Time for some embroidery!

I don't think I've posted any of my embroidery on this blog yet, so it's about time! I've been working on this piece for ages, little by little, while enjoying the Lord of the Rings audio books. I didn't want to show it before it was completely finished, but now it's finally done. Yay!

I've been planning to embroider this sentiment for a while now, but I wasn't sure what style I wanted... Then I noticed the awesome new banner over at feeling stitchy (made by the lovely PlanetCoco) and knew I wanted to make something similar. Plus, it was a perfect way to practice new stitches! I tried a couching stitch for the first time, so pretty and simple to do! My camera doesn't do too well with macro shots, but I'll try to show you a close up:

Basically, a couching stitch means laying your thread down on top of your fabric, and using a second thread to attach it to the fabric. It feels a bit like sculpting or painting with thread, and I love the resulting texture.

As you can see I used fabric for some of the letters; most of it thrifted, in keeping with the theme of the piece. The other stitches used are back stitch, split stitch, chain stitch, running stitch and satin stitch. I had planned to add a border as well, but in the end I thought it might be too much so I decided not to. I just finished it up and framed it. Here it sits on my desk, to remind me what matters in life - and what doesn't! ;-)