stitch love // what the process and progress feels like

When they ask you to write a book, they don't tell you what it will feel like. I knew that this would be a lot of work, and I knew that it would be a long process, but I didn't know what it would feel like. Let me tell you: It's amazing and emotional and disheartening and wonderful. It's actually a mix of all those things with some gratitude and dread thrown in for good measure.

If you haven't heard, I've been crafting a book. I say crafting because it's more than just writing, it's drafting patterns, drawing illustrations, sewing things, writing words, and stitching motifs. LOTS of stitching motifs!

It's a roller coaster of things coming together so very well, followed by self-doubt, then thinking it's perfect, and then worrying that nothing will be right. A proof arrived the other day for me to edit and check and mark up with a red pen. I'm doing lots of marking, so the mix of feelings is in full force.

But I'm so happy that I'm seeing it come along, and so happy that I get to tell you bits about it here and there. Things like, you know...the title. Stitch Love: Sweet Creatures Big & Small. That's right...it's a book filled with animals to stitch! Never did I ever imagine that I would draw so many creatures as I did for this book. There were times that I didn't think I could do it, but sketch after sketch, I found myself loving the process.

The book will come out in January 2015, and it's officially available for pre-order on Amazon. There's no cover yet, but just seeing the listing there is so exciting.

Now how about a tiny peek into the pages I'm proofing?



I told you it was a tiny peek! No giving away anything just yet! But I can't, can't, can't wait for you to see this whole thing. Only six more months to go!