Week Twenty-Eight: Summer Basket

Oh, what a busy week we've had here! I only had time to stitch this tiny, but cute, summer basket motif from Sue Hillis's "Seasonal Baskets" pattern. You all know how I dislike stitching with brown floss, but this basket came together fairly painlessly. I love how the backstitching makes the flag, the slice of watermelon, the red and white napkins, and the loaf of bread (crusty and French I presume!) really pop. I used DMC threads and 28-count Summer Khaki Lugana for this design and plan on finishing it into a little pillow. I saw the cutest basket filled with little stitched summery pillows on another blog that would be fun to put together.

My youngest son turned 21 on Thursday--like every mother I find it hard to believe the years have passed so quickly. I always say he was born with a smile on his face--he has that positive attitude and enthusiasm for life that I wish we all had more of... I still remember when he was a newborn and he had his days and nights mixed up. After one particularly exhausting night I sat there on the edge of the bed with him in my arms, desperately tired and weepy, and looked down to see the biggest toothless smile appear on his week-old face. I know, I know babies aren't supposed to be able to truly smile until they are six weeks old or so, but, honestly, he smiled at me that morning and I just knew everything was going to be all right...for him and for me.