eight by eight

I have a story around what came out of this month’s theme. First of all, the colors of what you sent just jumped out of the box with all their vivid-ness. They were a welcome surprise (although I don’t really know what I was expecting, which I guess is part of the fun). I formed an idea of what I would do immediately. Then a h u g e project landed on the little lap of our small business, and everything was put aside. Everything. I found myself working not only while the kids were away at school each day, but at night after they were in bed, and sometimes even through dinner. I can’t say its put me in the best mood. Feeling as if I had no time for anything at all and most definitely no balance…well…yes…I was pouting a little. Anyway…

Just as I was about to go to bed the other night, I switched gears and decided to jump into my eight by eight project instead. I suddenly felt the urge to do something completely for me, and let me tell you, this was the perfect thing. Funny how sewing all these little stitches created such a total calmness in me, I immerged from my studio feeling so much better about everything, immediately calmer and just more “me”. I love having a pre-defined size and a pre-chosen set of materials to work with (that I did not choose). This month especially, it just seemed like the best kind of crafting therapy.

Looking back at the original pile of bits I got in my box, I was most interested in the felt dots and immediately called them my favorite part. They definitely fueled my initial inspiration. I found it most fun to use them as a foundation to play with different embroidery stitches. As for the fabrics themselves, they all seemed to come together as a patchwork, with the dots on top. I loved how the polka dot corduroy balanced with those round felt dots.

The wool roving you sent stumped me initially, but then I decided to pull out my needlefelting supplies and create pom poms (you can see these pom poms inspired other aspects of my crafting this month). I have wanted to do some needlefelting again for a while now, and while this is not a huge amount of work, my hands immediately remembered how theraputic the process can be (well, when I don’t get poked). I sewed these onto the corners, and this all suddenly felt very pillow-like to me. You know how I love the pillows. I added some stuffing, added a backing of red felt, and present you with a very tiny, eight by eight (actually a bit smaller) patchwork pillow.

On to March, a surprise color pairing is on its way to you!

Blair