He loves to piddle in woodworking (and stained glass) and has created some amazing pieces when he puts his mind to it. For Valentine's Day, he made for me a "sweetheart" thread board!
At first, the heart shape at the top was just blank, but immediately I could see our initials in it, just like a boy would carve into a tree. When I started to say, "Oh honey, wouldn't it be cute if you...", he interrupted me and said, "I know, scratched our initials in the heart, like on a tree. I already thought of it!" He just read my mind, just like that. So he took it back to the workshop, broke out the Dremmel and free-handedly scratched our initials in it, just like on a tree. I love it.
Right away, I began brainstorming what kind of "sweetheart" design I could stitch up for it. After much trial and error, I came up with this:
Most of the motifs hold some significance, such as the key represents our home, where we got married. The number 2, is our house number. All the little creatures (bee, bunny, turtle) symbolize the wildlife we are surrounded by, (and yes, we have a special turtle friend named Fred who lives in the woods about our house but has been with us for over a decade). The Roman numerals above the heart border is our anniversary date, 6/21/1997. I made sure that I would run out of room for the words, just to remind all who see it that in Love and in Life, nobody's perfect. I'm "wearing" a silk peacock colored skirt (my favorite color on even numbered days/red on odd). Hubby is "wearing" his most broken in cotton blue jeans. I've had a blast thinking about and stitching this little guy!!! Can you tell?
It's all so romantical!!! Didn't I tell you? Sweetest thing ever.
Sources:
- Wendy Willows for the man, woman and dog motif
- The Drawn Thread "All you need is Love" for random hearts
- Special Occasions by Dale Burdett for the heart tulip, Love word and bunny rabbit
- The Sampler Girl for the key (freebie)
- a 1992 Wichelt Imports freebie for the red heart border (at bottom)
- JABC bee and turtle buttons
That is just gorgeous! You and your husband have made a very special piece between you, great work!
ReplyDeleteThat really is a wonderful heirloom you've created!
ReplyDeleteI love it. Can't wait to see it in person. So much more special because, along with all the cute symbols you stitched, the piece as a complete unit symbolizes the partnership of your marriage. I imagine that, even with all your exquisite pieces, this one will forever be your favorite.
ReplyDeleteOh my, what a WONDERFUL piece!! The fact that you and your husband did it together makes it that much more special. I just love the way you took different parts of different patterns and came up with your own design. Oh, and your hubby is a keeper. I just LOVE LOVE LOVE the engraving!! :)
ReplyDeleteSooooo romantic!!