Happy Blogging.... Let the Joy Shine In!

Let's face it, this blog has been a DOWNER for the past few months. I'VE been a downer for the past few months. I had lost my joy. Lost it. The CPSIA was the final straw that put me over the edge. How many times does lightening have to strike for you to realize it is time to get out of that tree!

I've climbed out of the tree. It was hard. Hard to publicly post that I'm closing the shop, hard to put away the Spring designs, hard to look people in the eye at the shop when I'm there and tell them that I won't be after the 31st. Actually, I'm still working on that one.

But it was the right decision. And now I can move forward. I've got big plans in the works for the future (as always!) but for now I'm holding. And by holding, I mean sewing goodies for my house as fast as I can crank them out and working on a basement remodel project complete with a clean and organized laundry room, a beautiful design studio and a workshop for the Mr. That's how I rest. And it feels SO good.

Here's one of the first completed projects. This is an 18" pillow made from on of my favorite prints from Amy Butler's Temple Flowers line circa 2003. I've free-quilted the front with a batting layer in between the front and a white cotton lining. It has a zipper closure for washing and is stuffed with a down insert that I picked up at Goodwill for $3. It had a horrible cover on it of course. The backing is a nice fine whale corduroy on the back for durability.



You can sort of see the free quilting in this photo. I stipple quilted in the open spaces and then followed the form of the leaves and roses.

 

Now these pictures aren't as beautiful.... these are the ceiling tiles I'm ripping out of the basement.

 

After that I get to remove the concrete over wood lathe false ceiling underneath. THAT's going to be nasty. But completely worth it!