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Tuesday, April 28, 2026

Stamp # 2 -Summer Harvest - Summer Stamp SAL

 Just above the old red chicken house , used to be a fenced in garden that  during the summertime beamed with tall stately cornstalks, twisty twirling bean vines , leafy mounds of zucchini  and squash plants and neatly staked rows of tomatoes galore.

Soon it will be time for hay. 

2025 garden squash

Papa tended to it quite diligently. In the evenings, he would go out and pick whatever was ripe and ready at the time. Nanny who by the end of the day had changed into her dress with a duster over it would go outside , sit on the porch and wait to see what Papa would bring in from the bountiful garden. 

Summer Pasture is based on Papa's and Nanny's farm. 

Sometimes he would tote a bushel basket filled with green beans. Do you remember those baskets?  

Nanny would sit on the porch with a large bowl in hand and would begin the process of stringing the beans and snapping them. Every now and then us  7 grandyoungin's would join in,  but usually it was just the older 3 girls.

 It would not be long before we would tire of "the stringing of beans", and   the allure of the sound of a June Bug buzzing by would steer us away .  

We promptly would jump up  in search for a string in order to tie it to one of their teeny little  legs-  that is if we were so lucky to catch one.  If we were successful in catching a June Bug, the hard part was tying the string. Oh, their little feet  would just pinch and scratch our teeny hands.  "Eeeek," we would squeal. 

 Once the string was attached  the June Bug  would buzz and buzz in circles around us. Our own little pet June Bug we would think. 

After tiring of that we would , plop on the stone walkway and with our fingers twiddle the little roly poly bugs that meandered along the cracks and crevices of the stone slabs. 

Oh what terrors , we young kids must have been to the insect world on the family farm. Please do not judge us too harshly, but we were young  farm kids, and we tried not to hurt them. In fact we admired the little crawlies.  

 As the evening sun began to set, flickers of light would flutter in the sky. "Where are the jars? "we  would frantically ask Nanny as she was busy snapping beans. 

"Right here, Sweeties. " And she would spring up from the old metal chair and bring us old pickle jars that she had placed holes in in the lids. Once we took the jars, she went back to the task at hand - stringing and snapping, as we scampered around the yard in hopes of catching a lightning bug or two.  

But let's get back to the garden. Shall we?

 Once the tomatoes began to ripen, Papa would bring them into the country kitchen each evening and sit them on the table. Nanny had a small bowl that she would place them in. Ever so gently she would pick up each and every one and inspect them.

 "Do you have to handle them all?" Dad would joke . 

"Yes, I do," Nanny would laugh. They were always fondly  pickin' at each other . 

It  would not be long before Nanny picked out the most perfect tomato, and it was promptly washed and sliced.  Freshly picked cucumbers which were also sliced  would soon join the tomato on the platter, and we all would indulge in the fruits of Papa's and Nanny's labor . 

Aaaw such wonderful happy times . I do miss those days immensely.  Nanny and Papa lived  a hop, skip and a jump- just down the road from us so we were at their house  every day . 

This brings me to our next Summer Stamp #2 called Summer Harvest. 


Anytime I think of summer , I think of spending time in the vegetable garden just like Nanny and Papa did. We still put out a garden to this very day on my Nanny's property though not at the original spot. 


As many of you know, I am stitching each Summer Stamp twice-  one made into a pin pillow and 2nd in a grouping of 9 stamps. 

As I stitched Summer Harvest on the large sampler, I decided to make an ADDITION- using 1 strand of DMC 301 ( or your favorite orange) I added little lines in the carrot for detail. 

I also used DMC 782 and made French knots for the berry seeds. You may want to do the same or just stitch some berry seeds in the strawberry. 

 Summer Harvest was stitched with the following DMC floss colors: 782, 815, 898, 921, 926, 930, 3052, 3345, and 3346.  

Of course, if you decided to stitch, Summer Harvest you could use whatever floss colors that make your heart sing. 🤗

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If you are interested in stitching this piece,  just grab , the images. For printing tips, refer to the post Tips for Printing which has loads of tips from my sweet friends. 

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NOTE:  This is not listed in the directions , but you may want to make note of it. I used DMC 782 to make French knots for the berry seeds in the strawberry .  In the larger sampler, I used DMC 301, to make random straight stitches in the carrot as details





Summer Header,  And The Garden Grows  and Summer Harvest. 

If you missed any of the previous posts in respect to the Summer Stamp SAL , below is a schedule with links back to the appropriate posts.  

SUMMER STAMP SCHEDULE

April 2nd  Summer Stamp Introduction

April 7th  Stamp Stamp Border

April 14th Summer Stamp Header

April 21st  Summer Stamp 1 "And the Garden Grows" 

April 28th Summer Stamp 2

May 5th  Summer  Stamp 3

May 12th  Summer  Stamp 4

May 19th  Summer Stamp 5

May 26th Summer Stamp 6

June 2nd Summer Stamp 7

June 9th Summer Stamp 8

June 16th Summer Stamp  9 

June  23rd Bonus Summer Stamp 10

June 27th Final Reveal

 More Spring decorating with Spring Pasture in my vintage flower vase. 

 Gosh, I have been quite a chatterbox today. I am ever so grateful that you took the time to stop by for  a visit and listen to me ramble on about my childhood days on the farm. I also so appreciate so many of you stitching the Summer Stamp SAL with me  and for cheering me on. I wish you the most delightful day. 

Before I forget. If you are in the neighborhood, I will be posting a  tutorial on how  I dye a small piece of Aida fabric with Rit dye this afternoon around 12. So drop by if you can. 

As Always...

Happy  Stitching and Quilting,  y'all

Melisa 

"The glory of gardening :hands in the dirt , head in the sun, heart in nature. "- unknown 

Hugs and Stitches!!!!🤗🧵❤

Dedicated to my dear sister, Amy who loved to work on the farm and loved being out in nature . I love and miss you so much.. Love you , Amo. 

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1 comment:

  1. The summer blocks are looking wonderful. Love the story of the vegetable garden(s). Nothing except cows, chickens and goats grown by my grandparents - yard was too hard and dry for anything else. If you have a minute or two pop in to visit my Instagram feed - I've been a busy girl. LOL Big Hugs, DarleneJ

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Stamp # 2 -Summer Harvest - Summer Stamp SAL