Her hero wears combat boots

Ok, if this isn't my all time favorite burp cloth ever, it has got to rank up in the top five. I LOVE the way this turned out!
Brittany received the "Some heroes wear capes, My hero wears a badge" burp cloth from Michelle at her baby shower. Now Brittany's friend (whose husband is in the army) just had a baby girl, so she requested something similar to give as a gift.

Isn't it adorable?!?!
The applique dog tags design is from Planet Applique. I used Embird Alphabet #2 to personalize the dog tags, and #8 for the rest of the text. Brittany asked if I had some camo trim to put at the bottom, which I did. I decided to add the jumbo ric rac beneath it to make it girly. So cute! I also love the pink thread and shimmery pink fairy frost material for the dog tags.

WOW! She's Two!

Jeni asked me to make a birthday shirt for her daughter who recently turned two. She sent me a couple pictures of the partyware she was using, and this is what we came up with:

The "2" is from GG's Chubby Wubby Numbers. I found a ttf that matched the font on the partyware, and Kathy digitized the text for me. I plucked the confetti from an Applique Corner design (which I happened to purchase for a penny the weekend I created the design - perfect timing). I like that the fabric pulls in the stars from the partyware, as well.

Kindergarten Rocks! (Take 2)

Within about an hour of posting pictures of Presley's Kindergarten Rocks shirt, Kelli send me a message saying she just might need to order one for her daughter starting kindergarten in the fall. :)
If you recall my story for making Presley's, that all happened fast -- saw image, they liked it, emailed EB to see if I could test it, got design and stitched next day. What I hadn't thought through when I offered it to Nicole was the stitch count, which was HIGH. On my single needle it took me over an hour to do that design. So I proposed to Kelli a different version which would stitch quicker for me and be cheaper for her. :) I really like how it turned out!

The original "Kindergarten ROCKS" design is from Embroidery Boutique. I used the stars and the word Kindergarten, but swapped out the applique word. Instead I used the zig zag version of EB's Cade Applique Alphabet (with EB's blessing). Little Miss Rachel will be starting school this fall at the American School of Warsaw (her daddy is stationed in Poland). Their school colors are red and blue, so we went with a patriotic color scheme. I love how it turned out and think it will be adorable paired with a denim skirt!

Ok, I have two more Kindergarten Rocks shirts to do for little friends, and then that's all I can do for this school year! I can't believe how many requests I've gotten from folks who have stumbled upon my blog or Facebook page. It has been so hard to turn down business, but I am closed to new orders until Sept 1. I'm taking August off for travel, personal projects, design testing, and to avoid unnecessary stress as the school year begins. Thanks for understanding! If you've got projects for fall, or dare I say it, Christmas?? Feel free to contact me in September!

Kitchen Towels for the Bride and Groom

A friend has two weddings to attend this fall and wanted my help in creating a gift. She had seen some bath hand towels which became the inspiration for my take on these Mr and Mrs kitchen towels:

 I picked applique designs because, well, you know, I LOVE applique. That and I already had these designs! I've used GG's Bow Tie/Tuxedo design before on a black onesie. I did do a bit of editing on the design so I could use a different color for the crease stitches inside the bow.

The Necklace applique is from Lynnie Pinnie. I've owned this one for a while, but this is the first time I've used it. (I think it would look adorable along the neckline of a white onesie with a tutu for a baby girl, right?!?) Initially I regretted my choice because there are a lot of tiny little circles to trim out! But then when it was done, I decided it was totally worth the effort! It turned out especially pretty with the shimmery fairy frost fabric as the pearls.

 

UPDATED TO ADD:
Two years later, Sabrina asked for another set, this time for her sister!

Monogramming for Dorm Life

Jordan will be heading off to college in a few weeks, so she has all new towels and sheets that need to be monogrammed! I had never monogrammed sheets and I really haven't done very many towels, so I relied heavily on this Embroidery Placement Guide. It was very helpful and I'm pleased with all the results. Towel set 1:

And towel set 2:

Maroon sheets with gold monogram -- school colors!!

These are bath mats. So excited that Jordan picked this neon green thread -- I've owned it for over four years and just now unwrapped it!

One of the most exciting things about this project is that I found a J I actually like!!! J is such a weird letter. (So is T for that matter, my initials are really annoying). In most beautiful script fonts, you can't tell the difference between the I and J (and often the T looks like a J, sigh...). And in fonts where J is recognizable, it looks incredibly boring. So imagine the delight I experienced finding a beautiful J... right under my nose!! This J is from Embird Alphabet #38, which I use a lot. Isn't it lovely? I used a fill stitch in four different sizes for the various items.

Butterfly Burp Cloth

Michelle needed a shower gift for a baby girl whose nursery is decorated in butterflies and dragonflies, so she picked a design from the Fun Spring Butterflies Applique set from Designs by JuJu. The colors coordinate with the crib bedding. I added Maddie Ann with Tinker Toy from 8 Claws and a Paw.

Princess Birthday Shirt

Presley attended a princess themed birthday party recently and needed to take a special gift:

I used the Chubby Wubby applique numbers from GG Designs for the 3, picking a fabric with scattered princessy things. I added the crown with Applique Cafe's Add a Crown design and stitched her name with the Swirley font from 8 Claws and a Paw.

I also monogrammed an insert for a little travel mug using the same fabric and font (sorry for the lousy picture):

Hooded Towel

Here's a cute towel I made for a sweet little girl. Her nickname is Maddie Moo.

I used the cow face from Planet Applique, and Chachie from 8 Claws and a Paw for the text.

Race Car shirt

Here's a project I've been anxious to share with you. I tested this adorable  Race Car applique alphabet for 8 Claws and a Paw Embroidery a while back, putting it on a shirt for Dashiell. But before they got the alphabet done, they got word that it was time to go pick up their adopted daughters from Ethiopia. Woo-hoo!! How they manage to run an amazing digitizing business with two new family members in the house is beyond me -- clearly by the grace of God! So excited for you Julie and Joe!
Anyway, Dashiell LOVES his shirt. When you ask him what's on his shirt he says, "There's a D, and a steering wheel, and a race car!" So cute!

 

Kindergarten Rocks!

This project is an example of the perfect convergence of events. Nicole had asked me to make her daughter a special shirt for the first day of kindergarten, but we hadn't nailed down a design idea yet. Last Wednesday night she was going to bring me a shirt and fabrics to use (to match a skirt she is making). Just a few minutes before leaving for church Embroidery Boutique posted a preview of upcoming designs on Facebook, including an adorable "Kindergarten ROCKS" design. I pulled it up on my phone at church and got both Nicole and Presley's approval. Since I've done some testing for EB in the past, on the spot I shot Rachel an email to see if she needed a tester. That night I got the design in my email inbox, and stitched it up the next day! Very rarely do projects come together that fast and easy!

 I'm anxious to see the final outfit when Nicole gets the skirt done -- Presley is going to be the most stylin' kindergartner at school!

Ribbon Flower

If you follow me on Facebook, you know of Applique Corner's recent promotion to get to 1000 fans, which resulted in a sale and some penny designs. Woo-hoo! One of the designs on sale is the Ribbon Flower, which I think looks beautiful and intriguing. So as soon as I got my son down for a nap after church today, I ran to my embroidery machine to give it a whirl. No real project in mind, so I put it on a kitchen towel for myself.

 I used the 4x4 design. It stitches very quickly, the time factor is twisting and positioning the ribbon. But that wasn't really a big deal. I tried very hard not to be precise about it. :) I like the way that it turned out. However I think it would look even better if I'd used wider ribbon (just picked satin ribbon from my stash that matches my kitchen). If you check out the sample picture on her site, you'll see what I mean. It might even look cool tacking down one wide ribbon, and then a narrow on top! Or two colors twisted together? Hmmmm... no time to try that today, I have a special birthday shirt to work on!

Ok, love it?? I'm pretty sure the design is 50% off until midnight tonight (7/10/11) so go snag it at Applique Corner!

Owl Shirt!

Annaliese attended a birthday party today of a friend from school... so it was easy to come up with a gift idea -- Meaghan needs a turquoise owl shirt to show school spirit! :)

Annaliese wanted it to be different from hers, so I spent some time searching through my owl designs (I've collected a lot!) and settled on Ollie Owl from GG Designs. LOVE this one, but I guess I haven't stitched it yet. I added her name with Embird Alphabet #7.

Baby Gift for Twins

Kathie asked me to help her create a custom shower gift. The McGlynn's are expecting twins, but keeping the gender (and therefore names) a surprise. So instead, Kathie suggested a play on their last name for bib and burp cloth sets:

Hee hee, isn't that clever? :)
Since we don't know the gender, Kathie suggested green and purple. I had these lime bibs in my stash, so I went to our new *Hobby Lobby* (♫ Hallelujah! ♫) and found this great gender-neutral ribbon. I used the Coffee Break font from 8 Claws and a Paw for "McBurp" and McBib".

Mini-version of a USA dress

As Annaliese was getting dressed this morning (trying to be as patriotic as possible) she discovered that Anna, her American Girl doll, didn't have a single red item in her wardrobe. Apparently blue jeans and a white shirt with a peachy-red watermelon just wasn't going to cut it, so I had to think fast.
The handful of you that have been around since the very beginning of Stitched by Janay might remember the USA pillowcase halter top dress I made for Annaliese FOUR years ago, when she was just three years old. Well, believe it or not, that dress still fits, but as a top now. And thankfully I have held on to the scraps of that material, so I was able to very quickly whip out a mini version of it for Anna.
But guess what. It didn't have "USA" on the bottom. Could that be fixed?? Sigh, the things we do for this girl and her doll...
I did a quick Google search to see if the font Lyndsie used for the applique alphabet happened to be a free ttf we could download. I found Salute Stars and asked Grandma Kathy if she had time for a quick favor for her favorite granddaughter. Kathy digitized it and emailed me the file. What a perfect little mini-version of the dress! I'm pretty pleased with our spur of the moment efforts. :)

Monogrammed Blanket

Karen brought me this blanket (which already had the stork and hospital name embroidered on it) and asked me to add her grandson's monogram:

I picked the Jane Doe font from 8 Claws and a Paw... it was the best I could do to match the text!

Stitching for Jenn

Jenn asked me to make a few things for some special people in her life. First, a sweet shirt for Lauren who just turned one:

Jenn loved the little giraffe I used for Riley's set, so I used the same design and font for Lauren. It's Lynnie Pinnie's fringe giraffe (a freebie on Sew Forum) and the Happy font from 8 Claws and a Paw.

Jenn didn't want Lauren's big sister to feel left out, so Natalie got a little something special as well, a crayon purse:

The crayon purse design is from Sewing For Sarah, and I added her name with the Swirley font from 8 Claws and a Paw.

I used some fun Riley Blake fabric (that I won from Whimsical Fabrics) for the pockets on both sides. This shows the back pocket:

And this top view shows how a little pad of paper or sheets of stickers fit on the opposite side.

(I haven't made one of those in a LONG time. LOVE them. They are so cute, a great gift for a little girl!)

Next, a bib for a little boy. The "A" is from Embroidery Boutique's Fun Applique Alphabet, and I added "Asher" with Whoa Nelly from 8CP.

And finally, a couple stay-put towels for her mother-in-law:

(You can read more about my first one here).

The cherry design is from 8 Claws and a Paw (thanks Julie!!) and I added "Becky's Kitchen" with Embird alphabet #7.

Basket Liners

Valerie asked me to monogram these basket liners for her girls. I scanned through the over 500 fonts at 8 Claws and a Paw and picked the Swing font. I love how they turned out!