Gloomy Day: Cheerful Crafty Flashback!

Ugh. The weatherman has been predicting rain and storms all week. Well, today, they finally hit. It is a grey day with no sun in sight, and plenty of rainshowers coming through. (No storms, yet. But I'm sure they're on their way.)

I ate a TERRIBLE breakfast this morning-- three bites of chocolate cake with frosting. Awesome. And I can tell, 3 hours later, what a mistake that was. Please tell me I am not the only one who really NEEDS a good breakfast--- protein-based and light--- to manage her moods and motivation the rest of the day?? I gotta fix this track before my train totally derails. Today is not lost, yet...

So in the face of all of this--- rainy outside, stormy inside, I need a bit of cheery color to remind me that there ARE still happy things in this world, even on days like today.

How about a ruffle-flower throw pillow?

I sewed this sweet pillow for a friend of mine who had lent me so many amazing things for Lucy's newborn photos. She'd boxed up her trencher, her egg basket, a bucket or two--- AND some amazing knit hats (see her work at WoolyWishes on Etsy). And then she shipped them all the way from CO. Wow! When it was time to send her goodies back, I thought I'd tuck a sunny throw pillow into her egg basket as thank you gift.

 

This is a standard envelope pillow cover, made to fit a 16" pillow form. I used grey corduroy for the base fabric, and a cheerful yellow twill (sturdy!) fabric for the ruffle. I kind of winged it all, to be honest, so I don't have clear instructions on how to do this yourself. I DID take a few photos of the process, but that was ages ago, and now as I look at those photos, I am still not too sure what I actually DID to get to the end product. Ha! I was in full-on sleep-deprived baby colic mode when I made this! 

I will say that the flower is two parts--- a LOOONG ruffle for  the three outer rings, and then a small independent flower for the center part. I made it separately so I could have more control over how it looked before I stitched it onto the big pillow.

ANYWAY, even without great instructions, I bet many of you seasoned sewers could make up something similar-- or even better!

And there is some sunshine for today. A happy pillow on a sunnier day long ago... Some color in the "Family Rules" board hung behind it... and a couple of beloved family photos nearby, as well as my family photo albums... 

Time to go reclaim THIS day. I've got some work to do. Third-to-the-last rule says to "Cultivate Gratitude Daily"... And I believe in that philosophy wholeheartedly, so I'm off to implement it.