Traffic Sampler update

So, I'm almost done with my Traffic Sampler project. I've only got the lane striping border and truck with my nephew's name on it left to do. I'm still working on how to pull that off. I can't wait to cross this one off my list. It's badly in need of a good washing too.

Year of the Rat (on pink)

So the next Chinese Zodiac piece I just finished was the Year of the Rat. I did it on pink 14ct Aida 2x1. I have to do three of these. I'm going to change the color of the rat on one of them to shades of gray because I'm going to stitch it on blue fabric. This one was for a niece so I did it on pink (which doesn't show that well in the scan).

Traffic Sampler update

So this is the Birth Record I'm doing for my youngest nephew. He'll be four years old in January and I'm planning on giving him this for his birthday. It hasn't been all that bad to do. I started off absolutely hating backstitching but after working on each car and sign as I go, it hasn't been all that bad. While I might not like backstitching yet I can at least tolerate it.

I'm having problems fitting his name on the missing truck. I've tried several different fonts but everything is either too big or too small. I've even tried free handing something, but it was awful. I'll figure out something soon . . . I hope.

A weekend of finishes

I was actually able to finish off a couple of projects this weekend. It feels nice to cross things off my Work-in-Progress list. The first one is a birth record for my niece. I can't really say I love the stars and the outlining but it's a cute project and it wasn't too hard to stitch up. Here's the final piece:



The other project I finished isn't actually a final finish. I got an idea to stitch up one of the Chinese Zodiac characters for each member of my family (extended members too). That's 22 projects (including one for myself). I got this idea when I saw an unfinished wooden picture frame at Michael's and I started to think about what I could put in there and how I would paint it. (I've been thinking about doing bookmarks for everyone as a Christmas gift but I don't think everyone likes to read as much as I do.) When I saw the frame I knew instantly that these Chinese zodiac characters would be just about the right size and maybe everyone will think they're as cute as I do. If I get them all done, they'll be my Christmas gifts for next year.

So I hurried up and stitched on of these and now I have to go back to the store to make sure the aperture is big enough. I'm going to add the year and the person's name to the design as well. This first one is for my dad. He's the Year of the Rabbit. Although I think I should have changed the colors to a yellow scheme instead. Maybe I'll redo it, or heaven forbid, unpick the pink and start over. I'm thinking about putting a description of the year on a sticker on the back of the frame. Here's what the first one looks like.