My daughter signed me up for Ali Edwards’ One Little Word class (She did ask if I would like to try it first.).  My daughter is a creative, prolific scrapbooker, and I love what she does.  She has played with paper ever since she was a tiny tot.  I, however, am not a scrapbooker.  But she assures me that I don’t have to be to enjoy this class.

In fact, she bought a journal for me instead of a binder.  I haven’t written a word in it, yet, but I love it! 

I will write in it soon.

As you can see from the cover of the journal, I have chosen the word ‘Joy’ for my word this year.  I’ve had some tough times the past few years and I’ve lost my ‘muchness’.

I understand that joy is an attitude; a choice.  But it is much more than that, and I shall be exploring it this year.  I hope to be a better person by the end of this year.

I splurged and bought a reminder to wear everyday.

I love this cuff bracelet!  It is hand made, well made, and I supported the maker in my small way. 

I had decided that I wanted a pillow, and then I saw the  2015 Free Motion Quilting Challenge.  For January, there are three options to choose from.  I’ve chosen a variation of Option #3.

I altered a design found in my Electric Quilt program and traced it onto my fabric with a blue water soluble marker:

I drew quilting ideas onto my paper pattern (it got a lot messier later):

Using water soluble thread, I sewed two layers of batting underneath the letters and the surrounding heart shape.  After sewing, I cut away the excess batting.

I chose a 12 weight orange Aurifil thread to outline the letters and heart shapes.

The filler was sewn with a 50 weight cream Aurifil thread.

All of the stitching is done with free motion.

I need a larger pillow form to fill out the pillow cover better.  It is on my shopping list.

My happy place, the sewing studio, is lime green and white.  Orange poppies and lime green (functioning as the zipper cover) make me smile.  This pillow will fit right in!