Monday, July 1, 2013

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!




5 comments:

Pam in IL said...

Your brooch is so cute! I look forward to seeing what you come up with for your challenge!

Unknown said...

i love this. it's just lovely as can be, leslie.

Gill said...

Fabulous Leslie!

Kay said...

Wonderful. I am really looking forward to seeing all of your sewing this month.

Shawna (Eclectic Dreamer) said...

That is a cool brooch! And a great "reboot creativity" project.