Happy Mother’s Day 2020

Happy Mother’s Day 2020

Happy Mother’s Day!

With this awesome day – it proves that we are moving right along into a lovely late Spring. Did you notice the beauty of this morning? Boy, I sure did as I drove up to see Mom. Feeling so blessed to just have the early sunshine on my face, my Mom to see on Mother’s Day…and of course, I was thinking about needlework too. Not much could be better!

Hope today’s brief newsletter brings you a smile and a tad bit of inspiration for your next project.

daisies in a vase

Coming to American the women of the mayflower crossstitch

COMING TO AMERICA: THE WOMEN OF THE MAYFLOWER

Do believe this has been the most anticipated cross stitch design in a while – and with good reason.   Brenda Gervais has outdone herself with a fantastic design – and the presentation of the whole project is simply brilliant.   You will not want to miss this one – even if you haven’t cross stitched in a while.   This project is truly limited edition.

Brenda has designed Coming to America as a commerative piece to celebrate the 400th anniversary and the 18 married women of the Mayflower.    To allow us to celebrate 66 days of stitching to coincide with the 66 days at sea – we will receive these projects in late August.   We can then stitch from September 6th to November 9th!

“The inspiration for this piece came from a book that was written 100 years ago by author, Ethel J.R.C Noyes, titled – The Women of the Mayflower and Women of Plymouth Colony. Her work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization, as we know it. The work is now in public domain in the United States of America. It is well worth the read, its history that wasn’t taught in our history books.”

The sampler has been designed in bands – long and narrow, much like samplers of the 17th century – but with a modern twist. Each band and the motifs represents a time of their journey… the landing at Cape Cod, the animals that traveled with them, the women – a listing of the names of the 18 married women, Plymouth – the place they would eventually call home, the rock – Plymouth Rock, a lastly, a reminder that we are living in the tomorrow for which they wrought.

The sampler design is 125 wide x 422 high – and will have finished sizes as follows (all worked over 2 threads):
40 count linen – 6 1/4″ wide X 21 high
36 count linen – 6 7/8″ wide X 23 3/8 high
32 count linen – 7 3/4″ x 26 3/8″ high

The Coming to America Project Box will include:

  1. Chart for the sampler, “Coming to America ~ The Women of the Mayflower”,
  2. Self-adhesive sampler label to sign and date the finished sampler
  3. Pilgrim Lady Needle Anchor – a cute little magnet to keep one’s needle safe & secure.
  4. Piece of cotton backing fabric for the free bonus chart. The fabric is a reproduction of Mayflower passenger, William Bradford’s handwritten journal and was designed specifically for this project.
  5. Custom printed box to house the items. This also doubles as a project box to keep all the goodies safe & secure while stitching the sampler!

You can sign up for:
A.  The project box (as outlined above) – $35
B.  The project box with 40 count linen and floss – $86
C.  The project box with 36 count linen and floss – $95
D.  The project box with 32 count linen and floss – $123

We are taking pre-orders through June 15th for this great piece.   Please email us at tinsmithswife@gmail.com that you would like to participate – and be sure to let us know which of the four options you would like so we may prepare.  Guess you can tell I am SUPER excited!!!

women of the mayflower cross stitch                                women of the mayflower cross stitch close up

 

Dream in color yarn

DREAM IN COLOR ODE TO SPRING

Wow – Veronica and the team at Dream in Color have done a knockout job creating a wonderful palette of colors to celebrate Spring – welcome Ode to Spring 2020!

The variegated yarns at the right are “Merry Voice” – and each of the solids coordinate and create a different color story!  (See below for a few combinations.)  You can also purchase the yarns on our online shop.

And what could you make with these amazing skeins you ask?!   Well….

1.  Spring Tease by Sarah Abram – This is the pattern Dream in Color tempted us with…pictured below.
2.  Metanoia Wrap by The Healthy Knitter (free pattern) – “a knitted journey during a tumultuous time as our way of life changes”.   The project takes two skeins.
3.  Breathe & Hope by Casapinka – a wonderful knitted shawl.   The project takes two skeins.
4.  Waroo by Deanne Ramsay – a crocheted shawl that would look swell in two colors!   It was inspired by Ambah O’brien’s knitted version, Kimba….
5. Kimba by Ambah O’Brien – would be smashing in three colors!

In closing, I cannot thank each of you who have continued to order in the variety of ways – as well as those who have made the last week wonderful by revising the shop.  We are delighted to keep your hands making during this odd time.

Below is a shot of Miranda from the past week as she was sunning herself in the front window.