Handmade Beginnings!

I finally get to say my new book is here!!! I am so, so happy with this sentence, you have no idea. The above photo was taken just about 2 weeks after Roman was born. I was unbelievably tired that day, barely able to keep up with the photo shoot that went on for a few hours all around our yard with all the kids going in all directions, and the new one, both of us actually still so fragile. Days later I found the smallest of moments to sit and gaze upon the photos we got. And this one. I cried. I couldn't take it. All those little souls still entranced in the newness of their little brother. Either that or I was threatening them from behind the lens....erhh both. Anyway, its nice to sit back and enjoy the book now too. To celebrate today, I wanted to not write another book about my book but to share the introduction with you. Then, of course I'll be sharing a lot more soon. The book is now shipping from my studio, amazon, and all other points around the globe!

From Handmade Beginnings:

Every family has a story. Each time we've welcomed a new baby, the story of our own family has a new beginning. Our children have brought more than their own chapter to our story, but they have, in fact, rewritten the rest of us. The whole family, together and individually, is remade into something it wasn't before- something we wouldn't have ever guessed or expected. I have always felt compelled during my pregnancies to make items for the new one. Similar to the quintessential image of an expectant mother working away with her knitting needles on a pair of baby booties, I set out to stack fabrics and ideas in high piles that I can work through as my belly grows. Perhaps its just the typical nesting that all mothers go through, or maybe its nervous energy. Whatever the explanation, answering the desire to create as I await a new baby seems to be my own way of nurturing.

What has taken me precisely six children and countless handmade items to realize, is that this sewing, or nurturing, which is intended mostly for the baby or our home, perhaps benefits me more than any one in the family. Slow hand-stitching forces me off my tired feet and allows me to pay attention to the subtle bumps and squirms of the little one within. Running my hands over potential fabrics for the baby's clothing to check for softness sets my mind into daydreams of what color eyes or hair the baby might have. Using what brain power is still available to me while pregnant, I ponder the design of a nursery quilt which gives me less time to ponder those natural fears and doubts that come with motherhood. All this to say- sewing while expecting has kept me healthy, centered on what matters- more joyful than not. It goes without say too, that all this sewing has outfitted our babies, beds, toy shelves and home with beautiful items that are well loved and often tucked away for safekeeping.

While most of my experiences with sewing to welcome a baby involve being the mama, this book does not ignore everyone else in the baby's life! Dads, brothers, sisters, adoptive moms, foster moms, and all...this book and its projects are for you too! I hope that the ideas I've sewn and written here inspire the work of your hands and the work of your heart. And I hope that you continue to reach for this book every time to you hear the good news of a baby on the way.

xo, Anna