Around the World Blog Hop

I was tagged by my good quilty friend Ann to participate in the Around the World Blog Hop!  Actually, I was supposed to write up this post for last week and you bet, I forgot.  Luckily Ann sent me a little reminder email, or this post would have likely never seen the light of day, thanks again lady!! 

Ann lives in Italy (but is from Canada) with her adorable little girl and hubby, so this blog hop has truly come around the world!  Ann not only makes beautiful quilts, but also the most adorable clothes for her daughter Olivia.  When Nora was born and my mind had its first thoughts of sewing, I went straight to Ann, as she knows oodles of great kids clothing patterns and tutorials.  She led me to make the Geranium Dress, which I cannot recommend highly enough!  She's way more brave than me, and has even tackled deciphering a Japanese print sewing book and made the cutest pair of shorts for Olivia.  Thanks so much for involving me in this great blog hop Ann!

1.  What am I working on?

Most recently I finished up this darling little dress for Nora's upcoming 1 year pictures.  Lets talk for just a minute about how my little girl is going to be one year old later this month!



Thats how I feel about that.

Anyways, back to the dress.  I haven't done any clothing sewing since the 2 Geranium dresses I made a few months back and decided it was time.  I had purchased this Candy Girl Tiered Dress pattern a while ago and thought it would be perfect to cut into my Heather Ross Far Far Away fabrics for.  I am absolutely in love with this little dress.  Since I've snapped this pic I added the little fabric flower that is pictured in the pattern picture and it is just the little something extra this dress needed.

 

I've also been stitching all things baby for my two new nephews that are on their way!  The most recent project were these changing pad covers for my sister in laws fire truck themed nursery.  I love the covers I made for Nora's changing pad, and hopefully my sister in law likes these just as much!  Up next are a few Divided Baskets and of course these little boys need quilts!

2.  Why do I write/create what I do?

I think this is the simplest question to answer, and that's because I love it!  It is my little sliver of me time that I get to head to my own little space and just make something.  Life is a little bit different these days, and free time isn't something I have oodles of, or even have every day, so it just makes me happy to be able to spend a few moments working on something I love.  In the past I've gotten bogged down with "commitment sewing", and while that's great to do when I can, I've really learned to say no and only take on commitments where I know I will love what I'm working on.  

3.  How  does my writing/creative process work?

I sometimes think about what it would look like if I could snap a picture of what is running through my mind at any given time, either creatively or not, and I have to think it would just look like one of those crazy flow charts with arrows pointing in every direction connecting to different points and dots that is ever changing.  At least creatively speaking I feel like my "process" is ever changing.  Sometimes it starts with the need for an item.  

I needed a new purse, so I tracked down a pattern I liked, found fabric I liked, and made it.  Pretty straight forward.

Other times it's a particular fabric, or in this particular case, a group of quilt blocks that had been shelved for entirely too long, that the inspiration for a project emerges. 

Sometimes I see a project through from start to finish without setting it aside for something else, and more often, like this case,  I will pull a set of fabrics and set them aside for later use, or collect quilt blocks and set them aside, to work on a quilt top months years later to set that aside and put it together into a complete quilt at some to be determined point in the future.

I think I like it this way.  While it might just seem like a disarray of started and stopped projects, it gives me a choice when I walk into my sewing room to sew about what sort of project I'm in the mood to work on.  Something from scratch?  Something half started?  Something that just needs binding? Pretty sure I have one or more of each of those projects ready to be worked on.  Of course it also makes my sewing room look like it a bomb went off, but we'll just call that a creativity hazard.

I'm going tag my neighbor and quilty friend Amy if she'd like to participate!  This next hop won't be going nearly as far as from Italy to Pennsylvania, but it will be hopping down the street about two houses!