Good morning, Sunshine and happy, happy Tuesday.
Let's all join in on a little sing along-
🌞🌞I can see clearly now the rain is gone
I can see all the obstacles in my way.
Gone are the dark clouds that had made me blind.
It's gonna be a bright sunshiny day! 🌞🌞
Lol. Do you remember this cheerful song "I Can See Clearly Now" by Johnny Nash? If you do, you might find yourself humming it today as you go through your daily routine. 😀 I will take the blame for that. Lol.
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| My view from the front of the house. |
It is gonna be a bright sunshiny day though well at least in my neck of the woods. 🌞No rain in the forecast . If it is not too hot, I may spend the day outside stitching away. We will see.
I thought it would be fun to have a themed week. This week's theme is sunflowers. It is one of my favorite flowers though I am not great at growing them.
So what about you? Do you like sunflowers ? I have been slowly pulling out my sunflower decor and incorporating them with my bees and chickens.
This week I hope to share 3 sunflower freebies with you. So I hope you will pop in for a visit throughout the week. I am super excited about today's cross stitch.
Ok! This is officially- as of right now- my favorite saltbox that I have created! But I must admit , I might say the same thing when I stitch the next one. 😂😀
Many of ya'll know that I name the saltboxes after family members. This is Susan's Summer Saltbox and is named after my 3rd great grandmother, Susan.
So let me tell you a little about Susan. Of course I never met her, but knowing my grandmother and great grandfather, I imagine her as a strong, cheerful ,determined lady. My 3rd Great Grandma Susan and 3rd Great Grandpa Alexander lived in the cove in the mid 1800's. Grandpa Alexander was killed during the Civil War when one night a thief came to their house and stole a mule. Alexander chased the thief into the wilderness where he was shot and later found. He did not die immediately but succumbed a few days later from gangrene. Great Grandma Susan had to raise her nine children alone. She never did marry but spent the next 40 years enjoying her days on the farm surrounded by her family. A house surrounded by blooming flowers seemed appropriate for Susan. Her children bloomed and thrived with her nurturing, and they grew up to be happy and productive.
The house is surrounded by two vases filled with sunflowers reaching for the sky. Of course, I had to add a couple of quilt motifs and a big vase of flowers below. A quilt block is on the side of the house as well.
It is a small with a design size of 69 x 74 . I stitched mine on my usual 14 count coffee/ tea dyed aida. I was quite pleased how the colors popped. If you would like to stitch Grandma Susan's house , I invite you to check out the pdfs below.
Many of you know , but I always like to leave this little disclaimer.
I stitch my little designs for fun and to decorate my home. I feel very blessed by this community and love sharing my little charts, but I am not a professional designer. And I do not have professional software. Thank you for understanding that I have to put each page on separate pdf downloads because of the devices I use. I apologize for that. And I am always grateful for your kind encouragement , your visits, and stitching my little designs.
Click here for the instruction page.
This little house looks so lovely paired with other saltboxes that I have stitched like Aunt Bea's Summer Saltbox and Edna Viola's Saltbox.
The village is expanding. Soon the whole family will be living in the houses. Lol.
If you have missed any of the other saltboxes, just click on the names below and you will be whisked back to a previous posts for your reading pleasure, and you will also find links to the charts there as well.
They include Crow Creek Saltbox, Ophelia Manor on Punkin Holler Lane , Willowisp Manor of Holler Lane , Turkey Creek Manor , Winter Saltbox , and Dorothy Mae's Spring House , Spring Green Saltbox , Katie Anne's Saltbox , Sarah Jane's 1776 Saltbox , Aunt Bea's Summer Home , Christmas Eve Saltbox and Edna Viola's Saltbox .
Well , I am off to continue stitching on a little patriotic sampler . I am delighted and honored that you took some time out of your busy day to spend it with me. That means the world to me , my dear friends.
Have a beautiful sunshiny day! Oh , here I go again about to break out into a song. lol. I will spare you. 😃 As always...
Happy stitching, ya'll
Melisa
Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadows. It is what sunflowers do. - Helen Keller
Hugs and Stitches
A wonderful story and another beautiful Saltbox - you can’t beat Sunflowers in the garden! Thanks for sharing !
ReplyDeleteAah thank you so much, Ruth. Oh I just love sunflowers if only I could successfully grown them, but stitching them is just as much fun. lol. Hope you have a wonderful day and thank you so much for the sweet visit.
DeleteThanks for sharing about Susan, the salt box is beautiful! I like to raise sunflowers, I like to plant the tithonia variety. It's more colorful than the old standard sunflower and it really attracts butterflies. Happy stitching!
ReplyDeleteHappy Tuesday, Gretchen and thank you so much for the kind words about my saltbox. I am not familiar with that variety, but it sounds amazing especially since it attracts butterflies. My mom used to grow sunflowers and the cardinals were all over them. It was so much fun to sit on the patio and watch them. Have a great week and happy quilting.
DeleteI love how your stitches are family oriented and about things you love. Another house to love!! You design some of the cutest patterns! I took down my red white and blue yesterday. I’m going to dig around for a few sunflowers today. It’ll soon be pumpkin season!
ReplyDeleteGood morning, Penny and happy Tuesday. Oh thank you so much about my stitching. The pieces do mean so much more to me when I design them around the family or our farm. I still have bits of red , white and blue up too. My daughter has already started to pull out fall decor . I am hoping to redo my hutch in sunflowers today too. Hope you have a great day decorating. Happy stitching.
DeleteThere are worse songs for an earworm. lol. I've had no luck with sunflowers. The deer seem to think herbs and sunflowers I plant are their personal smorgasbord. It's not possible to choose just one as a favorite, as they're all lovely.
ReplyDeleteLol thank you so much, Sue. I still have that song humming in my head. I think there is a commercial that uses it as well. Lol. The deer can bring havoc to a garden that is for sure. I have never had any luck with sunflowers here. Our soil is very poor and have to bring in soil for the flower beds I have. I agree all flowers are so lovely. Have a fabulous day , my dear.
DeleteI so enjoyed hearing about Susan and the story behind your latest creation, Melisa! I love seeing all of your saltbox pillows together... You amaze me with all you create :) Thank you again for the sunshiny post and darling design ♥
ReplyDeleteOh thank you so much, Carol. Great Grandma Susan is fascinating to me. I can not believe how she was able to raise the family in a rural area, but she did it. I have had a ball stitching these little saltboxes and can not wait to stitch more. Hope you have a very sunshiny day.
DeleteI enjoy the background stories you share along with your charts. Love this one, Melisa!
ReplyDeleteOh thank you so much, Robin. I enjoyed sharing about my 3rd Great grandma and loved dedicating a house to her. I am sure she was an amazing lady. I hope you doing well . Have a great day, my dear.
DeleteSunflowers are my favorite! Thank you for including them in a saltbox.
ReplyDeleteWe're traveling through ND and SD right now and there are fields and fields of them! Heaven to me!
I love your stories about family members - many of mine were "country folk" also farmers, cattle, etc.
Blessings
Happy Tuesday, Donna and thank you so much for the sweet visit and comment. I so hope you have safe travels as you are visiting SD and ND - such beautiful states. I remember years ago seeing lots of sunflowers in SD. Seeing fields of them is an amazing sight. I always want to stop for photos . lol. Have a wonderful day , my dear and hope you have a great trip
DeleteTrès jolis tous ces petits coussinets ,j'adore !
ReplyDeleteMerci pour le partage de ces grilles
Bonne journée
You are so very welcome, my dear and thank you for the sweetest compliment and for visiting. I so hope you enjoy this little design. Have a blessed day.
DeleteMelisa, you have done it again, my dear! Such a sweet pattern, all of them are wonderful and you make very difficult to pick one to do next. Sunflowers in Arizona, attract bees, butterflies and Rosy-cheeked Lovebirds!! I plant them for all three, but have a hard time keeping the other birds from eating the seeds right out of the garden! They have radar for the seeds, so I have to start them inside then plant them. Have a wonderful sunshiny day, we actually had a little rain this morning, which we need . Hugs to you...
ReplyDeleteI love sunflowers but have never been any good at growing them either. You are just thrilling me with all these saltbox houses! Your GG sounds like an extraordinary woman. Happy stitchin'!
ReplyDeleteWow I love this and this isn't my typical style. Thank you so much for sharing your work with us!
ReplyDeleteOne of the best things about our summers in Lemmon, SD, was driving the 25 miles to the ND town with a quilt shop - and all the sunflower fields along the way! Seeing the flowers turning from morning to afternoon, following the sun, was fun, too. Love sunflowers! Susan's house is a beauty, too.
ReplyDelete