, perhaps she knows a lot more about what Jackson might have been taking. At any rate, it will be news for some time to come. Reminds me of the whole Anna Nicole Smith story when she died abruptly after accidentally overdosing on drugs.

Now I realize and understand what Michael Jackson did for music, changing rock 'n roll completely, but I was never a big fan. However, I can't seem to get some of his early songs out of my head the past few days. And I can't seem to separate the more sordid side of his life from his musical talents. That's how I'll remember him for the most part.

So it's been a disconcerting few days, my thoughts dwelling on death and the darkness in people. I am unsettled, feel very vulnerable and unprotected. All the continued rain isn't helping. We had such a glorious day in Maine Saturday, my spirit just soared! It's amazing what a beautiful, sunny day can do for the soul! Thank God for that day, it may help get me through the next few with more rain forecast. The local news folks were even talking about landslides and roads washing away with all the rain. The ground is just so saturated. Crops are being damaged, plants and flowers ruined, mushrooms and dampness everywhere! This is summer?? June, my birthday month and usually my favorite, has been ugly, gray and sad. Maybe Mother Nature is a little depressed over all the death and bad news lately too. Can't say I blame her!

I hope things are better where you are!

Take care,

Random Updates!

Finally posted on the web site: As described in my previous post, new patterns by Pineberry Lane and Notforgotten Farm are in stock and finally made available on my web site. I actually had the patterns for several days or so before having a chance to actually sit down and update the site! I won't re-post pics here, check out my last post to see a couple of samples. Better yet, visit my web site and click on What's New for the whole write-up and all the pics - clicking my Simple Folk banner will get you there.



Restocked and also ready for purchase are some popular patterns from Country Stitches that recently sold out including Sarah's Garden, a charming cross-stitched pocket or "huswif"-style sewing needful. Two doll patterns by Pineberry Lane are back including Herman & Petunia, which sold out quickly before Easter.

Shepard's Shade by Threads That Bind is finally back in stock, this one has been hard to get but we have a handful. I saw a newer one by TTB called Chalkboard Lesson too and that is available as well. Both for punchneedle.



Mark your calendars! The 2nd Annual Fiber and Folk Art Flea Mart, presented jointly by Simple Folk and Primitive Pastimes will be on Saturday, July 25th from 9am-4pm, rain date Sunday, July 26th, same times. Location is Primitive Pastimes, 410 Walnut Hill Rd., North Yarmouth, ME. This is Kim Dubay's shop/studio and the event will take place in her garage. We'll be clearing out inventory in order to make way for new stuff for fall. Get great deals on patterns, books, supplies, woolens, handmade and imported folk art and lots more. Call Kim for more info: 207-829-3725.

On a personal note, I've just celebrated my birthday at the beginning of the week. Kind of a milestone birthday - and I'm not telling which milestone! - but birthdays and New Year's always cause me to take stock of where I am in my journey through life. Still at a bit of a mental crossroad in terms of my business but I've got time to carefully consider a few options before choosing my next path. Stay tuned!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Coming Attractions

   

Soon to be available are a couple of delightful new patterns for primitive cross-stitch from Pineberry Lane. Shown above is Ann Lancaster's Needle Book with it's quilt block-like motifs, inspired by a pocket sampler stitched in an orphan asylum back in the 1800s. The second picture shows the inside of the needle book. Another design is a neat sampler titled A Faithful Friend. You'll love both. Several out of stock patterns have also been reordered so look for those two. Announcements will appear here and on my What's New page when patterns have arrived.

   

New cross-stitch designs coming soon from Notforgotten Farm include Skeleton Keys and The Good Witch Sampler. I'll also be getting the newest little design booklet in the series, Herb Tyme with artwork that can be used as needlework, rug hooking or needlepunch. Lori Brechlin's artwork has always enchanted me and it will be good to get some new designs from her back in stock!

New patterns will also be coming from Stacy Nash Primitives and I'll share sneak peeks once my order is confirmed. Two primitive-inspired sewing books and a wonderful journal cover. Awesome stuff as usual!

Well, the Camp Wool hook-in in September down in Wells, Maine is now full! Over 200 enthusiastic rug hookers will converge upon The Coastal House on September 14th for a great day of hooking, visiting and hopefully shopping with myself and the other great vendors that will be there. If you were one of the folks who got a spot I hope to see you there! I've got my thinking cap on for special goodies to bring and offer just for this event. I hate to wish the summer away but I can't wait!

Enjoy your weekend - more yard work awaits me but I'll also be dropping in down at Camp Wool to say Hello to LeAnn who runs the shop and check it out. I'm sure my husband will be thrilled! (Browsing quilt and wool shops isn't exactly his cuppa tea!)

'Til next time,

Memorial Day

I hope you've enjoyed a safe and happy Memorial Day. It's a day to remember those who have fought and died to keep us free to live the lives we've built with family and friends. I remember my dad today, a veteran of WWII who wrote the following poem titled "This Honored Day". It was published in the Westborough News, Westboro, Massachusetts on May 22, 1992.

This Honored Day

Sound the taps and dip the flag,
You honor us this day's retreat,
We feel the tremble on the ground,
From dedicated marching feet.

Wave high those little flags in hand,
Yet gaze on ours; they fly so well,
Reminders that we fought and died,
We entered into battle's hell.

Leave us now this day we've met,
For you will wait another year,
To honor us with your respect,
Though we are always near.

With faded sounds,
The bands now gone,
The high-pitched flute,
The muted horn.

In quietness you take your leave,
You came to honor,
Not to grieve,
This honored day.

Robert S. Thomas