2011 Ornament Finish

Work has piled up lately and before I let too much of the year slip away from me I wanted to show two finishes I was quite proud of.  My new monitor arrived last week, so I was finally able to download my photos.  Everything is right with the world once again.

I had purchased custom Name Tree ornaments from La D Da around 2009 I think.  It was the year following the appearance of the first one in the JCS Ornament Issue.  I stitched that tree and loved it.  That one still lingers in the "Box of Shame".  But I was determined to get these ones stitched up for my lovely kiddos this year and I did finish the stitching by August of this year.  They were then forced to serve a short sentence in the "Box of Shame" until I could find some appropriate beads and backing fabric.

Since I have not completed the stitched stockings I had intended to, I decided that I would make these two little treasures into flat fold stand ups for my mantel.  I must thank the very talented Twisted Stitcher.  Without her wonderful instructions from Learn to finish with The Twisted Stitcher, I would never have attempted this.  I followed step by step and think they turned out "practically perfect in every way" as Mary Poppins would say.  So a huge thank you to Vonna for her help.  She has a wonderful blog too and you should stop by and say hello.

Here are my finishes.  Both stitched over one on 32 ct Coconut Macroon Legacy Linen.  Backing fabric is shown behind.

I struggled finding backing fabric with a Christmas theme for the first one to match the dark blue overdyed thread.  I finally stumbled on this Batik at my local quilt store that I think is a great match. 

What do you think?

I also wanted to share a snap of my girl, Zoe.   It is incredibly hard to get a good photo of a black dog and this one came out pretty well.  I don't know what this expression is for but it cracks me up.  Maybe she is thinking "Duh - of course I want what you are eating!"

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you have a great day!

See y'all soon!

Kerri