Joy: A Mini Quilt and Auction for Ashley Hackshaw of Lil Blue Boo

I've been on a little creative journey for the past couple of years. Never ever EVER would I have suspected that I might just fall in love with creating anything (except my children...they're pretty great)! But somewhere along the way, blogs came on the scene. And splashed on the pages of those blogs was inspiration. Fabric and color and words and ideas started swirling around in my brain. Something finally clicked and I realized that it was OK to be inspired by someone. And oddly enough, I don't think that I knew what inspiration was before then. Aspiration, yes. Inspiration, not so much.

Ashley Hackshaw over at Lil Blue Boo was one of those initial few people to capture my heart by way of the creative. The first thing that won me over was her heart to SHARE creativity with the world. Not only through her shop, but by offering oodles and oodles of tutorials as well. I'm pretty sure that I immediately subscribed to her blog-- and I'm so thankful that I did.

It followed that I fell in love with Ashley's positivity, joy, strength and spunk. She has purposed to "Choose Joy" in each and every circumstance that life throws her way. So when life threw her a curve ball this fall and an invasive cancerous tumor began as a result of a molar pregnancy, it kind of rocked my heart too. But Ashley is one amazing fighter. Full of life. Full of faith. Overflowing with JOY.

(Click on the photo of Ashley below to see more about her journey)

A sweet group of women affectionately dubbed "Team Ashley" sent me an email asking if I was interested in donating an item to an auction that would raise money to benefit the Hackshaw family. Amy over at Evy's Tree wrote a post explaining how this auction will help cover Ashley's mounting medical expenses in greater detail. Please hop over there to read more.

I wholeheartedly wanted to make something-- but I wasn't sure what. And then this idea for a mini quilt came to mind. So I sketched out the letters, created a template and got to stitching. Unfortunately, the binding fabric took a little longer than expected to arrive and they have over 260 (that's right, TWO HUNDRED and SIXTY) items donated so far, so I think that my photo and item may not make it directly into the official auction now. (Lesson learned: send confirmation email with a note saying that photos will follow next time!)

Nonetheless, I will list the mini quilt on the Lovespun Studio Facebook page and here on the blog and open it up as a teeny tiny private auction with the proceeds going to benefit Ashley 100%-- that means the shipping is on me too friends! Please check out the auction when it goes live. There is a button posted on the sidebar of the blog that will link directly to it as well.

Please pray for sweet Ashley and her family. Also, please spread the word about this auction. Let's link arms and make a difference.