I "used" to have a basket that held a bunch of little pillows that I stitched. I say "used to" because over time, I have given them all away for one reason or another. I called it my "Basket of Happy"
Now I have a whole bunch of Fall colored hearts in my basket.
I betcha you are wondering what the heck a Basket of Happy is and what its for? Just to look at I suppose, but really, the cute little pillows just, well... make you happy and 9 times out of 10 produce a smile.
I have taken my basket of happy with me to different events and have shared my thoughts on having a basket of happy. I have even been known to throw the little stuffed lovelies at people that seemed to need a little happy.
They smiled when I did...some even laughed.
Insta happy.
Last year I had made a "Casserole of Love" which held a bunch of hand stitched hearts that I gave out to the ladies in my bible study group. They smiled too.
so, with the RIDICULOUS amount of fabric, felt, floss, buttons, beads, etc. I decided that these would made the perfect Tuesday Tutorial.
First, I created a pattern Download Happybasketheartpattern and cut out several hearts from an old pair of jeans that I had in the stack with my other fabrics.
Then I grabbed my stash of Tim Holtz trim, pinned the pieces in place
threaded my needle and started stitching.
It seemed to need a little more of something so I picked out red seed beads from a baggie of 10,000 beads I have and added those
added a few french knots
trimmed off the edges
stitched it up with a blanket stitch leaving a spot to stuff it
and stitched it closed.
then...
I could not stop.
I cut up a cotton tea towel and grabbed my jar of buttons
and picked out the clear seed beads from my baggie of beads and the random gems and jewels I had in the baggie too, and stiched those on
stuffed it and stitched it and now I find myself looking at it and smiling.
This is where the Tuesday Tutorial should conclude, but I couldn't stop cutting and stitching
and now have a pile of happy hearts that need to be stuffed and shared.
Please feel free to
Download Happybasketheartpattern, create a happy basket of your very own and share a little happy with those around you. If you are inspired to create based on this or any of the Tuesday Tutorials, I would sure love to see and hear your story. Please email me your photos to homegrown1(at)att(dot)net and I will share them with upcoming Tuesday Tutorials!