Peaceful Silhouette

Peaceful Silhouette by Dimensions

stitched from a kit with included threads and fabrics

I'll be back in a few days with some pics from a recent Fair & Square exchange, but I am going through my draft posts trying to breathe some life into this blog.  Meanwhile, enjoy this piece from Mr. SweetPea, something he stitched up a few years ago and gifted to his brother (another one we failed to take a photo of once it was framed).

Mr. SweetPea doesn't fool around and often takes on more ambitious projects (and still manages to finish a few of them before I get through some of my smaller projects!).  To be honest, all these shades of brown and tan probably would have driven me batty, but he seemed to enjoy the process.  It is indeed a peaceful scene, though!

As for me, I've been very busy with Little Dude back in preschool and going back to work myself.  We're on the go all week, and try to do fun things with Little Dude on the weekends.  It's our favorite time of year to be out and about and we've been very fortunate to have some beautiful weather in the northeastern US.  Sadly, my stitching time has diminished.  I've been going to bed earlier (5:30 am comes quick!) and I'm a lot more tired at night, so I limit how much time I spend on my pieces because I'd rather not be endlessly ripping out mistakes.

But as I mentioned, I do have a F&S exchange to post, so you'll be seeing that soon.

iStitch Exchange

Carol from iStitchaholic recently hosted an exchange featuring her designs, and stitchers all over the world signed up to exchange finished pieces.   Carol has been posting the exchange pieces to the iStitch Designs facebook page, and will be posting a gallery to her blog once the exchange wraps up completely.

My piece arrived from Elisa of Old Ragged Threads back in July.  She stitched Sew French Blue and finished it as a pinkeep.  So pretty and delicate - I love the lace on the edges and need to keep that in mind for future finishes of my own.  (Why yes I do have a collection of finishing ideas I'd like to try!)

Elisa also crocheted me this sweet colorful mat.  It is so soft and pretty, and my 4 year old was eyeing it up as soon as I took it out of the package.  Once he felt how soft it was, it was a task to get it back from him!

My exchange partner was also located in the UK.  I stitched Sew Peacock for Michelle (Michelle's Stitchcraft Place).  Sew Peacock has long been one of my favorite designs and I chose a gorgeous turquoise blue silk (Belle Soie Aqua Velvet) to stitch over 1.  The fabric you see in the background is the taffeta I used for the back of the pinkeep.  In fact, I chose that fabric first, then went to my LNS in search of the thread.  I had at least half a dozen choices, and ended up going with my first choice silk.  Do you do that too?  I go through several different colors for something like this, and inevitably go back to my first choice.

I also finished mine as a pinkeep.  Since I used the little acrylic stand I bought for Elisa's pinkeep to stand the piece up for photographing, I decided to include it in the package to Michelle.  (I'll pick up a new stand for myself so I can put Sew French Blue back on display)

And you can see the Swarovski crystal pin I put together from my jewelry bits.  I believe that's the Blue Zircon color, which happens to be my birthstone as well.  I wanted to jazz up the lace trim I used around the edges, so I added soome blue satin ribbon.  I bought a spool without realizing I had used the exact same ribbon for another project, oddly enough another iStitch design!  So I used what I had and sent the new roll off to Michelle.

As I was looping the ribbon for the top, I realized that it looked a little bit like a peacock too!

 

So my piece arrived safely in the UK and I'm just thrilled with the piece from Elisa.  Thank you, Carol, for hosting such a great exchange!

Fly away, butterfly

Back to sharing some of the finished pieces I haven't blogged about yet (or framed). These two are both by Mr. SweetPea, and they're both from Dimensions kits from our early stitching years.

Exotic Butterflies by Dimensions

Obviously it's not the best photo, and the silvery frame on the piece itself is a bit off, but it's still a pretty piece. I'm thinking this might look nice in our living room since we have some stained glass pieces we inherited from Mr. Sweet Pea's grandparents already hanging there.  One in particular is a pretty blue and pink bird piece that echoes some of the colors of this one.




The second piece is Butterfly Triplex, also by Dimensions.  This piece coordinates with two others Mr. SweetPea stitched.  One was gifted to his mom but is currently awaiting re-framing since our original framing job wasn't a good one (we had NO idea what we were doing).  As soon as that one's finished (it's a Dimensions Rose piece), it will appear on the blog.

The Return of the Fair & Square Exchange

After an extended hiatus, the Fair and Square exchange is back, and the latest round was a Patriotic theme. I was paired up with Rebecca (no blog... yet!) who is new to the exchange, and these are the lovely squares she stitched for me.

 Land that I Love by Lizzie*Kate

This is a "Now and Then" version of the chart.  The one Rebecca stitched is the updated version, so she included the chart so I could stitch the older version of it as well.  Thank you so much, Rebecca!

This is what I stitched for Rebecca... 

Happy Independence Day by Bent Creek

(city blanked out intentionally)

I took a slightly more colorful approach than the original, and use some metallic threads for the fireworks.  I also added in an extra star where the snap was charted in.

Rebecca mentioned she's been following my blog and was excited to be paired up with me.  I can totally relate - I've been paired up with fellow stitchers I've followed and it's so nice to "meet" and get to know them.  Hopefully Rebecca will start a blog soon, too!

A joint project from the early years

Things have been MUCH busier around here than I anticipated. Little Dude is done with preschool for the summer, so most of my time has been consumed by entertaining a 4 year old. Trips to the library and the park, fun activities, playing trains - the days are just loaded. I'm still stitching most evenings, but I know I haven't been posting as frequently as I was for a while there.  My ultimate goal is to post at least once a week.  We'll see how that goes. 

I did go through our stitching drawer a while back and found some pieces I haven't shared on the blog.  There's a couple more of these posts in my draft pile, but here's something from way back.

The Sorcerer and The Sorceress by Dimensions

Stitched from a kit

These two pieces are from our early years of stitching.  Mr. Sweet Pea did the sorcerer, and I did the sorceress (why yes I did change her hair color to a slightly redder shade).  I don't even know if these kits are still available, but we bought these in the craft store.

Our tastes have changed since then, but these have sentimental value.  They were among our very first stitching pieces and there was a time when we both enjoyed fantasy literature on a regular basis.  They're still in the finished unfinished drawer, but perhaps some day they will be able to cast a spell and free themselves.

10th Anniversary Piece

I Will Love You by Annie Beez Folk Art

Stitched 2 over 2 on 25 ct. mystery linen with recommended threads

I finished up my anniversary piece for Mr. SweetPea. (We celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary in April).  As I mentioned before, I went to my LNS about 2 weeks before our anniversary to figure out what I was going to stitch for this milestone.  Because I enjoy waiting till the last minute....

Nothing was really doing it for me, until I spotted this one and remembered I had purchased it a few years ago and it was sitting in my stash.  I think I probably even bought it intending to stitch it for an anniversary.  So I picked up the fabric I needed, going a little larger than the recommended 32 count because I wanted to frame this finish.

For the most part, this was a super easy stitch, except for all those damn little confetti stitch stars.  I love how the look on the front, but they were kind of a pain in the butt to stitch.  I considered using seed beads but decided to stitch as designed.  Eventually I'll get this framed and hung on the wall.  Maybe even before our 20th anniversary.

And if you must have it RIGHT NOW, you can check out Annie's Etsy Shop for an instant download.

Springtime Exchange with Robin

A few months ago when I started blogging again, a fellow stitcher named Robin (no blog... yet!) started commenting on my posts.  Through a series of emails, we started developing a friendship, and when I mentioned the Fair & Square exchange, she asked me a few quesitons about it, then suggested we do our own private exchange.

I thought that was a great idea, and we decided on a spring theme, following the F&S guidelines for size and a signature square.  These are Robin's squares - Mini Spring by The Sunflower Seed.

Aren't they just lovely?  Robin's stitching is so pretty and delicate!  Allergies be damned, I do love spring flowers and tulips are among my favorites.  I think these squares are going to make a wonderful no-sew cube, perhaps with a pretty spring colored plaid ribbon around the edges, depending on what I can find.

Robin also hit up my wish list and very generously included these two appropriately spring-y charts and some gorgeous silk threads from Dinky Dyes and Vicki Clayton.  Bent Creek's Shamrock Row will mean a trip to the LNS for a special cut of fabric, but Allesandra Adelaide's Little Blue will most likely be bumping some other pieces in the queue because I'm pretty sure there's a suitable piece of fabric in my stash.

Thank you, Robin, for your beautiful squares and generous gifts, but mostly for your friendship.  I so enjoy our emails!
 
And now on to what I stitched for Robin.  When she mentioned "springtime", I immediately thought of this one from Les Grilles des Liselotte, Amitie Brodee.  

Not only did the chart fit the springtime theme, but it expressed a sentiment that was especially appropriate.  Amitie brodee is French for "friendship embroidered" and I thought it was fitting to honor this new friendship that came about through a mutual love of stitching.

The original chart is done in purple, but I had a multicolor version of it saved in my stitching ideas file (I can't track down the original).  Since Robin prefers brighter colors to pastels, I chose a more vibrant palette, using WDW in Begonia, Sunset, Crepe Myrtle and Sally's Sunshine plus Carrie's Creations Purple for the flowers, WDW Meadow for the green, and WDW Heatherleigh for the butterflies.

I added a little bling with some copper color beads for the flower stamens, and hematite beads for the butterflies.

As I was stitching the piece, I kept second guessing myself and very nearly abandoned it in favor of another pattern, but I kept on with it, and it turned out exactly like I wanted.


I also hauled out my beading supplies and made this scissor fob featuring a butterfly charm and glass millefiori and iridescent beads.  I hadn't done any beading in a while, so it was fun to dig through my bead stash and play around with different colors and shapes.
 

Tree of Life, and a local designer

Tree of Life Mini Sampler by Lila's Studio

Stitched 2 over 2 on 28 ct. Bo Peep Pink

I've blogged about Lila's Studio before, when I first discovered her charts at my LNS, Just Crossstitch.  Lila is from Collegeville (not far from me at all).  This is the Tree of Life mini sampler I stitched up late last year on a piece of  Bo Peep Pink linen I had in my stash.  The piece was just the right size to stitch this up, and I'll eventually frame it to hang with some of our other bird pieces.

If you haven't checked out Lila's catalog, you definitely should.  She has some really lovely designs, several of which I've purchased, and a few more are on my list. Some of the designs have a distinct PA Dutch / PA German feel to them.  And I just spotted a peacock one that I hadn't noticed before that will make a perfect gift for a dear friend of mine who adores peacocks.

I like this piece because it has that PA Dutch feel to it, and it reminds me of a stitched piece my MIL has had hanging in her breakfast nook forever.  Her friend designed and stitched it for her at least 30 years ago.

I had such a fondness for the piece that I stitched two more on 14 ct. aida cloth.  (My MIL's friend no longer has her original work)  The blurred area you see is our family name, just like on the one at my in-laws.  

One of the pieces sits on a dry sink in our front hall, and we gave the other one to my BIL and his wife for their home.  The design fits perfectly into a 5x7 frame, so this was a quick and easy gift for them.  It's such a simple little piece, but it does have great sentimental value to me.

I did think at one point to stitch this four times, as a "Four Seasons" type piece with bare branches for winter, tiny pale green leaves for spring (maybe some pink blossoms), the green leave you see here for summer, and autumn leaves, but then I took a look at my stash pile and figured stitching this twice was probably enough, at least for now.

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.

Late for St. Patrick's Day

Luck by Bent Creek

I have a fondness for Bent Creek pieces, especially their alphabet pieces like this one.  I started around St. Patrick's Day last year and finished it up sometime in November or December.  It was one of those pieces that I started for myself, then had other things I needed to work on intervene.  Since St. Patrick's Day (or HAPPY PATRICK'S DAY as Little Dude calls it) is my second favorite holiday (after Christmas), I've started working on Irish or shamrock themed pieces around that time of year.

I think this one may be destined for our guest room, as I'm considering doing a sort of Irish theme in there.  The walls are green and the bedding and curtains are black and white, and the current artwork hanging in there is framed notecards featuing pen and ink drawings of covered bridges.

If you'd like to see the other Bent Creek pieces I've stitched, you can find them here, here and here.  Oh, and here, where I did Wedding Row for my favorite cousin.

In honor of our recently departed extended winter season

Winter Bird Delight by Praiseworthy Stitches

Stitched 2 over 2 on 32 ct. fabric with recommended threads

Here on the east coast of the US, we had a VERY long winter.  A very long one - and the second snowiest season on record for our area.  As someone who can't stand the heat and humidity of summer, I don't generally mind the cooler months, but it does get to be exhausting when you have a four year old stuck in the house because the temperatures are well below freezing.

This is a piece my husband stitched a while back, as you can tell by the date on the bottom (2010).  It's been sitting in our FUFO (finished un-finished objects) since then, and I realized I had never taken a picture or shared it on the blog.  It's one of several bird themed pieces he's stitched or has in progress, since birds are an interest of his.  I'm not quite sure where it will end up as it's slightly too big for an ornament.  Chances are it will get framed and hung somewhere in our front hall or living room since the blue fabric it's stitched on coordinates nicely with the paint colors in those areas.

I'm a little bit (French) country

Well, well, well.  With this post, I officially surpassed my post count for the ENTIRE year last year, and it's only March.  I mean April!  What?  Where did the time go?

I finished stitching on this piece a little earlier this year.  It's JBW Designs French Country Rooster, done up over 2 on 32 ct. linen with Crescent Colors Chili Pepper.  It's been sitting in my stitching box for a while, and then I got on a finishing kick.  It has yet to be framed, so into the Drawer of Unframed Pieces to wait for who knows how long.

I'm thinking about framing him for somewhere in our kitchen.  I have a ceramic rooster that my husband bought at an antique store for me because it looked exactly like one of the ceramic roosters my grandmother had in her kitchen, on a little shelf above the sink.  I'm not really a country person, and I'm not a huge fan of chickens, but I do love me the occasional rooster, probably because of that ceramic rooster of my grandmother's.

Also, because of this story.  WARNING - it does contain some NSFW language and some people may be offended by it, but it is still one of the most hilarious things I have ever read in my whole life.  Seriously.  My whole life.  Just thinking about it makes me laugh, and you can bet if I ever find a 5-foot tall metal chicken, I am going to bring it home with me.  (My husband lives in fear that this will actually happen.  This fear is not unfounded).  You know, now that I am thinking about it, I am thinking it would be HILARIOUS (to me, anyway) to pick out the word "chanticleer" and replace it with "Beyonce". (And if you want a smaller version of Beyonce, like the one hanging on my refrigerator that my 4 year old knows is Beyonce), you can get it here.

As long as we're on JBW Designs, I don't think I've ever shared this one that I finished about 5 years ago.  Yep.  5 years.  I bought the chart when found out I was pregnant with Little Dude, and finished it up right before he was born.  I had intended to turn it into a door hanger for the nursery, but I was young and naive and childless when I came up with that plan.

French Country Baby Sampler by JBW Designs

Stitched 2 over 2 on 32 ct. white even weave

with Dinky Dyes silk in Midnight

Pretty, isn't it?  I think this is the first JBW Design I stitched, and I LOVED the Dinky Dyes silk.  It was just lovely to stitch with, and the blue-black color of Midnight is pretty.  I might have to look for some sort of coordinating fabric and get around to finishing this into something that can be displayed before my son is a teenager.

Archiving and recording

This post has been sitting in draft format for a while.  I won't say exactly how long, but it's been a while.

I have a compulsion to organize and archive things. (There are more than a few of you out there that will relate to this)  It's always there, simmering just below the surface, but in the last few years, it's taken on greater importance. When my husband's dearly beloved 99 year old grandmother passed away a while back, my MIL and I pulled together many family photos from a variety of sources for her viewing and funeral. So many of them were unmarked and unlabeled.  Luckily, my MIL is very good with names and faces, so we were able to identify most of the people in the photos. (My FIL has been struggling to identify the photos he inherited in boxes from his parents, and having a bit harder of a time with it.)  It got me thinking about family history being lost in bits and pieces along the way, and I felt a need to do what I could to preserve it.

I keep fairly meticulous records of my own photos, especially digital ones. Everything's labeled and organized in my own files, as well as in the online digital albums I upload. Prints are marked with the date, location and participants when possible so that in 50 years, my son isn't wondering who is smiling down at his cute baby face in a photograph.

I've been borrowing old photos from my ILs and scanning them in as high resolution TIFF files for preservation, touch up and reprinting, and burning the files to CD as well as uploading them online. I've been making sure to have my ILs identify as many people as they can as well.  And we've also been printing and framing some of these photos so that they become part of our daily lives, and more importantly, part of our son's daily life.  We are lucky to have wedding photos of my husband's maternal grandparents and my maternal grandparents.  Both couples were married during the Depression, and the photos are a treasure.  We also have a variety of framed photos of the important people in our lives hanging on our walls so that in some small way, they are always with us.

In the spirit of this archiving and organizing, I've been combing through my own needlework photos, making sure I have designers, pattern names, dates, etc. We have photos of almost every single piece we've ever stitched and it's not entirely impossible to remember the basic details just by looking at the photos. I've had long stretches where I've only finished a piece or two, and my husband tends to take on major projects that take a year or more to complete, so I'm not looking at hundreds of pieces. But I have noticed that my pre-blog record keeping has been spotty. I didn't pay as much attention to designers or fabric or threads or things of that nature as I do now.  However, most of my pre-blog stitching came from kits, so it's not hard to track that information down.  I store everything, including the leftover kit threads, in plastic page protectors in 3-ring binders.  My charts are divided between binders and underbed storage boxes, usually by likelihood that I will stitch it again.  (I do have several charts I've stitched more than once with variations, usually smaller ones for birth records).  Once I started blogging and participating in the stitching community, I started branching out, experimenting and modifying charts for my own needs, changing colors, fabrics, etc.  Having that record in my blog posts has been helpful.

Anyway, I have instituted a way of identifying stitched pieces, at least the framed ones, and providing a bit of archival information down the road. I've started making up labels and sticking them on the back of the frame.

For gifts, this is in addition to a handwritten note. If the backing is black or another dark color, I write a short note to the recipient with a gold or silver scrapbooking marker. And if it's a paper backed piece, I write a note on a sticker and attach it to the back of the piece.  (And if you'd like to see the front of this particular piece, it's here)

What do you do to archive and record your stitching and/or crafting for yourself?  Do you keep a blog or journal?  Photos?  Do you prefer handwritten or digital records?  Do you do anything special to sign your work?

A Very Grumpy Christmas

Merry Christmas Grumpy Kitty

Brooke's Books Publishing

Stitched 2 over 2 on 32 ct. unknown green evenweave with recommended colors

Continuing on with our theme of "Pieces I stitched AND finished in 2013", (Which is mostly ornaments since it's a fairly quick process and I don't have to obsess about frames) here's a little something I whipped up for a friend of mine.  She adores Grumpy Cat, and when I discovered him making the rounds on the blogs,  I knew this would be for her.  The original was stitched on a pale blue fabric, but I think the green gives it an extra pop.  This was a super quick stitch, and I got it out in time for her to put it on her tree.

I did substitute a gold metallic thread for the star and some fuzzy white Wisper thread for the trim and pom pom on the hat.  The gold metallic is prettier in person, but I did not get the effect from the Wisper thread that I had hoped for, even using one thread.

I used the same red plaid background fabric that I used for Little Dude's ornament.  It has a little bit of metallic shine to it, and metallic gold threads running through it, so it was a nice compliment to the gold star.  My friend loves anything glittery and shiny, so I went with a sparkly red tinsel-like cording for the trim (from the $1 at Joann's).  It was slightly tricky getting that glued into place without melting the bits of tinsel onto the hot glue gun, but I love how it turned out.

Ornaments for Little Dude and his Preschool Teacher

Speaking of Little Dude's yearly ornaments, here's the one for 2013...

Little House Needleworks' Main Street Station
Hometown Holiday Series
Stitched over 1 on 32 ct. Linen with recommended threads
Backed with plaid fabric shown in background

Little Dude is train obsessed.  OBSESSED.  A few months before he was born, a friend of mine was cleaning out her basement and wanted to give us her sons' Thomas the Train table.  I turned it down, not knowing whether or not my child would be interested in trains.  It's a decision that I kick myself for on a regular basis.

All is not lost though - he has a very talented dad who hacked an IKEA coffee table and built him his very own train table.  We were also gifted with piles of wooden train tracks, trains and accessories from my BIL and SIL, who passed them on from my SIL's sister's son.  We added a few more accessories and trains for him, and they are by far his favorite toy.   He's gotten hours of enjoyment out of them.  He started playing with them when he was just over 2 years old, and it's been fun to watch how the way he plays with them has changed and developed.

And it's not just Thomas that holds his interest, although I am certain we've seen every single episode of Thomas, read all the books, and own most of the trains.  He's obsessed with all kinds of trains - real ones, wooden ones, model trains, books about trains, videos about trains, etc.  We've taken him to Day out with Thomas twice, on at least a dozen train rides around the area, museums, model train displays, you name it, we've done it.  Two weeks ago, we took him to the Railroad Museum in Strasburg for the second time.  We spent four hours there, exploring the actual restored trains (engines, cars and cabooses) and playing with the various set ups and displays they had for the kids.  He begged for a ride on the Strasburg Railroad across the street, but we told him another time as he was already getting crabby.  Never in a million years did I think I'd get a kid as crazy about trains as this one, but it's been interesting.  I've certainly learned way more about trains than I ever thought I would.  (And if you find yourself in the Lancaster area, I highly recommend a visit to the Railroad Museum)

The other Little Dude related ornament is the one I stitched up for his preschool teacher.  He started preschool in September, three days a week, and he LOVES it.  I was a little nervous at first, but he is still excited to go and very much enjoys it.   He's (so far) an only child and most of the kids in our neighborhood are middle school or older, so he's been making friends at school.

I wasn't quite sure what to do for his teacher for Christmas.  My husband and I bake a tremendous amount of cookies (usually 12 different kinds, plus several kinds of candy), so we hand out cookie platters to neighbors, family and friends.  I was already planning on giving his teacher some baked goodies, but I wanted to do something extra for her as she's been really wonderful with Little Dude.  My MIL is a former preschool teacher herself, and she said the gifts she treasured the most were handmade ones.  Perfect, right?  So I flipped through some of my JCS Ornament issues and this one popped out at me.

The Decorator by Full Circle Designs
JCS 2007 Ornament Issue
Stitched on 32 ct. grey linen with recommended threads

I lucked out and had two matching pieces of grey linen in my stash, so I stitched his name and the year on the back so she would always remember him.  I had a strand of red, green and pearl seed beads in my trim stash, and that finished it up nicely.  His teacher loved it, and told me that snowmen were one of her favorite winter / Christmas themes.  Score!

An ornament for our tree

I might as well get caught up on several of the pieces I finished at the end of 2013. I was determined to get some new ornaments on our tree, and someday plan to be caught up with the yearly ornaments for my son. (I can't tell if it's good or bad that he's four, and I'm already missing one year's ornament)

Angel Greeting by Kissy-Cross
Free Chart available here: http://kissycross.twoday.net/stories/4537414/
Stitched on 40 ct. linen with Belle Soie Cranberry Silk Thread

I apologize for the weird pink cast to the photo, but this is a beautiful piece.  The linen is a neutral sandy color, and the cranberry Belle Soie is a rich maroon color.  (The Belle Soie silks are always so lovely to stitch with, and they have a nice sheen to them)

It's been finished and sitting in a drawer FOREVER, waiting for my husband to stitch our name and the year (2011) for the back of the ornament.  (I won't even tell you how long it was kitted up waiting to be stitched in the first place)  I finally ended up doing it myself, and putting the piece together so it could hang our our tree this past Christmas.

Because his family is very proud of their German heritage, he went with the German wording, but the chart also includes Merry Christmas in English.

A wedding gift for a happy couple

Sew Blue by iStitchaholic 

1 over 1 on 28 ct. evenweave
with Belle Soie Peacock

Personalized as a gift

This was a freebie pattern offered by Carol of iStitchaholic.  The original pattern has an alphabet across the top of the design, but I wanted to personalize it for a wedding gift, so I used the alphabet for  their names and wedding date, and charted out my own ampersand.

Gina is a dear friend of my husband's from college, and we wanted to send her and her new husband something personal since we could not make it to their wedding.  This is actually the first of two pieces I stitched - the other is a framed piece for their walls that has yet to be framed.  At least this one got out in time to hang on their Christmas tree this year! (And you'll see the framed piece later, once it's finished up)

So I changed the pattern to personalize the piece, and I took the ribbon from their invitations to my LNS and found a perfect match in the Belle Soie Peacock silk.  Gina also had a bit of a lace motif throughout her wedding plans, so I picked up on that with the trim around the edges, and found some teal blue fabric (what you see in the background) for the back of the piece.  The lace is actually much nicer in person.  I didn't realize it looked off in the picture until after I had mailed it out.  But rest assured I didn't send out a wonky ornament.

I've been on a bit of an over 1 stitching kick, and I never fail to be thrilled with how the tiny little stitches come out, especially with silks.

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.