Sometimes I think that I write far too frequently about days when things don’t go well.

I guess blogging can be a way of venting. When makers’ block strikes, or my sewing machine misbehaves, or a project goes wrong and my sewing mojo goes missing, there’s a need to get it all out of my system; to purge.

And that’s fine now and again, I think, as long as it doesn’t become a habit and I don’t turn into a serial whinger.

So, to redress the balance, I’d just like to say that yesterday was a day when it all went right.

The sun was shining and I got cracking on a piece I had already started.

It’s going to be my contribution to Art In Shops, an exhibition of – yes, you guessed it – work by local artists, displayed in shop windows.

The exhibition is part of Sherwood Art Week and this year is the first time I’ve entered my work.

I knew straight away what I wanted to do.

Something big(ish) and bold. Something that would make people passing by stop and look twice – and then maybe smile, or look puzzled, or even have a bit of a think.

The quote is from Shakespeare’s The Tempest. The words, like the fabrics used to make the piece, are from the past. But they have resonance in the present.

They provide an interesting contrast with the bright colours and happy floral patterns.

I’ve had the backing fabric for ages. I toyed with a white background, but I rather like the way you have to look quite hard to make out what it says amongst all that riot of pattern and colour…For me, the quote is also a comment on how a state of mind can dominate and create a reality.

Sometimes, it’s not those devils out there we need to beware of, it’s the ones inside ourselves.

So it’s good to keep reminding yourself that sometimes bad days come from within – and it’s not actually the sewing machine’s fault. ♥