Happy Dancing

It is finished! I put the last "TA-DA" stitches in the birth sampler last night. My DDIL wanted "cars and trucks and stuff" for her second son and so I found what I could (thank you Jo Verso) and created my own design (for the truck on the bottom) when I couldn't find one that fit and I liked.

I'm sorry about the oval cropping, but the photo program on this computer does it that way. BTW, the right side is not torn...it's just the sunlight from the window in my room. The piece is stitched in DMC on 28ct evenweave with bits of Kreinik braid (black for the coal, and silver for bumpers, grills, etc). The Taxi is an adaptaion of a Mercedes (I think) car, and as I said, the truck is my own contraption. The stripe on the truck is stitched in rice stitch (over 4) with an ombre thread which gives it a modern flow.

Now I can comfortably get back to stitching the Bear Christmas stocking for one of the granddaughters! More on that in a few days.

Grandma

A Decission

Remember when I said that there was a ship on the bottom of the sampler? Well it wasn't in the same "style" as the other vehicles...cars, plane, helicopter, train...so I scratched it and thought I would go with a big rig instead. Where to find one...?

I searched the internet for images that I could transpose onto my graph paper, but alas, most of the pictures of big trucks were either head-on, or angled. I needed one shown from the side
After spending several hours on this (you wouldn't believe how many sites there are devoted to trucks and trucking), DH came up with a brilliant idea. Our grandchildren often visit us at both of our homes (NY & IN) and of course we have lots of toys in the two locations. Anyway, it seems we have lots of Match Box and Hot Wheels cars which are exactly the size I needed. I actually traced one of the trucks onto my graph paper and then started playing with the design to get it right. Innitially I was going for a Big Rig, but as I was stitching and adjusting the pattern, it morphed into a delivery truck! I am so pleased with how it turned out. It has a silver grill done in English style half stitches (1 wide x 2 high) and a stripe on the truck body done in an ombre thread in rice stitches so the color moves across it.

Now to finish the lettering of the date and name, I will be doing a great big Happy Dance!

Grandma.