Thursday, July 4, 2013

Celebrating the 4th of July!

The 4th of July is Independence Day in the United States.  It was 237 years ago, in 1776, that our Declaration of Independence was approved by the Continental Congress paving the way for the formation of a new nation.  Throughout the country there will be parades, picnics, fireworks, and concerts to celebrate our country's birthday.  Happy birthday America!

The photo below is my Long May She Wave sewing case, one of my most popular teaching projects.  Although the finished case is only 2-7/8 x 1-7/8 inches it has 21 different stitches!  Yes, 21!!  Two charts are provided—one for the 13-star flag attributed to Betsy Ross and the other for our current 50-star flag.



In class, while the attendees are stitching, I share some US flag history facts including the roles Francis Hopkinson, Rebecca Flowers Young, Betsy Ross (of course), and Mary Pickersgill played in making flags for the US.  I also demonstrate cutting out a perfect 5-pointed star with one snip of the scissors.  I always seem to learn some new historical facts to add to my presentation each time I teach the class.  I wonder what I'll learn next time.

Long May She Wave will next be offered by House of Stitches in LaPorte, Indiana on Sunday, October 6, 2013.  I know some of you plan to be there.  It is such a fun class with flag history mixed in with stitching.  We'll have a great time!

The day before (Saturday, October 5, 2013), I'll be teaching my Fruit of the Vine Sampler Huswif,  also in LaPorte.  This project can either be framed as a sampler or made into a huswif.

For details about either class, please visit the teaching page of my website or contact Linda at House of Stitches.  You must be present at the class in order to get the kit.


3 comments:

Robin at The Primitive Hutch said...

Love the sewing case!
Your classes sound like a lot of fun.
Happy 4th ~ hope you get to spend some time with family and friends!
Prim Blessings
Robin

Annette-California said...

this is the very first project of your designs that I had seen on Jackie's blog. I fell in love with it soo much that I wrote and asked Jackie where she had purchased it from. Then she told me it was a class that you taught to her guild. It's on my wish list:) Happy Independence Day to you too.
love Annette

Margaret said...

Happy 4th, Ellen! I'm waiting for you to be teaching in this area -- and for the timing to be better this time. lol!