New Shams!

Gosh, the sewing and quilting projects have really been few and far between around here lately! I have done some secret sewing, however, so there's that. But I can't be broadcasting that here on the blog. Gotta' have some Christmas secrets, don'tcha know!

You many not see anything too different here, but I have at last made the pillow shams to more pleasingly complement this fall quilt. Here's a pic with the previous shams.

The previous ones are my springtime shams - light, white and baby blue, airy florals - nothing at all related to the deep, rich tones in my fall quilt and pillow.

Oh, yes, these are much better suited to the fall-like color scheme in the quilt. It has taken me most of the last month or more to free up the time for making these. It has been an actual whirlwind of activities around here, it seems.

The fabrics in the new shams are from my fabric stash. Neither one had been earmarked for any particular project, so pillow shams won the day. I suppose there may have been an earmarked project at one point, but I've long forgotten about it, so this works out perfectly. 

In other news, we painted this room 'cider toddy' about 20 years ago. I think I am ready for a change. The new year will find me putting "paint the bedroom" on the honey-do list. I desire something a little more toned down.

And now that I have my fall shams made, the first day of winter will soon be here as well as Christmas, so I really ought to take these off and put my Christmas quilts and pillows on! Hah! Nothing like timeliness around here! *grin*

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Fall/Winter Bed Pillow

Still on my quest for bed pillows to complement the fall/winter mood of the quilts on our bed, I went to work piecing a new pillow cover to reflect that fall mood. As mentioned in the last post, I got the pillow cases done in quick order, so a day devoted to piecing and quilting this pillow cover was my next agenda item.

Below is what the bed looked like when I decided that new pillows were needed. The mixture of fall quilts with spring/summer pillows just didn't please me at all. There was never a doubt that I'd make a change. The fact that I did it so quickly surprises me, however. I generally ponder such decisions much longer.

 

With the pillow cases in back finished, the throw pillow in front became my focus. It's 22 inches square and I have just one pattern for a quilt that size. I've made it twice before for this pillow form, and will likely use it for as long as this pillow form lasts, which may just be forever, since it only serves as decoration on our bed.

This is a super simple table topper design by Joanne Figuroa from about 10 years ago. It was a free down load from an online source, and I've looked repeatedly for a link to share, but none exists (too old!). I wrote about the pattern in this earlier blog post. My earlier two pillows using this pattern are also featured there.

I am still altering this pattern to suit me, as I figure I will continue using it. The original calls for all that neutral space to be made with 2.5-inch squares. I see no need for that, so I am going to mark my pattern with instructions with larger neutral cuts for a faster finish. Ah, but I digress...

The new fall-into-winter look on our bed pleases me immensely. There's just enough scrappiness yet cohesiveness to make it all work well, in my eyes, anyway.

A new look for the bedroom, and Gracie approves. *wink* And as a bonus, it's a new look that did not require hopping on Amazon to shop for new stuff, but rather, a dig through the fabric bins to make it myself. And I did it just as fast as Amazon. The pillow cases were just a couple of hours on Wednesday evening; the pillow cover took several hours on Thursday. By suppertime Thursday, all was done and pictures were snapped. 

Now, I have one more post to write regarding this little project - coming Monday or Tuesday - so come on back! And, I will be back to work on those blue Kaffe Fassett stars, too. *excited!*

Happy Quilting, Friends!

 

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!

Mini-Makeover

You might find it hard to believe that for most of my married life, I have not had a quilt on our bed. Instead, we have had a couple of bedding sets we bought. When our cat got sick on the last bedspread, I took it to be cleaned and decided that I was done with that bedspread. I put a quilt on our bed, and have not regretted it in the least. However, I still had the shams from the bedding set, and this week I have replaced them.

Today, I will just talk about the square pillow. The two pillows behind have a bit of a special feature which I will talk about soon in an upcoming post.

I had a pattern from Moda  for a 22" square table topper called Starburst. I think it is something that is meant to be for Christmas, and it was made for using those little 2.5" packs called Moda Candy, I think.

Anyway, as I was organizing patterns last month, when I came across this pattern I knew it would work for this pillow. I only needed to add a small outer border for my 24" square pillow, but it was just easy as 1-2-3. I also used larger pieces for the solid areas, instead of 2.5" squares. I mean why make more work, right?

The quilt on the bed is made with 2.5" squares, and the pillow, while it isn't an exact match to the quilt, does just fine to fit in with its random blues. The fabrics used in our new pillow sham are all from my stash, most of which are quite old. I did not overthink any of the choices, and just trusted that the combination of blues would result in a happily scrappy blue "family."

I am a happy camper with my new look.

Happy Quilting, Friends!