The fireworks started early in my neighborhood this year as we approach America’s 250th anniversary. What an exciting and historic time to be alive! I was a youngster back in 1976 when we celebrated the Bicentennial. Back then, I collected everything I could get my hands on that commemorated the milestone—coins, pins, stamps, books. My mother even embroidered a shirt for me that featured Betsy Ross and the stars and stripes.

For the Semiquincentennial, I’m every bit the collector that I was as a pre-teen. In addition to collecting shirts, stamps, cups and other memorabilia, I have also curated and read a number of books about our nation’s founding over the past year (here’s a copy of the list). My family and I have visited historic places, like Colonial Williamsburg, Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, George Washington’s Mount Vernon, James Madison’s Montpelier, and numerous heritage sites in Boston and Philadelphia. I have written a few patriotic posts over at my Writing for the Public Square blog. I also took my mother’s cue from 50 years ago and have been stitching up a variety of legacy pieces in honor of America 250.

A Semiquincentennial Keepsake

With the help of my youngest daughter (also a very fine stitcher), I finished a wonderful project this week by designer Beth Twist of Heartstring Samplery called Bonfires and Illuminations. This charming piece features a cross-stitched band wrapped around a wooden spool and fastened with a navy blue silk ribbon. I stitched the red, white, and blue bunting and flower motif in cotton thread by Weeks Dye Works and added a 1/4-inch cotton lace trim at the bottom. The kit included a sweet brushed metal button that features the liberty bell, around which I fastened the ribbon.

Running along the center of the band, I’ve stitched a quote from a letter President John Adams wrote to his beloved Abigail in 1776 at the dawn of a new nation. It reads:

“The great anniversary Festival ought to be Solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Games, Bells, Bonfires, and Illuminations from one End of the Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.”

They were prescient words from one of our nation’s foremost founders. I like to imagine John and Abigail marveling at the many celebrations planned from sea to shining sea this year.

Across the finish line

The Bonfires and Illuminations piece sits proudly in a place of honor on my mantel. I plan to make a habit of unfurling it every July so President Adams’ words remind us of the privilege we share as both inheritors and caretakers of this great nation. I started this project a year ago with many friends from the Oatlands Chapter of the Embroiderers’ Guild of America. We hosted a Zoom class with Beth Twist who taught us how to make and assemble our spools. I confess I may have been last in the class to finish my spool—and only with the help of my speedy stitching daughter. But I am delighted to have made my personal goal of finishing in time to celebrate America’s 250th.

Looking back, I realize my mother’s embroidered Bicentennial shirt planted a seed that has continued to grow for 50 years. It seems fitting that, as America marks another milestone, I am honoring it with needle and thread of my own. And so, as a final embellishment: I added a signature line at the end of the spool that reads: July 4, 1776 • EDR•RBR 2026 • John Adams 250 yrs

Visit Embroidery Artisan on Facebook and Instagram to see more patriotic needle art. You can also peruse the blog or hop over to the WIP page to see a few other pieces I’ve stitched up for the Semiquincentennial.

Huzzah!