I saw this piece in Beth's stitching albums and knew it would be a perfect gift for my in-laws. She graciously let me know where she bought it and I ordered it first thing. I received it just before Brian left on deployment but didn't get it started until Christmas Eve.
It was a quick and easy stitch with a simple 3 colors. The colors included in the kit are actually more violet than blues (Beth happened to switch the ones out on her kit to ones more blue) but I still think they turned out fine.
This was the first piece I have done with any sort of religious symbolism. The symbols in the middle portion is the Hebrew phrase "ani l'dodi, v'dodi li". Translated to English around the border, "I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine." The inside border edging is a simple backstitch vine motif. Here's the list of what everything else symbolizes:
Star of David - Israel and/or the Jewish faith
Peacocks - beauty of the eternity to come in Heaven
Grapes and Vines - land of Israel (one of the 7 Spices of Israel)
Olive branches - peace and goodwill
Pomegranates - hope of eternal life and/or fertility (one of the 7 Spices of Israel)
I finally finished it a few weeks after Brian returned from the desert and we sent it off to be framed the next day. The dark violet-blue matte is the cardstock-type (thanks to my wonderful husband for finding the perfect match), then a golden-edged "floater" with a light blue specialty suede matte to finish it off.
We packaged it up in about $20 worth of bubble wrap and shipped it back to the States to arrive just in time for the in-laws anniversary. MIL called me still in tears to thank me for the wonderful gift. I think it was a big hit and I hear it now lives prominantly displayed in the front entryway of their home. I really enjoyed stitching it and honestly think it's one of my best-worked pieces yet.
On with the photos!
The full piece (yes, there are last names on it, for PERSEC reasons, they're edited off):
Detailed shots:
And finally the beautifully framed finish!
