a second (belated) mother's day pillow

Last month, I woke up with the idea of writing a poem for my mom for mother's day.  I knew it would be about my brother who passed three years ago.  The words flowed very easily that morning and I quickly wrote it all down.

Now let me clarify.  I am not a poet nor do I write poetry in my leisure time.  Aside from a silly rap that I put together in sixth grade about some boys in my class, I have never written a true poem in my life.  But since the rhymes came very easily that morning, I thought I would take advantage.

I printed the poem on fabric paper (or printable fabric, whatever it's called).  My original intention was to stitch the poem to the pillow, but I also intended for the "poem" to be one stanza.  I'm getting better at understanding my limits and with no previous experience with stitchery, I figured that I just better find another way. 

I'm not thrilled with the print quality and the fabric seemed to shift slightly in the printer (can you see how some of the words toward the bottom of the poem are a little squished?).  But it did accomplish what I wanted.  For this pillow, I should have tea-stained the white fabric to make it fit the Americana look of the pillow but I was afraid of ruining the ink.  We'll try that next time.

I also thought for this pillow that I would try my hand at stitchery.  I need some more practice.  This angel is my own drawing and looks more like a second grader's work of art than primitive stitchery (I think it's the head.)  Oh, and the fabric that I used picks up lint like a mushy banana dropped on the floor, so I need to be more conscious of that next time.  It think most real stitchers use linen.

The pillow is backed with natural-colored linen and I love it.  I just wish I would have thought to use linen on the front border.  The two colors match, but I think linen on the front would have pulled the pillow together better.

And I used an invisible zipper as a closure again.  I really like the look of these.  At first I thought I could just sew this pillow closed because I don't imagine my mom using this pillow much; it's more for decoration and I can't imagine it attracting enough dirt to need a wash.  But it is a special pillow and I wanted her to have that option if needed.

In case you're interested, here is the poem I wrote:

My Special Angel

God delivered me an angel,
A special one indeed.
He taught me how to live my life
By helping friends in need.
But after all the time he spent with me,
God needed him back.
For there was bigger work for him to do
Especially in Iraq.
He was called to be a US Soldier,
A protector for the human right
To freedom and a life of happiness.
He took a stand to fight.
Then God needed him back again
For there was bigger work to do,
An angel on the other side
For soldiers passing through.
My heart aches to miss this much.
It just seems so unfair.
But this I know when my time comes
My angel will be standing there.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom.