Wall Hanging Project

Yay, my first "project post".  So I saw this in a coffee shop in Seattle:  

Immediately I thought of one of my best friends.  I mean the girl doesn't like coffee, but I thought about making it into a wall hanging of her identity and words that describe her.  Sounds like a super simple project, right?  Yeah, not so much.  :-)  So thankful I have a mom who is a superb seamstress.  I really wish I would have taken more pictures, but I didn't.

I used http://www.embroidery.rocksea.org/stitch/chain-stitch/chain-stitch/, which was suggested by http://outofalabaster.blogspot.com/.  (Forgive me, I don't know how to tag it like a button).  Anyway, I taught myself the easiest back stitch.  I'm getting ahead of myself, though.  First I made a trip to Hobby Lobby for fabric.  I used my best logic to figure out how much I needed (if you know me, you know this is dangerous).  The lady in fabrics also hooked me up with the necessary supplies for embroidery.  My mom took the purple fabric and sewed it to create a backdrop, including a pocket for a dowel rod later.  We then cut the yellow fabric down to make rectangular pieces that were big enough to sit on my embroidery hoop.  I printed out the letters in the size I wanted and traced them with a pencil on the rectangles.  After back stitching all of the words, I cut the pieces down to size to look like this:

Oh, before embroidering I also put some backing on it to make the fabric more stiff and opaque.  It was just an iron-on.  After I finished and trimmed the squares, I used double-sided backing (forgive my lack of knowledge of proper sewing terminology) and ironed it on to both sides.  This was a production... hopefully the edges will actually stick.  In the end, ta da:  

You could also use some rickrack or ribbon to finish the edges.  I didn't want to.  Next time, I think I might try sewing the patches onto the fabric before making the whole hanging.  I'm not actually sure this would work, though.  :-)  Hope you enjoy!