My Teensiest Quilt Yet!

It started with this...

And a day later turned into this...

Yes, it is an actual quilt- binding and all. I measures 3.75"x4.5". I came out a touch bigger than I wanted, but close enough :) Not only is it the teensiest quilt I ever made, it is also my handmade name badge for The Sewing Summit!!

There is only a week and a half left, people! I am so excited, I hardly know what to do! I keep pinching myself- ouch- but it's real! I get to go! One of those surreal things in life. I feel like the little kid on a big block, but people don't get nicer than quilters, so I am sure I will have TONS of new friends by the time it is over :).

I wanted lots of different mediums and techniques on my badge, so I went for everything I knew how (and a few new things too) to do! I started with the arc. I have NEVER paper pieced in my life, much less drawn a design to piece. But using Miss Kaelin's incredible instructions (over at www.theplaidscottie.com), I drew and paper pieced my own arc! Step 1- check! From there I added the white pieces and then the fun began. I sandwiched and quilted as I went. This is a fabulous method, especially for something this tiny. I added the yellow and orange yellow felt sun. Then the bunting and hand embroidering the bunting rope and name. Then the binding. Picking out the fabric for that was quite an accomplishment, in and of itself. I wanted something bold (and not being too bold for 3.75"x4.5" is pretty tricky), not too busy, and with all "my" colors. Finally found the perfect print! Then came not liking the way handstitching looked for my blog name, so I fiddled some more and came up with some pinked yellow fabric, with machine drawn title. LOVE! Appliqued that on, and VOILA!! I LOVE it- very "ME", very cute, and I have my handmade something to take to The Sewing Summit :).

Now just to decide if I want to attach it with a pin or with the cutest tiny silver ball chain and wear it like a necklace- I'm thinking the chain! Here's for teensy quilts!

Some new Pretties and Thank you Gifts

I have been going crazy over all the yumminess in Miss Julie's shop-- http://intrepidthread.com! She has had sales the last two weeks, and of course, I cannot pass up a S-A-L-E!! It's a weakness, I admit. But with fabric involved, I am just toast! :) hehe! The first weekend, I was good and just bought fabric for a quilt I am making a dear teacher. This past weekend, however, I just lost all control and wound up with the Taza half yard bundle, and the Wrenly fq bundle, and another random half yard print in my cart! It arrived today and just look at the loveliness! It is so soft and the colors are just wonderful! I can hardly wait to find the perfect project to add to my current hugungeous list :)!!

For most of the morning and part of the afternoon, I was busy making some thank you gifts for dear friends. I love rosie necklaces and making them as gifts is always something that is well received! The pink is a new favorite- as well as the aqua and jade. They look so pretty all together! I think it will bring a smile to 3 ladies' faces and that will make me happy! Now off to write the corresponding notes :)
Have a marvelous, sunny day!

Handmade...

When I think about all things Handmade, I think of pride in your workmanship, I think of good quality, I think of feeling good about helping others in this big boxed world, and I think about inspiration. Where does inspiration come from?? All around, of course! And more importantly, from within. That's the best place to find it- we can all see, hear, touch, or feel the same thing, but we all take something different away from it. That's what is beautiful about life. Here are some things that have inspired my handmade thoughts this week...

This sign, in my sewing/crafting/living room is the first thing. It applies to so much in my life, but to me, creating handmade things is a journey- one that we can find joy in along the way!

The next is my bead boxes- I have them on a shelf in my closet and everytime I walk in, the colors and shapes and sparkles make me smile. I make jewelry as a hobby, this is where my inspiration for that begins- just seeing it all together...

Children are wonderful places to find inspiration- their heads are full of amazing, limitless ideas and every one is GOOD! To them, everything they make is a work of art, and I love that! I know a little boy that loves to make BOOKS! He writes about all sorts of ideas he gets, illustrates them, folds and staples them, and then you have the most glorious collection of books around! I am so happy to be able to have personally been told these stories by the author himself!

And lastly, I LOVE pinwheels, big time! I just designed and am selling what I call the Fly Away with Me necklace. It's oh so simple, but it reminds me to keep life that way too. And when I look at it, I'm inspired to create more things!

Handmade is a journey, full of joy, and always expanding! What a great thing to be part of!

Pretty Lovely

I have been drooling over Allora Handmade for quite some time now- Miss Jessica makes the most amazing pretties :) Here's her link so you can see for yourself: http://allorahandmade.com/ . But I have been itching to try it out on some prints I have to match the 127 square dress :). I love how her flowers are shaped, but since I was doing my own thing, I wanted them to be different. So I cut strips, got out my handy dandy glue gun, and went to gluing! I like odd numbers, that's something strange about me :), so there had to be an odd number of flowers on my necklace! I wound up with 3 big and 4 smaller. The larger ones measure about 2" across and the smaller a little over 1" across. I chose the gray fabrics from the Sunkissed line by Moda, and I just LOVE how it turned out! I am super thrilled that I made it from scraps and it was only $3 for the chain and clasp. I went with a brushed nickel color for the chain, and I love the width of it. The clasp is cool because I can hook it at different lenghts- very versatile :). So my little project was a success, now to make more colors :) Woo-Hoo!