I hope everyone ....

had a fun and festive fourth! It was cool and rainy here but that didn't stop us from celebrating with our annual Steamboat Springs 4th of July parade and, of course, a giant fireworks display. Was it my imagination or was it just a bit shorter than last year ... the parade and the display?


Still, it was lovely with lots of sparkly explosions and a massive finale. We watched from high up on a hill at the Colorado Mountain College, which was a bit of a change for us. Usually we're down in the park with a picnic and wine, looking up at all the lights. This year it was just too rainy to do the picnic thing, so we had the fried chicken and salad and strawberries at home and then, just as we knew they were about to begin (almost missed the "begin") we made our way up the hill to see the display.


And now, finally, no more snow. I need to replace that dreary May picture with a lovelier view ... of my Siberian Iris blooming in the garden:

Much nicer than snow, don't you think? I've always planted these beauties in every garden I've owned for the past 30 years and, though I now live in a Townhome and have few formal gardening areas, I still found a space for them. I can't imagine a summer without the pleasure of watching them bloom so I was thinking ... when and if this place ever sells, perhaps I should dig up a few bulbs and carry them with me to the next nesting place.


And, just in case I don't, or can't or for some reason never plant another garden (god forbid) I was happy to find a chart of these same treasured blooms by one of my favorite designers:

Iris de Siberie by Marie Thérèse Saint-Aubin

and decided I had to add it to my stash ... and so I did, along with a few other designs ... and now I've also added them to the web site so you can enjoy them too. If you love stitching flowers as much as I do, check out the new ones by Marie Thérèse that we've just added to her page:

http://www.drawnthread.com/chartsandkitsmtsa.html

We've also added some new designs by Sampler Cove:

http://www.drawnthread.com/chartsandkitssc.html

and some "new to us" Beardie Designs charts:

http://www.drawnthread.com/chartsandkitsbrd.html

and I bet you think I've forgotten all about our "Christmas in July" ornament, but I haven't. It is sitting right here on my desk just waiting for it's final photograph. The kits are almost ready to go, the chart is just waiting for the photograph and then we can print it. Unfortunately, we have been backordered on the beautiful bell pull hardware that we ordered for it and need to put those in the kits before we can begin shipping. No word from Germany yet on their status but we will keep you updated. Hopefully we will still be able to do this "Christmas" thing in July. If not, think Christmas in August. Christmas in September? We've got our fingers crossed.

In the meantime I am honored to be the "featured" designer in the "Gift of Stitching" in August and I can't wait to see how they photograph the project we sent. We are also moving along on new releases for September. Two nice samplers and a small calendar cover to go along with one of them ... and who knows what else we might come up with by then. I'm getting some very strong "Halloween" vibes right now so perhaps I should say adieu and get back to the drawing board.

See you soon, ci vediamo a presto, à tout à l'heure, gauw tot ziens,

Cynthia