We are quietly celebrating the 245th anniversary of the U.S.A. I chose a bouquet with three roses that represent the three branches of our government......the Legislative, the Executive and the Judicial branches. And in the middle is the flag of the United States of America. I feel blessed to live in this country. We have lived in the Midwest, the West Coast, to the Gulf Coast, across the ocean to Japan (military service for my husband), to the East Coast and back again to the upper Midwest. During our many years here, we traveled, thanks to my husband's job. We visited many beautiful places but it was always good to come home. We have freedoms here that are only a dream in some of the places we visited. I give thanks every day for living in the U.S.A.
I keep a Christmas tree up all year round in our dining room and decorate it with the change in holidays and seasons. I began doing this after I completed chemo/immunotherapy treatment for CLL/Chronic Lymphotic Leukemia. I'm thankful to be in remission, three years and working on year four! It makes me smile to see the twinkling lights in the evening when my day is done. There are thirteen flags on the tree, one for each of the thirteen original colonies.
I made this woolfelt wallhanging in 2001. It was inspired by the 4th of July and my son's birthday on July 5th.
The quilted tabletopper that is in the photos is one I designed in the mid 90's but didn't make up the pattern until early 2000. It's called "Patriotic Pinwheel". The lovely machine quilting was done by Sara Peterson.
After making the wallhanging in woolfelt, I decided to make the same design in cotton quilting fabrics.
This little Sunday School chair sits on our front porch. I change the decorations a bit with each holiday/season but a flag has almost always been displayed with the chair.
The teddy bears under the tree are a few I've collected and several that my mother collected. She was especially fond of Beanie Babies.
And this is how it looks at night...........
Have a blessed and safe 4th of July!
Sandi
