Sardine Pillow

When I saw Kristin @woollypetals post her Sardine Pillow pattern, I realllly wanted to make one. It was just so unique and fun. But what would I do with a sardine pillow??

Eventually, it dawned on me that there was one person in our family that just might enjoy a big (36"!) ole sardine pillow, and that would be our soon-to-be-seven-year-old granddaughter. So, of course. I made one for her birthday!

Let's just say, she was thrilled! She really liked that her favorite fruit was featured on her sardine. She kept it with her for the rest of the day, and fell asleep snuggling it that night. SO cute!

If you want to make your own, be sure and check out Kristin's video tutorial, as it guides you every step of the way. Meanwhile, though I was pretty sure our granddaughter would like her sardine, what I really didn't expect was that two other family members would chime in at the party and say they wanted one too! So it looks like there are more giant stuffed sardines in my future!

Reading Pillows

I really didn't do much gift sewing this month, but I couldn't help but make a few things. More to come in a future post, but I think the Reading Pocket Book Pillows deserve a post of their own.

Both of my granddaughters, aged nine and 16 months, enjoy books. They (well, the older one anyway) also enjoys "sister" things. So a pair of coordinating Reading Pillows sounded like something they might have fun with - either together or individually. The pattern by Polka Dot Chair was my starting point, which incorporates a front pocket, appliqued letters, piping(!), and 18" pillow forms. In making these, I realized that I don't have a piping foot, so I used my zipper foot. Not ideal, but it definitely worked. I did change up the handles on mine - a feature I love by the way, especially for children - by making one with fabric matching the personalization, rather than using a ribbon as suggested. Other fabrics I used were Essex in gray and that cute cat print from Dear Stella.



Even though the photos above show plain pockets, I actually machine-appliqued the girls' names on the pillows, and surprised myself with how much I enjoyed that. See below an edited photo that shows another idea from Melissa, the word {READ}. Which is great, of course, but imagine them being personalized instead, and you'll have a good idea what mine looked like.

Books were tucked into the pockets before gifting them to my grandgirls, and from all indications after unwrapping all the gifts on Christmas, they will be well-used and enjoyed. I sure hope so.

Slats

When I purchased a digital copy of Debbie/Esch House Quilts' book, Lines by Design Quilts for May is for Makers, it was totally so I could make the Slats pillows.

From Day 1, I had in mind that they would go nicely in our living room, where my Chaos quilt now hangs. As perfect as I felt the combination of Irome Muji cotton/linen blends by Kokka, gray chambray, and Essex Natural were for the quilt, I knew they would be equally perfect for these pillows. To balance what fabric I had, I included some yarn-dyed Essex in gray, and all together, I love the mix.

These pillows were great fun to piece, and each was quilted simply in Aurifil 50wt #2600 (light gray), which is one of two threads I keep on my machine for every-day use. I followed along the accent stripes, which added a new dimension without overwhelming those blocks of color. And speaking of color, I backed each in a different one - whichever was most used in that particular pillow. The pattern called for lapped zippers, which I really like, and Debbie's method made them a breeze.

So I'm really pleased! I haven't made anything other than Christmas pillows for this room in a very long time, so it was about time. And Slats fit the bill perfectly.

Pillows :: Round Two

So when I counted them up, I'd made 5 pillows plus 3 pillow covers as gifts this Christmas. They've all been gifted now, so after sharing three a few days ago, here's the rest.

After visiting family in Tennessee for Thanksgiving, I came home with the plan to make a pillow cover for my mom, who traveled back with us and is staying with my brother and sister-in-law for a couple of months. Mom has a pillow back there that needed a cover, so I guessed at the size, though alas, I was off. But at least it was fun to make, and got re-gifted to my niece, which is cool.

Also while back there, I gave my brother and his wife my Askew quilt, and it was mentioned right off that some coordinating pillows would be a nice addition. I made a pair of 17" covers to send off, then ordered pillow forms on Amazon and had them shipped straight to their home. Worked like a charm.

My son-in-law's grandma is a quilter and fabric-lover, and I happened to notice her pin Cluck Cluck Sew's Sprocket Pillow on Pinterest. This one was perfect to make with scraps, which I knew she would appreciate. I made the 14" version, stuffed it with poly-fill as directed, and it went together really smoothly. I covered a 1 1/2" diameter button for each side, and then came the trickiest part - securing those buttons. I'm not too keen on doing that again any time soon, but I do love the end result.

Just a couple of days before Christmas, I got to work on one last pillow and I really wasn't sure I could get it done in time. Hubby had loved the size of The Christmas House pillow I'd made for our guild swap, commenting that it would be perfect for him and his comfy chair. When I asked what it would look like, he said whatever I thought would go in our family room. Oh yeah - free reign!



So fingers crossed, I gathered up the extra bits my Bee Sewcial beemates had sent - little pieces that didn't make it into my Mod Mood quilt that hangs in that room - and put them together into a pillow cover, filling in with more solids and some gray chambray. Considering I only wanted a 12" x 24"' pillow per hubby's request, it went together pretty quickly, and I quilted it with the same organic zig zag as the original.



I'll confess I was pretty thrilled with the end result, and better yet, so was hubby. It's already being put to good use. yay.



Linking up with Fabric Tuesday and Scraptastic Tuesday.

The First Round

I don't even know how it started, but I made alot of pillows as Christmas gifts this year. They are all unique, and let's just say I do a very nice lapped zipper technique by memory now! Here's a few that have already been gifted. 

Scraps were incorporated whenever possible, so doing a log cabin with a fussy-cut center was a no-brainer. You can't see, but I used that C+S washi tape print as the backing, and it pulled the whole thing together nicely, plus the recipient loved it, which was a bonus. 

After seeing Katherine/Sew Me Something Good share her scrappy patchwork tree pillows, I dove right in and really enjoyed putting this one together. And for the record, quilting these babies up was fun and really quick. I layered the pillow tops with batting and backing before quilting, so they have a nice feel to them when stuffed.

I debated for a while what to do for this third pillow, and finally happened across Lee/Freshly Pieced's Fair Isle quilt pattern, and realized one poinsettia block would be a perfect pillow. I used two stash solids, Kona Rich Red and Cardinal and the combo really is quite striking in person against that white.

All pillow forms are 16", and I cut both the zippered backings and the quilted fronts exactly 16", and using a 1/2" seam, the resulting pillows are plump and full. Just as they should be, right?

Pillowy

Pillows aren't really my normal make, but you wouldn't know it from my sewing this last week. First was this irresistible Dala Horse using the pattern by Stitched in Color.

Even though paper-piecing like this isn't the most relaxing for me, I love how it turned out, and "got" to try sketch stitching for the very first time. It went well! So after a simple contrasting border and a big ole quilted crosshatch, I finished it off with an invisible zip.

After that, I really had no other imminent pillow plans until I saw the snowflake pillow teaginny made with During Quiet Times' pattern. I, uh, kinda had to make one myself straightaway.

The pattern has 3 sizes - 6", 9", and 12" blocks. I made the 9" snowflake, added a narrow frame, and pretty much copied teaginny's quilting. This time, I tried a new zipper tutorial - an easy, perfect lapped treatment by Pile O'Fabric. Boy it went together nice, and I'll be using that technique again. In no time at all I had a sweet seasonal 12" cushion. That was fun!

For me, there's a special pleasure in sewing that is spontaneous - making things that weren't planned at all. Now where'd I put that TO DO list? {smile}

Linking up to Fabric Tuesday.

A Quilted Trio

Once upon a time, mom, daughter dear, and I happened upon a stash sale, the looks of which none of us had seen before! We all found some goodies to bring home and at the time, mom knew exactly what she wanted made out of her stack - some new pillows for her family room.

Michele D'Amore's Habitat & Bold and Beautiful + Kona Sweet Pea

Fast forward 8 months and we finally settled on a pattern and some quilting designs and got the 20" pillow forms purchased. The pillow below was our initial inspiration, but note that this is actually the back of a pillow by PatchworkPottery. But we loved the stripeyness, the quilted goodness, and indeed, the tie back.

With plans for 3 pillows, I used the same mix of fabrics on each pillow, but in a different order.

Each also got a different quilting treatment, all with Aurifil 50wt #2326 (tan, though it looked more goldish to me).

 The third pattern actually got the addition of #2310 (light beige) as well . . .

And the backs? All three got a faced envelope closure with matching ties.

With a matching dotty binding to finish them up, I'm pretty sure they'll suit mom just fine. Better late than never, right?

Linking up with Fabric Tuesday.

Oilcloth Pillows

When hubby, mom, and I were on vacation last month, we happened upon a quilt shop one day. And there we purchased a yard of oilcloth, with the intent to make mom some deck pillows.

Fast forward several weeks, and I decide those pillows would be a quick and perfect project for the evening. My Instagram buddies had given me some pointers - NO iron(!), painters tape on the bottom of my sewing foot OR a Teflon foot (which I don't have), jean needle. AND they confirmed the fact that I was working with oilcloth as apposed to laminated cotton. Boy those guys are helpful and johnny on the spot!

I searched around for a tutorial for an envelope-back pillow, finally choosing this one by lovesome, and it ended up being absolutely perfect. In about 20 minutes, I had made this! (18" square)

Egged on by my success, I quickly made up another! (12"x18")

How easy was that?! VERY.

Here are some other links that I found informative:
Oilcloth tips
Oilcloth Love {Sewing Tutorials}
Q & A: Oilcloth vs. Laminated Cotton vs. Chalkcloth

Oilcloth Addict - all sorts of projects!

And since I'm hoping to try laminated cotton one of these days, I thought I'd go ahead and include some links with this post. Kinda seems related.
Laminated cotton sewing tips
More Tips for sewing with laminated cotton
Pink Chalk's Laminated Cotton Pinterest board

So consider these if you're looking to spruce up your deck. Pretty fun, if you ask me. Mom thinks so too!