This piece was a kit by Sunset called “Gettysburg.”

It was the first piece that I’ve ever started for myself. Looking at my spreadsheet I started it in April 2003 and finished it October 30, 2007.

Since then I’ve let it just sit. It has moved with me to two different houses and has sat in my sewing room for the last two years. I had to keep moving it so that Chester wouldn’t sleep on it.

One of the reasons why it has taken me so long to get it framed is because this piece is almost square, which means that it’s hard to find a ready-made frame for it. If I were to use a ready-made frame then I would either have more mat space on the top and bottom or the sides. I really didn’t want that, though. I had a very specific image in my head as to what I wanted it to look like when it was finally framed. For this piece nothing less than what I truly wanted was going to work.

For Christmas I had asked Jay for a gift card to Hobby Lobby in order to pay for the custom frame and mats. This is the most that I’ve ever spent on framing a single piece, including my seasonal crosses! This will not happen often, but this was a special circumstance.

I was so happy when the frame was finally read to pick up!

This isn’t the best picture, but you get the idea.

I chose a medium gray inner mat, a blue suede top mat, and an oak frame that reminds me of the butt of an 1861 Springfield rifle.

This picture shows a little more of the detail, though the colors really aren’t accurate. It was really bright when I took this picture.

So then I had to prep my cross stitched piece for framing.

I washed and ironed it, then let it dry. The frame is quite a bit larger than this piece, so I had to sew fabric onto the sides. This allows me to lace the piece around foam core with plenty of material to spare.

I spent Easter afternoon and evening getting this piece perfect. Framing a cross stitched piece is a lot of work. I usually start out being a perfectionist, but by the end I just want to get it done. This is why I don’t frame cross stitched pieces for a living. My framed pieces look good from afar, but don’t get too close because then you’ll see all of the flaws in how I framed my work.

But finally it was done…

Again, not the best picture. I had a hard time finding a spot where I could get it to show up really well without capturing too much reflection in the picture. Believe me, though, it looks good.

And see how nice the colors work together!

Currently the kraft paper that I glue onto the back of my framed pieces is drying. Then we can put the hanging hardware on it and place it on the wall. Yea!