Hooray For Exciting New Beginnings!

Greetings, friends! And apologies for a very long absence. Back in February, I started a law firm with my friend and former colleague, Amanda Anderson. Amanda and I started at the same larger firm when we were both fresh out of law school, and it didn't take long for us to figure out that we enjoyed collaborating and had similar perspectives on the practice of law. Amanda is a terrific lawyer and I couldn't ask for a better business partner. 

One of the reasons I decided to go to law school was because I dreamed of practicing in the area of adoption law. I am so proud to tell you that our firm, Anderson Ballard LLC, represents prospective adoptive parents as well as birth parents involved in the adoption process. We also serve as general counsel to local community associations. Oh, and we blog on topics related to those areas of law right here. It feels so good to be building our dream business, and I am thankful and happy every day that we decided to take this leap. 

Of course, starting a business takes more work than you can ever anticipate! 2016 has kept me very busy. I've managed to sneak in some sewing here and there, but struggled during these last few months to find time to share those projects on Hooray for Rain. While there's never a shortage of things to do, I'm happy to say that life is beginning to normalize and I anticipate that I will be able to start posting my recent quilting projects here again.  Hooray! I'll see you back here soon.

Infinity Scarves

Happy new year, friends! I hope 2016 is off to a good start for everyone. 

My last sewing finish of December was a pair of infinity scarves.  I had a gift card to one of my local quilt stores, and I used it to treat myself to some beautiful Kokka double gauze.  This is Monochrome by Ellen Baker, Circles on Mint. It is deliciously soft. 

There are plenty of great infinity scarf tutorials out there. I used Imagine Gnats' double guaze infinity scarf tutorial. These scarves sewed up really fast. As far as I'm concerned, one of the best things about making these scarves is that you can make two scarves out of 1 and 2/3 yards of fabric. One for you, and one for me! 

In this case, it was one scarf for Lauren and one for me. Unfortunately we forgot to take matchy scarf pictures at Christmas. So instead, I offer you a cute photo of Halley modeling my scarf. In my defense, it was snowing that day, and therefore perfectly reasonable to dress my dog in a scarf. Perfectly adorable too. 

First Aid Kit Pouch

Our family has a tradition of exchanging gifts on December 6th. On St. Nicholas Day, good old St. Nick brings presents for the children of France. Our adorable Mom, who is both a Francophile and an enthusiastic celebrator of holidays, started the tradition when I was young.

As part of this year's St. Nicholas celebration, I made a first aid kit zippy pouch for my favorite nurse. 

I used mushrooms from Emily Isabella's Everyday Party fabric collection for the inner lining just because it made me giggle to put fungus inside a first aid kit.

Happy St. Nicholas Day to all who celebrate it, young and old, French and otherwise! 

Ombre Hexie Pillow

Hello hello! I'm back today with an envelope pillow that I started a year and a half ago and finally finished this weekend. 

Just after Lauren and I started this blog, I went on a long weekend road trip. When Patrick and I go on road trips, he does about 80% of the driving, which is just the right ratio for both of us. I thought ahead and put together a little hexie kit before we left - 3-inch squares of fabric, thread, a needle, and scissors. At the end of our trip I documented my hexie progress with the photo above, and it was the very first photo I posted to our Instagram account! 

Every time we'd go out of town I'd bring my hexie kit and make a little progress. It grew and grew until finally it was big enough to make a pillow. 

I had a 16-inch pillow form and followed a tutorial that suggested making your pillow cover two inches larger than than pillow form. I think that next time I make an envelope pillow, I'll make it a little smaller for a snug fit.  

I removed my hexie papers, trimmed and squared up the hexies, and added fusible interfacing to make it a little sturdier. I had to take a picture of the back before adding the interfacing, because it looked so much like a flower. 

I backed the pillow cover with Anna Graham's Ripple canvas in navy and bound it quilt-style.  

This pillow will live in our basement on our navy blue couch, but I snapped these pictures in our bay window to take advantage of the natural light.

It feels really good to finally finish this pillow cover. Now I need a new road trip hand sewing project!

Gemology Banner

My latest quilting block obsession is the Gemology Block by SarahRose Quilts. It is such a gorgeous block! 

I have yet to make any Gemology blocks for a quilt. My first Gemology project was this banner for Hillary's Shower.

I made the banner in a variety of pinks and purples and blushes to compliment Hillary's wedding colors. I thought the Cotton + Steel Mochi Floral binding/garland string paired nicely! 

I have another very exciting plan for this block...stay tuned for more gems!