In Our Wake: Good Day, Mr. Browning

A bit ago I shared this picture of the pillows my in-laws helped me sew. I have loved the pillows and I still get excited to make the bed.

However, I never quite completed one of the pillows (below) because I needed time to look at it to decide what finishing touch it needed.

One day, I ran across a Robert Browning poem, and realized that it had exactly what I wanted on my pillow. It is especially perfect that we have a pillow with a Robert Browning phrase on it because Elizabeth Barrett Browning helped me theme our wedding. We're coming full circle. :)

Originally, I was going to paint the phrase I wanted right on the pillow, but then I remembered that I'm afraid of commitment. So, I messed with design a few ways on paper and then on scrap fabric, and then used this strip of fabric as the final.

Friends, I free handed this--eyeballing a font I liked (Segoe Script)--and it was the most terrifying experience of my DIY life. I couldn't find a stencil I particularly loved, and I didn't want to go to the effort of making one, so I opted for dangerous. This is how I tend to do crafts--the nearly lazy way--and it usually haunts me forever because tiny mistakes show up here and there. For example, I used a ruler to give myself straight lines to follow as I wrote, except I skipped that process for the third line which said "R. Browning." You don't see it here because I cut it off. Yep, I went crooked. Sorry Mr. Browning, no credit for you.

Anyway, after frying my poor nerves, I grabbed the few supplies I needed to do the easy part of tacking on the strip of fabric. (Chapstick is a necessary supply because whenever I'm concentrating I bite my lips. And my hot milk, honey, and nutmeg drink just made me happy while doing crafts. Oh, and I was watching Runaway Bride, so really it was a great time.)