Two things I Love about this Valentine's Day

1. I have a fabric stash such that I can simply pull out a vintage piece and a new piece that look lovely on our tea party table:

2. I finally put aside my sewing to-do and made something for myself.  Something completely nonfunctional and superfluous and... simply celebratory:

I've had in mind what kind of banner I wanted, but was nervous about how to go about it.  I didn't want to quilt it, I wanted the pieces to be more stiff than plush.  Each piece was made with a strong canvas back fused to a decorative canvas top, with some Joel Dewberry fabric appliqued on top of that.  At the end I took some thick vintage thread (or thin twine) off an old wooden spool I've had lying around and simply sewed the edges of each heart and bird together.   Time will tell if this was the right way to go about my vision - we'll see how it holds up from year to year.

It was so encouraging that my boys exclaimed when they saw it, "Wow Mom, you made this?  It's very beautiful."  Precious, precious boys!