Happy New Year!

Wishing you all the very best of everything!  

: )

New Design!

Hi my friends!

Thank you all sooo much for the kind words of encouragement! All is going well with me. Getting back to work and back to my routine at home (WooHoo!).

I am offering my first design since coming home! This will be my only Christmas release for 2011, unfortunately. I had so many planned... but what can you do, right? Sometimes your plans just don't work out.

Oh well... I have too much to be grateful for to worry about it too much. : )

I am extremely happy about this design that shows a lovely Christmas feather tree adorned with red ornaments. Says "Merry Christmas" and has a fun red border. Primitive and Sweet! Simple and Beautiful!

Hope you all are well and if I don't talk to you in the next few days - Happy Holidays!

Wishing you all my VERY BEST!

Maria 

 

Available here:

http://thestitcherhood.com/patterns/christmas-feather-tree-p-119.html

or here:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/88726006/pdf-e-pattern-emailed-primitive

Hello friends!

I am so sorry to be missing for so long... but I assure you that I do have a good excuse. I lost a month!
On Friday October 14th - I went to bed just like normal, but woke my husband up around 5am with the worlds worst headache! I knew it was severe enough that I asked him to take me to our local small hospital where they immediately did an MRI only to discover that I has a massive brain aneurysm that was bleeding into my brain!

They called a Columbus hospital (the closest big city to us) and asked them to send the life flight helicopter.
As soon as I arrived at Riverside Methodist Hospital - they deposited me into ICU and proceeded to do a 10 hour surgery on my brain.

They shaved my head - I look so silly (spooky), and I have a giant incision along the right side of my head that will hopefully soon be covered by hair. (For those of you that know me.... I have always had long hair, so it is odd to have hair that is only about an 1/8th of an inch long... and it's cold!)
Prior to the surgery - I am told that they had to bring my body temp down to 16 degrees Celsius, stop my heart, ... and drained a large portion of my blood to prevent further rupture and bleeding ....

It took me 2 to 3 weeks before I knew what was going on! I awoke in the hospital in completely unfamiliar surroundings!  Wondering... what the....? What happened? It felt to me like my husband and kids were gone. My house was gone. My dog & cat were gone. My clothes and possessions were gone. Everything was gone and I didn't know WHY. All I wanted was to go home. I was SO homesick! I had no memory of the last 3 weeks... to me it was still Oct. Little did I know that I had missed Halloween, the leaves turning, etc. A whole month had gone by without my knowledge.


Luckily my dad (living nearby) visited often. My nurses were wonderful. My surgeon was amazing. My husband (my hero!) & kids drove 4 hours to visit me as often as possible. I had many friends and family pulling for me! Thanks to you all! : )

So, I finally made it home! I am told that, alone, is a miracle. I still have physical therapy to deal with - but I am looking forward to anything and everything as long as I can be home!

I want to thank my doctor for his skilled hands, my nurses for all of their time and energy & caring natures : ) even in the light of my "ornery" behavior, my daughters and husband for sticking with me and keeping the home fires burning beautifully! Thanks to all of my family and friends for their prayers, well wishes, cards, love, good vibes, warm thoughts, well wishes, etc.

If I really am the miracle they say I am through all of this... I have no doubt that it is a  direct result of all of those good wishes & prayers so please keep 'em coming as I am far from done with all of this!  : )
Thanks again... and MUCH LOVE to you all!

Maria Warmke / The Stitcherhood

PS - I am slowly getting back to stitching (Christmas is coming!) but it is very slow as I only have 1 good eye at the moment. However - it is just so wonderful to be back to stitching, no matter how slow. LOTS to be Thankful for this year!  : )

I LOVE this conversation...

 Hi Ladies!

(my apologies if there are men on here.. if so... 

let me know! You deserve a medal!:))

I am sooo pleased to see the conversation going on here!

Missy choose "Bloom" as her free pattern. 

I had so much fun with this free drawing, 

and love to see 

the spark of conversation it spurred.... 

I think I might do this again  next week.

However...

Unfortunately, for ME, 

I have 2 days of 3 hours each of dental procedures 

coming up  this week

(ick....eeeew... owww.)

but after that... I'll be back and spunky!

Hope you all have a spectacular week (free of dentistry)!

~M

And the winner is.....

Heeeelllllooo!!!

: )

It was so good to hear from you all!

Glad to know you're still there... makes blogging much more fun!

So, I took all of the names from all of the comments 

and stuck them all in a basket. 

I picked on out of the basket...

and the winner is....

Missy !

Congratulations... 

I will send you an email to see which design you want. 

For all the rest of you... don't fret... 

this was so fun I think I'll make a habit of it!

Happy Sunday to you all!

~M

((( Helllloooo!)))) Is anyone out there?

Okay, my peeps...

I am not always so good at regular posts...

and I apologize for that.

BUT 

I've not heard a single peep from any of you!

You still there?

According to Blogger, there are 187 of you...

so speak up!

Hmmm....

In order to spark some kind of life here....

I am going to offer a FREE PDF design of your choice to be emailed to you.

Pick ANY design from my collection on my website -  

www.thestitcherhood.com

In order to win this PDF design... simply comment here with an email address.

I will put all entry's into a hat on Sunday, 10/16, and pick one.

Thanks Ya'll and Happy Fall!  : )

~Maria

New Design!

Hello my Friends!

I have a new design ready....

It's a companion to my last release "Be Witched".

 

Both available 

in PDF format on my website :

http://www.thestitcherhood.com/patterns/

or in leaflet version in my Etsy shop :

http://www.etsy.com/shop/stitcherhood

Re-done and Ready!

Hello!

Thanks for your patience on this.

I had spotted a goof in this design 

(luckily BEFORE it went into circulation! : ) 

So I pulled it and completly re-did it. 

I changed a few things... and I think it is even better now!

Coming soon... a matching "Be Jolly" design for Christmas.

Have a wonderful week-end!

~M

Available here:

My website in instant PDF format - 

http://www.thestitcherhood.com/patterns/

My Etsy in leaflet format -

http://www.etsy.com/shop/stitcherhood

2 new patterns! Woo Hoo!

Hello friends!

 I have 2 new patterns that have just been released....

The first is my version of The Samplermakers Autumn Challenge. 

We were all given several Autumn motifs and then were to use those 

to make our own design with them. It has been so

fun to watch everyone's different designs!

Notice the new look?
Whatchoo think?  
: )

Available on my website:  http://www.thestitcherhood.com/patterns/

Or in my Etsy shop:  http://www.etsy.com/shop/stitcherhood

I had one all finished... and then found a goof, so I
have pulled it and will repost after it is fixed.
At least I caught it BEFORE it went out all over the place! : )

More finishes...

I got a lovely email from Janice 

with some photos of her finishes.

Thought I'd share them with you all.

Thanks Janice!

aren't they wonderful!

~ M ~

Finishes to share...

Hello all!

It's a cozy rainy day here.  

Love having a Monday off!

Susan was so thoughtful to share some of here finishes with me.

They were so creative - just beautiful!

Had to share them with you too.

I've been meaning to add a "gallery" to my website for finishes,

but haven't gotten that done yet - so until then, I'll share them here.

Thanks Susan!

If anyone else every wants to share their finishes - I'd be thrilled!

Have a great day!

~ Maria

Aren't they great!?

Big Cats and Big News

Hi friends!

You all sure are quiet lately...

cat got'cher tongue?

On to the news... maybe not THAT big...
but I had to get your attention!

I can't decide if I am proud of...

or horribly embarrassed by....

the new "Friday Feature" on Hoffman's website.

http://hoffmandis.com/index.cfm?page=ffdet&desID=STITCHER

Hmmmm.

Maybe a bit of both! 

: )  

~ M~

New Design!

Offering a new Halloween Design!

 Available here in instant download version:

http://thestitcherhood.com/patterns/

Or here in paper pattern version:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/stitcherhood

 

: )

 

~ M ~

I'm Back! (Warning... LOTS of photos! : )

Hello my friends!

I missed you!

I am back from a marvelous vacation... 

my youngest is back in school.... 

my oldest is on a trip to Nashville with her friends... 

I have the 400 loads of laundry from the trip done...

the fridge has food in it...

the house is clean (sort of)...

and I am ready to get back to designing!

Couldn't resist adding some (many) photos of our trip to Lake Erie.
(Click pictures to enlarge... much better that way. )

Most of the days were like this....

BUT...

There was one particular evening/night that was QUITE stormy!

Can you believe that???

THAT is a tornado (waterspout) right next to our cottage!

Scary.. but still kinda beautiful. 

All in all.. a great time!

Now back to reality.

: )

~ M ~

Happy! Happy! Happy! Happy! Happy! Happy!

Turning right!  

~M~

:)

They're Here! My 100th design!

Hello friends!

The 2 new designs are ready (with more in the works)!

So excited that these are my 100th and 101st designs! 

Take care all!

: )  

~M

 Available here in PDF instant download format:

http://www.thestitcherhood.com/patterns/

Available here in leaflet format:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/stitcherhood

Finishes..... coming soon!

Hello friends!

Hope you are all doing well and staying COOL!

Today it was 94 degrees with 97% humidity! 
Ick. 

I feel the need to grow gills just to breath ...

I'm tempted to cut off all of my hair as it has frizzed into a giant round mass! 

It is so humid that the tree covered hills in the distance look blue... 

I'm guessing from all of the water in the air!

My only hope is that I hear thunder rumbling far off in the distance. 

Maybe it will rain and cool things off a bit!  : )

I've been trying to stay cool by stitching some fall / Halloween designs.... 

dreaming of crisp, sparkling days and cool nights!

Here are 2 of them that will be released this week.

Stay cool my friends!

~ M ~

"All Hallows Eve"

"Owl Hollow"

PS - Since I wrote this post a few hours ago...
we had a 15 minute MASSIVE storm....
explosive thunder and striking lightning....
LOVE IT!....
and, yep, it IS cooler now!
Hope you all cool off too!
: )

~ M ~

Please remember that all contents of this blog, 
including text and photos, 
are copyright protected. 

Thanks!

July 4th Celebration!

Happy 4th of July to you all!

To celebrate....

I have put 2 of my July 4th holiday patterns on sale just for today!

Enjoy... and have a safe & happy holiday!

~ Maria

http://thestitcherhood.com/patterns/july-4th-70-p-77.html

 

http://thestitcherhood.com/patterns/expressions-july-p-107.html

Question for you all....

Hi My Friends!

I have a question for you all....

I am being considered for an ornament in the 

"Just Cross Stitch" magazine ornament issue. 

Hopefully the "Halloween" issue, 

OR... the "Christmas" issue. 

This would be huge!  : )

I have a design ready and stitched.... 

but I was wondering if any of you would be willing 

to take the finished stitched piece from me

and make it into an ornament for me? 

I would be happy to pay - 

or to trade in free designs of mine - 

but I would need the finished ornament back  

with simple directions of how it was made into an ornament

by October 1st!

A simple felt backed ornament with hanging

ribbon would be wonderful! 

Whatever,,,,

Anything easy....

No need to be too fancy.... just simple and easy to follow.

The finished piece must fit - fininshed -

into a sandwich sized baggie.

My stitched piece allows for plenty of room for that.

 I think I could give you credit for the finishing in the article... 

but I am not in charge of what actually gets printed... 

so I can't guarantee that that.

I will if I can!

Anybody interested?

Smiles....

Maria

They're ready! 3 New Designs!

 Available on my website:

http://www.thestitcherhood.com/patterns/

or in my Etsy shop:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/stitcherhood

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!  : )

M

Sneaky Peak...Part 2

Remember the strawberries?

Here are the grapes!

: )

Another Sneaky Peak...

Hello my friends!

Sorry I've not been posting lately... 

been crazy busy around here!

My daughter graduated from High School...

... WHAT?!?! 

Where did the time go??.....

Have had tons of family in town...

Now my (soon to be) 6th grader is done for the summer!
Ahhhh.. no more 6am wake up calls!
Happy! Happy!

Below is a sneak peek at a strawberry design that I am working on.... 

also will have some Quaker motifs included and

also one with grapes to match.

Remember the new "eXpressions" series from my last post?

It included "Halloween" and "Christmas".

I hope to have - within the next week...

"Valentines" and "July 4th" in the same series.

I know... I know... I'm all mixed up in my holidays...

Just going with what moves me at the moment.

Hope you are all well!

: )   Maria   : )

3 New Designs!

Hello friends!

Happy to announce 3 new designs available!

Available on my website in PDF format:

http://thestitcherhood.com/patterns/

or in leaflet format on Etsy:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/stitcherhood

Sale! : )

Hello all!

I am offering... for a short time...

ALL 93 of my designs 

in instant download PDF format for just $3.00 each. 

I am thinking of decluttering my website 
and some designs may become out of print 
in order to make way for new designs... So...

Any design! 

Every design!

$3.00

So stock up for Summer Stitching...

or Halloween....

Christmas....

never too early to start!

Enjoy!

: )

Available here...

http://www.thestitcherhood.com/patterns/

Upcoming Designs

Hi everyone!

Here are some pictures of a few new designs that will be available soon.

These belong to my first "series" called "eXpressions" 

and feature small designs that can be used as pinkeeps, cards, ornaments, etc.

Whadaya think?

Here is "eXpressions : Halloween"

 and this one is "eXpressions : Christmas"

Prom 5/7/11

My beauty-full daughter, Jess, and her best-est buddy Todd!

Senior Prom May 7, 2011!

Happy Mothers Day!