July Crafting Challenge: Day #1

You may have noticed that I haven't been blogging as much in the past 6 months as I have previously. I think I've been in a crafting slump, and I don't like it!! In an effort to jump-start my creativity,  I've set a challenge for myself:  to craft something every day during the month of July, and post it here on this blog. Surely I can make one thing every day, right? 

Today, July first, I decided to ease into the challenge by making a brooch using some materials that would give me a head start--because they are already partially made! I started with one of the cutter quilts I bought on eBay last summer, and cut out a 2" circle. This gave me an interesting base, and all I had to do was cut a circle! Then I embellished it by embroidering a floral design on it freehand. The centerpiece is something I made a while ago; it is polymer clay, on which I stamped the word "believe" before baking. After covering the back of the brooch with blue felt, I blanket-stitched around the edge, and added a clasp to the back. It came together so quickly that I think I will be making a lot more brooches this month!

I love being able to repurpose a quilt that is too tattered to be useful as a bed cover any longer. If you look closely at this brooch, you can see the white threads that someone used to hand-stitch her quilt. Also, the coarse cotton batting is visible around the edges.  It's simple and pretty and just my style!