The Guard is a machine embroidery cross stitch design.  It is available for all hoop sizes 5 x 7 inch (130 x 180 mm) and larger.

The Guard stitches out to be 171.0 mm wide by 127.8 mm tall (approximately 6.73 in x 5.1 in).

From a picture taken by Bob Ecker.

Hummingbirds are one of my favorite things!  They are tiny but they have a lot of spirit.  We have 7 or 8 feeders around our house and we really enjoy watching these tiny birds fly about and feed.  The male birds are very protective of "their" feeder.  They sit for hours each day guarding what they believe to be their flower/feeder.  We have some old, weathered and gray lattice work on part of our deck and it is fairly close to one of the feeders we have on our kitchen window.  The lattice work is a little larger than 1 inch wide so this tells you the size of the bird - tiny!  This male Ruby Throated Hummingbird is guarding "his" flower and sits close by to make sure no other bird comes and feeds.  If one should show up, he flies at it and fans his tail in a threatening manner.  They chirp at each other too.  He will sometimes allow a particular female to feed but if she is taking too long, he might come and hurry her along!  He puffs himself up and covers his feet to warm them as he sits at his guard post.

The original picture that Bob took didn't show the red flash of throat color like I made for my design since the light wasn't in the right direction.  But I wanted you to see just how pretty he can be so I made his throat area show how it would be in the direct sunlight.  Sometimes their throats will reflect the sun in such a way that it looks to be a golden copper color too.  When their throats are not reflecting, those feathers look black.

I had a great time making The Guard.  I hope you enjoy him.

Updated December 1, 2012