Starbuck's Inspiration

Here it is! More Harvest Decor that's quick and easy to make and add's a really nice personal element to your home. Here's the inspiration behind this project:

At the end of August I was looking forward to a couple of things happening in September. One was Jasper's first day of school and the other was the reintroduction of Starbuck's seasonal latte, the Pumpkin Spice. I've never been big into the coffee drinks, but one day as I was sitting with a friend over coffee the server came around with samples. In our memories it's strange what we can recall clearly and what seems fuzzy. The birth of my son- fuzzy. The first time I tasted a Pumpkin Spice Latte- I have complete recall of it. So yummy! So last year and now this year I've added it to my list of seasonal treats along with pumpkin bread and apple muffins.

When I started to create this little quilt I hand cut the pumpkin shape first with all of it's elements and stitched that on before I could think of what to add to the space above it. I thought of "Autumn", or "Harvest-y goodness", or just something about Fall. Nothing really worked. But then it came to me. "Pumpkin Spice is Nice." Now you may be thinking you would have chosen something else but this was personal art and I made the personal connection and now I smile when I see it. What simple pleasure could you make art of? Is there a Harvest osmell or activity you particularly look forward to each year? Something you'd like to share?

How To:
1) Creating a mini art quilt is fabulously easy (which I love), and you get great results (which I love even more)! To sketch out some ideas, then choose one and select some fabrics to work with. Working with different patterns and colors is really enjoyable to me so I sometimes start here and then figure out what to make of them.
2) Cut out a background piece- Here I chose black. Then, cut out your major design elements, I have the pumpkin, the leaves, etc. They cling really well to the background fabric once you set them on, so I use this opportunity to do some collage like playing around with the piece to further develop the design.
3) Once you have want you like laid out on the background piece, start to stitch them into place. Sometimes, just for ease, I'll glue on the smaller fabrics with a dab of the glue stick. Then using the embroidery floss of your choice start to straight stitch the pieces together. I love this step because the stitches add a drawing element that really adds to the collage feel of this process.
4) After I stitched down everything I usually step back to look at the overall design. This is where I decided on the "pumpkin spice" theme. I hand cut the letters and then glue sticked them down. I do need to go back over with some stitching to hold but it's good for now. Or I might pull them off and adhere them to a piece of that iron on interfacing. Then cut them and place them as desired. Easy!
5) Embellishment time! Now is the time to take a look at your design again and see if there's anything you can add to give it that extra punch. I chose to add the green backing fabric and some buttons. I have half a mind to go back in and add some salvage items I have, like an old roller skate key, but we'll see.
6) To finish I cut little strips from scraps of the orange fabric for ties. Bend the piece in half and then stitch to the top of your quilt. It can then hang from anything you'd like. I might switch this one over to an old ruler yet. Or a rusty old hanger. We'll see.... FUN!