Spotlight on AWEsome! Meet the EclecticArmadillo, and a Giveaway!

Welcome to this month's "Spotlight on AWEsome"!  This time around, we'd like to introduce to you to Sarah,  one of the founders of the AWEteam, who is also our fearless leader!  Sarah runs two distinct shops on Etsy, and both are equally AWEsome!   For  Meditation Cushions~Home Decor Pillows~Buckwheat Hulls
 take a peek at eclecticarmadillo, and if you are yearning for Handmade Cathedral Windows Pillows or quilting supplies,  visit sarahsquiltsncrafts!  You'll be glad you did!  Sarah's roots are very evident in her work!

Introducing Sarah...
My name is Sarah spelled with an "h". I grew up on a working farm in a closed community of the horse and buggy Old Order Mennonites in eastern Pa. I made my final exit at about age 28, but that's a story for another time and place....a whole book, in fact! Suffice it to say I know what it's like to live by the seasons, grow and preserve food, work in the fields baling hay and straw, and planting tobacco, like one of the boys when necessary, strip tobacco on winter evenings after school, and of course last but not least, the arts of keeping house and sewing.

Cathedral Windows Pillow Cover Happy as the Grass is Green

Influences...

My mother taught the three of us (including my brother) how to sew-first by hand, using a thimble. Next we were permitted to use the Singer treadle, and finally her electric sewing machine; working with cotton fabrics leftover from her sewing projects to make quilts, then on to other functional items. A grade school teacher gave me a bag of fabric scraps leftover from her sewing projects. I remember how thrilled I was! I designed "English" dresses for our dolls without patterns. At age 15 I began a 20 year business in furniture reupholstery. And now, more recently getting back to making quilts as art and home decor, etc.

Inspiration...

Some of my inspiration comes from the colors and shapes and smells (the good ones!) in the natural world around me. Some of it comes from wanting to be a useful human being by making things that others can use and enjoy in their everyday lives. Some of it comes from seeing potential in things that can be recycled, repaired or repurposed rather than just throwing them away. Like many others, I'm always having to bittersweetly sort out which ideas to pursue, and which to just let disappear into the ethers.

Meditation Pillow Cover in Terra Cotta Jacquard

Little known facts...

~ I whimper and jerk a little when I'm falling asleep. Sometimes I can hear and feel myself as I'm drifting off.
~ I crave pizza. (Maybe more people know that than I had suspected.)
~ I secretly thought for many years that I must be an alien because I didn't fit in too well at times. (I  now     know that many people have thought the same thing.)
~ At age 14 I was riding to school on my bicycle and was hit by a car that didn't stop completely at a stop sign. I received 25 stitches in my right ear, and have a tender spot on my right leg to this day.
~ I dream frequently of trying to fly by levitating-sometimes I can!

The Giveaway!

Sarah has graciously offered to share one of her gorgeous creations to one lucky winner, and it's a winner's choice!  The winner gets to choose to receive either the Meditation Cushion Cover in Olive and Pineapple and Star Mandala or the Cathedral Windows Pillow Cover in Rust and Olive.

This giveaway is open Worldwide!  It is also open to AWEteam members as well!

#1. leaving a comment on the blog feature article  of which pillow cover you would like  if you win!

                                                                             
                                                                        For Additional Entries:
                                                                                          #2. follow the AWEteam blog , that's this one!

Meditation Cushion Cover in Olive and Tan Pineapple and Star Mandala

     #3. "like" the new FFAW facebook fan page

     #4. join the AWEteam

     #5. follow AWEteam twitter

    #6. Make a purchase from either of Sarah's shops for one entry each purchase. Post your Purchase here!

    #7. refer a friend to participate in the giveaway
                           
   #8. follow Sarah's  blog

Cathedral Windows Pillow Cover in Rust and Olive


The giveaway is now closed!  A
winner has been selected using random.org.
The winner will be posted when I hear back from her!

One lucky winner will be drawn during our next First Friday Art Walk on Etsy, Oct. 1, 2010 
Lotsa Luck!

Join us tomorrow!  Sarah shares with the world her favorite recipe!

Wishing you an AWEsome Day!