About

Mary Corbet

writer and founder

 

I learned to embroider when I was a kid, when everyone was really into cross stitch (remember the '80s?). Eventually, I migrated to surface embroidery, teaching myself with whatever I could get my hands on...read more

Contact Mary

Connect with Mary

     

Archives

2024 (30) 2023 (125) 2022 (136) 2021 (130) 2020 (132) 2019 (147) 2018 (146) 2017 (169) 2016 (147) 2015 (246) 2014 (294) 2013 (294) 2012 (305) 2011 (306) 2010 (316) 2009 (367) 2008 (352) 2007 (225) 2006 (139)

Cotton Quartet – Kit News & Updates

 

Amazon Books

Thanks so much for all of you who purchased the materials kit for Cotton Quartet earlier this week!

For those who want the kit, never fear – we are frantically making more!

I’m afraid I upset some of you by selling out of kits again. You’d think, after the Bee-Jeweled Pincushion kits, I would have figured it out.

In fact, we prepared twice as many kits for Cotton Quartet.

And yet it was still another epic fail in gauging the level of interest in the kits and preparing enough in advance! (I’m getting very good at getting it wrong, anyway…)

Cotton Quartet Materials Kit

We’re already working on another batch of kits, and I am taking emails for advanced notice when the kits are ready. Drop me a line with “Cotton Quartet Notice” as the subject, and I’ll put you on the list. If you already contacted me for advanced notice, you don’t need to contact me again. I have you on the list. I can’t always respond to every advanced notice request, especially at first, but I do put you on the list!

I estimate 2 – 3 weeks on those. I’m planning that they’ll be ready no later than the week of May 12. It takes a long time to kit things like this, if we want the kits to be precise and put together well. We cut fabric on the thread, we measure every piece of everything, and we weigh the beads. We assemble needle cards, thread cards, and all the components in a neat little package. Even though it takes a lot of time to do this, it also helps us control costs so that we can keep the kits affordable.

One point that we often forget in our “Amazon Prime” world is that small businesses don’t function the same way as big factories. Nothing is automated. And we can’t work in massive quantities.

Ideally, I would expand, as many of you have suggested. But it’s not possible just yet. I am working on arrangements that will allow me to bring in temporary help for these whirlwinds, so hopefully that will help solve part of the problem.

But, as always, we do what we can do to the best of our abilities, trying to meet your needs in a fair way.

Materials Lists

As the project advances, I’ll be sharing the supplies I used, why I used them, what I like about them, changes I made as the project developed, changes I might make with substitutions, and so forth. So if you are outside my shipping reach, if you are unable to get a kit, or if you prefer to work from your stash, I’ll be talking about materials as we go.

Coming Up!

Monday, we’ll talk reticello again – I’ll share some progress, talk about the direction I’m going with my sampler, and discuss a few trials and errors along the way.

Thanks again for your excitement over Cotton Quartet! I’m looking forward to getting it underway with you soon!

 
 

Leave a Reply to Mary Ann Swim Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*


(13) Comments

  1. Thank you! So excited!

    I didn’t get to do the pin cushion before so I’ve printed out the design and am working on it in the meantime! I am a beginner beginner so we’ll see how it goes!

    1
  2. I looked all day yesterday to order this kit, and couldn’t find it except as a “Coming Soon”. Now it’s sold out. Drat!

    2
    1. Drop me a line via email, and I can add you to the advanced notice list for the next round of kits. We’re working on them now. They should be ready in the next two weeks.

  3. Lovely kit Mary. Lots of love to you for making such beautiful ideas come to life.

    Looking forward to this project. At the same time I am missing the Easter Jigsaw Puzzle this year. Hope one is in the pipeline:)
    I missed last year’s Christmas jigsaw puzzle too. Whenever I am feeling low I just go to one of the jigsaw puzzles you have put out and solve them. Although I have done it umpteen number of times, it helps me to get over the low times. Hope to see a Jigsaw puzzle soon. Happy wishes to you and Anna.

    Mallika

    3
    1. Thanks, Mallika! I just didn’t have time this year to put those together. They take about a whole day of work. We are planning one for this summer, though, so keep a look out a little later this summer! Thanks!

    1. Hi, Marilyn – Can you drop me an email for placement on the advanced notice list? It’s an email list, so I need an email from you to reply to. Thanks!

  4. Dear Mary

    Good luck with getting the kits ready and posted. I hope you are able to employ the right people to help you. Thank you for sharing with us the update on the Cotton Quartet kits. I am looking forward to reticello talk next week. Have a good weekend.

    Regards Anita Simmance

    5
  5. Is it wrong of me to be happy that they sold out so fast? I’m sorry not everyone could get their order filled, but I’m happy so many are taking an interest in taking up needle arts and that you offer Really Nice kits. In case anyone thinks this is a case of “Neener neener, I got mine and you didn’t!” – I didn’t even try to order (yet?), as I knew by the time I remembered it was available, they’d be gone.

    6
  6. Oh, I wasn’t upset, Mary. I fully expected the kits to sell out quickly. This project and design are just too beautiful. I look forward to working on this design.

    7
  7. I would like the kit AND instructions for cotton quartet but I’m having a hard time navigating your site. I see the kit is sold out but never did find instructions. I prefer a kit but I’m willing to try and source myself if I could find the instructions. Advise.

    8
    1. Cotton Quartet is a stitch-along on the website. We have barely begun the project. You can find the first installment here: https://needlenthread.wpengine.com/2022/04/cotton-quartet-1-intro-first-stitches.html As the project progresses, I will build an index for it, so that there is one page that contains links to each lesson, chronologically. But we haven’t gotten to that point yet. The instructions come out as a “serial” publication, as a stitch-along. In the future, once we’ve finished the stitch-along on the website, the instructions for the completed project will be available in my shop as a PDF for download. Hope that helps explain how we do these projects!

More Comments