Burp Cloths for Camden

Attended another baby shower today :) From April to December this year we have at least 14 friends expecting babies! It's been crazy!
Today we celebrated the upcoming arrival of little Camden. One of Camden's grandmothers has an embroidery machine so I asked his mommy point blank if she had any specific requests. She said burp cloths, and I aim to please! Little Camden got TONS of monogrammed things at the baby shower (great-grandma commented that he'll know his initial really early in life!) but I *think* these were the only burp cloths.
First a stacked monogram. Mommy is an Auburn alum, so picking a color scheme was easy. I'm sure you will recognize the font for the name as 8CP's Whoa Nelly, my favorite. But how about that applique C... can you guess what it is?!

Mommy teaches elementary school, and their mascot is a red fox, school color is green. She loved this!
The applique fox is from Embroidery Library, and I added the text with Embird Alphabet 4.

Michelle also gave a burp cloth to little Camden. She requested I2S's Baseball box. I added his name with 8CP's College Block Small, probably my second favorite font for boys. I LOVE how this turned out! :)

Welcoming baby Chloe

I made several things for a baby shower today. These items represent requests from others as well as my own gift. First up, a few burp cloths.

The nursery bedding they registered for is pink and black with butterflies, so for this one I used Applique Momma's butterfly design. The daddy has nicknamed the baby Lady V, so I added that with 8CP's Dancer.

For this burp cloth I used the Itch 2 Stitch's Megaphone House Divided design, adding the text myself with Embird alphabet #8. 

Katelyn's Kreative Stitches recently released an Elegant Script that I took for a test drive on this pretty set. (Thanks Kimberly!!)

I often forget about this particular monogram font because I don't like my own initials in it. But Chloe's monogram is so pretty!

And finally a pink and black name banner (using the Frayed Block Letters from Hang To Dry).

Three years, 100 designs!

Three years ago today was pretty exciting for me. I got an email saying I had been added to the Lynnie Pinnie design testing group, I vividly remember that moment of delight! It has been such a joy to be a part of the testing team. I love sneak peeks. I love having early access to such fabulous designs. My kids have reaped the benefits, I applique so many things for them because of the opportunity and need to test quickly, and it generally means they have holiday wear ahead of schedule. Many of my gifts come from testing LP designs, too!
This week I hit a milestone... I've tested 100 files! Check out this gallery!

I'm very excited about the last handful of designs! Back in November when I posted a picture of Cayden's Ninja number birthday shirt in a facebook applique group, Lyndsie approached me about digitizing a set of numbers based on my project. This has been in the works for quite a while, and the 4 inch sizes of the designs came through to the testing group first. I had fun playing with green fabrics testing these:

I just got the larger 5 and 6 inch sizes this morning, so I'll be able to do fun birthday shirts! For now, I've got a "1" on a bib that's waiting for a birthday boy. Anyone interested? :)

Birthday designs inspired by party themes

I avoid purchasing and using designs of characters I am not licensed to sell, so when friends ask me to make a birthday shirt to match a theme, I use it as an opportunity to be creative. :)  Today I'm going to share with you two older projects that I haven't blogged about yet.
Cayden celebrated his fourth birthday in November Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle style, so I created this!

I started with 8CP's Chatty applique 4. I added triple bean stitch tackdown lines for the bands of blue knit, letting them hang out on the right side of satin stitching. I tied them in a knot and trimmed the edges. So proud of myself, *I* digitized the eyes. They aren't perfect, but got the job done! Found a free ttf that matches the TMNT logo and my MIL digitized the name for me. I borrowed my husband's action figure (yes husband, not son) to pick my green fabric. :)

The reason I have held off on blogging about this particular shirt is because a new design set from Lynnie Pinnie based on this project is in the works! The 4x4 sizes of the designs have been sent to us testers. I'll post my pictures of those tomorrow. It's really neat to see a brainstorming idea of mine come to life in the hands of a real digitizer!

A couple weeks before making Cayden's shirt, I also made a birthday shirt for Sean. His party theme was Super Mario Bros. and this is what I came up with:

I used the 6 from GG Designs' Chubby Wubby Numbers. Before starting though, I pieced together a pair of overalls by putting two strips of blue on green fabric, and then adding that to a larger piece of blue fabric. Once I had that done, I tacked it down as one big piece to trim out.

I merged in a couple embroidered buttons (plucked from LP's Cupcake design), and used Embird alphabet 30 to add his name (closest I could find to match the logo).

 Both of these were fun projects that stretched me to think outside the box and try something new!

More banners...

Last week I made a couple more name banners (using the Frayed Block Letters from Hang To Dry). These are so fun!

For Madelyn's banner I had fun digging through my fabric stash to find seven different fabrics that coordinated well with her bedding set:

After seeing Brent's banner, their mommy requested an all gingham banner for Oliver in blues and greens:

I'm anxious to see pictures of them hanging in their new bedrooms!

Monogrammed Placemats!

Our family was overdue for some new placemats, the ones from last summer had seen better days. I love the colors on these striped ones and grabbed a set.
THEN spend hours (literally hours) trying to find a font to use. I wanted a C that wasn't swirly for my husband (but not incredibly boring either), a D that would be recognizable as a D for my four year old son, and a pretty J. It is near IMPOSSIBLE to find those three requirements in the same font. Thankfully my daughter's A is generally pretty no matter what font you pick.
Remember those bags I monogrammed for Annaliese's little friends a couple months ago? Well I had merged together her monogram but didn't actually make a bag for her. I merged together the rest of the family names and decided this would work beautifully! I love how these turned out!

This is the Corinthia Script from Katelyn's Kreative Stitches. It is classy and a perfect choice... not too fancy, not too boring, not too whimsical. Stitched beautifully!

Balloons for the birthday girl

One of my nieces celebrated her first birthday over the weekend. Her mommy gave me free reign on the onesie, so I used it as an opportunity to try something new! (I don't know if I'm capable of settling on a favorite and sticking with it...)
The birthday balloons design set is from East Coast Applique. Such a neat set, includes #1-9!

Hooded Towels

Hooded Towels for some sweet little friends:

Initially I went on a hunt for a gender neutral font that was fill stitch at the 2" size for all three names. I finally found one... But Lomond's name ended up too long! I really liked Keir's name in that font though (good for a four letter name) and secretly I wanted to use a girly font for Siena, so I decided to use three different fonts. :) The striped ribbons tie them together, but they each have their own personality.

Siena is 8CP's Elle

Lomond is 8CP's Bang

and Keir is 8CP's Donuts

Welcoming Baby Brent

900th blog post! And it's an appropriate post for a milestone number, showcasing one of my favorite things to stitch, gifts for a baby shower! Today we celebrated the expectant arrival of Brent:

When I learned that Lindsey was expecting, I knew right away I would use this design in some way, it's very appropriate! The "For This Child I Have Prayed" design is from Lynnie Pinnie.

 

Brent is being born into a family of Florida State fans, so I used garnet and gold to monogram this bib, using 8CP's Split Banner Appliqué.

And since they are sports fans, I carried that theme into this burp cloth. I used Applique Momma's Sports Patch (sans patch) and added his name with 8CP's College Block Small. 

Cherri and Elaine requested a name banner. I decided to go with five different colors of gingham to coordinate with his crib bedding (Carter's Forest Friends). I used the Frayed Block Letters from Hang To Dry to create the banner.

Michelle requested a burp cloth. Since they are focusing on black bears with the decor, I picked LP's baby bear cub. I added Brent's name with 8CP's Sunday.

Mr. & Mrs. Garden Flag

Attending a bridal shower today gave me the opportunity to use a new design in my stash!

The Split Ampersand design is from Savvy Stitches. The font used for "MR." and "MRS." is the Librarian ttf, so I asked my MIL to do "EST. 2013" for me in that font.  I added their last name "Medley" with 8CP's Yorn.

I debated for a while which fabric to pick. My friend had posted a single picture of the front of the house they just bought. I don't know if they will do any exterior painting or if they will redo the landscaping... But I figured the red brick pillars will stay put! :) I love how this turned out with the red brick fabric!