Rolling Along . . .

I’ve seen this saying on kitchen printables all over Pinterest, so I decided I should embroider it! ♥

Small Things

I found this inspiring embroidery design at Nana Company. (Click here for the free pattern . . . thank you, Amy!) It’s so pretty! Even more, its message expresses how I hope to live my life. ♥

Love My Singer!

I won this charm in a blog giveaway a few years ago. I saw its twin on a cute card on the Facebook page of Michelle of SewMichelle . . . AND I have a Singer that my parents gave me in high school that I still use . . . so I just had to turn the saying into an embroidery project. ♥

Bring It!

More embroidery! I’ve always loved this upbeat saying, and it was perfect when we woke up to a surprise snow on Easter morning! ♥

Believe It!

I have a little poster on my office bulletin board that says, “She believed she could, so she did.” That’s so empowering! It also matches my latest embroidery project, a reverse of the common pessimistic declaration “I’ll believe it when I see it.” It makes you think for a moment, but it’s true! ♥

Letter

I saw this on a poster, and it begged to become my next embroidery project. I hope it gives you a smile today! ♥

Do What You Love . . .

I’ve been embroidering lately since it fits in my here-and-there creative moments. This quote seemed the perfect choice when I found enough heart fabric to fit these two little hoops. After embroidering, I wrapped the outer hoops in red polka-dot fabric strips for a bit of extra color, and then I gathered the backs and covered them with circles of the same fabric to finish them off. I’m going to take this message to heart! ♥

March!

Even though I knew we’d have more snow this week (and we did!), I had a free day on Saturday so I went ahead and dressed our home for spring, including a new GREEN Shantilly frame! For March, I found a thought-provoking Emily Dickinson quote about luck, snipped a tiny calendar from a bookmark in a Better Homes and Gardens mailer, and made some rolled fabric rosettes (from this tutorial, only stitched instead of glued). Happy *almost* spring! ♥  P.S. Here are the red frame restyles for November, December, January, and February. 

A Quote I Love . . .

When I saw a touching layout designed by Ellie on My Little Bunny Cupcake, I knew I’d found the perfect quote to put on my card when I give a fabric flower to a friend: Just living isn’t enough . . . one must also have freedom, sunshine, and a little flower. Thank you, Ellie and Hans Christian Andersen! ♥  P.S. My dress form is wearing my scarf crocheted by our bloggy friend Tamara. Isn’t it just lovely?

Between a Rock and a Hard Place . . .

I saw this beauty along the street when I was out on a walk last weekend, and I had to run home for my camera.

It reminds me of my current favorite quote: You are confined only by the walls you build yourself.

Who knew that a little pink flower could be a hero? ♥

“Two Bits!”

Do you recognize this little riff? These famous seven beats have been used for over a century to end a song or joke or as a call-and-response . . . the first person sings, hums, or taps out the first five beats (“Shave and a hair cut . . .”) and the other person supplies the ending (” . . . two bits!”).

Since I decided I needed ONE more piece of whimsical (and QUICK! and FREE!) art in my my guest bathroom, I used the words to create a 5 x  7 sign with a fun font and the (clipart!) music notes.

I already had the frame, which fits perfectly in the room’s black/white/lime green/silver color palette.

Click the link below for a (word document) copy of your own! ♥

Shave and a Haircut

To All the Aunties in the World . . .

I’ve had the BEST Mother’s Day weekend! Cute cards! Thoughtful gifts! Phone calls! Dinner! Flowers! A music theater production of my favorite book, Little Women! And most of all, lots of love. As as I think about my mom, mom-in-law, and grandmothers, I fondly remember my sweet aunts, too. You’ve heard about Aunt Vitha, wearer of fun earrings . . . she always had a cookie jar full of Oreos. And my other aunts  . . . what a heartfelt visit I had with them this spring. I cherish every moment with my dear nieces and nephews, and my sister Susan and seven daughters-in-law have the most amazing auntie skills I’ve ever seen. So hats off to you, dear aunts . . . thank you for being our “other” moms. ♥

Quotables

In a reply to a comment on the Autumn Mantel post, I lamented that there never seems to be enough time to do all the projects I have on my list.  But intecoolochoberord replied,

“Time can be a funny thing . . . but I’d rather have too much inspiration

and too little time than the other way around!” 

Then, on the Start Where You Are . . .  post, gentlestitches commented,

“The more I let go of perfectionism,

the more perfect my projects become.”

Sometimes our blogging friends say EXACTLY what we need to hear! ♥

“Start Where You Are . . .”

 

Recently I’ve been pondering an intriguing quote I read on Bows, Baubles, and Beliefs, so I decided to make something with it!  I cut the letters for the saying in not-perfect rectangles from a remnant of black and white alphabet print I’ve used for a few pillows and glued them onto the squares of some gingham a friend gave me–a bit of “randomness on order.”  I ran into a little glitch when I discovered that the fabric has no r’s . . . but I took the quote’s advice to “use what you have” and turned some n’s into r’s with a black sharpie, so all is well. ♥   I finished the project the same way I made my fabric memo boards (here and here), by covering a piece of cardboard with quilt batting and then stretching the fabric over it and stitching it together at the back. Finally, I added my biggest black button for a-la-mode. Will it hang on my office wall? Or become a gift? Time will tell! ♥  P.S. THANK YOU to SownInPeace for helping me track down the author of this quote. The original version was “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”  (Teddy Roosevelt)