Holiday Stitching

At my house the 4th of July is the time we come together as a family to celebrate our great country and to celebrate each other.  One of my precious grandchildren was born on the 4th of July so it seems fitting.  We go for boat rides, cook shrimp gumbo (a family tradition), roast marshmallows for S'Mores and watch the annual fireworks.  My house becomes a repository for damp beach towels, a cool haven when we've endured the heat as long as we possibly can, and the perfect place for long story telling sessions about past family adventures.

I'm adding a couple of cross stitch pieces to my collection this week - and wishing I'd gotten around to a couple more.  :)

This sweet little 4th of July pillow -

is tucked here in the middle of my purple shamrock for a bit of luck (this shamrock was a gift from my sweet mother-in-law many, many years ago....

but will ultimately rest in this antique tool kit where I'm collecting a variety of holiday and primitive pillows that I display all year.

My second 4th of July piece...

is a simple flat piece that I added a hanging cord to...

and a sweet little patriotic sheep pin seems to look out over the whole thing....

It's hanging on my back door to greet family and friends as they enter next week.

I'll be putting the rest of my decorations out early next week, after we get the deck scrubbed, blown off, and otherwise set to rights.  We've had a lot of windy days lately and I'm still getting dead leaves and twigs left over from the hail storm all over the deck.   I did manage to finally find and purchase a new table and chairs to replace the ones the hail destroyed.  I've made one new throw pillow - some of my older ones are sure getting faded from the sun - and am working on some place mats for that table.  I hope to show those in a couple of days.  Are you decorating for the 4th?