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Dirty Annie's

The Patron Saint of Cats - Cross stitch pattern by Dirty Annie

The Patron Saint of Cats - Cross stitch pattern by Dirty Annie

$37.50 AUD
$37.50 AUD
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From the designer: 

A 2025 NASHVILLE EXCLUSIVE- this chart is currently only available for purchase by stores who attend market. 

Every year, March 17th. St. Patrick's Day, heralds another year of drinking, shenanigans, and green-colored everything. I’m personally looking forward to curling up on my couch and chugging down a large Shamrock Shake from McDonald’s in one disgusting but impressive gulp.  

While all of this might serve as a fun excuse to be belligerent, there’s actually another reason why March 17th is a very special day. You see, March 17th is the feast day of one very special saint, who is often grossly overlooked by the history books. Her name is Saint Gertrude of Nivelles, and she’s the Patron Saint of… you guessed it: CATS.

So, who was Saint Gertrude? Well, born in 628 to a noble family in what is now modern day Belgium, your girl Gerty was one sassy lassie, as God-loving as she was headstrong. At the tender age of 10, when presented with the prospect of marriage to a duke, Gertrude set the record straight and insisted that she wasn’t ever gonna marry no duke. In fact, she wasn’t gonna marry no man at all, so jot that down, thank you very much.

Some time later, after the death of Gertrude’s father, Gertrude’s mother Itta shaved her daughter’s head in the “tonsure” style that monks often wear. Gertrude and Itta then travelled to Nivelles and established the Abbey of Nivelles, which served as a Benedictine nunnery. A scholarly and charitable woman, Gertrude spent many years of her life as Abbess to the monastery, dedicating her time to helping the sick, the elderly, and the poor. This earned her a reputation as a patron saint of travellers, widows, and the mentally ill. Today, she is called upon to ward off rats, fever, and insanity. Three years after she retired from her position as Abbess, she passed away at age 33.  

So like, you know, that’s cool and all, but where do the cats come in? Come for the Catholicism, stay for the cats, am I right? Well, it all started out with the whole rats and mice thing. Rodents were a huge problem in the Medieval Ages, we know this. When someone wanted to get rid of a rat infestation, they called upon Saint Gertrude. As such, much of the iconography that surrounds Saint Gertrude includes little rats and mice at her feet. Did people in the Medieval times necessarily know that rats carried with them the Black Death? Weirdly enough, probably not. At least not for like, a while. Yikes.

In the 1980s, devoted Christian Gertrude-lovers took the leap from associating Gertrude as a rodent-banisher to a protector of cats (who, you know, are also rodent-banishers.) To quote Thomas J. Craughwell, “St. Gertrude is invoked against mice and rats, which has led cat lovers to assume that Gertrude was a cat person, and so the ideal patron of their favorite pet.” Now that’s some logic I can get behind.

 

Shipping

United States customers please be aware that due to the uncertainty of customs/tarriff fees being charged on parcels entering your country from Australia, we have suspended shipping to the US at this point.  We will continue to monitor the situation and hope this is only temporary.  We apologise for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience.

Unfortunately due to the regulations required, we are currently not shipping to the EU

We endeavour to ship all orders within 4 business days, although you may find it posted much earlier than this. The exception to this is any preordered item.  If you order a preordered item with other items, your entire order will be held until it can be sent as one parcel.

Parcels are generally not posted on weekends or Mondays but if it's possible, then it will be done.  We pack all supplies in plastic sleeves within outer packaging (eco friendly where possible) in order that you may receive them in excellent condition.

A tracking number will be emailed to the email address on the order once a postal label has been processed.  Please check your junk mail if you haven't received one. Add info@astitchintime.net.au as a safe sender to avoid this.

We ship all orders within Australia using Australia Post Parcel Post.  If you require additional insurance on your order please contact via email and this can be organised for you.

All International parcels will be sent via Australia Post with tracking.  If you require additional insurance on your order please contact via email and this can be organised for you.

Most parcels should be delivered within Australia between 5 and 10 business days, however once your parcel has been lodged with Australia Post, it's in their hands.  We will be more than happy to follow up with your tracking number if you are concerned your parcel has been lost.  Please email to discuss.

International Orders may take up to 14-21 working days to be delivered. 

 

Returns & Exchanges

Returns

Our policy lasts 30 days. If 30 days have gone by since your purchase, unfortunately we can’t offer you a refund or exchange.

To be eligible for a return, your item must be unused and in the same condition that you received it. It must also be in the original packaging.

Several types of goods are exempt from being returned:  Downloadable software, PDF files, or magazines cannot be returned.  Gift Cards cannot be returned or nor can the face value be refunded.  Any fabric or ribbon, once cut, cannot be returned. No returns on buttons.

To complete your return, we require a receipt or proof of purchase. 

Please do not send your purchase back to the manufacturer.

There are certain situations where only partial refunds are granted: (if applicable)

Book with obvious signs of use;

Charts and pre-printed designs that have been opened;

Any item not in its original condition, is damaged or missing parts for reasons not due to our error.

Any item that is returned more than 30 days after delivery

Refunds (if applicable)

Once your return is received and inspected, we will send you an email to notify you that we have received your returned item. We will also notify you of the approval or rejection of your refund.

If you are approved, then your refund will be processed, and a credit will automatically be applied to your credit card or original method of payment, within a certain amount of days.

Late or missing refunds (if applicable)

If you haven’t received a refund yet, first check your bank account again.

Then contact your credit card company, it may take some time before your refund is officially posted.

Next contact your bank. There is often some processing time before a refund is posted.

If you’ve done all of this and you still have not received your refund yet, please contact us at

info@astitchintime.net.au.

Sale items (if applicable)

Only regular priced items may be refunded, unfortunately sale items cannot be refunded.

Exchanges (if applicable)

We only replace items if they are defective or damaged.  If you need to exchange it for the same item, send us an email at info@astitchintime.net.au and send your item to: 247 Sandy Bay Road, Sandy Bay, TAS 7005, Australia.

Shipping

To return your product, you should mail your product to: 247 Sandy Bay Road, Sandy Bay, TAS 7005, Australia

You will be responsible for paying for your own shipping costs for returning your item. Shipping costs are non-refundable. If you receive a refund, the cost of return shipping will be deducted from your refund.

Depending on where you live, the time it may take for your exchanged product to reach you, may vary.

If you are shipping an item over $75, you should consider using a trackable shipping service or purchasing shipping insurance. We don’t guarantee that we will receive your returned item.

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