American Flag

34" x 66", canvas with hand-embroidered stars (each star is 2.25" across).

I started looking around for a flag just before the 4th of July in 2006, and the only ones I could find were cheaply made (printed rather than sewn) and worse yet, made in China. On the 4th, I was talking to my dad (the guy I get my DIY spirit from) on the phone, complaining that I couldn't find a decent flag anywhere, and he said "well excuse me, Betsy Ross, make your own damn flag." And thus the gauntlet was thrown down.

I started the project in March of 2007, bought the fabric and made a diagram of the star placement. I then promptly got involved in a home purchase and shortly afterward got pregnant with my second child. By the time Henry was born in 2008, I hadn't made a whole lot of progress. I completed the satin stitching of the fifty stars by September of 2009, and now finally constructed the stripes and put the whole thing together (and had another baby in the meantime!).

I am so very pleased and proud of how this came out. Stitching the stars definitely took longer than I thought it would, but it makes the flag so great.

See all the in-progress photos here.