A sense of the familiar...

Okay, this will sound absolutely crazy, but I had the best time this afternoon cutting fabric squares for some quilted pillow covers that I am going to make tomorrow.  I had forgotten the familiar feel of fabric under my hands; it reminds me of the many Saturday afternoons of my youth spent at the blackhead Singer handed down to me by my grandmother.  She taught me to sew by stitching threadless straight lines on notebook paper.  When I could do that to her satisfaction, I made napkins.  Then an apron.  I graduated to making Barbie clothes, which I churned out for years - spring and fall collections made from scraps leftover from whatever Grandma was making.  I made hand-embroidered hippie tunics when I has in high school (yes, I'm old!) and in college, I made wrap skirts to order for extra spending money.  When I went to work in the real world, I had less time to sew but I often made quilted pillows as birthday and Christmas gifts for family and friends.  I detoured to cross-stitching for awhile and took up card-making with rubber stamps and stuff, but I really think that sewing is still my favorite hobby and creative outlet.  My sewing machine and serger were in storage for a year and well, now that I'm not so busy with work...  After spending yesterday afternoon watching a movie sacked out on the sofa with Aggie, I realized how incredibly ugly the green ultrasuede pillows in my living room are.  I had them on the sofa at the office and they migrated to the apartment with the furniture - and I have finally seen that my living room is not at all me.  For inspiration, I went to my bookshelf and grabbed Living a Beautiful Life by Alexandra Stoddard and spent the next couple of hours re-reading her excellent advice.  I envisioned pink and green patchwork pillows to match the quilted throw on my sofa and so first thing this morning, I sorted out some appropriate fabric from my stash in the back room and after lunch, I set about cutting my squares and arranging them for four different pillow covers.  I'm so excited - stay tuned!