Back in the day, school started after Labor Day and ended mid-June … both in New York where I grew up, and in Virginia where my kids grew up.

But these days, our grandkids in Missouri and Texas start school in mid-August, which means they end in late May or early June.

As I recall, the last week of school wasn’t too rigorous. That hasn’t changed. But the good thing is, it remains a time of celebration.

Jackson and Jace’s end of school year activities included an Art Fair …

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and J was particularly proud of his African mask. I, on the other hand, considered the challenge it would pose in stitch and therefore decided to commemorate his art by stitching the Raven.

And as I stitched, I thought how perfect it was that J’s collage patch would appear right after the Eric Carle and Lois Ehlert patches. I think he’ll appreciate that.

Process note: the appliqué was done with a very sheer cotton, carefully glue stitched to stabilize it, then button-hole stitched in two passes around the edges, all with a single strand of DMC.