Rebecca,
The saying is hand embroidered. The rest is pieced. It's actually very small. I think it finished at about 12"X15" or something close to that.
As I posted earlier, I type the saying into a word program on the computer and then spend hours deciding of a font. Once the font is fixed there's the whole size issue. I want it big enough to embroider easily but not huge. Finally I print it out onto paper. The next step is to trace it onto fabric using a blue erasable pen. Then it's onto the embroidery and finally piecing.
It's a fun way to spend an afternoon or evening. When I was a little girl my mom and sisters and sometimes aunts used to spend summer afternoons sitting under the weeping willow doing handcrafts. I usually had a 'stitch-a-story' to work on. This is just a continuation of those lazy summer days! Who's sentimental?