A little sewing project

I made this for my mama on mother's day, but I think it makes a sweet project any time of year.

Let me state that I am a crafter who requires free-styling projects--or, ones that take little prep time and don't take too long. I get bored pretty easily. Are you like that? I have so many friends who love taking their time to prepare for a project and I admire them so much! For me, I start to feel clausterphobic when a project takes too long. When a new project gets in my head I am full speed, drop everything, let the kids watch too much tv and ignore the dog crazy. I have to finish my projects before the next idea comes raging in.

Anyway, this was a nice project for those aforementioned reasons. I used a mandala design I'd created previously but I think any clip art you find on-line would work well (check that the art is not copyrighted, of course). You can also do a cute line drawing yourself--I think the campy and simple style works perfectly! Trace the image onto the fabric lightly with pencil. I don't know any fancy embroidery stitches, so I just did a straight stitch (in and out, in and out) for the whole design. I also was able to use the embroidery thread I've had for over 13 years when I cross-stitched a baby door hanger for my oldest niece who is now a full-fledged bikini wearing teenager. (where does the time go??) I put some thought into the colors, choosing what I thought would work well with my mom's decor, should she try to hang it somewhere by her bedside table (hint-hint). I used some plain white cotton fabric that was part of an abandoned project for my girl's room. I did have to purchase the embroidery hoop, but since I make a trip to Michaels about every week, this was not a problem. And since it the hoops cost a little over a dollar, this made for an inexpensive but special gift.

I also hand-wrote my message to her in pencil and stitched that in. So she'd know I love her. Cause I do. :o)

The mandala patter I used is attached and free for you to use (personal use only, please). I outlined the pattern only, but I think it would look nice if you filled in some of those petals with color (that would have been in the "takes too long for me" category). It should fit within a 6" hoop nicely. Have fun!!