X-Factor Pillow Swap Received

Back in November, I shared the pillow I made for the X-Factor Pillow Swap on Flickr. After my wrist and elbow surgery in October, I was itching to make something, but couldn't yet use my rotary cutter or sewing machine. Instead, I did some English paper piecing that ended up being a good form of physical therapy.

The round ended the first of November and we all had the chance to vote for our favorite pillows. This was my first choice and I was so happy to see it arrive in my mailbox!

Tina from the UK (Cottilello on Flickr) made this amazing low-volume wavy pillow cover. The fabrics she used are so fun - clothespins, barcodes, cameras, text, needles and thread, scissors. I currently have the pillow sitting on my couch, but plan to put it in my sewing room if I ever get one of those.



This was a fun swap to participate in this year. It was low-key and not as time-consuming as some of the other swaps I've participated in. I could make a pillow that I wanted and *hopefully* it would be well enough received that I could get my first choice pillow in return. I'm hoping to participate in more rounds in the future.

My Pillow for the X Factor Pillow Swap

Quite a while ago, I joined the X Factor Pillow Swap on Flickr. With my goal to finish existing projects before starting anything new, I didn't join in on any of the rounds. But then I had surgery last month and I really wanted to sew something. Since I couldn't use my hand very well for my rotary cutter, I thought English paper piecing would be a good type of therapy. I also have been wanting to try a low volume project for a while now, something that is definitely out of my comfort zone, so round 7 of the X Factor swap was the perfect opportunity!

I looked through my stash and gathered a variety of low volume prints in rainbow colors. Then I pulled some whites, creams, and grays. I bought some diamond paper pieces from paperpieces.com a long time ago, but hadn't busted them out yet. I tried out several layouts, but ultimately settled on this one.



I tried to find a background fabric that was a little more low volume, but everything I auditioned just felt muddy. So, I used this yarn-dyed linen in black and while it's not quite "low" volume, I think it works as a fairly neutral background that allows the diamonds to stand out.

I quilted wavy lines vertically across the pillow with a white cotton thread.

I thought it'd be fun to place a dark print in with all the light fabrics. This text print from Madrona Road by Violet Craft is one of my favorite text prints of all time, so I just had to use it here. I also think it goes nicely with the background fabric.

For the back, I used this Heather Bailey light blue hop dot print and paired it with a light yellow (I can't recall the name of it now). I also used a strip of the yarn-dyed linen to cover the zipper and tie the back with the front.

The way this swap works is that you make a pillow and send a photo to the group admin. When all the pillows are posted, you vote on your favorites. If your pillow scores the most points, you get your first choice pillow. If not, then your second, third, fourth, etc. choice on down the line. I think it's a great swap idea because you can make a pillow any way you want (within the guidelines for that round of the swap) rather than making a pillow specifically for someone else in mind (although I love those types of swaps too).

This pillow is headed to its new home and I hope the recipient likes it. I really enjoyed doing something outside the norm for me.

Pillow stats:
Fits 20" x 20" pillow form
Diamond paper piecing
Low volume rainbow prints
Wavy line quilting
Hidden zipper closure

Finished Pixelated Heart Quilt

Happy Valentine’s Day!

In my WIP tracking post, I briefly mentioned this pixelated heart quilt and that I was making it before I knew what I was doing. You see, I had seen Amanda’s version of Jolene’s heart quilt a couple weeks ago and I just absolutely fell in love with it. Then I saw my friend Kara’s version on Instagram and wanted to make my own that much more. I’m not much of a fan of hearts, but I really loved Amanda’s quilt top. I loved it so much that I couldn’t stop thinking about it that Friday. (Do you ever do that?) When I got home from work, I pulled fabrics and then started cutting squares that night.

I didn’t think I would have enough low volume prints to use as the background, so I opted to reverse the design. After cutting all my charms, though, I saw that I easily would have had plenty of low volume prints to do it the original way. Oh well. I guess I made it my own.



This is not my typical color scheme at all. It has a deep, jewel-tone feel to me and usually I’m drawn to brights. So this was a fun step-outside-my-comfort-zone project that I actually really ended up liking when it was all finished.

For the back, I used several fat quarters of Michael Miller cotton couture solids in purples and pinks that I won in the Fall for Solids Challenge. This was the perfect use for them as I rarely use pink and purple in my quilts. I threw in a few more pink fat quarters and other scraps as well to fill in the holes.



I made a scrappy binding out of some red, purple, and pink Free Spirit blenders that were also in the Fall for Solids prize pack.

As for the quilting, I think there are four different thread colors in this one: red, burgundy, purple, and white. I used the reds and purple in the background and white in the heart. I quilted the quilt in meandering loops.

The quilt measures about 66 inches square and has been a nice couch quilt that we’ve been enjoying this past week.