Back in the saddle

Hi friends! I hope you've all had a productive January....because I certainly haven't! It has been so nice to relax and step back from the manic creating that happened in December - it was getting to the point of being a chore to sew, and that's never a good thing. I took a weekend and made myself a tiny quilted wall hanging (it's about 18x18) and it was just what I needed to ease back into things. 

(I can't bear to take down my measuring tape stars so I'm decorating around them.) I'm starting work this week on the Spring issue of WV Living magazine, and having a lot of fun coming up with ideas for it - it's the Mother's Day/Home Decor/Spring issue so there are a ton of possibilities. 

This Sweetwater "Make Life" fabric is one of my favorites and I treasure every last scrap of it. The arrow and  "make life simple" were so serendipitous - I was almost finished with the little quilt and saw my new mantra right there - and knew that it had to be highlighted. The arrow is pretty subtle, huh? ;) 

I did a ton of hand-stitching on this, which is one of my favorite things about it. Embroidery is seriously one of my favorite things in the whole wide world. I can tell you what was going on with every leaf I stitched - the blanket-stitch was done during an episode of our favorite Bones, the French knots were done while hanging out with the kiddos watching it snow. It's almost like a smell or a song - you know how things trigger memories? That's how embroidery is for me. 

I threw a few of my rapidly-dwindling stash of vintage buttons in there, too - I have a plan in place to scour the antique shops for more this weekend. We hopped back into the estate sale saddle this past weekend and it was so nice. ;) 

Thanks for stopping by here - although I am the most erratic blogger on earth, I SO appreciate your comments and emails...they truly make my day. :) :) :)