Try Something New {With These 2 Hands}

With the popularity of Pinterest, creative ideas abound! But, how often do you look at beautiful pins and think, “I could never do that?” I want to challenge you to give something new a try!

I did.

For the longest time I’ve admired the beauty of quilts. I’ve bought quilting magazines. I’ve bought fabric. I’ve pinned quilt ideas. But every time I thought of making my own quilt I froze! Surely I would mess it up. Mine wouldn’t come out as pretty as all the gorgeous ones I’ve seen all over.

In preparation for each of our children I’ve always had a creative project to work on during the ‘nesting’ phase. For the past few pregnancies that outlet has been knitting woolies. During this pregnancy I’ve been very hesitant to spin and knit though. I had made so many tiny little knitted goodies for Miranda and was definitely sad when the only thing she ever got to wear was one sweater that I had made for her.

Now that I am in the third trimester for this precious little one I was worried that arrival day would come and there would be no momma-made goodies for her. I wasn’t quite ready to knit for her though.

Instead, I figured it was time to busy my hands at attempting a quilt.

I browsed some of my quilting friends pin boards and found an idea that looked do-able for a beginner and I set to work choosing fabrics.

I’m an all-or-nothing crafter so once I got started on the project I set to work on it until it was complete.  I washed all the fabrics, ironed, and cut them on the first evening and took the next night to assemble and quilt it.

There wasn’t much sleep that night.

I used a washable marker to draw swirls and stars to follow for quilting lines since I didn’t have much faith in my ability to sew straight lines! I think it adds to the fun of this quilt.

It isn’t perfect, but I love it. It’s bright and cheerful.

In my impatience to get it finished I was using scissors to snip the hanging threads instead of using a small seam ripper. Big mistake! I ended up snipping a tiny hole in the quilt back. There was no way I was starting over. Serendipitously the hole I nipped was right in the middle of the top third! My solution was cutting out a small heart and stitching it right over the hole.

It is perfectly imperfect, most certainly hand-made!

All that’s left is for the baby to arrive so we can put it to use. I’m looking forward to that day!

What is something creative you’ve always wanted to try but were afraid it just wouldn’t work out?

How can I encourage you to give it a try? I’d love to see what your hands create!     

________________________________________________________________________________

With These 2 Hands is a monthly link-up between the daisyhead, DaisyHead Creations, Serving from Home and CreativLEI. On the last Wednesday of each month we want you to share your latest creative endeavor with us. It’s show and tell time. When you link up with us it will be shared on all four blogs. Time to meet some new creative friends!

Guidelines for linking up can be found here

Grab the button (code can be found in my sidebar) and share your latest work with a link back to this post.

It doesn’t have to be a craft. Have you tried a new recipe or cooking technique? Are you in the midst of redecorating a part of your home? Have you been playing with a new camera? These are all creative endeavors and we want to see what you’re up to!