sometimes the dining room is just a dining room.

This week, my dining room had to actually be a dining room. Which means it could not be a studio. Which means my fabrics are back in the closet along with the iron and the ironing board. The cutting mat is hiding underneath the couch in the living room. And my sewing machine is tucked way into the back of the utility closet in the upstairs hallway. Not a setup conducive to just “pulling things out” for a few mins. So, it is weeks like these, that I am reduced to merely opening my dining room cabinet and staring at my fabrics and admiring their loveliness.  I also have a side project, one that has been in the works for close to a year now, that is my go-to for studio-free weeks. I’m quite sure I will need at least another year to finish it. But it’s cute enough to encourage me to keep plugging away — as slow as the going may be for me — one. stitch. at a time. This is my first embroidery project, so at the time I started it, I had no idea what a giant I was taking on. It’s Anna Maria Horner’s “Loves Me Bouquet” from her Needleworks Notebook. (Not only did I go for broke with this first project, but I enlarged the pattern so the finished size will be even larger than the one in her book).  Come to think of it, I may finish it two years from now. . . not one! Anywho, it doesn’t matter when it gets done, because I love the book, I love the project, and my husband even had it signed for me before he gave it to me as a mother’s day gift, which makes it extra special! I don’t know about you, but I seriously crush on Anna Maria Horner’s talent and her adorable family! I mean, she’s such an inspiration, am I right??!?