Mid-Week Motivation

Sometimes, in the middle week, it's nice to get a little inspiration to carry oneself through the rest of the week. I thought it would be nice to begin a weekly post where everyone can share what they are working on or have recently completed for their family or themselves; or given as a gift.

This week, I worked on the third quilt square for an ongoing swap on Swap-Bot called SEWvenirs.  It is appliqued and then hand-embroidered around all the edges.  The required information about the swap needs to be somewhere on the front of the block (e.g., name/ID, date completed, state/country where you live, a bit about the image).

This is the third hand-embroidered quilt block I made featuring

Minnesota's state tree:  the Norway (or Red) Pine.

Each month, people from around the world share a quilt square with one other person.  Eventually, by participating in the swap, I will have enough squares to sew together to make a quilt.  Ideally, each quilt block that I will receive will be from a different state or country.

Minnesota's state bird (the loon) appliqued and hand-embroidered.
This is the first SEWvenir quilt square I made.

In addition to receiving a quilt square from someone else each month, I am making two 12.5" x 12.5" squares with identical designs (12" block size with 1/2" seam allowance).  One of the squares I send to someone else, and one of the squares I'm keeping for myself.  Each of the squares I'm making somehow relates to Minnesota (e.g., state bird, flower, tree). 

Second quilt square I made to give away

to someone living in a different state. 

Another version I made will be used to make a quilt for the home.

I'm excited to see what the quilt turns out like.  I have an image of it in my mind...it will be interesting to see if the final version comes close to the imagined version.

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I find it inspiring to see what other are creating and or have created for their families or themelves. So, I invite you to put a link below to something you've been working on or just completed for yourself, your family, or that you gave as a gift. (Please don't link simply to your Etsy shop or show a product that you're selling. The focus should be on your creativity that is for your personal use or for a gift.)

It can be a:

- handiwork project - maybe something quilted, felted, embroidered...whatever your speciality

- recipe

- poem or short story

- homemade natural product - soap , bath salts, or laundry detergent

- item you made for your pets or livestock

- new bird feeder or recipe for suet

- tutorial

- photograph

- anything creative...it's up to you!

“Three keys to more abundant living:

caring about others,

daring for others,

sharing with others.”

~William Arthur Ward

Share your Mid-Week Motivation with the world! Or...with others who will read this post. Put an image onto your blog, and write a little bit. When you're all finished, link back to this post (simply copy the address at the top of your screen and paste it into your blog post). Come back here to this post, and add your link to the photo list below!

Note:  If you'd like to include the image of the purple and blue window star to show you're participating in Mid-Week Motivation, simply right-click on thexz image on the side of the blog and save the picture to your computer.  You can insert it right into your posting.