"Your mind is a garden, your thoughts are the seeds... You can grow flowers or you can grow weeds!" - Anonymous
This quote speaks to me because in addition to my passion for sewing and the arts, gardening brings me great joy! Thinking of your thoughts in terms of flowers and weeds is so empowering because even when it is hard, we can choose to feed the flowers and pull out the weeds! Right now we are eagerly awaiting some long gentle rains to clean up the world and begin seeing all the new life emerge to welcome Spring with open arms, buds, blossoms and plants!
While we are waiting... let's SEW up some flowers!!!
For my blossoming projects, I chose the lovely and shimmery Stardust fabric that was designed by my dear friend Beverly McCullough with Riley Blake Designs. I have always LOVED pink, every shade of pink, but definitely have a hole in my stash in the yellow/gold department. The butterscotch prints in this line are truly breathtaking! They are really MUST-HAVE prints!!! Many of the prints also have this fun glitter! It is amazing as it does not come off the fabric when you work, cut, sew or wash it! It just adds that touch of whimsy and magic that elevates this collection! Bev also designed some some tossed flamingos which are so adorable! She has this wonderful way of putting prints together in a collection that ALL play so nicely together! For my projects today, I focused on the pink and butterscotch color ways, but this Stardust collection also has some beautiful greens and teals!
Spring is the PERFECT time to take up English Paper Piecing (EPP)! Many people often think this slow sewing is a winter activity... but not me! I always ramp up my hand sewing in the Spring and Summer months! Why?... First of all, because I LOVE fabric and color so much and want to be sewing YEAR-ROUND - daily! -- But, also when the weather gets warmer, we need to get out an enjoy it as much as possible! Hand sewing and EPP is so portable you can take it with you on a picnic, to the beach, to the playground, or even outside by your garden as you watch your flowers and vegetables grow! Are you convinced yet? Maybe this is the perfect month to renew your EPP skills - or if you never have tried it before - this might be the motivational nudge you needed!!! YAY! I am sharing you with a FREE template today to make your own Garden Grow mini quilt!!! This pattern is called Garden Grow and it is a wonderful introduction to EPP with not too big and not too small hexagons!!!
I know you will enjoy fussy cutting and playing with all the fabrics wrapped around these wonderfully shaped pieces of paper! If you want to get started today - simply download the FREE template page, print on cardstock (do NOT "fit to page" print as is, you can check to make sure the 1" square is accurate) and begin prepping your beautiful hexagons!
I thought the Rose Blossom Doll Pattern is the PEFECT doll to match this mini quilt! She is wearing an attached, flower petal bonnet with her cute curls peeking out from underneath. I omitted the cheek embroidery step and chose to give her the rosy-cheeked look by hand! The video link on how to do this technique is at the bottom of this blog post. I used the Dottiness Olive print for her legs to represent a stem of a flower. Her body I made out of the Flamingos print to really give a nod to Flamingo Toes and I used a combination of the other gorgeous florals and dot prints for her skirt, trim and waistband. The Scalloped print reminds me of scales and so I couldn't resist wiping up a Mermaid Tail for the Blossom Doll! After all, she is a flower, so I am sure she LOVES the water!
After sewing these patterns with this collection, I feel ready for all that Spring has to offer! New life, growth, outdoor time, and beauty! I hope you are inspired to sew up a garden this month!!!
Patterns:
Fabric:
Tutorials:
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