Chicago Flag Pillows

Check it out -- I finished a whole set of ten Chicago flag pillows!!

This has been an exciting project. I was asked if I would consider making some of these pillows as a custom order, and this is the first time I've done such a thing on such a large scale. I think it was totally worthwhile. While these pillows aren't the most glamorous sewing, they certainly are cute! There's nothing quite like mass producing appliqued stars though! lol. 

At the beginning of this project I decided to make a couple extra pillows, knowing a few people who would like them, and I'm happy to say that the two extras have also already sold! I think I'll probably make a few more of these in the next couple months. Thankfully Chicago has a pretty flag. :)

Pillows and Fancy Free Motion Quilting

Recently I've been working on honing my skills at free motion quilting. I've been working mostly on smaller projects which lend themselves well to being densely / intricately quilted. I'm still not where I want to be with this, but I'm working on getting the movement and flow down so that it will translate easily into all my quilts.

On a whim this week I decided to make a pair of pillow covers for my cousin and his fiance. They are getting married this weekend, and as of last weekend I still hadn't decided on a gift - so handmade seemed to be the best option!

You might notice that these are made with the scraps from my "Modern in the City" challenge. The strips and strip sets were already partially pieced so why not? Jason and Andrea have not yet solidified their decor style - but both their living room and bedroom have grey and blue so these can go either place. I sure hope they love them as much as I do!

Simple Sewing

For a dose of simple sewing it's best to take your husband with you to the fabric store (or your mom)! About a week ago Wally and I took the luxury of a day off of work (while the kid was at school!) - and we went to the local fabric shop, Quilter's Destination. Wally was so excited about this skeletal halloween fabric. So I bought a half yard and made him the quickest 18" pillow cover ever. 

Quilter's Destination!

I literally cut an 18" square, then cut the remaining portion in half - hemmed the two smaller pieces, stacked them all, and sewed around the edge! Wally doesn't mind that it took very little time -- he's been using the pillow nonstop ever since! That makes me smile!

Also, I stopped in at Quilter's Destination recently when my mom was in town - that trip managed to end with her picking out 4 fabrics -- and I made her two 18" pillow covers and a standard pillowcase! 

Sometimes the simple sewing is a lot of fun. If nothing else it's a sure way to let your family know you love them!!

Tula Pink Sew Along!

I"m so excited to be guest blogging over at Sew Sweetness today for the Tula Pink Sew Along!

Head on over and scope out the button-covered pillow I made! 

I'm a real fan of Tula Pink fabrics, and her book is pretty fabulous too! Beyond all that though, she seems to be a pretty down to earth person. My favorite thing though? She calls her fans #TulaTroops! Awesome!

Who is your favorite designer and why? Are you stalkerish about someone? 

Wally's Chicago Flag Pillow

I realized the other day that I had never blogged about this pillow. You see, last year when I made it it was a complete surprise for Wally, and I wrapped it up immediately after finishing it. Now that the sun is coming out again it's time to actually document some of these projects! 

Here's the thing, my husband is really supportive of my quilting hobby/obsession. He puts up with a lot. I wanted to make him something awesome and that really said "Wally." So of course my proud Chicagoan husband deserved a pillow with the Chicago flag on it! 

I researched the flag and drew it up to scale - the stripes are pieced and the stars are appliqued. It's densely quilted (just 1/4" apart!). I used a zipper too! 

So the funny stats about this quilt? I walked around Vogue fabrics for half an hour asking every guy in the place (stock guys and husbands of other quilters) which blue was the most "Chicago blue" lol! And, the pillow insert is from Crate & Barrel - it's feather and amazing - this pillow is 24" square and the luxurious feather pillow insert was just $16! Yes I can't believe it either! Go to Crate $ Barrel instead of Joann's for your pillow inserts! 

"Quite Possibly the Happiest Mail You'll Get This Month!"

Indeed it is! Check out this pillow I received from Kelly / Scrapstudio for the Pillow Talk Swap 7!! I have had my heart set on this pillow every step of the way! (I think I even favorited and pinned it several different times!) Kelly was right on the mark with this one! I still can't believe it's actually mine! I'm so excited!!

One of the awesomest parts? I wasn't home Saturday when it arrived, and on my lunch break I called my husband to see if I'd gotten any mail (yes I stalk the mail man!), when he said yes my response was, "does it have pretty writing on it?!" Indeed it did! :) I spent the rest of the day at work smiling, knowing what was in that envelope!

Here's my couch full of my lovely PTS pillows! Rounds 4-7!

For kicks I decided to try to get a shot of all our quilted pillows from around the house... They wouldn't fit on our couch (a love seat) so I stacked them up! :) Yes, that's seven quilted pillows. :) I love them!

And I realized that I had never blogged about Wally's pillow -- It was a surprise Christmas gift so I never took pictures! That post will come soon!

PTS6!

It's time for the big reveal! I've finished my Pillow Talk Swap pillow, and actually was graced with a moment of sunshine today to take a picture!!

I'm not sure which side is the front, and I'll explain why. First I made several of the +/x blocks which were ok.  I wasn't really in love with them and didn't think the balance of colors was right. I put them aside and worked on something a little bit safer for me -- the square-in-square one. This time with my tiny signature wonky star included in one of the squares. I love that side best, but it seems like my swap-mates like the other side. That left me with really only one answer - to use them both! 

My first zippered pillow!

I quilted both sides and put it all together with a zippered side. I followed this tutorial for the side zipper - it was really fabulous and easier than I thought it would be!

The little star there? just under 3"!

Now for some more close-ups! I hope my partner likes large pillows... this one turned out to be about 23" square... it's huge and amazing... and inside are two of my normal pillows (and it's still a bit loose!).

Some "organic" straight line quilting!

This guy will be in the mail on Monday, after it makes an appearance at the Chicago Modern Quilt Guild meeting Sunday! :)

Another chance

My mosaic for the PTS6

Pillow Talk Swap 6 is starting up again! I debated a little bit about whether or not I wanted to join up again. On the one hand I've received beautiful pieces of work in this swap - and have been challenged to new creativeness, but on the other hand last round I didn't even get an email thank you from my partner. I will try to bite my tongue here - and I have resisted posting this until now. I know people get busy etc, or maybe I didn't hit the mark with the pillow I sent. Either way I worked hard and spent my time, energy, and money to send out a unique package for my partner. 

So this time around I'm taking a chance and hoping that my work will be better received this time around. I've heard of a swapper who has requested their work back when they weren't even acknowledged/thanked. I won't go that far, but a personal thank you would have been nice. I just wonder though, did she even enjoy it? I cut up one of my Rome ties for that pillow! 

In all I'm joining up again because I love the challenge that this swap poses. There are a lot of talented and gracious people in this swap and I really am inspired by that. 

I really didn't intend for this post to be about that... but that's how life goes sometimes. I'm not going to hide out on my own blog. I hope in my heart that it was just a misunderstanding on my former partner's part. Maybe the swap etiquette isn't that clear... but still. 

Dear Allie...

"Dear Allie, I pray each day that you will have a long lifetime of smiles and wonderful days ahead. I love you! Love, Mommy" (Inscription in the seam allowances of this pillow.)

Ta-da! (lol) I finished this pillow about a week ago. It's been such crazy weather since... first overcast and dreary, and now hot hot hot! Today I finally stepped outside of my relatively cooler house to take some pics. 

The dresden plates here were my practice block for one of the months of the {sew} Beautiful Bee - I'd never sewn dresdens before and they're a lot of fun! I did a bit of embroidery in the middle - inspired by this pillow.

The little label was sent to me by Michelle of Delightful Disarray with my Pillow Talk Swap package. It's an iron on (handmade?) and I stitched it inside the back flap. Totally cute and professional looking!

And lastly, among those fun hand stitches, here's a tiny little hedgehog tag that I added... just too cute. There's a little red heart on the back of it... :) 

Pillows!!!!

We finally have grown up and have a couch again! Which means....

We're now getting major use out of all my quilty pillows!! Two of them were made by me, and two of them I've received in the Pillow Talk Swap. They all fit in nicely and I must say that they're extra cozy since we know they were made with love! (and the one with the target $4 clearance pillow as in insert is much much cozier than the others which were a rip-off from joann's... note to self)

Now to cuddle up on our new loveseat with these pillows and maybe a quilt or two? Who said you can't use quilts in the summer... I freeze anytime the air conditioning is on!

Pillow Talk Swap 5 - Sending soon!

When I arrived home last weekend from visiting family out of state... there was a surprise waiting for me!! My pillow talk swap package had arrived!! Not only that, but it was the one I'd been pinning over since the first in-progress pictures were posted (I'd already even favorited all of them)!

I received this lovely pillow from Michele of Delightful Disarray. She used my favorite - grey, and my other favorite - yellow, and my other favorite - stars, and my other favorite - FMQ'd words, and my other favorite - hand stitching. And... the zipper is blue, which in itself is amazing. I know I'm gushing a bit, bur really this is an awesome pillow. It fits my 18" pillow "insert" (not an insert at all) that I got on clearance at Target - it's by far the cushiest pillow insert I've used (way better than the expensive yet cheaply made ones from Joann's). 

This week I also finished the pillow that I'll be sending out soon for my partner. My inspiration for this swap was to try something texturally outside of the box. I've been wanting to work with corduroy for a while now (ever since reading about the Gee's Bend quilts that used corduroy), and I think my partner would like the linen (light blue) that I paired it with. I also broke out the big guns and cut up a silk tie that I bought in Rome (at a farmer's market/flea market type deal) - I'd originally intended to use them to make another tie purse... but that never happened. The beautiful silk ties have been sitting around for years - and I recently "found" them when we moved. I also added in a bit of dots (to bind the envelope enclosure) and some printed linen that Shruti had sent from India in my DQS10 package! So the materials here all have a great story. That's a good starting point right?

I started with this a-symmetrical rectangle thing. I really wasn't sure I was feeling it at all but pushed through to the finish. Even as I was putting the finished pillow case on the form I was unsure if I liked it.... As soon as it was all on the pillow though I was sold! The texture really does it. That corduroy makes you want it on your couch (if I had a couch)... and the soft silk middle, and the textured linen.... I'm in love with it! I think I have to make myself one! I sure hope my partner likes it!! I feel like while it's a bit more simple technically then I usually do, the texture and warmth of it sets it aside. I hope my partner isn't disappointed!

Linking up for Fabric Tuesday at Quilt Story!

Bee Blocks, Mug Rugs, Pillow Swaps...

It's been a finishing kind of week so far. I'm not nearly as far down my list as I'd like to be though. I'm pushing through all my deadline work right now so that I can clear out and work on the BIG project. :) The table covers for my Aunt's jewelry booth. Those will be a bit of a challenge (totally out of my comfort zone in a good way). I'm not going to let myself sign up for any other swaps etc until those table covers are finished! I"m aiming for an early August finish for them (so I can bring them with me the next time we come to visit).

Sew Beautiful - June

As for those finishes ... well I've only finished on of those things listed above. The bee block. Cara asked for a house block for the Sew Beautiful Bee this month. Her final quilt will be sent to a family during their stay at a local NICU. My neice was a NICU baby when she was born... and my other neice is in the hospital so often that we really understand the comfort and longing for "home." That's what this quilt will represent, their home.

I had grand ideas for this block... I was going to make a two story deal with an "a-frame" entrance way... like my MIL's old house. I loved the shape of that entrance. But alas I started working on it and misused some fabric along the way... leading to my not haveing enough of that purple. I scrapped the original plan and worked with what I had. I think it turned out pretty nice... but I didn't have enough white to frame out the bottom. I'd still like to try a pieced word... maybe "Hope" to be used in the quilt too.... we'll see what the time allows me.

I made some major progress on my two remaining mug rugs for the CMQG swap. I finished the backs of both of them this afternoon and I'm about to go work on quilting them up. I have no idea how to quilt the one... but since my main machine is still out of commission (and FMQ is pretty hard on my old machine) I'm thinking it'll be some sort of straight quilting. We'll see.

Finally there's the Pillow Talk Swap. I've got my top almost all pieced. I am not feeling amazing about it... but I think it looks cool and is nicely executed. I've got to keep moving on it since it's due out soon enough!

More on these things later!

Some actual sewing pics!

Last night while I should have been sleeping, I sewed. I had an idea for my partner for the Pillow Talk Swap 5. The idea was to use lots of texture. I pulled out a pair of corduroy's that were saved to be cut up... some essex linen, some linen from a swap partner in India (cool right?), some DS Joann's dots, and a tie that I bought in Rome while studying there. It's scary to think of cutting into all these special fabrics but It'll work out (I hope). 

 

Here's my first attempt. I'm not sure that I like it so much. Mostly since I think something needs to be tiny. lol. I'm trying to stretch myself here... and didn't allow myself to fall back on that tiny border I always use. We'll see. I think I'll carry on with this idea and see how it finishes out. 

I also started up another idea with the same fabrics. This time it's a zig-zag without triangles. But as late as it was I didn't cut all the pieces so I'll have to go back and do that later so that the zig-zags match up by color. 

Either way I am thinking some dense straight line quilting to add more texture. We'll see. My hope is to get the "top" of the pillow made and quilted tomorrow. Or maybe I'll be working on those three mug rugs for our guild swap? :) hehe. I can't help myself.

Stitched In Color's Bloggers Pillow Party

I finally got my act together and finished this pillow - just in time to enter the Blogger's Pillow Party over at Stitched in color!

Here it is! This pillow will be sent along with the (yet to be finished) quilt for my cousin Ruthie's baby. The funny thing is is that I hadn't even planned on making her a quilt. As it would happen I had the chance to use a friend's Accuquilt Studio cutter at the retreat last month, and I'd decided to chop up this gorgeous FQ stack of Nicey Jane fabric. I had fused some double sided web onto the backs of a couple fabrics and cut a ton of circles (Ebony had a custom die for button covers - which made a ton of different sized circles). I couldn't bear to trash the extra fabric from around the circles, so I used it to make a little coordinating pillow.

I fused those background pieces into place and free motion quilted around each circle. Then I went back and hand quilted inside some of them with DMC floss. It's very pretty and looks quite bubbly once I got it onto the pillow form!

Now I just have to piece the back of the quilt, and quilt it and we're good to go! I should get this done before Easter (!?) otherwise I'm going to have to mail it to her... which I totally don't want to do. Mailing quilts makes me nervous!

What I'll be working on tonight:

Adding a few hand stitched "bubbles" to this quilted pillow top.

Pillows Pillows Everywhere!

Has anyone else noticed that Pillows seem to be the hottest quilted item around? I have. Maybe it's just the fact that I have a couple from the Pillow Talk Swap? Or that I use mine all the time? I think it's a great trend because it's essentially a way to make a doll sized quilt but use it for something other than decoration (or warming dollies). Although I hate that making pillows require the use of pillow forms, which are expensive. 

I just read that SewMamaSew is designating this February as pillow month. I love that especially since I have one that's in the process of being made. And it's pretty fantastic if I say so myself. Again, a great big thanks to Cherie for having us all make Dresden plates for January's bee block. I made a great practice, then added another layer of petals, and a ton of detail work. It'll eventually be a pillow for my daughter's big girl bed (which she isn't in yet...). Here's a little peek at it.

 PS: Linked up at Quiltstory for Fabric Tuesday!

Pillow Talk Swap Recieved!

Pillow Talk Swap Recieved!
Originally uploaded by emedoodle

Today I received my package from Adrianne (Little Bluebell) and it's spectacular! My personal fav. AMH Good Folks fabrics and grey! It's gorgeous and fits right in with my bedroom! (Although the little girl keeps walking around hugging it). She sent along a beautiful matching pincushion too! :) Amazing!

Creativity helps cure the blahs.

As you could probably tell from my post yesterday, I've been a bit blah. 

Today I fixed it (at least temporarily) by finishing my Pillow Talk {Swap} pillows! Finished that's right! I quilted one with a free motion stipple, I'm not entirely sure I'm in love with the way the stipple distracts from the stars, but I do LOVE the texture it lends. So for the second one I did a strait line quilt just at the edge of each square border. I may need to hand stitch a stitch or so in the middle to keep it perfect (batting is ok for quilting up to 10" apart, this area is 13" ... I think). I like both so much!!!

I decided to add interfacing to the back sides of the back pieces, mostly to cover the seam allowances from the piecing I did back there. It added a bit more sturdiness and durability to it. I'm very very pleased with the pink / yellow pattern-y stripe for that little bound edge!

Two Christmas presents done!

Today I finished the quilted Mod Bento Block pillow for a Christmas gift! I'm not sure if the person who will recieve this reads my blog regularly. So I'm not going to mention who it's for. :) Hehe... I like how it turned out, even though I had a couple problems with the assembly. One of which was running out of that generic yellow thread that I quilted it with (which came in a bin from my grandma)! I ended up finishing the rest of it with the bobbin, then adding a bit more quilting with brown on the one edge. I don't think it looks bad... but that was very frustrating. 

Another thing, when doing free motion quilting, always be sure to pull your bobbin thread up after replacing the bobbin. I somehow forgot this, and ended up punching several holes through my feed dog cover! Now that's a powerful machine! I'll have to take some pictures of it tomorrow. It looks like it got into a shoot-out!

Then after completing this I decided to move on to the next present. I don't think my brother reads this at all, so I think I'm safe to tell you all that I made him a "transformer's" pillowcase. Several months ago my brother went to a toga party, and bought several yards of cheep transformer's fabric to wear as a toga... after the party he passed the fabric to me knowing that I sew. lol. Well he's getting more than just the pillowcase, but I think he'll like it anyway. :)

As always, linking up to Fabric Tuesday on Quiltstory