Desire to Inspire - June Challenge Results are In!

Desire To Inspire - June edition featured "Sweater Weather" and Wendy Andreason from Arizona is the talented challenger! 

 

Meet Wendy Andreason, look at her beautiful projects and leave a comment for her below!  

Wendy: For me sewing has always been about family. As a child my family sewed. My mother and aunt worked together to sew dolls and doll clothes for me and my cousins. They also made stuffed rabbits, I remember picking out which eyes I wanted with which fur.  

Pillowcases and slippers

My sister made me Gunne Sax types of dresses and taught me to crochet. My other sister crocheted as well.  We all did cross stitch. I hand sewed clothes which I designed for my Breyer horses because we all know horses need more than just one outfit! I knitted with my cousin as a young adult. I left that by the wayside pretty quickly though as my dishrags were so loose a large piece of burned broccoli could easily slip through. 

Wendy has some talented models along with a wonderful quilt! 

As an undergrad I took small projects to work on in between lectures (ok, I admit, these were usually sewing badges on scout uniforms and buttons back on shirts) and soon several of us would sit in the halls on the floor working on various items for our families (my classmates were mostly newlyweds with no children so their crafty endeavors were actually much more creative and entertaining than mine) while we quizzed each other on stuff I was quick to forget after the exams were passed. Particularly MATH but biology and all the other "ology" classes were just quick memorization to pass a test and then flush the information to revert back to an comfortably ignorant state.  (The joke was on me, a lot of this stuff I was supposed to know for grad school! ACK!) Ahh, so nice to have a good education! 

These models are as cute as the quilt!

I am always sewing for my  family, and sometimes with them.  For me sewing is an expression of love and a lot of fun. It is how I nurture and take care of those around me. It is how I was raised. It is more fun and easier than cooking and turns out better every time! I have been married for 33 years and have four sons and still I can't cook! Well, I can. It just generally tastes like crap. I will stick with sewing! Thank you to all the restaurants that have kept us alive!  

Bedtime in Sweater Weather land!

I started quilting when my husband bought me a sewing machine for our anniversary about 14 years ago. I still sew on that machine today. 

I learned from books, blogs, and patterns. Thank you to all those generous designers!  I love paper piecing and intricate patterns. I like to challenge myself so some of my projects don't turn out like I intend, but my family doesn't seem to notice and are appreciative and supportive. My first quilting class was five years ago when we moved to Arizona. I love the heat and the sun!  I have a lot of wonderful friends, most of whom quilt. They have taught me so much! We have a lot of laughs while we sew and I am so happy to have these fantastic people in my life. 

 

My next sewing adventure I think will be clothes! I see a lot of neat things being done and I want to try! Flannel pajama bottoms here we come! (Boys beware! I will want you to wear this stuff!) 

My shout out goes to Henry Glass!

I have wanted Henry Glass flannel since the penguins came out and I was so excited to win this! The flannel washes up beautifully! No pills, nice and thick and bright! The prints are so fun I wanted to find patterns to show them off and make them stand out.  I have been wanting to try making slippers for years and this was the perfect opportunity! They are so cozy I will for sure be making another pair to wear while these are in the wash. The throws I quilted very lightly so they are extra snugly and the pillow cases are to die for! They will be so soft I can't wait for cool weather to use them! Henry Glass has always had my attention for the charitable  works they do, and their fantastic attitude. I feel like they look out for their customers and I try to support them with my business. Thank you for the opportunity to work with these fabrics, and thanks to the designer Shelly Comiskey! 

Patterns are by:

Elizabeth Hartman: New Wave

Sewcial Mama: The Perfect Slipper

Lyn Brown:  Phat Fats Fat Quarter Quilt 

The Cloth Parcel:  Make This: burrito pillowcase with one way fabric tutorial

 

 

Wendy Andreason

Arizona