Paige can match Grandma!

Jan, an EMT, asked me to make a shirt for her granddaughter. She requested an ambulance on one side and her name on the other so Paige's shirt would look similar to her uniform.

The ambulance design is from a Medical Minis set from Artistic Threadworks:

And her name was added with Embird Alphabet #2:

Tropical Attire

Before Easter Kathy sent a package of things for Annaliese, including several blank clothing items that she found on clearance. My goal for the next few days is to stitch on most of them as birthday gifts for Annaliese.
First up, an applique pineapple on this shirt. (I don't know if you can tell, but there are pineapples in the skirt pattern along with the tropical flowers.) She was really excited and couldn't wait to wear it!

Personalized Cup for Annaliese

The day after I made the insert for Jack's cup, I noticed in the Publix ad that they had all their Playtex cups on sale 20% off, including the Create-My-Own-Cups. I was pretty sure I hadn't seen them at the Publix I frequent, but I decided to check. Believe it or not, they had them! Not only did they have the sippy cup variety like Jack's, they also had straw cups, which are still good for Annaliese.
I bought all the cups that location had (Publix on Mahan Dr.). If anyone is interested in one, I have a small supply here, or if you live in Tallahassee, visit one of the other 50 Publix locations and pick out the color lid you want! $3.99 is a good price on these, through Wed 4/9.
Here is Annaliese's:


The applique A is from Five Star Font's Hipster. I added her name with Embird Alphabet #8.

Monogramming travel cups

Yesterday a friend called with an embroidery request. She had bought a personalized travel mug at a local boutique, but the gal that does their embroidery was out of town for a week. So I did it for her! I used Embird Alphabet #17 (Curlz).


This week is spring break and Annaliese and I had the pleasure of entertaining the son of one of Carlin's co-workers. Today the sippy cup he brought was one of Playtex's Create-my-own-cups. It was missing an insert and I just couldn't let him leave with it empty! :) I used Five Star Font's Baseball Monogram. Here's the insert:

And in the cup. If I had to do it over again, I would scoot "jack" more to the left so it is closer to the baseball. This monogram may be a touch too wide for this type of cup. But it's cute none the less and I whipped it out really quickly while we all were dancing and singing along with a CD.

Opening Day was a Success!

In early March I posted the shirts I embroidered for Kelli and Daisha's kids. Opening Day for baseball season was yesterday, and now I have modeled pictures to share of these precious kids!





I know nothing about the baseball season, whether or not the Orioles won, or even played for that matter. But in my mind Opening Day was a success! :)

Louisa's first monogram

Last week Louisa brought me two tote bags to monogram for her. When I offered to email her a few font options, she said, "You pick! I've never had anything monogrammed before." So I picked my current favorite, Monogram KK that I got from Sew Crazie Designs. They weren't the easiest things to hoop, but I was pleased with the final results:




(Tiffany, while they look like the bag you bought for your friend, this material and bag style was easier to manipulate in my machine. :) )

Matching Spring Attire for Easter Sunday

Back in the fall Carla and I ordered products from Dharma Trading to do embroidery for our kids. I had one short sleeved dress left, and needed to stitch on it before Annaliese out grows it. I decided that Easter was a good opportunity to use it, but didn't want designs that were holiday related. I went with a spring theme so that she could wear it often throughout the next few months. While helping me brainstorm, Kathy suggested some beautiful flowers from Carolyn Designs. We decided that it would be pretty to scatter several along the bottom of the skirt and put a smaller design on the bodice of the dress. Here's what the final outcome looks like:


This was my first multi-hooping project. To achieve all the embroidery on the bottom, I printed templates for six different flowers and all the little creatures and laid them out on the bottom of skirt. Once I had them arranged the way I wanted, I merged designs within Embird to stitch it in 3 hoopings instead of 6-10. The orange and pink flowers with hummingbird and snail were in one hooping, the yellow and pink flowers w/butterfly were in a second hooping, and blue and purple flowers w/a snail were in a third hooping. I was a little nervous stitching the last set of designs, hoping I had placed everything well so petals of one didn't stitch on top of stems of another. I was thrilled with the results!
(Click to enlarge)

For the bodice I found 3 freebies on her site of flying creatures, so I merged them and stitched them in a fourth hooping.

So after four hoopings, 18500 stitches, fifteen colors, and 32 thread changes, it all got done Thursday night. When Annaliese saw it Friday morning she said, "OH MY! Can I wear it??" :)
I decided to make a matching shirt for myself. This morning I bought a new white top and stitched it all again. It's basically identical. I did switch thread colors in five places primarily for contrast reasons. I can tell when looking at them in person, but my close-up photos don't show a difference. I was afraid I would need to add an extra flower on each side of the design, but when I put it on, it looks fine.


My one regret about this project... When I ordered the romper for Naomi, I almost ordered this shirt for myself. Wouldn't that have been perfect?? Oh well. I like the style of this square neckline shirt, and I'll be wearing the shirt for years to come, while Annaliese only has a couple months in her dress.

Here we are Easter Sunday. Carlin held his breath long enough to take a picture of us in front of the lovely bushes at church. :)

More stitching for Ada

Well, would you believe baby Ada decided to enter the world less than 24 hours after I finished my gift to Sara? When I found out the news first thing this morning, I realized I needed to hustle on the order Sara had placed for additional monogrammed items!

Sara selected the Curly monogram (from Sew Forum) in navy on the white onesie:

She selected Embird Alphabet #38 in black for the "A" on a pink burp cloth:

And finally she picked monogram KK (from Sew Crazie Designs) in light pink for the heirloom bib (top material is 100% acetate):


While I was at it, I even stitched Ada's Special Delivery Onesie (design from Sew Terific). I hope to make a trip to the hospital tomorrow to meet Ada and deliver all the goodies!


Only one more delivery of boy twins, and then the current baby boom at church will be completed! Whew! :)

Remainder of Sara's Gift

As mentioned before, as of the date of Sara's baby shower they hadn't picked a name for their sweet girl, so I made a ribbon blankie and gave her a certificate for the rest. She hasn't delivered yet, but they have settled on a name, so I was able to finish her gift today.


The first burp cloth uses the dot monogram from Sew Forum. I added her name with Embird Alphabet #38. Since Sara is decorating her nursery with black/white toile and pink accents, I chose this color scheme.


Kime requested a "Daddy's Little Girl" burp cloth, so I used Alphabet #38 again for the text, and added paisley designs to go with the ribbon.