Woody

I guess this should be titled "A Twist On Woody."  It was time for Luke's ornament -- my BFF's son.  He's the owner of the Pittsburgh Steeler football player and drum set ornaments, among others.  It was hard to decide what to stitch him for this year.  He started high school and is in the marching band, so I thought about tweaking the Fyfield pattern to dress him like our high school's band uniforms.  Since I'd just given him a drummer ornament last year, though, that seemed a bit repetitive.  I thought about designing a knight since that's our high school's mascot, but I'm not gonna lie -- I was too lazy.  (Incidentally, that knight is on the to-do list every year and never makes the cut.  Since Mariah starts high school next fall, I might have to get it in gear.)

We were actually having a family discussion about Luke's ornament at dinner one night and Scott came up with the idea for a hunter.  I started wondering about camo felt and did some searching online and found that Hobby Lobby carries it.  We don't have Hobby Lobby anywhere around here, so I had to wait until we made a shopping trip to Pittsburgh to get it.  The scale of the print was a little larger than I would've liked, but beggars can't be choosers.  I just had to strategically place the pattern pieces where the print was on the smaller side.  I also didn't love that the felt was only printed on the front and it had a white core.  What's a girl to do?

Again -- I'm no artist.  I knew I'd have to find an image to work into a pattern.  I asked Kelly, Luke's older sister, what he wore when he went hunting.  She said he wore an orange safety vest and an orange knit hat.  My mind immediately pictured Clif's version of Woody:

Problem solved!  Dress him in camo, give him a gun instead of an axe, and we're good to go!

Admittedly, that's not the greatest gun ever.  Have I mentioned that I CAN'T DRAW???  I was concerned about the white core on the felt showing on the sides and it does, but it's not anything that detracts from the overall look of the ornament.  I think Luke will really like him!

And this is a great visual for how ornaments made from the same pattern can look so completely different.  There are so many variables:  colors, stitching style, etc.  It's one of the things I love most about seeing other people's ornament pictures.  So make sure to send me YOURS!  I'll be posting soon with lots of photos made by others.  You'll love them!