Spring Sewing

With all my Valentine themed items finished and delivered to the stores that carry my work, it was time to start thinking about Spring.  One rule about retail is one must anticipate the next season and start working on merchandise early enough to get it into the stores.  For me, nothing says Spring like tulips so when I spotted this fabric a few months ago, I was quite excited and was looking forward to figuring out what I would make out of it.  After rummaging around in my stash, I located some coordinating fabrics.  I could see that I had enough of the tulip fabric and the matching fabrics to make a few hot pads and a couple of bowls.  The pattern I used for the Autumn themed hot pads went over fairly well and I could see that it would work well with this tulip fabric.  It is basically a 4 patch circle appliqued on top of a 4 patch block with a border.  The tulip fabric would appear in the center appliqued circle and the border.   I made 4 tulip themed hot pads since I wanted some fabric left over for making baskets.

We here in New England got up to snow school closings this morning.  Dark and stormy outside....what better time to made a couple of bright and cheery Spring baskets from the tulip fabric I had left over from the hot pads.  The first basket I worked in a narrow green, yellow and orange stripe and made it with handles.   The second basket I I used just the tulip fabric alone.  I can probably count on one hand the number of baskets I made where I used only one fabric.  After making the first one I could see that this fabric could easily stand alone AND still be very visually interesting.   I can definitely see these hot pads and baskets gracing someone's Easter table.  Not to mention how it brightens one's spirits to work with these wonderful Spring colors on such a stormy day.