I have been suffering from a creative dry spell. It isn't that I don't have any projects that need doing or even deadlines - it's that I'm either too tired or unmotivated or just feel weird about putting hands to fabric and creating.

However, what I have been doing is putting my hands in the dirt. 

We have two decks - a narrow one on the side of our place and a large one at the rear (which is what we use as our main entrance). I don't like the narrow deck - it’s too high off the ground and too narrow and old wood.  Michael loves it and uses it as his 'smoking' room.  He also has the potato planters out there and his greenhouse.  I love the one at the back and have been slowly turning it into the perfect summer oasis complete with flag pole, umbrella, planters, lanterns, outdoor rugs, seat, coffee table - the works. I even created a water garden complete with a fountain! 

It has been such fun picking out the planters, purchasing the flowers and plants, transplanting, staging - out door interior design on a budget!   I have also found sticking my hands in the dirt very therapeutic, too! 

​Now some might say there isn't much creativity in putting together a few plants and a folding chair - but I doubt Mike would agree, considering all the shifting around of planters he has had to do as I perfect this design!  He also figured out how to get the fountain placed perfectly! 

Michael is the 'big garden' guy - he has tons of idea about what to do with the big garden we have over at the farm (which is why he is starting seeds in his greenhouse) - he has the big vision.  I'm more the vignette sort. Luckily both our styles will make for lots of getting our hands and toes in the dirt and a wonderful blossoming & green summer!

About two weeks ago, while I was still waiting for the final bits I ordered for the NJF piece I am working on, I decided that I needed to do a challenge piece.  By challenge piece, I mean have someone challenge me to do a piece that was all one color.  Now this could also work for things like all floral prints, all solids, etc.  For this one, it was color and my partner picked blue (and thus the title of my post!).

I also decided to restrict the piece by size (no more the 15" x 12") and I could only use items I already had in house - no ordering decorations or fabric or anything! luckily, I had navy blue binding I could use for the edges!). 

I also sewed a pocket on the back to insert a dowel in order to make it easier to hang up the piece.

Overall I love the look and am pretty happy with how the piece turned out.  My first finished piece of 2015!

One technique I picked up a few years ago was the hang & view test.  Once I have a piece all pinned together, I like to hang it up and look at it until I feel the design is set.  This works great because anytime something bothers me about the piece, I can take it down, reconstruct it and hang it back up.  As I write this post, I have already reconstructed it once! 
I also have to mention another great tool - Pinterest!  I have found a wealth of new embroidery stitches to try, a kaleidoscope of colors to consider and oh such pretty fabrics to drool over!  I am hoping to try some of those new stitches on this piece.
I plan to post some additional 'in progress' photos on this piece - I hope you like them!