She's a mother of five yet somehow finds the time to design her exquisite fabrics, as well as consistently coming up with what seems like a never-ending flow of craft ideas, and still manages (from where I sit) to live a full life with lots of parent/child interaction. Anna Maria Horner is fantastic! I found this fun project on Anna's blog, that looks so straight forward even I should be able to find the time to do it.
Anna's colorful garland is made from felt circles. A simple blanket stitch is used to attach pairs of circles which are then threaded through to connect them, resulting in a beautiful garland. If you already know how to do the blanket stitch (I actually just learned very recently) then this will be very easy. Learning the blanket stitch itself (instructions can also be found on Anna's page) should be quick and simple too.
"Simple" is key for me because I am still quite the novice sewer. I've probably mentioned before that I love design and pairing up colors and fabrics, but am not a very good sewer. I recently made up my mind to start working on little felt animals and sachet type things so that I could strengthen my sewing skills. This will help me to realize my dream of starting to make things again. I so miss my teenage years when I had all the time in the world to draw, paint, write, and collage.
I started my first business at the age of twenty-two when my oldest child was a year old. So from the age of about twenty on, I've been busy with the cycles of pending motherhood, motherhood, and running a business. When I met Michael I had two children from my previous marriage, and he had two children. We now have a total of six. Jessica, his oldest, is eighteen, and on her own. The rest live with us, making a household of seven. Needless to say our days are packed full!
Back to my original thought...Anna Maria's project is perfect for busy mothers like me who want to fit in some craft-time. When I showed Anna Maria's page to Michael and told him I wanted to work on this with the kids, he said "Sixty pairs of felt circles? That's going to take hours!" "Precisely," was my reply. If I can get them excited about something that will keep them busy so that I have a little time to myself, I'm on it!

