February 2025

Dear First name / friend,

 

Happy belated Valentine's Day! Next to Thanksgiving it's my favorite holiday because it celebrates love. I think of love in the broadest sense and believe that self love counts too! I often get myself some fresh flowers, unless someone beats me to it and indulge in some dark chocolate. I might plan a special meal or make a gluten free dessert. One of my friends had a Galentine's party. It's a great example of thinking creatively with an out-of-the-box idea. On that note, here's a virtual bouquet of tulips for you! The coloring part is DIY. Use your favorite media or any of the ideas for your page I mentioned in the November newsletter. I'd love to see your creativity applied.

Tip: Try adding meaning for inspiration. For example, what color is your mother's favorite flower? If you were gifting these to someone, what color would you give them? Use color symbolism to convey a deeper message.

All manner of stripes have been on my mind due to a recent design challenge on Spoonflower. It's been fun digging into the differences between a candy, ticking, chalk and pin stripes. There are so many more including nautical, banker, regency, cabana, awning, mixed, multi and bar code. The history is interesting and it's been enlightening to know a little more about things I took for granted. When I was sixteen I volunteered at my local hospital where I pushed a cart from room to room delivering ice water and magazines, wearing a pink and white uniform. Now I know why I was called a candy striper!

My new Herringbone Mixed Stripe designed from a hand made stamp.

I made my first zipper pouch! Straight seams and perfect points they are not, but I am ahead of where I started and that is satisfying. Using salvaged fabric (hubby's old shirts) to practice, I followed a tutorial by @bethanylynne_makes that I found on Pinterest. Ultimately I want to use my test swatches from Spoonflower. Bethany's tutorial was easy enough to follow, even for a novice like me. I only had to use the seam ripper a few times! Like trying anything new, I have a greater sense of appreciation for the time, care and skill it takes to sew a pieced quilt.

Triangle zipper pouch using a Bethany Lynne Makes pattern.

As mentioned above, bethanylynnemakes.com offers beginner sewing tutorials as well as patterns for purchase. She has a blog post with written instructions and helpful videos for the free pouch pattern I tried among other projects including accessories and apparel. She is also a knitter and crocheter.

If you have a favorite resource for anything hand made like sewing, knitting, crochet, embroidery, art or craft, please let me know!

Pattern Design Playbook by Bonnie Christine is all about the world of Surface Design. She was the one I chose to guide me when I became curious about designing patterns for real world applications and licensing. She was inspirational and I was impressed by the quality of her free offerings. I was convinced that this was the next way I wanted to expand my creative skill set so I took the leap and I'm glad I did. It has been the source of much forward momentum for me over the past year. If you're at all curious about how patterns are made, income opportunities or just how the industry works, you can watch for free through 2/25.

I'm proudly sharing my affiliate* link for the workshop here. If you have any questions, I'll gladly share my personal experience with you.

*As an affiliate, I may earn a commission if you buy through this link. I whole-heartedly recommend Bonnie and her educational products as I have used them personally. 

“Under the Pepper Tree (on Blue)" is the first fat quarter I'm sending out to a subscriber this year. The giveaway recipient is: tmschwing. Please reply with a mailing address to claim your gift and it'll be on the way.

All current subscribers will automatically be entered in a random drawing for my Happy Flowers linen/cotton tea towel just in time for Spring. Check your funletter next month for the winner announcement so you can claim it.

Giveaway Fat Quarters and Tea Towel

Until next month, happy creating!

P.S. Thanks for reading! If you know someone who might enjoy this funletter, please pass it along.

 

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