The mini that didn't get sent...

The Doll Quilt Swap was a wonderful experience- I must show you the amazing mini I got from my dear swap Mama!  It was such a great surprise and totally me!! That's for the next post... But the mini that my partner was not too hot about (Try #1) is something that I LOVE and IS totally me!  So I had to finish it :).  It measures 20 1/2" across and is circular!  I was brave and went for it- and am very pleased with how it turned out!  I was so stressed about the binding coming out wacky, but it is absolutely perfect- hip hip hooray!

 The design came completely from my brain and I didn't have any idea how I would make it come to life, but I did, and surprised myself. :)  It makes me happy on days like that. So here it is all done and ready to hang.  I call it Crazy Love!  It was my crazy idea and I love that I got it to happen!  And what's not to love about a spiraling rainbow??!!  

 I hand embroidered the rainbow spiral in the center hexie, and then quilted a billion pebbles all over it! It took for-ev-eh, but I love the look and texture of it and how it just blends into the quilt.  Just to give an idea of size, the small squares are 3/4". It was so fun to piece and get all the text going the right way in each section.  I'd love to make tons of these in all sorts of colors and designs- that is now on the never ending list of projects :)  For right now, I just look at this one and smile!

My Handmade Sunshine

I have been thinking a lot about my blog and what I want it to be... a place to share, to learn, to stretch myself, and a happy place. Goodness knows, happiness can make the world go round and miracles happen! So as I thought of how I pictured it looking, I wanted the handmade part to really shine, but the sunshine part (that we all are given a chance to create everyday- no matter the weather) was the basis of my blog. So I toyed around with quite a few ideas, and the buntings kept coming back to me. More ideas and then, the sunshine becoming PART of the bunting, hit me like a rock! I knew that's what it had to be. And I wanted BIG, so I went with a 20 inch square pillow form :)
So the work began...I sketched, sketched, and re-sketched what I wanted it to be, then finally had my perfect look. However, it was on a 3x5 card :) My pillow is 20" square! hehe- so the enlarging began :) I cut, taped, and drew til I had all the proportions just so, and then the crazy part. Figuring out the fabric came next- this was especially tricky since I do not have much of a "stash" just yet- I am still new to sewing and quilting in particular, so I had to really dig to get the colors I dreamed of. It would up being the exact colors I pictured though. I cut and laid the pieces on the paper and then transferred it a bit at a time to the pillow top.
Once everything was fused on, I appliqued everything into place. Some pieces I just "outlined" some I tightly zig zag-ed. It was fun being random! I hand embroidered the bunting hanging line and the sunshine's beams. I wanted a really crisp look, so I decided not to quilt the top- just leaving the applique and hand stitching. I added a bright, happy, sunny yellow back, with an envelope opening. Then on to the edging. I wanted the pillow to look similar to a mini quilt, so I made binding and actually binded the pillow :)

I love how it turned out- it gives me the calm feeling inside to know that is what I want this place to be, and it's an amazing reminder to me to always "make sunshine" wherever I am! I hope I remember that every moment!!

I am entering this pillow over at the Pillow Party at Rachel's blog- go check out all the pillow beauties :) FUN! http://www.stitchedincolor.com/p/bloggers-pillow-party.html

Hoops, not the hula kind...

No matter how much I wiggled growing up, I could never get those hula hoops to work :), but these I can do- and no wiggling required :) All the better-

I have been wanting to make some hoop art for the shop (and for my house) for a while now. It seemed like everytime I got ready to sit down and work on them, something else would blow up in my face (or another deadline would hit). Finally after many weeks, I have been able to get two pieces finished and into the shop- hip, hip, hooray!

It's been fun trying out different techniques on each hoop. The first one (My Sunshine), I appliqued and then machine freehanded the wording and embellishments. The second (There's no place like...), I appliqued then hand-embroidered the wording and embellishments. I like that they are different. I know some people love fancy, shamnsy, over the top hoop art, but I prefer simple and with meaning. So that is what I went for :) I may have to make duplicates for some of my rooms. I have quite a few more ideas and hope to have more time to work on them in coming days- we'll see what hits in the next little while :) It's been so wonderful to have a few minutes of down time to work on these- I really needed it! hehe!

Hope everyone's week is going well- I can hardly believe that it will be April this week- for real??!! Oh my, every year gets faster and faster- it makes me want to hurry, I don't know why, but then I realize that I need to sit back, take it all in, breathe deep, and just enjoy the moment. I have this saying hanging in my living room and try to live by it- The Joy is in the Journey. That sums it up for me- yup, just try to cherish every moment and be grateful! So April or not, I am just going to sit back and take it all in, enjoying the little things, especially!