Isn't it lovely - this beautiful sampler arrived in the mail this week and, in addition to just being a wonderful addition to my home, it arrived at a great moment (more on that soon). Late last year I was aching for my own 
"Home Sweet Home" embroidered sampler. I have coveted the one we had growing up for so long and have hinted to my mother that she should leave it to me in her will. Hers is a simple piece and I can't really explain why I've loved it for so long - maybe it's just because it feels so homey and is connected to the homes I lived in while growing up.I started searching the internet for a pattern to make my own. I came across a pattern at www.tpartyantiques.com that I really liked. After ordering and receiving the pattern in the mail, and knowing that I had too many other projects going on at th
e time, I inquired with Susan from T Party Antiques about the possibility of commissioning the project out. She recommended Janet McCaffrey (primrosedesign.com) who is the artist and embroiderer that drew up the Home Sweet Home pattern that she had sold me. Janet agreed to make it for me and some time later, this is what she came up with. We both decided to bring in more colors with the flowers and I am very happy with the result. (Thank you Janet!)About the same time that I commissioned the piece from Janet, I mentioned to my mom about what I had done, again rambling on about how much I liked her “Home Sweet Home” sampler. Well, wouldn’t you know it; she sent it to me as a Christmas gift. So now I have two!
Now for the next part of this story . . . I have been waiting months for this new sampler – not really in a hurry because I had received the one from my mom and have been dwelling in the pleasure of that addition to our home. It makes me smile every time I see it. I actually have been struggling because I couldn’t really think of the right place to put this new anticipated sampler. Then we had some disconcerting news, we just recently found out that the little house that we are renting is in foreclosure and that we would need to move.
We’ve been confused as to what to do – do we just rent another place in our beloved neighborhood, do we move to another part of Sacramento, maybe closer to work? And our work situation is unsure. The contract that both my husband and I work on is up for re-bid and we may find out in the Fall that we don’t have jobs. And if we do win the contract there are rumors that we will move our offices “way out” to Roseville. We weren’t sure if we should buy a home or wait. We didn’t really think we could buy a house because we don’t have a large amount of money in savings – certainly not the 20% that we thought we’d have to have. And then we were certain that we wanted to stay in the downtown area – we love the older homes, the mature trees, the character,
the wonderful restaurants and cafes.Last weekend we ventured out into the suburbs, just to rule out a new home – to confirm that that is not a lifestyle that we were interested in. I have made it my life’s ambition to not live in a suburban tract house, the sort that all my friends and co-workers seem to favor. Well, we did it. We bought a big ‘ole house in Lincoln – it will be ready in September. So, we signed all the papers on Sunday and the new “Home Sweet Home” sampler arrived in the mail on Monday. It was a sweet sign that we are embarking on a good thing and that anywhere that we live can be home. In the long run we will be getting so very much more of a house for the money out in the sticks then we could ever get here in East Sacramento. So now we’re just hoping that our jobs do relocate to Roseville – it will be a much shorter commute! Here’s to hoping and a lot of prayers. And now I definitely have many options as to where to hang this new sampler!
