Saturday, December 12, 2015

A Christmas House

It's always a bit of a dilema when it's time to make something for a swap. So I followed the guidelines of 'make something you'd like to receive' as well as "make something that you'll enjoy making." And I hit it on both counts. Plus I got to use a pattern I've been wanting to try - Carolyn Friedlander's "Austin House," which I nabbed at QuiltCon. Happily, the block went together so smoothly, and even though I love how it looks in Carolyn's own fabric, I couldn't resist trying a scrappy Christmas look.


Having made just one block, my project was destined to remain relatively small. Surrounded by more background fabric (a gray chambray), I was aiming for a 12" x 24" pillow insert. For quilting, I tried another something I've been wanting to try - a diamond crosshatch, with lines about 3/8" apart. What fine texture it creates.


This time around, after the quilting I trimmed both front and back to the same dimensions as the insert, after having used this lapped zipper tutorial by Pile O'Fabric, which worked perfectly. Then I sewed the front and back together with a 1/2" seam, turned it all right-side out, and voila! It filled the pillow out quite nicely, so remind me to do that next time, would you?


[Random note: after finishing the pillow, I happened upon made by ChrissieD's Quilted Pillow Cushion with Hidden Zipper, which has a zipper installation that's very very similar, except with 1/4" double-stick fusible tape....a clever idea I'd like to try.]


So the pillow got taken to the #SeattleMQG holiday party today, was swapped twice, and then happily claimed by my bee-mate Aline/augustdreamsquilts. Good times.

7 comments:

  1. It's great. Love the shape and size. Would
    Love to see the pattern because I cannot imagine it any other way.

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  2. I'd love this Christmas house! The diamond crosshatching turned out great, I haven't tried that before either.

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  3. it's so great.... and perfect Christmas colors as far as I'm concerned! that cross hatching is fantastic.

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  4. The texture is amazing, and the pillow is gorgeous in the reds/greens you chose, without being too Christmasy. I love it! This pattern has been on my list to try for awhile!

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  5. I love the diamond quilting and the pillow is wondrful! I always have a hard time deciding what to swap, I want to make sure they will be wwowed and love it! I use a hidden zipper tutorial from SOTAK Handmade...

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  6. Love it! I am going to have to try the diamond cross hatch --- on a very, very, very small project. Potholder? Your quilting is amazing as is your patience. :)

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  7. I love, love, love it, Debbie! I was already a fan when I first saw it posted, and now it lives in my house. Lots of inspiration for me; thanks so much!

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