This was my second finish of the year, which I started in February and finished in early June. I made it for Eliza to wish her luck at Nationals which was June 27th in Virginia Beach, and she received it on the 23rd. The fabric is 28 count Cashel Crystal Chablis from Picture This Plus  and I’m thrilled with how it turned out!

Why pink? Well her dance team is the Encore Pink Ladies, so something pink was a must. The pattern was supposed to be stitched in all pink, but I wanted to break it up and make the swirls stand out from the dancers, so I used a pewter gray for that part, which I think turned out rather nice.  I knew I didn’t want to mat it since that would have muted the fabric’s vibrancy, and picking a frame that wouldn’t overwhelm it was a bit of a challenge, but my framers came through for me.  Eliza placed second in her age group (she missed first by only a half point) and in the 8-11 solo tapper category she placed 7th our of about 50 or so dancers. It was a personal best for her, so behold the power of cross stitch. The joke is now that I have to stitch a piece for her at the start of every competitive season, and I already have one picked out for next year, so here’s to more stitching and dancing successes!