Preschool Graduation!

Thumbs up, this boy is almost done with preschool!!

Tonight night was Dashiell's preschool program, and included in that was a brief graduation ceremony for the VPK classes. In honor of that, I made him this shirt, very similar to the one I made Annaliese five years ago.

The monogram is Five Star Font's Diploma~Graduation Monogram. The rest of the text uses the font “Hog Bold HMK” which is the font from the school logo on their t-shirts and bags.

Oh boy, does this kid have personality! He was quite entertaining to watch tonight from start to finish! Not a shy bone in his body... it helped keep me from getting super sentimental and emotional at the program because I was laughing. Or mouthing "STAND STILL!" ;)

It wasn't until I was home comparing pictures that I got teary... Isn't this amazing? They sure do look alike!
We love Timberlane Preschool!!

Quick little burp cloth

It's kind of ridiculous how much time I can spend getting a design ready to send to my embroidery machine... Finding the perfect design (which usually includes searching for something new I don't already own), picking a font that matches the character of the design *just right*, belaboring my fabric and thread selections... I love doing it, but it always takes so much longer than actually making the item!
So I recently impressed myself with how fast I cranked this out for a last minute request! (Can't say no to your boss as she heads out to meet her brand new granddaughter!) I picked a ribbon I knew I had fabric/thread to match, a "tried and true" font with a pretty L (8CP's Candi), AND I picked a design from my stash (dragonfly plucked from a FSF quilted patch freebie from DIME magazine, not sure if it's available, but FSF has this satin stitch dragonfly applique based on same artwork if you are interested).

Quick and cute!! I really should learn from this and make fast decisions more often. :)

Custom burp cloths

Both of my brothers (well, their wives) are expecting first born girls this summer. And they both had baby showers on the same day, on opposite sides of the country!  I was unable to attend either one, but wanted to send a little something from me...

Dustin and Miranda both graduated from the University of Illinois, so I created this monogram using Five Star Font's Diploma~Graduation Monogram Font. Even though I graduated from The U of I with a math degree, I did that simple addition problem over and over again... 2034 sounds so far away!! :)

 For the second one I used one of my favorite ribbon/fabric combos. I picked Embroidery Boutique's new Cute Applique font for the "G" and added Gabriella with 8CP's Swirley font.

Brice and Tiffany plan to name their daughter Ailynn Rose, so I used this long stem rose applique I found in my stash from Newfound Appliqué, adding her name with 8CP's Sweet Tarts font.

Brice is a Marine. When my friend Brittany requested this burp cloth, I knew someday I would make it again. :) It's one of my all-time favorites! 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.

Proud of their Dad!!!

Today my husband graduated from Florida State University with his master's degree. We are immensely proud of his hard work and success in school while working full time as the sole provider of our family. He's amazing and awesome and I love him very much!
So you know me... I just had to make the kids something special to wear for graduation!

 I created the design using two different fonts. The D comes from Five Star Font's Diploma~Graduation Monogram Font. The rest of the text is Becky from 8 Claws and a Paw. It took me FOREVER to pick a font which at the 3" size was a satin stitch the same width as the D's satin stitch. I had to do a touch of resizing and adjusting the pull compensation, but it turned out great IMHO. :)

I've had this FSU fabric in my stash for a long time (picked it up as a remnant) and it was the *perfect* amount to make a skirt for Annaliese! I followed the tutorial for a Girly Twirly Skirt posted on Just Deanna. It's a decent length, so she should get some good wear out of it.

We are all thrilled that this chapter in our life is over, and anxious to see what God has in store for us next!

Burp Cloths!!

I love making personalized burp cloths! Here are several that I made over the last three months and just haven't taken the time to share.
Cynthia ordered these for her new granddaughter. On the first burp cloth the "S" is from Embroidery Boutique's Vintage Applique Alphabet and I used Itty Bitty Alphabet from 8 Claws and a Paw for "Sierra". The second burp cloth is a phrase Cynthia requested--dual meaning because the baby's last name is Love :) I've had this ribbon in my stash forever, so I was excited to use it. The heart is from Designs By JuJu's Simply Hearts Applique set (I just didn't use fabric) and I added the text with Embird alphabet #7.

Andrea ordered this set for Kashton. I used one of my favorite combinations; the applique "K" is from Embroidery Boutique's Fun Applique Alphabet, and I added the name with Whoa Nelly From 8 Claws and a Paw.

 Laura ordered this pair for Brayden. The baseball monogram is from Five Star Fonts and I used Embird Alphabet #8 for all the text.

I made this for baby Charlotte. The elephant is from DBJJ's Roly Poly Elephants applique set, and I added her name with Itty Bitty Alphabet from 8CP. I love those elephants this ribbon!

Michelle ordered this for Parker. I used and applique circle and the Plain Jane font from 8CP.

Tracy ordered this for Rocco. The "R" is EB's Fun Applique Alphabet, and I added the name with Sally from 8CP.

And here's a burp cloth I made when testing Lynnie Pinnie's Happy Kawaii Ice Cream Cone. The word "sweet" is from the word balloon design included in the Happy Kawaii foods set. 

Some family gifts...

Last year I went all out on gifts for family -- I did a bunch of embroidery for my parents' new bathroom, made a couple quilts... This year I kind of just reused some ideas for smaller gifts. Or bought them. I'll try to do better next year. :)
When I posted pictures of this burp cloth, my mom said she would love that design on something since my brother is a Marine. I locked that idea away for a Christmas gift, and made her a stay-put towel. (You can read more about my first one here.)

The Marine fabric was purchased at Hobby Lobby. I carefully placed it so the seal was in the corner.

I used Lynnie Pinnie's Dog Tags Heart Applique, and added the text with Embird Alphabets 8 and 2. 

For my dad I bought a denim shirt and embroidered his brand that I digitized last December.

For Amy I took the easy way out and decided to make a set of kitchen towels to match the placemats I made for her two years ago. You can get all the design info here.

 

Burp Cloths for Cameron

New mom Laura hosted a baby shower for another mom-to-be, and asked me to make a couple burp cloths for a gift. She picked these monograms:

I used the applique C from Embroidery Boutique's Fun Applique Alphabet. I used the Whoa Nelly font from 8 Claws and a Paw for "Cameron".

The other burp cloth uses the baseball monogram from Five Star Fonts.

Baby Gift for Brooks

Last Sunday we had a baby shower at church, and these are the items that Valerie and I took. First a cute onesie and burp cloth set:

I was so pleased with the Easter outfits that I made for my kids that I used the same designs for this set. I just love this Neck Tie Applique from GG Designs. (The monogram was a freebie on Sew Forum several years ago, but is no longer available.)

The applique Circle Monogram Alpha is from Planet Applique.

We also took this set:

I've had this onesie in my stash for quite a while. I was actually going to use it for Dashiell, but I didn't get it monogrammed before he outgrew it! The little swirl motif

reminded me of Five Star Font's Snips and Snails applique set and 8 Claws and a Paw's Spiral alphabet, so that's what I used!

Burp Cloths for baby boys

We had two baby showers at church this weekend. Michelle requested the baseball monogram from Five Star Fonts for Brooks because his daddy is a big softball/baseball fan. I used Embird Alphabet #8 for all the text.

It turned out so cute that we used the same monogram for William! I just love this ribbon and thread color combination. (I used the stacking font from FSF that comes with this baseball monogram for his name.)

My shower gifts for both families will come later!

Baby Girl Gift Set

Melanie called me with a super last minute order -- thankfully she knew just want she wanted and I had the items in stock ready to go!

We recreated a gift she and her mom gave almost two years ago to baby Julia. The monogram on the burp cloth is Whimsy Dots by Five Star Fonts.

For the bib I simply stitched "Lyndsey" and added the dot frame.

Custom Grandparent gifts

Early in the fall Kelli contacted me about making gifts for their parents. She had a vision, and it was fun trying to make that a reality. The designs on these bags took a while to create, but I learned something new about my Embird Studio software and it was worth it!
This bag is for Grandma Debby:

I used Five Star Font's Deco Heart Applique as my starting point. The design is actually a double heart.  I used the outside heart as my baseline for the text, and only appliqued the inside heart. I used Embird alphabet #38 to add the names and birth dates of her four grandchildren.

Grandmother Pansy (aka Oma) got this bag:

For Grandfather Lyle (aka Opa) Kelli wanted a shirt similar to the two I made around Father's Day. Thankfully she did the hard part ahead of time... she looked at all the Stick Figure Faces from Embroidery Library and picked which ones best represented Opa's grandkids. I used Embird Alphabet #8 to add "Opa's Pit Crew" and the names of the kids.