Latest finish & some of my favourites

I haven't had chance to stitch a lot recently. I've been busy building Ikea furniture for the spare room (or craft room, as I call it, but don't tell DH!). I have finished the Lizzie Kate wedding snippet though. I wanted to get that done as I'm sure my Dad thought I wasn't gonna stitch it in time. It took a couple of days, and the worst bit was chosing the right shade of chocolate brown for the names. It's for my Dad's neighbours and I've not been in their house, but my Dad wanted me to stitch something for them on his behalf and told me their decor is cream & chocolate. I think it turned out nice, although now he wants me to find a frame for it too!

I thought I'd also show off some of my favourite cross stitch pieces. Below is a card of some beach huts I stitched for my dear friend, Gloria, a couple of years ago. It was her 70th birthday and some of her cross stitching friends each stitched something for her and they were all put in an album. I chose this because she lives near the seaside and it reminds me of visiting her. I also stitched her a dolphin, as we're both dolphin crazy!

Probably the largest thing I've stitched-and finished!-is a lovely Heritage Stitchcraft 'Titanic' picture. I asked for this particular design because out of all the Titanic kits I looked at, this was by far the nicest. I was given it for my 21st birthday (2001) and started stitching it as a stitch-a-long just afterwards. Two other girls, both in USA, were doing the same design. I was the 2nd to finish it....in August 2004! Because it was so special, I had it professionally framed by Sue at SD Framing and I think it looks amazing! It was all stitched on evenweave and every single area is covered. Well worth it, though and it hangs in our living room, above the sofa.

The only other cross stitch I've had professionally framed was Dad's 50th birthday present. I had found a cute Country Companions kit in the sale a while before his birthday and thought I'd amend it a bit to suit him more. Originally the football kit was red, white and blue, but Dad's team is Plymouth Argyle and they play in green, so I changed the colours to shades of green. Easier said than done! I finished stitching it a few days before his birthday and Sue did a fab job framing it-especially given such short notice! Here's the pic of me & Dad (in his Argyle shirt) with the finished piece.