Some New Stash , etc.

I hope you had a great 4th of July, for those of you who celebrate it.  It's a fun holiday. I stitched this piece for my son long ago, and it hung in his room for years. Recently it has been displayed in my classroom.  It was a fun stitch from the now long gone CrossQuick magazine.  It's called simply "Patriotic Sampler".

I recall I was working on it in a public place way back when, which is something I don't do anymore. I require too many pairs of glasses to stitch away in a public place! I was working on this piece in a haircut place, in fact,  in our town whilst my son was getting his haircut. He was about seven at the time. There was a group home in the same haircut place, and I recall one of the young boys from the home watching me as I stitched. He was probably only about 12 or 13.  He was mesmerized by what I was doing, and he was so happy to know I was making it for my little son, who is now 28 years old.  He seemed so touched that anyone would take the time to do this. It makes me wonder how little love or attention he probably ever received from anyone, and I will never forget his face as he watched me work on this little sampler.  I could be wrong, but knowing he lived in a group home setting made me think that perhaps he'd received little attention from his family. I could have been completely wrong, of course, in my assuming such a thing about him.  It was the way he went on about me making this for my son that made me think just that thought.

And now shifting gears completely....

I also recently acquired a new pattern.  I certainly didn't 'need' it, but it sure is fun to think about what one can stitch in the future. It is from Bygone Stitches, and it is Quaker Christmas II- Songs of the Season. Here's a link to the pattern, and it's shown on the page of a great company from which to purchase items online.  

I have been working on Quaker Diamonds a bit more each day. An  update will be posted soon!

I hope you are enjoying this beautiful summer day.