On the 4th Day of Christmas

Today we have a special guest for you! Miss Ebony Love of Love Bug Studios. 

She has whipped up a FABULOUS Christmas Project that she is going to share with us to show us how her fun card pack works. 

If you haven't heard of or seen her Quiltspirations in action, check out this video for a few basics about what they are and how to use them and then read on for her Christmas Project!

Hi I am Ebony Love.

I thought it would be fun to give you a sneak-peek into how I use Quiltspirations to add a little whimsy to my projects, or just get me out of a creative rut.  It’s especially handy around the holidays when you want to do something handmade, but get stuck thinking about just what to do!

I pulled a few cards from the pack of Quiltspirations, just to see what might result. The three cards I chose were, "Lend a Hand", "You are My Sunshine", and "Work Small".

Each of the cards in the pack gives you a suggestion of what to do, and reading through the cards, I knew I'd be doing a little hand embroidery, incorporating yellow, and working on something small and fast.  From those three prompts, I came up with an idea, and I assembled these materials for my project:

Working small can be interpreted in many ways. What I decided to do was work from a charm pack (isn't Marmalade divine?), and since I'm an avid die-cutting enthusiast, I grabbed a die to use for the project.  The card suggested "wonky stars" - and that's exactly what I found!

The "You are My Sunshine" card suggests incorporating yellow into a project, so a bit of Bella Yellow came to the rescue.

I cut some 5" squares from the Bella Yellow so they would match the charm squares, then I selected about 12 of the fabrics from the charm pack and fused Misty Fuse to the wrong side of each fabric.
I layered the fabric on the die to cut them and ended up with dozens of really neat stars!

Now what to do with these stars?  I recently purchased a set of six plain white kitchen towels, and I thought these stars would make great little appliques along one edge of the towel, so I fused a bunch of stars there.

Finally, the last card suggested doing a little hand embroidery.  I rarely, rarely undertake hand work, but I remembered that I had a stash of embroidery floss in one of my craft bins and a set of embroidery needles. Wouldn't the stars look great with a little running stitch outline?

It was very relaxing to take a little time out of my day to stitch this, but I thought the towel needed a little bit more.  I dug up some yellow rickrack and matching embroidery floss,
and decided to hand-stitch that part too.


This hand towel was really fun to make, and it looks really great and festive hanging in my kitchen:

What I find really neat about Quiltspirations is how it reminds me of things that I own but haven't used in a while, or suggest that I try something different that's out of my comfort zone.  Quiltspirations isn't about making a specific project, but is used more for a creativity spark. It's not a traditional card game to be played while sitting around a table, although it is something you can play with friends, or by yourself.

I've heard from quilt guilds all over the country that use them for mini-workshops and group challenges, but the most interesting story I have heard is how many people read through the entire pack of cards just for the entertainment value!

The card pack contains 40 cards, with a set of instructions and creativity prompts in seven categories. There are also a couple of wildcards in the deck to add a little more surprise to your play.
It's a great little stocking stuffer and a unique gift for the quilter in your life.