The heart of obsession

Hub asked me, during my fog of reading, researching, practicing, thinking, talking design ideas; "what's with embroidery all of a sudden?"
And at first, I just didn't know. I blamed the library (with that big pretty book right there speaking to me!) and my odd knitting-mood (not too happy with any current project). But his question got me thinking more about it and my crafting in general.
I think the real appeal of this is it's infinitely use-able and practical. Pillowcases, skirts...we all need those! As much as I conceive of fantastical non-usable fiber art, the truth is I keep returning to creating things I know I'll use. Part of it is my limited budget, I'd feel wasteful to spend money on supplies "for fun". Part of it is the fun of re-creating something that seemed to outlive its usefulness; to use something old instead of buying something new. Thus the embroidery on the old skirt pictured in this post.
But more than that, I want to create beauty in the "real" world. I love art and I dream of a life creating beauty just for beauty's sake. But I wonder if those devoted to ART and the creation of things that hang in galleries forget that our daily life is full of beauty.

The obvious, like the butterfly I captured on my car last week...but also the mundane: catching my husband humming a song from my favorite musical, my first cup of coffee as I swirl in the cream, the head-butt from a cat that wants to be petted, a handmade blanket to snuggle under on rainy nights. When I get going on this train of thought...I realize what I'm appreciating is..the domestic arts. I spent the majority of my young life escaping reality in the cradle of books, imaging I'd spend my life in academia, surrounded by the cognoscenti and literati, eschewing thoughts of making a home, creating a family. So this recent free fall feels like...waking up. Looking around at the reality of the world, it's beauty and pain and potential, I'm truly seeing it all for the first time. And pondering my place in it all, how exactly to add beauty, while still living in the reality of it...
I guess I just want to spend my time, energy, creativity to making our life, right now, beautiful. To filling it with creations that I can look at every day, that we can use to build a more beautiful life.

And thus ends our philosophical portion of the evening, onto the reality...If you want to get started in embroidery, the following links helped get me stitchin':
Great tutorials, starting with, well, getting started
The french knot design I used on the skirt was inspired by the Purl Bee's Pillows
Craftster thread on embroidery provided a bunch of inspiration this week
My interest in embroidery was piqued by Wee Wonderful's Stitchettes
The Flickr group provides continuied inspiration