time flies!

Hello! It has been awhile and the time between then and now has flown as if it had wings attached to it!

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer. It's been very hot here with the heat index keeping everything at not so comfortable averages of 100-115 degrees. I think it's the humidity that gives it that extra punch. Still, the good stuff of summer is still good - fresh peaches and watermelon, fireflies, floats in the pool, less indoor cooking (yay!!), flip flops, tall stacks of thunderstorm clouds piling up in the sky and the glorious storms themselves.

First, let me introduce the newest member to our family - Cooper Hank. He's about five months old now. DD brought him home. Of course, she's back at college now, so the grandparents are raising him. I had forgotten how much energy Lab puppies have and how funny they are. He's very smart but he's even sweeter than he is smart. Here he is with his monkey and pink tennis ball. He likes to carry as many toys in his mouth at one time as he can, or at least one in his mouth while he pushes the tennis ball all over the house.

Miss Kitty is less than thrilled that he's here to stay. She often looks at me as if say, "What were you thinking?!"

I was in a stitching slump for a while but have worked a little on a few pieces. This year's patriotic piece was LHN's America, but I probably won't finish it now until next year. Although it might be just the thing to work on when the winter stitching gets old.

America - LHN
40 count Vintage Bittersweet - Lakeside Linen
conversion to NPI

I love the BBD Reward of Merit designs - they are so sweet! Here's the start of Bird in Hand although right now there are no discernible shapes. The only change I've made was to use Pomegranate thread as it's one of my favorite reds. The Reward of Merit Bluebird is kitted and waiting in line.

Bird in Hand - BBD
30 count Irish Cream - R&R
Pomegranate - GAST

I retrieved Kind Fond Love from the WIP basket and am glad I did. I'm really enjoying working on it. However, I still wonder if I should have used a vintage piece of fabric rather than the non-vintage Maritime. Hard to say. I go back and forth on this point so I want to hurry up and get it stitched before I end up restarting it on something else.

Kind Fond Love - Samplar Company
40 count Maritime - Lakeside Linen
conversion to NPI

Speaking of restarts, here is the (little) restart on Sarah Verrier. I love this design and am very happy that I decided to stitch it on a different fabric with different threads.

Sarah Verrier - Amy Mittens
40 count vintage Pearled Barley - Lakeside Linens
conversion to NPI

And to wrap it up, I finally had Sarah Tobias framed.

That's about it for now! Hope everyone has a great weekend.