Thursday, July 28, 2016

Flag Day At The Potting Shed/Longwood

Sometimes I feel like all I stitch are Brenda Gervais patterns - but I love everything she designs. As a matter of fact, I ordered her new patterns just this morning. Not too long ago she offered a limited edition design called Flag Day At The Potting Shed.

My finishing skills are not the best, and neither are my photography skills, but here is my finish.


Here is what the kit looked like


I was a pretty monogamous stitcher for a while, but lately, I can't seem to settle on any one thing. I'm currently stitching the 1861- Antique Sampler from the In Friendship's Way book by Blackbird Designs. I'm slogging through the alphabet right now and don't have enough done to warrant a picture. And I'm hoping to start Miss Lila's House by Carriage House Samplings (an oldie but goodie) later today.


Seeing someone's finish of Miss Lila's House reminded me of just how much I love Carriage House Samplings patterns. Between all of the reading I want to do and all of the things I want to stitch where is the time??? And then there is life.

One of the things on my summer bucket list was to visit Longwood Gardens. My son took me for a belated Mother's Day visit on what could only be described as the perfect weather day. I'll share just a few (ha, ha!) pictures for today.









And as a rememberance, my son gifted me with this beautiful vase from the gift shop.


Afterwards, we had the best lunch at Two Stones Pub - just a wonderful day all around!

We are having the worst storms today - no wonder with the weather we have had lately, so I feel like I've been trying to beat the next power outage with this post.

Hope you all are finding ways to enjoy your summer despite the weather! Thanks for reading along!

17 comments:

Vickie said...

Sounds and looks like a gorgeous day Penny! That is one sweet finish you have there.

Penny said...

What a wonderful day it seems you had!! I haven't been to Longwood Gardens in the longest time... I must make a note to get there again soon! Such a nice gift from your son, and the vase will always remind you of your special day. Beautiful stitching! From one Penny to another! Penny

Barb said...

What a wonderful way to spend a day with your son. The photos of the garden are just lovely. I love that little stitch. Plus you are now stitching one of my favorite samplers on my to do list. I'll be looking forward to seeing your progress.

Cindy's Stitching said...

Your finish looks great. The gardens are beautiful. Glad you had great day with your son.

Chocolates4Breakfast (Terri Malinovich) said...

I can't imagine why in the world you wouldn't think your flag finish was perfect! It looks absolutely beautiful! What a lovely garden and sweet gift, too!

Preeti said...

Your finish is looking great!! How nice of your son to take you out and the gift is lovely too:)

Maggie said...

Looks like a great day out :-)

Your finish looks perfect to me :-)

Annie said...

If you have to pick a favorite designer, Brenda Gervais is an excellent choice! That's a beautiful design and you did a fine stitching and finishing job.

What a fun outing and lovely present. Looks like beautiful weather!

Mary said...

what a lovely catchup! your stitching is beautiful, as is your collection of pretty things on which to photograph the finished pieces and pattern books. (have you tried audio books? they're the best way to slog through just about anything!)

Margaret said...

I love your finish! It's perfect! Love seeing Longwood Gardens too -- it looks so pretty! What a nice thing for your son to do!

Sarah in Stitches said...

I absolutely love your finish! Can't wait to see your new starts. Lovely pictures! :D

Carol said...

I truly love this finish, Penny, and think your finishing looks wonderful, too! I also love Brenda's designs, but sometimes have trouble with the overdyed threads not resembling what is on the chart's photo. Kind of frustrating...

So happy to see photos of Longwood in the sunshine... I was only there in the fall years ago with friends from Delaware who took us there and it absolutely poured. I could still see the beauty even through the rain, though.

Hope you get lots of reading and stitching time this month :)

Jo who can't think of a clever nickname said...

I love your Flag Day finish, that's a clever idea to keep the dust off too!
The gardens look gorgeous, I love the geometric knot garden and the carefully mown lawns. Also the lovely wrought ironwork. Reminds me of blackwork embroidery!

Brigitte said...

Such a lovely finish. I love it very much, and it's also so unusual to keep it under the glass. That makes it very special.
You must have had a great day at the gardens. Thanks for sharing all these lovely pictures. My favorite would be the last one with all these arches full of flowers. It must be great to take a little walk underneath them.

Sally said...

Your finish is beautiful!

Lovely photos from your day.

The Eskimo's Wife said...

How precious to finish a piece with a bell jar ~ love it! Miss Lila's House is a gorgeous pattern. I may have to add that to my ever growing wish list.

Laura said...

This is a darling finish and such a cute idea! Just came across this pattern on Pinterest and when I looked it up, there was a link directing me to your blog of your finish (lovely stitching!). Love the color combination and I have a little project that would be great with these colors. Would you mind sharing the threads used in this pattern? I would so appreciate it!