The "Holy crap!!! Do you know what this means?!" Pillow

The Monday before Halloween was pretty much the best Monday I've ever had. I woke up in a good mood, ready to start the week. (That never happens.) I even caught myself humming when I walked into the office. I don't remember anything about the work day being stellar, but I guess that'd be too much to hope for.

Rewind a couple weeks earlier to Sewing Summit. I met Kelly from KelbySews the first day. She's adorable and funny, by the way, and I absolutely love her little accent. Anyway, some time during the weekend, she boasted to me that she knew who my partner was in the Pillow Talk Swap. The little tease wouldn't give me any hints, but the fact that she said that stuck in my head.

So, back to the Monday before Halloween. I was perusing Flickr and Instagram and doing a little blog reading during my lunch break. My most favorite pillow posted in the Flickr group for the swap had been shipped out and the blogger mentioned that it would arrive at her partner's house that day. Then, on Instagram, I noticed that Kelly had posted comments a lot on this same blogger's Instagram pics. My wheels started spinning and I was hoping hoping hoping that the pillow I really wanted would actually arrive at my house. I was trying not to get my hopes up all the way though because I'm not usually a lucky person when it comes to this kind of thing and I didn't want to be all let down if the pillow went to someone else's house.

I finished out my work day and headed home. The mister got off work before I did and grabbed the mail before I had a chance to. When I walked into the house, I saw a package on the counter, but I had ordered some fabric and thought that was probably it. When I looked at the sender though, this is what I saw:



I immediately took a picture and posted it to Instagram with the caption: "Holy crap!!! Do you know what this means?! #bestpillowtalkswappackageever !!!"



I'm sure you all know who Angela Pingel from Cut to Pieces is. She's amazing and I've been a huge fan of hers since I started quilting. Her work is absolutely wonderful and I am so blessed to have something she made in my home.



If you haven't already, head on over to her blog and read what she wrote about making things for swaps and the inspirations she has. Reading what she wrote about making this pillow JUST FOR ME really made the pillow I received that much more special.



Thank you, Angela, from the bottom of my heart! The pillow you made is already getting tons of love and will continue to get a lot more!

Finished Pillow for Pillow Talk Swap Round 9

As Christmas is quickly approaching, I've been working like a mad woman to get things done. I managed to finish my partner's pillow for the Pillow Talk Swap on Tuesday night. Thankfully, I took pictures yesterday when it was still warm out because this morning's been very wet with rain and snow.

The finished pillow cover fits a 20" pillow form. I made this one a titch bigger than I usually do. I prefer a stuffed look for my own pillows, but thought I'd make it a little bit roomier for my partner. The finished cover measures about 19" square.



I used black DMC embroidery floss to hand quilt in the negative space (Kona ash). I really like the added pop it gives the pillow as well as helps showcase the prints I used in the kaleidoscopes.

I'm not sure I can name all the fabrics on the front, but I used various Konas (charcoal, some blue-greens leftover from a Poseidon FQ bundle, and ash), Washi, Metro Living Circles, Summersville, Chicopee, Vintage Modern, and Little Apples.



For the backing I used Aneela Hoey's Sweater Check in Aqua from her Little Apples line and Lu Summer's Summersville Weave in Bus for the strip that covers the zipper.



I hadn't tried this technique before, but it was so easy! It's sure to become a new favorite pillow enclosure method for me.



I used Kona white and a black sketch print from Timeless Treasures to add a border to the pillow front. I really really love that sketch print and want to buy yards more to add to my stash.



I'm planning on shipping this pillow off tomorrow with a few extra goodies for my partner.

If you're interested in how I made this pillow, I'm in the process of putting together a tutorial for it, so stay tuned!

Urban Home Goods Swap

I finished the package for my partner in the Urban Home Goods Swap. I haven't been feeling 100% for the last few weeks so I had to just sit down and force myself to finish this project.

My partner mentioned that she likes Hope Valley, so I used that as the main fabric for this sewing machine cover. I have to admit, though, that I'm not a huge fan of it myself. Something about the colors just don't do it for me. I think that's why I struggled to finish it.

I used the orange and purple fabrics to make a semi-reversible cover for her machine.



The back and ties use the same fabric. I straight-line quilted the cover in random lines. I don't think I basted it as well as I could have because I had a couple problems with tucking here and there.



Overall, I'm pleased with how it came together.



When I showed it to my mom, she loved it, which gave me the idea to make one for her for her birthday.



Along with this, I sent my partner some Hope Valley charm squares in the green/yellow and gray colorways as well as some vintage thread spools. I hope she likes the package.

Linking up to:

Celebration of Life Pillow

Six years ago on December 31, 2004 my sweet nephew, Caleb, passed away from medulloblastoma. He was 8 months old. Every year, the mister's brother and his wife have a Celebration of Life gathering on New Year's Eve. Caleb is always on my mind, but especially during the holidays. This year, I wanted to make a pillow for my sister-in-law just to let her know that we've been thinking about and praying for her and her family.

When I made the pillow for the Pillow Talk Swap, my sister-in-law mentioned that she loved the wonky star and the elephant I embroidered on the back. Her favorite colors are blue, purple, and green, so I used some Verna, Hope Valley, and Nicey Jane fabrics with those colors. I also used this pillow to practice my free motion quilting (my skills need lots of work). I used some contrasting vintage thread that my mom's friend gave me. It was on a teeny wooden spool and it was surprisingly smooth to quilt with.



I used a heavy-weight embroidery floss for the elephant and her baby. It almost feels like the crochet thread that you use to crochet around flannel baby blankets (whatever that's called - help me out someone).



I think I mentioned that my sister drew the mama and baby elephant for me. We're actually in the process of making a few sets of embroidery patterns to sell in our very own shop! I'll have more information as we get closer, but let me know if you're interested in some fun [modern] embroidery patterns!

Christmas Gift Sewing Part 1: Pillows

I'm pretty much done with pillows for a while. I've made a lot in the last two months and I've had my fill.

I made two more cathedral windows pillows for my sister-in-law and brother-in-law's living room for Christmas. I had a harder time with these two pillows than my first foray into cathedral windows because the colors are not me. This is a good example of when sewing is hard to do when you don't love the fabrics or colors you're working with.







I bought some photo fabric to make a quilt for my sister. When I was 12 and she was 16, she got a black lab mix puppy. She named him Tucker and he quickly became part of the family. He was the most mellow dog and so affectionate. Three years ago, he got cancer. About six months later, my sister had to put him down. I was 25. We had had Tucker for 13 years. He was my sister's best friend and I really wanted to make her a quilt with photos of Tucker on it. Unfortunately, while I was making the blocks for the quilt, the ink got distorted when I sprayed water on it. So I had to scrap the quilt idea and go with a pillow instead.



Wasn't he a good-looking dog?



On the back, I included a photo of my sister and Tucker. I love this picture of them together and I thought it would be a good memory to have on the pillow.



Back in October, I saw Christina's owl and apple blocks that she hand-stamped (you can check them out here, here, here, here, and here). I grabbed a couple up and went to work making pillows. This apple pillow was for my mom's friend, who spoils my kids rotten on their birthdays and at Christmas.



I bought two of the owl prints, knowing that I wanted to keep one for myself (which I'll make into a pillow one day) and one for my sister (who LOVES owls). I added some hand-stitching around the owl for her pillow.







And here are all the pillows nicely stacked.



I made one other pillow that I didn't get photographed before giving it to the mister's aunt for Christmas, but it was a simple pillow made entirely out of this green spring print by Jessica Jones (shown at the bottom).



*Update: I found a photo.



Sewing all these pillows was good practice. I think I've got envelope backs down pat. But, like I said, I need a little bit of a break from making pillows, although I am working on one more this week. It will be nice to be able to start quilting again. I've missed that.