I make stuff!

Now that I'm not spending every waking moment doing homework - I make stuff!  While in grad school and a bit after I did a few inspirational embroidery pieces.  My original thought was to put them all together into a quilt and have something to wrap up in when I felt a little down.  But I have a LOT of quilts already, and making something full sized is always a bit of a challenge.  So I decided to turn them into a quilted book.  I used scrap fabric and took the opportunity to practice a few new embroidery stitches.  

Let's start with a nod to Maya Angelou, the Phenomenal Woman herself.

I was working on this page on the bus and the gal next to me started asking me questions about what I was doing.  I asked her what else I should do on this page, she told me to do a little fish  - so there's a little improvisational fish.

I stitched this one at a craft retreat at the coast.

"Beauty surrounds you because you create it" was from a fortune cookie I got a while ago.  It's such an appropriate fortune for me, and I've been inspired by it for years.  I can create beauty and I will be surrounded by it.  

I'm trying very hard to apply these mottoes to my life.  

A final nod to Maya.  

The end.  (and upside down for some reason)

I'm really happy with this little project.  I was able to pull together a lot of different pieces of stitching and scrap fabric to make something colorful and uplifting.  After years of academic structure it felt good to just be purely creative, without trying to follow any rules or get it 'right'.  I especially had fun adding the grommets... it's not often I get to use a hammer when quilting!  

I'm already working on another quilted book.... something a little more experience based, more like a journal.  It's a really fun and flexible format.