Variation on a theme

A few years ago, I stitched Gabrielle Rose by La D Da as a gift for a friend's little girl.  It's pretty, with lovely muted pastel colors and an old fashioned feel.

It's a chart I really like for its simplicty, and it works really well for a little girl when the theme is more of a color scheme than a concrete theme (like butterflies or fuzzy sheep).


Since it's a versatile chart, I knew I would stitch it again, but this time I wanted to do something a little different.  Another friend of mine was having a baby, and they were going all out girly in pinks and greens for the nursery, but in more vivid hues than pastels.  They chose a bedding set from Pottery Barn called Petite Paisley for the nursery. Working from those colors, I went to my LNS and started to pull some brightly colored threads.  The owner thought I might be a little crazy, but I went for it, and it turned out even better than I hoped.  (Excuse the lines in the fabric - I know it will be almost a year, but I haven't framed it yet.  oops)

Gabrielle Rose by La D Da

Stitched 2 over 2 on 32 ct. white evenweave

with my own color selection

While I think the original is quite pretty, I'm also a little in love with the bolder colors! It's not as vibrant as the Pottery Barn bedding, but it still echos the fabrics nicely.  (The bluebirds might be my favorite part!)  The last name on the banner is blurred for privacy, but I used a lighter thread this time and it pops a little more than the grey thread I used the first time around.

If you're interested in the colors, I used GAST Dark Chocolate for the border, Presidential Blue and Fragrant Cloves for the birds, WDW Begonia, Saffron, Crepe Myrtle and Sunset for the flowers, and Meadow for the leaves and stems, CC House Wine for the banner and Magnolia Blossom for the banner lettering and white band on the birds.

Hopefully I will get this framed up soon, and perhaps gifted in its final format before the young miss turns one later this year!  (I've already shown the finished stitching to my friend and she loves it)  The plan is to frame it in a dark wood frame (to coordinate with the dark nursery furniture) so I'll update the blog once I get it framed.

On Safari

I keep meaning to check if these gifts have made it to their intended recipient, and it keeps slipping my mind. That happens sometimes.

So these are two pieces I stitched up for my friend's son.  We meant to get together over Christmas so I could give them to her, but between family obligations and illnesses, it just didn't happen. I left the pieces with my mother-in-law, since she is good friends with little Mitchell's grandma.

Animal Alphabet Birth Sampler
by The Historical Sampler Company Limited
Stitched 2 over 2 on 36 ct Edinburgh Linen
Personalized as a gift

This is a piece I modified from the original.  Whenever I stitch a birth sampler, I like to include as much of the information as possible.  The original didn't leave room for the weight, length or time, so I added in a box under the last row of letters and extended the border.  Luckily, this worked out perfectly.

I also changed out the original panda bear for an elephant.  The panda bear was very cute, but the elephant was better suited to the "vintage safari" theme used for the nursery.  Once again, my husband did the framing (with a frame from American Frame).  I'm not sure if I've shared this tip before, but I always give him the chart I've stitched from with the rest of the framing materials.  He uses the chart to find the center of the stitched piece, and pins through the center gently into the backer board, then works out from the center to stretch the fabric over the edges.  He finds this especially helpful when framing something with a stitched border such as this.  Once he's done, or has enough of the piece pinned to hold it in place, he removes the center pin.

In addition to the framed piece, I also stitched up an ornament for Mitchell, keeping with the vintage safari theme.  As soon as I spotted this piece at my LNS, I knew it would be the one I did.  This one was done as charted, except I left out the bird charm (the original has a tiny bird perched on the back of the giraffe) and stitched in the birth year instead.

Zoo Line Up by The Trilogy

Stitched 1 over 1 on 32 ct. fabric

I'm super happy with how both pieces came out.  They're very different, yet have a similar feel to the pieces I stitched for Mitchell's older brother, Mason.  You can see them here.

Gift for a baby girl

Gabrielle Rose by La D Da
Stitched 2 over 2 on 32 ct. Antique White
Name intentionally blurred for privacy

Here's another piece that I finally finished up and framed, and delivered.

Kelly is the daughter of a childhood friend of mine and I wanted to make something special for her nursery. Since the parents didn't go with a specific theme for her room, I chose this piece from my stash.  It's pretty and feminine without being overly girly and I think it will be something pretty for her room for a long time to come.

I used the recommended colors for the piece, but left out the initials in the corners, and changed the wording on the banner to Kelly's last name.  In hindsight, I might have used a lighter color thread for her name, since the grey does seem to blend in, but I like the subtleness of the grey.

You may remember the piece I stitched up for Kelly's brother Ryan.  They went with a jungle theme, so I stitched Safari Birth Sampler by Mary Stickley for The Coleshill Collection.  Since the furniture in the nursery remained the same, I ordered a similar frame for both pieces.

Birth Record for a Baby Girl

Way back in June, I showed you the ornament I stitched up for a new family member, and I am now getting around to posting her birth record.

Inspirational Scripture - Faith (with thread) by Little House Needleworks
Stitched 2 over 2 on 28 ct. Sandcastle with included thread
Modified for personal use

Once again, I modified a chart to suit my needs because I couldn't really find a birth record chart that worked for what I wanted.  I took out the wording that was in place and charted in my own.  I ended up extending the flower stem to accommodate all the birth information, but I love how it turned out.  

If the parents choose a theme for the nursery, I like to match or coordinate as closely as possible, and this was the bedding they picked for their baby girl:

CoCaLo Baby Mia Rose

I've had the piece finished for a while (oh, maybe since December of last year), but framing is another story, especially with a stitched border in the piece.  Getting the border lined up and straight before framing isn't hard, but it is tedious and time consuming, and not my husband's favorite job, so sometimes it does take a little convincing.  I also had a small hiccup with this piece by not starting it where I should have.  Somehow I managed to mess up centering the piece and by the time I figured it out, I was too far into stitching it to rip it all out.  The piece still fit on the fabric, but there wasn't quite enough room to securely wrap the edge around the mounting board.

After some discussion, I took the piece to my LNS to ask for the owner's advice as she also offers framing services.  She suggested stitching a piece of muslin on the short edge, since the seam would be hidden by the matting and no one would be the wiser.  One, two, three - she stitched a spare piece of fabric on and we were ready to go.  (On a side note, this above and beyond type of customer service is one of the many reasons I continue to shop there.  Please patronize small businesses, especially niche businesses like LNSes, whenever you can, or we risk losing them all together.)

Now that the edge wrapped around the mounting board, it was much easier to frame.  Getting a decent photo with the glass was another issue, though, but this one did come out.  Finally, I was able to send this, the butterfly ornament, and the other Bride's Tree Ornaments we still owed the parents from their wedding (4 years ago) off to the family where they were greatly appreciated and able to be enjoyed for years to come.  I love it when a plan comes together.

More ornaments - finished and sent out. Go me!

Are you tired of these yet? Me? I'm just happy to have them finished up and sent on instead of staring at me accusingly from a plastic bag on my dining room table where they waited for months to be assembled. I wish I was kidding. Or exaggerating.

Art Deco Frame by Julia Lucas Designs
JCS 2005 Christmas Ornament Issue
Stitched with DMC Pearle Cotton and DMC Thread
(Images / Name intentionally blurred for privacy)

I've gotten more use out of this edition of the magazine than any other, and out of this particular piece. This marks the fourth and fifth time I've stitched this piece, all in different colors. (You can see the wedding version I stitched for my in-laws, and two additional birth record ornaments here and here). And I have a few more partially stitched waiting to be finished up, including one for my own son. Who is two. Okay then. Moving along....

As I've mentioned before, since it's stitched on plastic canvas, it's super easy for me to stitch on it in the car when we travel, and if I've started one on the sheet of plastic, I don't even need the chart. Putting them together is a little tedious, but I've been fiddling with my methods and it gets a little easier to put them together each time.

I also love these pieces because they're SO easy to customize. I went traditional with the one for my in-laws, but experimented with the variegated pearle cotton for one of the birth record ones. For these, I chose blue for the girl (her mom is NOT a girly girl pink kind of mom) and green for the boy, and went with a nautical theme for the clip art accent to reflect the theme of the nursery. I did stitch a birth record for Alexa, but Blake's is languishing in my stitching box. I really need to get on that. He'll be .... well, let's just say I hope to get it to him before he leaves for college.

I should explain that Alexa and Blake are the children of a very dear friend of mine. We met online while we were planning our weddings (9 years ago!) She lives across the country in Colorado, and though we've never met in person, we've bonded over our similar upbringings and her friendship is one I treasure. She sent me a lovely thank you note on behalf of the kids and she was touched by the gift. It's nice when your hard work is met by such appreciation, and it's definitely motivational to finish up a few more projects that have been sitting around.

Jungle Baby Birth Record

Jungle Baby by Imaginating
Stitched over 2 on 32 ct. Antique White
with recommended DMC Floss
(name intentionally blurred for privacy)

Believe it or not, I started this piece just before the baby was born, and was working on it while we were down the shore on vacation and his mom was in labor with him. Andrew, or Drew as he is better known, took his own sweet time getting here. It's a good thing he's such a cutie - his mom was in labor for almost two days!

The piece wasn't finished when I got to meet Drew for the first time, but he did get it the day before his six month birthday. (Go me! Usually it takes me a little longer.) We had a lunch date with Drew and his mom the other day, and I handed over the completed piece, as well as his ornament, coming in the next post. Drew seemed to like it, and his mom loved it. She couldn't wait to get it home and put it in his nursery.

My son is 8 months older than Drew, and the difference those eight months make is incredible! I remember holding Drew for the first time a few months ago, looking over at Nick and thinking, "There's no way my Nick was this tiny!" And in a few months, Drew's mom will look at another baby and think the same exact thing. As all you moms know, these little ones grow CRAZY FAST. Drew's a little older now than the last time I saw him, and he's such a cutie. He's got the most adorable chubby little cheeks and big, bright, cheery eyes. So cute!

I'm so pleased with how this came out. I think it's going to look great in Drew's jungle themed nursery (jungle themes seem to be very popular these days). And yes, it is framed in a standard 8x10 frame from the craft store. I've been leaving the glass out for pieces that won't be hung in a high traffic area or somewhere they'll be exposed to things like grease. Since this is going in a baby's nursery, I don't think I'll need to worry about the piece getting too dirty.

It's a jungle out there, baby!

So apparently jungle themes are pretty popular for nurseries these days. Given the outrageous price of bedding and accessories, I can see the attraction in picking a gender neutral theme that would be good for more than one child.

I am currently working on my third jungle themed birth record, Jungle Babies. I started it in June while on vacation and the relative simplicity of the pattern brought back a lot of my stitching joy, which had taken a beating with a recent Stoney Creek Lighthouse. Don't get me wrong - the lighthouse is utterly amazing (I'll show you in another post), but it showed me that I am not a Stoney Creek type stitcher.

Back to the birth record. Here is is before I started the backstitching, which is in progress now.

Cute, isn't it? It's a gift for a friend's little boy. In fact, I happened to be sitting down the shore, stitching away, while she was hundreds of miles away in labor for a day and a half with the little guy. So far, I have 3 of the 4 animals backstitched, and I need to get moving so I can finish it up. I try to backstitch at least 1-2 lengths of thread a day, but it's hard when there's a couple other projects I'm also working on, one of which involves a variegated thread that is really something to see. (I know. I am teasing you.)

And these are the other two jungle themed pieces I've stitched over the last few years.

This is from a Janlynn kit called On Safari, and was the first time I stitched with floss on plastic canvas. I love the way it came out, but again, the backstitching was tough. The piece was originally intended to be a collage-like photo frame, but I printed the birth info on vellum and framed it behind the stitched piece, with a photo of the recipient in the middle. If you are interested in this piece, I have it listed on my For Sale or Trade blog.


This was another jungle themed piece I stitched, Safari Birth Sampler by Mary Stickley for The Coleshill Collection. As you can see, the recipient of this one just turned 2, and it's still hanging in his room. It's simpler than the other jungle piece I stitched, and I really enjoyed stitching this one. I substituted the fabric (the chart came kitted with Aida fabric and probably Anchor thread, as I ordered it from England)

Once again, I had to play around with the chart to fit in everything I wanted to get on there. (You can see how it's originally charted here). Since it was a relatively quick stitch, easy to personalize and very cute for jungle themes, this one will be remaining in my stash for a while. But if you'd like to order your own, I'd recommend Sew and So from the UK if they still carry the piece.

To Nick with love from Mommy and Daddy

I am very, very proud of this piece, as it's one of the few pieces I've stitched and framed AND hung on a wall in our own home. (More on that in another post). This is something my husband and I both worked on as a gift for our son. I stitched everything but the personalization before he was born, and my husband finished the piece by stitching in the name and the vital details.

Maine Fishing Village Sampler by Seguin Designs
Stitched 2 over 2 on Blue Dynasty Cashel fabric
with various threads
(name partially blurred for privacy)

We picked the piece from about a dozen options I found online. I never get hung up on searching for a specific birth record - I've changed a number of different charts to suit my needs. Of course, limiting yourself to just birth or wedding records can make the search less overwhelming, but you don't always find what you want, especially if you're not going for one of the more popular baby themes. I just look for something appealing that fits the theme, and figure out how to modify it from there, and if you look at the original sampler on the Seguin Designs site, you'll see I did quite a bit of modification.

In this case, my husband picked the Maine sampler because Maine is one of our most favorite places on earth and we hope to take Nick there some day soon. I also like that the piece was relatively simple, easy to modify and embodied some of my favorite "Maine" things including blueberries and lobster buoys. I even changed up the colors on the lobster buoys to add a little more color to the piece and more closely match photos of actual buoys I found online.

I stitched the piece while I was pregnant, and found the repetitive border to be rather soothing to stitch on those night when I was especially tired. When it was all finished, I ordered the frame from http://www.pictureframes.com/ and put my husband to work framing it up. Normally I would have picked a dark wood frame to coordinate with the furniture in the room, but everything else is framed in black, and I like how the black sets off the colors in the piece itself. By the way, if you're looking for framing materials, I HIGHLY recommend PictureFrames.com. They're a great site, their customer service is wonderful, and they have a very cool feature that allows you to upload a picture of what you're framing and play around with frames and mats so you can see what your piece will look like before you commit.

I have some issues with privacy which makes me feel a little uncomfortable sharing details of our private lives sometimes. However, I happen to be ridiculously pleased with how this room turned out, and wanted to share it. Especially since this room started out as what we called "The Princess Room" - pink walls, yellow ceilings, huge swirls, and gigantic flowers and butterflies painted onto the walls. Not really our taste at all, and definitely inappropriate for a boy.
As you can see, we went with a nautical theme, using Nautica William for the bedding, and hanging photographs of lighthouse and other beach / ocean related subjects on the walls. Well, except for the family pictures above the changing table. (Yes, I know it looks like it should be lower, but it's just out of the reach of a grabby little boy.)

One of the things I like best about the photographs on the walls is that most of them come from our own travels. There are photos from our honeymoon in the Outer Banks, from one of our trips to Maine, and also from Maryland and New Jersey.

Friends of ours gifted Nick with photos from their travels as well. Hanging above the chair are two photos from Massachusetts, taken and framed by my friend's very talented fiance, who has traveled all over the world taking photos.

Above the end table are photos of lighthouses and sailboats from another friend's journey to Scotland. (Yes, he did take those photos especially for me.) There is also a larger photo my husband took of a crab on one of our trips to Maine, specifically Bailey Island. You can't tell from the picture because we didn't think to use anything for scale, but the crab wasn't much bigger than a thumbnail.

I love this room. It's one of my favorite rooms in the house, and I love that it's a room that can grow with our son. I'm not a big fan of anything too cartoonish or over the top, so I am absolutely thrilled with how calm and serene this room is.

Love is Little... and so is the amount of my blog posts

I know, I know. It's been AGES since I've posted anything and it may seem as if I have abandoned not only blogging but stitching as well. Surprisingly, I have been able to stitch, though not as much as I used to. After all, there is a teeny tiny little person that demands a whole lot of attention these days.

I am also working on what is probably the most time consuming stitching project I've ever taken on - a Stoney Creek lighthouse for Kathy. It's on the tedious side - which has convinced me to delete every single Stoney Creek pattern from my wish list. The finished result is gorgeous - wait till you see how Kathy's piece is turning out! - but I think this is a once in a lifetime experience for me.

On the more productive side, I did finish stitching and framing a gift for a friend. She got pregnant shortly after I did, so our pregnancies overlapped and we had great fun sharing stories, helpful hints and birthing stories. Her son was born in January, and I had been looking for a piece to stitch for his room. His parents didn't pick a particular theme, but focused instead on earthy shades of brown and green. Now, it may be my personal bias, but I do think this is going to look just perfect hanging in his room...

Love is Little by La D Da

Stitched over 2 on 35 ct. WDW Beige

with recommended GAST threads

I am utterly thrilled with how it came out. As soon as I saw the pattern on someone's blog, I thought it would make a wonderful piece for a baby or child's room, and filed it away. When my friend told me her color scheme for the room, and that they weren't leaning towards a theme, I knew this was the perfect piece for them. I did make my own little modifications here and there - adding in the name and birth date (GAST Dark Chocolate), and changing the little bird from the recommended gold to GAST Blueberry. You know, the Bluebird of Happiness? I did change the fabric from what was called for - I didn't like the more reddish tone with the GAST converstion, so I went with the Weeks. It was absolutely lovely to stitch on.

My husband did the framing for me - he has so much more patience for it than I do. I ordered a custom frame from http://www.pictureframes.com/ and picked up foam core that I cut to size (apparently I also need a lesson on how to cut that correctly. LOL). DH did all the stretching, pinning, adjusting, repinning, readjusting and cursing. But in the end, it was well worth it. I think the frame sets it off beautifully, and Picture Frames does really excellent work. And did I mention you can upload scans or photos of your pieces and play around with different frames and mats? I would, however, recommend ordering a set of free mat samples before ordering custom cut mats - sometimes the color on screen can differ greatly from the actual mat color.

But WAIT!! There's more!

Art Deco Frame by Julia Lucas Designs (JCS 2005 Ornament Issue)

Stitched on plastic canvas with DMC thread and pearle cotton

I also like to give a Christmas ornament as a gift for a new baby and this may well become my standard ornament gift. It whipped up in almost no time, and it's so easy to personalize. The photograph was taken by an amazingly talented photographer - Ashley Gigliotti. I designed the back of the ornament myself, adapting from the design. The original instructions called for pasting the completed frame on cardboard, but I wanted to make it more of a pocket so that both sides could be used for display.

I used Word to design the birth information, then printed it on linen paper. I sized the photo to fit in the frame and had that printed through Snapfish. Then I used a self sealing laminating pouch from Staples to ensure neither side would get damaged. It was a little fiddly to put it together, but well worth it, and a tiny bit of hot glue worked wonders for keeping things in place.

(FYI: The website is not on the actual photograph I used for the ornament - it's in this photo to protect Ashley's copyright)

This is one of several versions of the ornament I've stitched so far. These are the perfect thing to stitch in the car - I have no trouble finding the holes, and if I have one already stitched, I have no need to carry the pattern around with me - I just stitch from the finished one. You can fit three whole ornaments (front and back) on one sheet of canvas, and the personalization possibilities are endless. You'll be seeing several more of these as I complete them.

A Star Danced

A good friend of mine gave birth to her first son just a few short months before our son arrived, so part of our pregnancies overlapped and we were able to share our experiences. Rachel was a tremendous help and a source of support for me, so I wanted to make something for her son as a thank you for some very nice things she did for me.

The trouble is, I couldn't decide what I wanted to do, so I stitched both! First up is a simple birth record.

Snips and Snails by Serendipity Designs
Stitched over 1 on 14 ct. white Aida with DMC Threads

I purchased the boy and girl versions of these designs as they're a handy piece to have around. They stitch up quick and are super easy to personalize, plus they're not overly cutesy. The original design only calls for the first name, but whenever possible, I like to include the middle name as well as it fits nicely into a 5x7 frame. I don't generally stitch on Aida anymore, but I do like the slightly chunky look it lends to this piece.

I also knew I wanted to stitch up this piece, ever since the first time I saw it way back in January.

A Star Danced by Sharon Bennett (Daffycat Designs)
Stitched on 32 ct. linen with my own hand dyed threads
Name blurred for privacy

I fell in love with this design that Sharon created for her daughter's 21st birthday (you can read the story on her blog by clicking on the link to the chart). I personalized the back with the complete information, then finished the piece into an ornament. I followed Nicky's tutorial for ruched ribbon, and stitched it on the finished pillow by hand. I LOVE how it came out.

Finally framed!

Safari Birth Sampler by Mary Stickley for The Coleshill Collection

Stitched with included threads over 2 on 28 ct. Antique White evenweave

Finally this piece is FRAMED!! It's been finished since last September and has been languishing in a drawer, waiting to be framed. I've even had the frame since last fall, and for some reason, it just took forever to get around to actually framing the piece (or rather, getting DH to frame it). I rodered the frame from American Frame this time, and was quite pleased with the price, quality and service from them.

DH did a great job framing - he has much more patience for this sort of thing and will fiddle with it until everything lines up correctly. Usually I frame with sticky board (horror of horrors, I know) but we went with mat board and stainless steel pins this time. I noticed there was much less frustration (and cursing) on DH's part as he framed this piece, so maybe that's the way to go from now on.

This was a gift for a childhood friend whose son, as you can see, is over a year old. (I even thought about trying to get it done for his 1st birthday in August, but being pregnant myself really put a crimp in my plans!) DH got it in the mail Friday, and I got an email from my friend yesterday that it's already been received!

I have a really good reason for being behind on stitching

You see, my husband and I are expecting our first child, a son, in October. Yep, I'm pregnant. I've kept it quiet for so long because I have some complicated issues with my family and didn't need the additonal stress of dealing with that. But the cat seems to be out of the bag for the most part, so I thought I would share our happy news with my stitching friends.

So far, so good with this pregnancy, except for a ridiculous amount of exhaustion in the first trimester. I have never been so tired in my life! And dizzy to boot, but most of that seems to have passed, and I am into my third trimester now. Baby has been very active lately, and according to his ultrasounds, right on target for growth and development. We're very excited to meet him.

But being so tired and dizzy made it very hard to concentrate on stitching, and I really slacked off for a while, only managing to get in the bare minimum, which is why you haven't seen much from me lately. (I especially want to apologize to my two remaining PIFs - Deirdre and Tammie. I didn't forget about you ladies, I swear!!! I have your pieces stitched up, I just have to finish them!)

Since my DH and I both love the beach and lighthouses, we knew we were going with a nautical theme for his room. This is the bedding we selected, Nautica William.


We'll be painting the walls a light blue, coincidentally called Sailboat (okay, maybe the color name did have something to do with my selection) and going with cherry furniture, including the crib my in-laws bought for their grandson.

I, or rather my husband, did pick the sampler for the baby. It's from Seguin Designs and it's called A Fishing Village Sampler.

Maine is one of our favorite places, and this was the sampler that DH liked the best of about a dozen different ones that I had found. I'm making some modifications to the piece to include his name and vital information. I haven't started stitching yet, but I do have the fabric and the threads.

So if you've been wondering why my posting has been sporadic this year, now you know why. :-)

Guess what was in the mail for me yesterday?

Less than a WEEK after I placed the order, my kit arrived from the UK! How's THAT for service??? I ordered from Sew and So, and not only did I get almost immediate confirmation when I ordered the kit, but they sent me a shipping confirmation when the chart went out (the day after I ordered it). It was nicely packaged in a sturdy envelope, so there were no bends or folds or anything. I would absolutely order from them again and recommend them to anyone. After my experience with the other store, I am so glad Sew and So came through. My only minor complaint was that shipping was almost $8 US, much higher than the other online store I ordered from, but with service like that, it's hard to complain.

So now I have to start stitching away on it so it's ready to personalize when the baby gets here. My friend is due in early September, so I want to have the bulk of the piece completed. I'm also going to do some re-arranging in the center section to be able to include the time of birth and the length. I think I have plenty of room to play around in there, especially if I take out the words "Born" and "Weight".

I also have to get in touch with my new LNS to find out if I Do has arrived yet. I asked them to order it 2 weeks ago and I haven't heard from them yet, so I might have to give them a little nudge. I know the owner is out recovering from surgery and the store is being run by part time staff, but I still need to get this piece stitched up in time for the wedding which is a month away.

Animal Theme Baby Gift

I forgot to mention I picked (and ordered) a baby gift for my friend. I ended up going with this one. Safari Birth Sampler by Mary Stickley for The Coleshill Collection

I wanted to pick something that wasn't overly cartoony so they'd be able to keep it hanging longer. I had done a previous Janlynn jungle themed piece for another friend, but I would never stitch it again. It was absolutely adorable when it was done, but once was enough, thanks! In fact, if anyone is interested in the chart for it, it's in my Swap or Sell pile.

Calling on my fellow stitchers for ideas

A friend of mine and her husband are expecting their first child this September and I've been trying to figure out a nice piece to stitch for them. They're not finding out the sex of the child until the birth, so that makes it a little harder to narrow down. They've decided to go with a jungle animal theme, but they don't really have any specific colors or anything in mind.

The closest I can find to something resembling a theme are the hooks they've selected:

What I need now is a project that fits this theme. Any thoughts or ideas on what I could stitch?

My first finishes for 2008

I'm finally getting around to unloading the camera from Christmas (after a phone call from my MIL last night asking me if I had downloaded the family Christmas photo yet). And I'm finally getting around to doing other things, like finishing up things that have been sitting around for a while. Like birth records I stitched for my nieces. (don't look at the dates). They're from The New Cross Stitch Sampler Book by Helen Phillips. I did a little of my own modifications with color changes and doing a more freeform border.

It's sad, because I had less than 20 stitches to go on Sierra's and I had to finish the border on Kenna's. I don't know why they were sitting around for so long - I finished them in 30 minutes on Saturday night. Usually, Kenna's favorite color is purple and I would have stitched hers in the shades of purple, but I stitched them by birthstone color, chosing the pink for Kenna (October) and the purple for her sister (June). I think they came out really cute and I have to mat and frame them up before I send them out. I was thinking matching pink and purple mats for each one, set in a white frame

I'm also FINALLY getting around to posting a progress picture for Kim on Princess and The Pea. This is what I stitched over New Years.

And this is what I stitched this weekend during the football playoffs. Once I got going, it stitched up REALLY quick.

I am loving the overdyed threads for the green (CC's Weeping Willow) and the pinks (CC's Cherry Tomato, Carrie Berry, and Ripe Melon), but I am not convinced of the necessity of using an overdyed for the dog (Toasted Marshmallow) or the brown (Little House Brown). In fact, I don't think I care much for the varigated brown in this pattern at all, but I'm not restitching it. If I did, I'd use a DMC brown instead.

It's been a while since I've posted some pictures

I've been organizing and cleaning up some photos this morning, so I thought I'd share a few.

First up is the piece I finished for my BIL and SIL's Christmas gift. DH framed it up for me and we gave it to them on Christmas morning. My SIL was especially touched - she teared up a little when she opened it (hopefully it meant that she liked it!)

Next up is Nautical Dreams, which DH also framed before we left for Christmas, but I just sent it out yesterday. It's on it's way to Colorado, so I hope it doesn't get stuck in any snowstorms. I also sent along a Boston Harbor ornament I stitched up from a Treetrunk Designs leaflet. I like to give ornaments as gifts to new babies to start their collections. Boston is very near and dear to the heart of my friend (the baby's mom) and I am sure it will become very important to her daughter as well.


And finally, something my DH stitched for his mom for Mother's Day. It's a Dimensions kit she picked out when they came to visit us a while back, and we just forgot to take a picture of it before we gave it to her. DH also framed it for her, and I think he did a great job. It's now hanging in the entrance to her kitchen.

And I know I promised Kim some pics of my progress on Princess, but I messed up the ones I took and have to take new ones, so they'll be coming later.

My Current Work in Progress

My friend Christine and her husband just had their first child, Alexa. Since her nursery is a nautical theme, I picked this piece from the Design Connection. (I noticed I have quite a few Design Connection pieces in my stash.)

I'm personalizing the piece with some modifications. The first line of text in the piece will be changed to the baby's first and middle names, and the second line of text will be her birthdate. In the space below the third section, I'm able to fit in her weight, length and time of birth.

It's a LOT of stitching, but there are large sections of simple cross stitching in one color, so that makes it easier. I've started by doing half crosses in those large sections, and then I'll come back later and fill in the other half of the stitch. I think it will be really cute when it's done.