Ready for 2015?

Are you planning your projects for the New Year?  We have a few suggestions for you on our newly updated What’s New page: http://houseofstitches.com/whatsnew.cfm.  When I was trying to decide what to write about, Nancy had many good ideas.  So, I am turning the newsletter over to her.  Take it away, Nancy!

Hi everyone and a Merry Christmas to you! As 2014 winds down I have been thinking about what I wish I would have done this year and hope to do next.  Somewhere I read where people were making a Bucket List for things to be done before leaving this world for the next. It hit me that most of the things I want to accomplish would be stitching related. For example I have always wanted to try stitching on silk gauze. I have always wanted to make an ornament every year for my grandchildren, too. Stitching an English Band sampler is another dream. So a list I will attempt to put together and what gets done this year great, if not there is always the next….

Another project I want to accomplish early year is organizing my stitching closet:  putting all of the threads in their own little Floss Away bags, putting my scissors in a hinged shadow box with their coordinating fobs so they can be admired and accessible, separating all of the fabric into project bags according to count and hand-dyed or not, getting all my needlework toys together in my Buddy Case by Namaste or for finishing the Bigga' Buddy Case to hold my dressmaker shears, gathering quick to go kits for travel or waiting at doctor’s appointments.  Pine Mountain Pillow kits, Bent Creek Zipper Kits, Mill Hill Kits come with everything except scissors and Shepherd’s Bush has some great 10ct Tula projects.  Blackbird Designs Reward of Merit are good for travel, too.  Lizzie Kate has the “A little” series.  You really get a feeling of accomplishment when you stitch small things.  It is amazing how much time we can have waiting for things or people that could be put to good stitching moments.

Maybe if Mother Nature hands us a nice snow storm (is that an oxymoron?), we can all fine time to get organized!

We here at House of Stitches wish you and yours the Merriest Christmas and a New Year filled with lots of stitching hours.

Gift Ideas!

I hope all of our U.S.  friends had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  It was less than a week ago but it seems like a distant memory as we charge full speed ahead into the Christmas season.   We have updated our What’s New page with great ideas for gift giving or gift requesting!  Stop by http://www.houseofstitches.com/whatsnew.cfm  to find great ideas for either list.  The Fiber & Fabric Mania Travel Guide 2015 would be a wonderful gift for a traveling stitcher, quilter, knitter or weaver.  Kelmscott has new scissors, Needle Minders and Angel Thread Winders.  The Chocolate Acorn Scissors Fob from Embellishing Bits is perfect on the new Kelmscott Acorn Snips!  Sullivans new scissors look antique and would be a welcome find in any needleworker’s Christmas stocking.  Heart in Hand has started a new series of cute little designs called Joyful Journal.  There will be one for every month; so far we have December-March.  Pine Mountain has several new pillow kits that are ready for you to stitch.  They are also great kits to introduce someone to the joys of stitching.  Take a moment for yourself and investigate all of the fun new designs.  You might just find the perfect gift for your stitching friend, relative or yourself!

Thank you for your time and continued interest.  YOU are on the list of things for which we are thankful!

Prolific designers!

Our designer friends continue to amaze us with their productivity!  We have over 50 new things to share with you at http://www.houseofstitches.com/whatsnew.cfm.  I have already picked out a few to add to my list of things to stitch (Random Happiness, Primitive Moodkeep, Give Thanks…) .  Take a look and let us know which ones you want to add to your list!

I hope your holiday projects are well underway.   Remember, if you want them framed in time for Christmas; we need to have them by Thanksgiving weekend.

Is your family asking you for gift suggestions?   We have gift certificates available in any amount.   And, our Weekend of Stitches (March 20-22, 2015) would be a wonderful gift…even if you give it to yourself!  (See details at  http://www.houseofstitches.com/events.html)

Thank you for honoring us with your continued support and interest.   We give thanks for you in this month of gratitude and thanksgiving!

 

New fall projects!

We have new things for you to see at http://houseofstitches.com/whatsnew.cfm.  There are new charts from Barbara Ana, Cricket Collection, Heart’s Content, Sue Hillis, With Thy Needle and Thread and more!

Several of you have asked us about Classic Colorworks floss.  Crescent Colours was sold to Ronnie Williams and the new company name is Classic Colorworks. The colors and color names are the same as Crescent Colours so they may be used interchangeably.  (However, the usual dye lot differences in hand-dyed threads can still come into play.)  In other needlework news, we have learned that Prairie Moon will no longer be designing. So, if there are Prairie Moon charts that you want, do not delay!  We have already sold out of some of them!

We are excited to have so many of you signing up for our March Weekend of Stitches!  If you are interested, you can see the project and get the registration form at http://houseofstitches.com/events.html.  Start making plans to be a part of the fun!

Today we had rain, then sun then more rain.   When we looked out the shop's back door during the sunny moments, this tree was glowing against the dark blue sky and was reflected in the pavement.  I hope fall weather lasts a very long time!  We are not speaking of what comes next!

New designs!

Autumn is upon us in Indiana!  The trees are turning every fall shade you can imagine and for the most part, they are still on the trees so we can enjoy them without all of the raking.  At least not yet!  Many of our new arrivals have an autumn or Halloween theme so you can stitch in the current season.  How does that work for those of you in the southern hemisphere?  Are you more inspired to stitch things in pretty pastel spring colors?  You can see our newest designs at http://www.houseofstitches.com/whatsnew.cfm.   If you like seeing the pictures all at once, go to our catalog http://www.houseofstitches.com/search.cfm and type oct14a in the keyword box.  You will see a thumbnail size picture of each design.  Click on any that you would like to see in more detail.

While you are cruising around our website, be sure to click on the Events button, http://www.houseofstitches.com/events.html , to see the project that Betsy Morgan will be teaching for us in March, 2015. It is a great project and I hope that you can join us!

March 2015 Weekend of Stitches

We have updated our Events Page at http://www.houseofstitches.com/events.html. We finally have the details for our March 2015 Weekend of Stitches with designer Betsy Morgan!!  Start planning now; I hope you can join us!  If you go to the link above you can see a picture of the project.  (It is a new project that Betsy is debuting at Williamsburg this December.)  The registration form has more details but feel free to phone (219-326-0544 or 800-455-8517) or email (mail@houseofstitches.com) if you have questions.

We have had some new arrivals since we updated our What’s New Page earlier this week.   We don’t have pictures online at our website but you should be able to see them at the designers’ websites.  From Lizzie Kate we have I Cannot Count My Day Complete, Flora McSample’s 2014  Stockings, Sled Dudes and Reindeer Stocking.   Heart in Hand brings us Wee Santa 2014, Vintage Greeting: A Merry Christmas and Christmas Means More.  From Bent Creek we have Pumpkin of Leaves Kit and Parts 2 & 3 of the Spooky Spinners Series.  Country Cottage Needleworks has the second Classic Ornament, Dear Santa and the October Calendar Girl.

We hope you have a wonderful weekend with plenty of time for stitching!

 

Fall is here with great new designs!

Happy fall!  I do not know what happened to spring and summer; they certainly went by in a hurry!  I enjoy fall as long as I ignore what follows right after. Do you have a favorite season? We certainly have a variety here in the Midwest.  Our What’s New Page at http://www.houseofstitches.com/whatsnew.cfm  has many fall and Halloween designs to put you in the proper frame of mind.   And, for those of you who plan ahead, there are also quite a few Christmas projects.  As usual, the hard part will be choosing which ones to stitch first!   With this update of our website, we also corrected an oversight and added perforated paper to our online catalog
.
In the next day or two I will be posting details about our weekend retreat with Betsy Morgan (March 20-22, 2015).  Until then enjoy perusing the new things and let us know which ones are destined for your personal collection!

Just Cross Stitch Ornament Magazine!

We have exciting news!  The much anticipated and long awaited 2014 Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornament Magazine has arrived!  You can see it on our What’s New page, http://www.houseofstitches.com/whatsnew.cfm.  Do I have to finish the project that I am stitching before I can start on the ornaments?  Of course not!   And neither do you!  There are more than 60 other new items, also!  In addition to the many new designs, there are needle minders and scissors (including Eve, the Gingher designer scissors for 2014).   Halloween and Christmas designs abound and we have part 2 of the SamSarah Something Wicked Mystery Sampler.  Have fun choosing your favorites; it will be hard to decide which to stitch first!  We love seeing what you choose and we appreciate your continued interest and business!

St. Charles Needlework Market Finds

We are back from market and what a great market it was!  You can see the latest in our website catalog: http://www.houseofstitches.com/search.cfm.  Just type stchas14 in the key word search box and more than 160 items will be displayed.  AND!  We have many more to be added so keep checking back!  There are new charts, kits, limited edition kits, scissors and magnets.  Have fun planning your new projects!

I took some pictures when I visited Candy and Mary from Workbasket designs. I am not an ace photographer but it will give you a peek at part of their market display.  The owls are all from their Hootenannies chart which has many variations and finishing ideas.  Be sure to visit our website to see the rest of my great market finds!

St. Charles, here we come!

It is an exciting week here at House of Stitches!  We are making plans for the St. Charles Needlework Market that is coming up this weekend.  The designers have been busy so there will be loads of new projects to tempt us.  Some are already arriving from designers who send out their automatic shipments before they leave for market.  If you have been seeing previews on your favorite designers’ blogs or websites, please let us know which charts and kits you would like.  It will help us make sure to get enough of the ones you want.  This is especially true of the limited edition kits.  We hate for anyone to be disappointed if we sell out before you get yours!

Our What’s New page was updated today!  You can see the latest at: http://www.houseofstitches.com/whatsnew.cfm.  SamSarah is beginning a new Mystery Sampler series.  “Something Wicked” is stitched on the new Petit Point Linen that is a natural color with little brown dots.  If you taught a grandchild to stitch this summer, I Can Cross Stitch is a great book to keep him/her going.  For those of you who crave large projects, I think you should look at Abbi from Heritage Stitchcraft and Christmas in the Woods, Countryside Spring and Rural Barns 1, all from Stoney Creek.  On the other end of the spectrum there are two new designs for the little pocket watch frames.  Blue Bunting and Summer Saltbox are stitched over one on 32 count linen and are just 1.25 inches in diameter!  If you need a chuckle be sure to see Laughed and Laughed from Xs & Ohs.

Remember to send us your market wish lists!  We will do our best to fill your requests!

New designs!

Wonderful new designs continue to find their way to our What’s New page!  You can see all of them at http://www.houseofstitches.com/whatsnew.cfm.  One of the most anticipated designs of the year has arrived: the 2014 Prairie Schooler Santa!  This year he is a caroling Santa, complete with a red top hat and overcoat.  There are also four new leaflets and a Halloween card from Prairie Schooler.  The Frosty Forest series from Country Cottage Needleworks concludes with the ninth design. A new twelve month series of Christmas ornaments begins in August!  Let us know if you would like to be on the list to receive the Country Cottage Ornaments-Classic Collection as soon as they arrive each month.  Nora Corbett has two new designs in her Bewitching Pixies series: Ana and Emi.  Diane Graebner is a prolific artist and she brings us two new designs, one for fall and one for winter.  I especially like the winter one with a wooded country road and four buggies.  Heart in Hand and Trilogy each have a new Thanksgiving chart.  You have some hard choices to make!  Which designs are destined for your collection?

 

Ready for Fall projects?

Here in the Midwest we are experiencing unusually cool weather for the middle of July.  It is, however, perfect to put us in the mood for all of the new fall charts that are making their debut on our What’s new page, http://www.houseofstitches.com/whatsnew.cfm.  There are a few exceptions but the majority of designs have fall and Halloween themes.  The Lizzie Kate Tingles series is now complete and we have the Lizzie Kate Santa’14 Snippet and the 19^th Tiny Tidings chart.  Sampler lovers will want to see the latest from Plum Street, Scarlett House and Shakespeare’s Peddler.  Even if it is cool, it is still summer and that makes me want to stitch patriotic designs!  Cricket Collection has July, Silver Creek has Seeds of Freedom, USA Square is from Sweetheart Tree and Anchor of Pride is new from Threadwork Primitives.  The 2014 Halloween Special Collector’s Issue from Just Cross Stitch is now in stock and we are taking pre-orders for the 2014 Christmas Ornament Magazine. (It is scheduled to be shipped at the beginning of September.)

Do you have a child or grandchild who is getting restless as summer goes on?  Call for details about our classes for children.  Learning to use a needle and thread is a life skill that will be used again and again!

If your summer travels take you across northern Indiana, be sure to stop in for a visit and a break from the car.  We have enjoyed meeting many of you that we only knew by name as mail order customers.  It is really nice to meet you in person and put a face with your name.   There are nearby options for family members (parks, museum, hardware, ice cream…) so you can shop in peace!

Enjoy all of the new charts!  As always, we appreciate your business and look forward to hearing from you!

Happy stitching,

Linda

Happy Fourth of July!

Happy Fourth of July to all of our US friends!  I have just returned from a week of scorching fun at Disney World.  Most days the heat index was in the 105 degree range.  We were there with our children and grandchildren and in spite of the heat we all had a grand time!  I am sorry to say I stitched very little but the time with our family was priceless.  On the flight to Florida Grace told me that the trip was a dream come true for her!  She was turned into a glittering princess and Jonathan became a pirate, complete with a beard, earring and sword.  I was very excited to learn that Minnie Mouse cross stitches!  I have a photo of her stitching a teddy bear for Mickey Mouse and she is using cross stitches!   Pretty cool!

I am writing from the basement as a major summer thunderstorm with the potential for tornadoes, rolls through our area.  Our internet connection is down so I cannot look at the website to tell you about the newest additions to our What’s New page.  I guess that will wait until morning!
The storm has passed and it is a beautiful blue sky kind of morning.  We have many new designs on our latest What’s New page update: http://www.houseofstitches.com/whatsnew.cfm. There are a number of patriotic designs as well as a new chocolate design and the continuation of several series.  If you have a beginning stitcher, there are kits from Dimensions that have pre-punched felt shapes that are easy to see and do not require a hoop.
We are taking pre-orders for the 2014 Just Cross Stitch Ornament Magazine!  It is scheduled to ship on September 5, 2014.

I hope you find new projects to enhance your summer stitching!  We look forward to hearing what you think!

Happy stitching,
Linda
House of Stitches

mail@houseofstitches.com
www.houseofstitches.com
www.houseofstitches.blogspot.com

June!

It is June!  Where is 2014 going? Are we having fun?   I hope you are having fun with many stitching projects.  We have more for you on our What’s New page at http://www.houseofstitches.com/whatsnew.cfm.  The list includes the next two months (May and June) from Cricket Collection, the newest Frosty Forest Charts and the June Calendar Girl.  Be sure to see the designs from Nimue!  We had charts from this designer a number of years ago and then we were unable to get them.  I was thrilled to see that Wichelt is carrying them now; they are unlike the designs of any other company.   A wonderful, magical world of fairies and elves awaits your needle and thread!  They will tempt you to compose stories about them as you stitch!  Nora Corbett has started a new series of Bewitching Pixies.  Luna and Gigi are the first two.  They take Halloween designs to a new level!

If you are taking any trips this summer, be sure to pack a special stitching bag to take along.  I recommend at least three projects.  You should have an easy one, a more challenging one and a back-up project if either of the first two does not work out. (Think missing floss colors, large counting errors, etc.)

I will leave you to browse and make your selections!  Keep up the good work.  We have been seeing some marvelous pieces that have been brought in for framing.  You never cease to amaze us!

Happy stitching,

Linda

10 Tips from a Needlework Framer

I have been helping out with the framing and I have come up with a list of 10 things your needlework framer wants you to know and practice!  Here they are in no particular order:

1. Trim your tails close!  If they extend beyond your stitched area, they WILL show!  And, do not carry your thread across unstitched areas on the back of your fabric.

2. Wash your hands before you start stitching.

3. Do not always fold your piece the same way when you put it away.  The fold lines get soiled and are very hard to remove.

4. Fold your fabric with the right sides inside.

5. While stitching, fold or roll your fabric so you are holding the back side.  This also applies to rolling your fabric on a scroll frame.

6. Keep newspapers away from your stitching.

7. Please do not use masking tape on the edges of your projects.  Overcast the edges with your sewing machine or serger or use a fray-stopping liquid.

8. Do not use lead pencils to mark your fabric.

9. Be sure to allow enough fabric around the edges to finish your project the way you want.

10. If you have used colorfast floss and fabric, wash your project when finished.  Use mild dishwashing liquid, rinse well and roll in a towel.  Place face down on a terry towel and iron on the back.

I hope these tips will help you.  I know your framer will thank you if you follow them!

Cross stitch alleviates cabin fever!

We continue to have snowy, cold weather here in the Midwest.  The only thing that we have found to ease the symptoms of cabin fever is stitching!  We have new things to show you on our What's New Page at http://www.houseofstitches.com/whatsnew.cfm.  There are many new designs to brighten your winter weary spirit!  A number of them are appropriate for Valentine’s Day and some have a winter theme. Little House Needleworks and Country Cottage Needleworks continue their series and Nora Corbett completes her four seasons of faeries with Faerie Winter Dream.  Ronnie Rowe Designs had three new ship designs that are taken from pen and ink drawings.  If you like punch needle, be sure to see The Night Shift from Three Sheep Studio.  These three cute snowmen make winter look like fun!  Miles to Go is a new designer with a couple of cute new charts.  Sampler lovers will want to see the two new samplers from Ellen Chester of With My Needle.  Elizabeth Wood is a reproduction sampler and Of Female Arts is an original design.

I thought you might like to see the mountain of snow in our parking lot.  It has even grown a little since I took this picture.  Maybe we should get some sleds to rent out to the kids who seem to have snow days every day!  One of our favorite customers says we don't have snow days, we have SEW days!  I like the way she thinks.

I hope you can stay inside, stay warm and stitch like mad.  For those of you who live in the southern hemisphere; you may be having visitors soon!  We can't take much more of this!

Happy stitching,
Linda

Winter continues; think spring!

How are you surviving the brutal winter weather?  We are thinking that this would be a good time to visit our customers in the southern hemisphere!

We recently framed a wonderful sampler for one of our customers.  Deb gave us permission to share it with you.  It is "Tribute to Summer Sampler" from Stacy Nash Primitives.  With the extreme winter weather that we are currently experiencing, it is nice to contemplate summer!  We love the fact that Stacy Nash is also from Indiana!  If you would like to stitch this dream of warmer weather, you can order it here: http://www.houseofstitches.com/detail.cfm?ID=29793 .  Thanks for sharing your sampler with us, Deb!

Don't forget our Just Cross Stitch Ornament Magazine sale.  Even if you have all of the magazines, this is an opportunity to have a nice, new copy for your stitching library and a stitching copy for your project bag. 25% off won't last forever!

We all know what a wonderful stress reliever it is to stitch.  Many of us consider it our "therapy".  If you know someone who needs a source of relaxation, share your love of cross stitch!  It just might save their sanity.

Happy stitching,

Linda