Fall Pillow Cases

I have put the blue Kaffe Fassett stars aside for a bit, as I decided on a whim to make new pillow cases for our bed.

I changed out the quilts this week, light blue shams and pillow covers just don't work with the darker colors in my fall quilts.

So I made new ones.

Tell me that you don't agree that fall pillows are needed. Of course! And when one has a closet full of fabrics that will likely never be entirely used for quilts, making pillow cases makes all the sense in the world.

Fabric diving is always a good way to kill an afternoon, so when I went digging around, I found plenty  of options. Here are the fabrics I used.

The light is by Brannock and Patek; the red is by Thimbleberries; the green is by Kansas Troubles. They are all similar vintage - 1997, I believe, is on the selvage of one of them. Gracious...

Ok, so you see that I made the pillow cases; and that leaves a pillow cover for that square pillow in front. That will be the subject of tomorrow's post! *wink*

Happy Quilting, Friends!

New Pillows!

Every now and then I take a notion to spruce up some space around the house. An area that has bugged me recently has been the decorative pillows on our bed. Two-three years ago, I made all the pillow coverings and at the time, I was very happy with them. But you know how we tire of things, right? Well, this look had lost its appeal.

The pieced pillow in front was a rush job I made one afternoon. I put little effort into it, minimal quilting, loosely fitted, and so-so construction. It basically got the job done. Period. The two pillows behind have vintage pillow cases on them, found in a sale room at a quilt show several years ago. I was thrilled to find them but they, too, were far too big for the pillows and looked sloppy on the bed.

On Tuesday when I was sewing with Sharon, I worked on making new pillow covers for all three pillows. Took me all day, too, as I finished them up late that night.

I am so pleased with this new look. I did a much more professional job on the pieced pillow cover - it is much more fully quilted and fits the pillow properly. Definitely a neater look. The pillow shams in back are made with three of the same fabrics used in the front pillow, and the overall look of the three pillows together is so much more cohesive, in my opinion.

The closeup view of the pillow case shows some of my fabrics rather well. The cuff fabric is brand new - some leftover Sanctuary from my recent Spring Dreams quilt. The trim is called Barefoot Roses by Tanya Whelan - from heaven knows how many years ago. And the body of the pillow case is an equally vintage fabric called Birds by 3 Sisters/Moda. 

The new pillows are not meant to "match" the quilt, but they do not "fight" with each other the way the previous pillow covers did. These new ones are more a complement of the quilt. 

The pieced pillow in front was what took most of my day. Selecting the fabrics, making minor alterations to the pattern, quilting - took a good bit of time.

Explaining the pattern for the pieced pillow could get involved, but I will try. 

I have a habit of printing patterns off the internet - freebies, of course. I have notebooks full of them in the quilting room. When I need a pattern, I peruse the notebooks (it's a lovely way to while away an afternoon!). This one, Starburst, says it was designed by Joanna Figeuroa and Moda, but I have had no luck locating it on either of their websites. Since I did discover that the fabric used in the illustration came out in 2012, I have to assume that is also when this pattern was issued. Perhaps it has been retired to the vault of old patterns, no longer available. 

Anyway, I used a pattern for a 22" table topper called Starburst. Why not use it for a 22" pillow cover, too? Works for me. Both times. I changed a bit of the construction. Instead of cutting and sewing a whole bunch of 2.5" background squares, I calculated and cut for larger pieces getting the same result.

No doubt about the design on my original version!

The first pillow cover shows the design quite clearly; this newer version not so much. And I don't mind that. I like that it is subdued and calm. Exactly the feel I wanted.

The new version is subtle and understated.

I am satisfied with the new bedroom look. If I could do more and had a big budget, painting and new flooring would be involved, but that isn't on my radar any time soon. This freshened-up look suits for the time being.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Simple Pillow Case

For a number of years, I hate to admit, I've had a contoured pillow that I sometimes use without a pillow case. Gross, I know. But its shape always rather intimidated me as far as designing something to fit. Well, I find that I am using the pillow more often lately, and I will be taking it with me to the beach, so it HAD to have a pillow case.

In the interest of saving time, I decided not to worry about making a case in the shape of the pillow; I would just make a normal case, smaller to fit this pillow. Inspired!!

First, I grabbed some fabrics; these are 3 fat quarters, of which I used all of two for the front and back, and only a bit of the third for the band.

All three have been in my stash for about 7 years, and I had no designated project for them, so I didn't think; I just grabbed them and began. In a matter of about 30 minutes, at most, I had a nice fresh pillow case! Why did it take me so long to make one??

A Birthday

Twenty-one years ago on this date, our youngest was born - Emma Jean. She came into the world about 2 weeks early and only weighed 5 lbs. 15 oz. She was an easy birth, but a worrisome pregnancy. I was 35 years old, and the concern for gestational diabetes was high. The doctors watched me like hawks!

Emma has always been my goofball.
Maybe if she sees this she will send me an attractive picture!

 

She has been living in Athens this summer, so we are not with her to celebrate today. We will go to see her tomorrow and take her out to a Mexican restaurant for dinner where she will order a margarita! I think she is looking forward to it.

I spent a good amount of time in the sewing room yesterday making more curtains for her house, and new pillow cases that match the curtains.

 

Remember these two pillow cases I made last August? Well, these pillow cases are being retired, and the new ones match those curtains you saw a few posts back. Click here to re-read the post about the Kaffe pillow cases. Click here to see the new curtains. 

 

 

The new pillow cases. Not nearly as fun as the KF ones, but they do match the room a lot better.

 

 

This is her bedroom here at home. I put the two new curtain panels across the bed, and added the pillows so that you could see the entire "package." I've sent her pics already, and she approves.

 

So tomorrow afternoon we will deliver the birthday goodies. I have a quilting date on Monday, and a family outing on Tuesday. The week is starting off busy!

 

To counter that busy-ness, I am off now to spend an afternoon with a friend at her pool! Ahhh, relaxing!

 

Happy Quilting, Friends!

 

 

 



Sewing With Sharon

We have been rather sporadic with our sewing dates this summer, to say the least. If it's not one thing, it's another, and we just can't seem to get our schedules coordinated! We finally managed to make a date for Thursday. Since we are both in the same book club, Sharon just made a whole day of it and we went together.

The sewing: well, Sharon worked on Tag Sale and I worked on Great Granny squares. Actually, I did a bit more than that - I also made 2 pillow cases for Emma to take to OU, and a spectacular (if I do say so myself) dinner for the family to have while we were at dinner with book club.

Sharon had hoped to get all the rows completed on Tag Sale, but she still had these 4 seams to do when we had to leave. Since it's been awhile since I showed anything on her quilt, I will remind you that she is using 2 different lines of fabrics by Robin Pandolph for a wonderfully muted and relaxing quilt.

Dreamy, isn't it?

Here are the pillow cases I made for Emma. Totally the opposite of dreamy, muted and relaxed, wouldn't you say?

Do you recognize the fabric? Yes, I let her raid my Kaffe Fassett bin, and this is what she selected. I think they look great, and I honestly don't think I could have used the fabric for any other project with such wonderful results. She is beyond thrilled with them, and I have to say I am, too.

I will show you my new GG squares later. Also, in upcoming posts, I have a quilt tour through friend Sheryll's house, and an update on the Frankfort girls' bi-weekly get together. Stay tuned!

Happy Quilting, Friends!