The cobbler's kids get new shoes...

Or, the quilter's couch gets new pillows.

We've now lived in our new house for just over a year. When we moved, we bought our first ever, brand new chesterfield/sofa/couch. And for the entire year I had the pillows from the factory just sitting there, begging for fun, patchwork pillow covers.

After making fun pillows for a swap, I was finally inspired to make some for us. I found an old UFO(Pillow Talk Swap from 2010 that got rejected for this pillow) and quilted it up.

Then I picked some of my favourite blue and green prints and made a simple patchwork pillow.  I found some coordinating Nicey Jane fabric for the border. I love simple patchwork. But please ignore the funny shape of this pillow. The form is weird...I really need to get a different one!

My favourite is this little Heather Ross Van. Here it is up close:

And now my couch is happy.

A Fun Swap

In the last couple of years, I've become obsessed with Waldorf inspired dolls. Obsessed. I love that they are homemade. I love that they are all natural. I love that each one is a little piece of art. Kind of like quilts, don't you think?

I don't love that they are pricey (like quilts). So at first I tried to make one. Or I did make one. She's lovely, and my daughter actually plays with her. But I discovered that I really don't like making dolls. Actually, I discovered that I really don't like hand-sewing.

Waldorf Inspired Doll - Little Amigo Pattern from Growing Up Sew Liberated

So, recently, to get around both having to make a doll, and having to pay for one, I did a private swap with a mama. I made her some pillows. She sent me a gorgeous Bamboletta Little Buddy.

Bamboletta Little Buddy

My swap partner was the best 'customer.' She asked for bright and modern. She told me she wasn't afraid of colour. That was it. I was free to make whatever I wanted. Here's what I came up with.

The first was a simple string pillow. I used Ashley's tutorial.

The second was a simple bright and low volume hst pillow. It feels so good to actually use some of my hoarded Denyse Schmidt fabric.

Finally, I used a pattern from Amanda Jean Norberg for my last pillow. The pattern in Math Facts and it is in the Winter 2012 issue of quilty magazine.

Math Facts by Amanda Jean Norberg

Isn't the barter system wonderful? 

WIP Wednesday 4

I had a nice intro written about my daughter catching snow on her tongue while x-country skiing and watching the snow swirl under the light from our headlamps, but somehow it got lost. Thanks blogger. So, I'll get right to it. Here's what I've been working on....

On the Go...
I finally finished my interlocking stars quilt top. I followed Elizabeth's instructions to press the seams open, and I was pleasantly surprised with the results. I've always been pretty against open seams, as they always seemed like, well, just too much work. But I have to admit the top lies nice and flat, and I didn't have to pin any of the seams. Up next is a backing pieced from my stash, and some free-motion quilting. Hopefully I'll have a finished quilt to show you next week. This baby is due asap. (And, no, not mine this time.)

Interlocking Stars Quilt - pattern by Elizabeth Hartman

Finished....
I made a quick pillow for my friend's little girl who turned 2 last week. My husband thought I was crazy to make a 2-year old a pillow, when she probably really wanted a toy. I explained to him that the pillow is really for her mom who will appreciate it much more than a toy that beeps, squeaks or sings. At least I'm that kind of mom. I gave embroidery a try for the first time. I have a ways to go, but I actually enjoyed the process. Thank goodness for youtube. I was going to give hand quilting a try too, but I just ran out of time. I'd love to make some pillows for my own kids so I'll try it then.

Sleeping Beauty Birthday Pillow

On Hold....

• Little Man Quilt - just needs the binding sewn down.
• Maple Leaf Rag. I know, I know. Soon. I hope.
• Wonky Star Charity Quilt
• Wonky 1/4 Square {Bee Inspired} Quilt
• Colour Wheel Quilt

I just joined Angela's UFO group on flickr. I'm hoping it will help me to take stock of my UFO's, and finally make a dent in them. And I think I might even give up on a couple of them. You know the ones. With the fabric that is brown, green and maroon. Oh, yes, I have a couple of those.

Hope you had a great Wednesday.

Thanks Meg!

Just before Christmas, I received a gorgeous pillow from Meg for the Pillow Talk Swap. Meg blogs here. She's a librarian and a quilter. Isn't that a perfect combination?!?

Anyway, back to the pillow. I LOVE it. The colour combo is stunning, the pattern showcases some amazing fabrics, and it is perfect just for me.

When I signed up for this swap, I thought that my pillow would go in one of my kids rooms. Wrong. I've decided to be selfish and keep this one for myself!

Thanks again, Meg! I love my new pillow. (In fact, I've decided to decorate my room to match!)

Home Made Christmas: Part 2

Okay, I meant to write this post before Christmas, but you all know how life goes, right? So here are a few more gifts I made for my family this year.

First, a couple of pillows for my sister. She requested brown, cream and a hint of red. The first is a simple zig zag. For some reason I have a huge amount of that MM print in my stash, so I put it to good use. Background is Kona Bone.

The second is a simple wonky square, using up some of my red and brown scraps. It's my favourite. I LOVE it. And word is that my sister loves it too.

I also made my niece a wonky star doll quilt. I used some of my favourite Munki Munki for the centres of the stars and then raided my scrap bins. The background is an unknown light pink solid.

 

The quilting is very dense (probably too dense for a doll quilt). I wanted to practice my loops and stars. 

 

I just adore those Munki prints...perfect for a little girl. And a big 30-ish girl too.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas holiday. I was so thankful to spend it with my family. But I'm happy to be home. Can't wait to read everyone's 2010 wrap-up posts.

Finished Pillow

I finished up my pillow for Pillow Talk Swap 4 last week. I've had a terrible time trying to get good photos...the snow outside makes it impossible for me to do an outdoor photo shoot, and I can't seem to get good shots inside. Any suggestions from seasoned photographers?

I added patchwork border in aqua, orange and pink and then finished it up with some Kona Snow. You almost, just almost, need sunglasses to look at this pillow it is so bright. But I think my partner will like it...she said she likes colour and I took her word for it.

The back was inspired/copied from this gorgeous pillow. I used my new favourite colour combo of yellow and aqua and a heaping of Kona Snow.

The pillow finished just under 20" square. I only have an 18" pillow form, but I think it would fill out beautifully with a 20" form. Now I just have to put together some goodies for my partner and it will be in the mail.

Finally, because I'm curious nosy, I'm wondering, did you take advantage to all of the Black Friday/Cyber Monday fabric sales? I was so, so, so tempted. I even filled up a few carts over at Sew Mama Sew and Fabric.com only to cancel my order. In the end, I just made one impulse buy at Solidia's Etsy store for some hard to find fabric.

I admit, those sales were so hard to resist. But I really am trying to be more responsible with my fabric purchases. One look around my sewing room shows that I already have more fabric than I can use. And just when I was thinking about the expense of my hobby, I came home to read this fabulous post about money and crafting by Jacqui at Hazelnuts (an Edmonton girl living in New Zealand). Go and have a read (the comments too)...it is thought-provoking and it helped me to be thankful for what I have instead of lusting over all the gorgeous fabric on sale all over the internet.

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Improved Nine Patch

Can you tell I found my Double Wedding Ring Template set this weekend? Remember when I made this block at a class two summers ago? (and no, I still haven't made any more...) 

Well I discovered that the template set also allowed me to make Improved Nine Patch blocks. (The template is From Marti Mitchell). I was inspired by these gorgeous blocks (scroll down, they are worth it) by Amy at Badskirt.

Up first is my pillow for Pillow Talk Swap 4. My partner loves bright colours, Heather Ross and Flea Market Fancy (who doesn't??). I had fun pulling out a few favourite fabrics to make this block. At first I was concerned that it had too much pink, but the friendly people over on flickr seemed to like it.

What kind of border do you think I should make? I was thinking patchwork with aqua, orange and pink. Or maybe just aqua...I'm up for any ideas that you have!

Since I was on all roll, I decided to make another for Austen for The Maple Leaf Quilting Bee. I'm behind (sorry) so I was just happy to get this done before another month passes by.

I'm pretty much in love with these blocks. I'm thinking that I need to make a baby quilt with this pattern (without squaring off the blocks). I found that once I got going the curved piecing wasn't as difficult as I remembered.

Hope you have a wonderful Monday!

My Pillow

Okay, I promise this is the last post about Pillow Swap 3 over on Flickr. At least until round 4 rolls around. I really appreciate every one's helpful ideas and support when I was struggling with this one.

I really wanted this one to be perfect because it was for Marianne. Last summer she offered a free long-arm quilting for the ORBC Quilt Along, and I won. She did such an amazing job on my quilt that I wanted to make something that would be an adequate thank you.

But then I was paralyzed by that desire to make it perfect. When I was in university, one of my profs told me I was a "Procrastinating Perfectionist." It describes me perfectly. In the end I run out of time and just have to go for it, but all the way leading up to it I'm always questioning every step, every decision. So all I can say is "Thank You" to everyone who took the time to respond to my fear that it just wasn't good enough. You are all wonderful.

In the end, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I love the Nicey Jane fabric, and the mix of green, blue and grey. I added some buttons to hide some pretty serious imperfections in my quilting, but I'm okay with that. I know I'm not perfect, so my pillow doesn't have to be either. And Marianne has already told me she loves it. And that makes me happy. Very happy.

Pillow Swap 3 Complete!

My participation in Pillow Swap 3 is now complete. I received the most beautiful pillow from Linda a while back and I finally got some pictures to show you. I LOVE my pillow.

It has gorgeous paint-by-number birds, amazing curved piecing and a wonderful colour scheme. I feel like I won the pillow lottery. Thank you so much Linda, you made me the perfect pillow.

Here's a shot of the back. Isn't it lovely? 

 

Okay and one more photo of the little bird...I just can't resist that little bird

 

Thank you Linda, it is perfect in my new house. And thanks to Heather and Kerri for your amazing work organizing this swap. I show some photos of the pillow I made in the next post.

Happy Friday!

Thanks for all of your kind words of support from my last post. It is wonderful to have such amazing, thoughtful comments to help me through a creative crisis. I think I've pushed through my indecision, and now I just have to add the binding. And maybe some buttons, to, er, um, hide some imperfections in my quilting. Oops. There is a reason that we are supposed to quilt from the inside towards the outer edges, isn't there? Let's just say that I had the lesson reinforced. I'll post a picture asap.

I also received the most amazing pillow yesterday for the same swap. But I need to run out and get a bigger insert before I post a picture because it is just too gorgeous to photograph without a proper insert.

And finally, the kids and I are really taking advantage of life in a big city. The other day we had an amazing picnic and play at the water park. My daughter was fearless...what a perfect day!

Have a great weekend!

Paralyzed by Indecision...

I signed up for the Pillow Talk Swap 3 on flickr awhile back. I was so excited to be part of this swap...there are some gorgeous pillows being swapped around blogland. But as the deadline to mail out approaches, I find I'm paralyzed by indecision. I want to make the perfect pillow for my partner. And I know that is impossible, but I at least want to make a pillow that she will love.

Since the move, I've been slow to get back to sewing. I just don't have the drive that I had before. My first attempt was a Wonky Bento Box a la Quilt Dad. I even dug into my precious FMF Green Seeds scrap. Yes, you read correctly, scrap, singular. I was lucky enough to have Rachel from 2nd Ave Studios send me a bit of the gorgeous green seeds for her block of Stash Busting International and I've been using little tiny pieces every since. But I really only have about a 5" square remaining. Anyway, I digress. Needless to say, my Wonky Bento Box was less than successful. I don't like my distribution of fabrics, how the blues are all clumped together and I hate the solid grey as it stands out way too much. And as my mom says, "It just isn't wonky enough." I think I'll make it into a table topper and stick a plant on top of it...

My second attempt was a Stashbuster Block #2 from Little Miss Shabby's tutorial.  I love Little Miss Shabby, don't you?!? I hope I can have her colour and design sense when I grow up. I just used 2" squares instead of 1.5" to make the pillow bigger.

Now I'm struggling with the quilting. What do you think? Should I pick out my lines and do something else? Or should I keep going? Do you think I should applique something in the middle? See...I am so indecisive.

Anyway, I hope you are making better progress than me! Happy Sewing!

Fabric Buying Lesson Part 2

When you go to a new Quilt Shop...
and tell your three year old, princess obsessed, daughter that she can choose any fabric in the Sale Section...Hide the Disney Princess Fabric! It is awful (both to look at and to sew with).

Her brother (almost 2) was much easier to influence and chose a lovely Hoffman truck print. Here's his pillow on his bed (now made into a daybed because the little turkey decided he could climb out of his crib).Pillows made with Ashley's tutorial from Film in the Fridge.