The sampler is finished

And it's not a wedding sampler.

As I stitched the floral border it reminded me more and more of my Grandma and Great Grandma so I dedicated this sampler to them.

Each motif holds a fond memory of my childhood.

Starting with the border.....the floral pattern and muted colors remind me of Great Grandma's dresses and aprons.  They were so soft and thin from wear.

And a sampler just isn't a sampler without letters.  But these letters are for the times Grandma and Great Grandma would spell words so my sister and I didn't know what they were talking about.  Now we find ourselves doing the same thing with our children : )

The scissors are for my Great Grandma and the hours and hours I spent sitting at her feet watching her stitch.

The strawberries are for Grandma.  She had the most beautiful gardens.  We hauled bucket after bucket of water out to the fields but our reward was juicy berries with a saucer of sugar.  Yum....my mouth waters thinking about those sweet strawberries dipped in sugar.

The chair is a reminder of the hot summer afternoon spent in the backyard shelling peas.  I think I ate as many as I shelled.

The hen and chicks remind me of the hot lazy summer days playing in the chicken house.

The house is similar to Grandma and Great Grandma's old white farmhouse.  Theirs wasn't that big.....it just seemed huge when I was little.

The acorn reminds me of the hundreds of acorns I gathered on our walks.  I loved finding them with the tops still attached and an extra bonus was finding 2 attached.

And I finished the sampler with both their initials.

I stitched the sampler on 30 count Weeks Dye Works Cocoa Linen with Gentle Arts thread.

And it measures 11" wide by 9" high.

The Pattern is available on eBay and My Website if you're interested in stitching one for yourself.

Stitching this sampler brought back so many childhood memories.  I just hope I can give my children the same great memories.

Tomorrow is Taylor's Kindergarten Graduation.  I'm planning a few little surprises for her.  She's really excited and it will be fun to watch her with all of her little friends.  Michael is coming with us too......she loves to show off her big brother.  It doesn't seem that long ago that we were going to his Kindergarten Graduation.

I dug out some pictures of his that we'll share at dinner tomorrow.  I'm sure we'll all get a pretty good laugh.....and maybe a little cry.

His HS Graduation is just around the corner.  And then the next week is Taylor's birthday.  We are full blown party planners right now.  I'm going to be soooo sick of cake by the time it's over : )

Happy Stitching My Friends