Maypole Pillow

I have my Better Together top pieced and basted but while I'm deciding how to quilt it I wanted to make something small with my Charleston scraps to test thread colors.  I picked up this cute pillow pattern during the Black Friday sale and thought it'd be perfect.  

The pattern is well written, easy to follow and very forgiving since you add oversized strips and then trim down your blocks.

Can you spot the mistake?  In my rush to get this one going I didn't label my pieces and mixed up the starting triangles.  You can see where things are just a little bit off in the middle.  I didn't notice it until I was squaring things up but my cover is actually 18"x19".  Total rookie mistake and 100% user error.  The pattern has very clear cutting instructions and I was just in too much of a hurry to check my pieces.  Since most of my house guests don't inspect the throw pillows I decided I can live with it.  

I didn't have enough backing fabric for my usual zipper install so I tried something new and used this fabulous hidden zipper tutorial by Berry Birdy.  

I used my usual binding technique since I enjoy hand tacking but I wish I'd tried her machine tacked binding technique as well just to test it out on a low stakes project.  The result looks so professional and I will definitely use this one again!

 

Quilt Stats:
Finished pillow is 18" x 19"
Pattern:  Maypole Pillow by Suzy Quilts
Fabrics: Charleston by Amy Sinibaldi for Art Gallery Fabrics. 
Batting: Quilter's Dream Orient Bamboo.
Thread: 50 wt. Aurifil in Arctic Sky (2612).

Christmas Wrap Up

As always, with Christmas approaching I wanted to make something seasonal.  I've been chipping away at my Christmas in the City bundle and this year added Christmas in the Cabin to the mix.  I've got my Christmas Baubles hanging and I'm sooo close to finishing the Atomic Starburst quilt I started last year so it seemed like a pillow was in order.  I was tempted to make another Swoon pillow but then I spotted this North Star block and decided it would be perfect.  

It's a fairly simple paper-pieced pattern though the sharp angle of some of the background pieces make it a little tricky if you're not used to how paper piecing works.  I know it's meant to use scraps but I would have appreciated some guidelines for block sizes to use for each piece.  

Because I wanted to take advantage of the novelty scene I decided to use a fussy cut circle for the center.  It's been a long time since I've done an inset circle so I did a quick review using this Insetting Circles tutorial by Bill Weeks at Modern Quilt Studio.  Weeks and Bill were a big part of the original modern quilting movement and if you've ever used one of the patterns you know how much attention they pay to both the design and the process.

I used the 12" block but since I like my pillows a little bigger I  wanted to add a border.  Of course I wanted mitered seams to match the lines of the star so that took some remembering as well.  Thankfully my BQF is always there for me with this fabulous tutorial.   

Once that was done I used my first day of holiday vacation to baste it together and quilt.  For the center I kept the quilting simple in the spirit of getting things done and just outlined the star components.  I deliberately made the border the same as my Starburst quilt so I could try out my swag idea.  I definitely won't be doing that on my quilt!  As you can see most of my arcs are a bit wobbly and I don't think it enhances the design.  Back to the drawing board on that one.

Another quick review of my go to zipper closure tutorial by SOTAK Handmade and I was ready for Santa.  It was so nice to have some handwork to do while I relaxed by the tree with some (spiked) eggnog and Scrooged.

Still no quilt but now I have a pillow and a wall hanging.  I put this adorable Patchwork Bow on my Christmas list so we'll see if I can manage to make that as well before I totally wrap up this holiday.  

Pillow Stats:
Finished pillow is 18" x 18"
Pattern: North Star FPP Quilt Block by Amanda at Prairie Quilt Co.
Fabrics: Christmas in the City and Christmas in the Cabin by Art Gallery Fabrics.
Batting: Quilter's Dream Orient Bamboo.
Thread: 50 wt. Aurifil in SilverWhite (2309).

Thankful for a Finish

I'm all about taking a small win any way I can get one these days!  While I had no real need to finish this pillow, I put it high on my WIP list from the Declutter to Destash challenge because I knew it was something I could easily knock out in a few hours.

I made this as a test block before cutting in to my carefully horded bundle of Malibu.  I've learned many times over that this step is crucial to my future happiness and sanity.  In this case I also used it to take a test drive of my new toy, a ViviLux laser guide.  I'd read several review of quilters who love this for making HSTs since it eliminates the need for marking your squares.  Sadly, I'm just not a fan.  Perhaps the issue was that I didn't want to apply the hook and loop tape to my machine to hold it in place and just used masking tape.  I found the flexible cord a bit too flexible and susceptible to getting knocked out of alignment as a result of my clumsiness or just the machine's vibration.  I also originally planned to use it with 10" layer cake squares but the line isn't long enough to reach both corners of the square.  Ultimately, I flexed my declutter muscles and donated this.  

I was so excited I finished this block I didn't even notice that I'd rotated the corner HST until after I'd shared it.  I could have kept it and called it a humility block but that's not how I roll so I grabbed the seam ripper and fixed it.

With holiday stress mounting (my refrigerator died exactly 1 week before Thanksgiving) I decided to spend a few hours in my studio for some easy stress relief sewing.  I went with a lazy meander which was done in no time.

I even won this round of thread chicken:-)

It should have been so easy to use my favorite s.o.t.a.k handmade zipper tutorial and finish the pillow cover.  Apparently I'm really out of practice and forgot to open the zipper before sewing around the 4 sides and further compounded the problem by trimming the ends of the zipper including the pull.  

I took a (cocktail) break and with a bit of googling was able to find this awesome fork hack for fixing a zipper.  In no time I was able to pop the seam and guide the zipper pull back on to the zipper.  I lost a bit of my point on that side but I had a functional pillow cover and I love how fabulous it looks with the rest of my Sunny Isle collection.

We're having a low-key Thanksgiving with friends this year so I'm hoping I'll have time to start on my holiday makes.  My heartfelt thanks to everyone who's still reading along.  I wish you a healthy and happy holiday!!!

Quilt Stats:
Finished pillow is 18"x18"
Pattern: Joyful by Tasha Noel
Fabrics: Sunny Isle bundle by Jennifer Paganelli for Free Spirit, Bella Solids in Ash.  Michael Miller Cotton Couture: Flower.
Batting: Quilter's Dream Orient.
Thread: 50wt Aurifil in  Arctic Sky (2612).

Trim the Tree

Snow came early to New England this year so I used it as an opportunity to hide away in my studio and make something.  I still have a ton of scraps left from various Kate Spain holiday collections so I dragged those out and got started.

This is a great Christmas Tree pattern by Jitka Designs.  The pieces are tiny but since it's paper pieced it's not a problem to get everything lined up.

Tuesday we had a snow day so I was back at it.  I kept the quilting simple and just did a simple grid.  It's almost soothing to just power thru all those straight lines.

And now my foyer is that much more festive!

Trimming the tree with with this week's Brag About Your Beauties Pageant by Michelle at From Bolt to Beauty.

Pillow Stats:
Finished pillow is 12" x 16"
Pattern: Christmas Tree by Jitka Design.
Fabrics: Assorted Solstice, Flurry, and Jingle scraps by Kate Spain, Bella Solids Bleached White
Batting: Quilter's Dream Orient Bamboo.
Thread: 50 wt. Aurifil in Natural White (2021).

Bonus Triangles

I just can't get enough of this Liberty lawn and Smoky shot cotton combo.  My Liberty Love quilt spawned a ton of bonus triangles so while I was on a roll I went ahead and made matching pillows.

I marked the diagonal lines for the hearts since I was worried about their accuracy but I used my cheater method for the bonus triangles since I trim those down to size.

Of course I start second guessing myself when I actually have to trim them.

The great thing about HSTs is there are so many ways you can arrange them.  I had enough for two pillows but I wanted them to be different.  For the first one I did a radiating design.  I kept the quilting simple and just echo stitched each diamond.

On the second I did an X pattern and enhanced the solid portions with quilted lines.

And now my foyer is filled with love!

Sharing more love with this week's Brag About Your Beauties Pageant by Michelle at From Bolt to Beauty.

Pillow Stats:
Finished pillows are 18" x 18"
Fabrics: Assorted Tana Lawns from the Westwood Acres Liberty Club, Kaffe Fassett Shot Cotton in Smokey.
Batting: Quilter's Dream Orient.
Thread: 50 wt. Aurifil in  Grey Blue (1248).

Coastal Cabin

It's always sunny somewhere!

I became totally obsessed with these Sunny Isle prints as I worked with them for the Shimmer QAL so I was determined to use up every last bit.  Since I already had a lot of long skinny leftover strips it seemed like a fine time to tackle a log cabin block.

There are a million different ways to make this block but since I was working with such small strips I chose to paper piece them using this free template.

Rather than using paper I used this lightweight foundation.  It's printer ready so I could print directly on it and I didn't risk stretching my blocks (and my sanity) tearing out all the little bits of paper.  The finished blocks are a bit stiffer than normal but for a pillow cover it's fine and actually makes it feel a bit more polished.

4 1/2" blocks are no joke!  With 20 pieces per block this was a rather time intensive project.

It also didn't help that for some reason I thought I was making 12 blocks when I really needed 16.  Fortunately it's fairly mindless sewing so I got to binge watch a couple more episodes of The Great British Bake Off .

And as I hadn't gone insane so far I decided to do a densely quilted crosshatch.  What's a few more hours?

Totally worth it!

And since no scrap could be left behind I used up even more to make a matching wall hanging but somehow forgot to take a single picture of the process.  Now my foyer will always be sunny;-)

Dreaming of getting away to a Sunny Isle with this week's Brag About Your Beauties Pageant by Michelle at From Bolt to Beauty.

Pillow Stats:
Finished pillow is 18" x 18"
Pattern: Free templates for Paper pieced 4 1/2" log cabin blocks by Generations Quilt Patterns.
Fabrics: Sunny Isle bundle by Jennifer Paganelli for Free Spirit, Bella Solids in Ash.
Batting: Quilter's Dream Orient.
Thread: 50wt Aurifil in  Arctic Sky (2612).

Quilt Stats:
Finished quilt is 23" x 23"
Pattern: Adapted from this Broken Herringbone Block tutorial by Freemotion by the River.
Fabrics: Sunny Isle bundle by Jennifer Paganelli for Free Spirit, Bella Solids in Ash.
Batting: Quilter's Dream Orient.
Thread: 50wt Aurifil in  Arctic Sky (2612).

Dotty For Dresdens

It wouldn't be October if I didn't whip up something Ghastly!  Since I've been on a roll with the Dresden plates I decided that was what was missing from my Ghastlies collection.

I'm out of practice so I didn't remember to take pictures of my process.  This is another one made using the Easy Dresden Ruler by EZ Quilting.  I dug thru my stash of Ghastlies and Spellbound and chose a mix of fussy cuts and all-over prints for the wedges.

I wanted this to match my Ghastly Beauty pillow so I stuck with the same background fabric and again used Aurifil's Lana wool to quilt it.  I love the extra dimension the chunky thread adds.

It's been awhile since I did a zippered pillow cover so I needed to review my favorite zipper installation tutorial by s.o.t.a.k handmade.  Still the best one out there!

And here are the Ghastly siblings together.  I feel like I did a better job using fabrics that contrast on this one.

  And now we have a Ghastly entrance ready for trick or treaters...  enter if you dare!

Pillow Stats:
Finished pillow is 21" x 21"
Pattern: Dresden plate using the Easy Dresden Ruler by EZ Quilting.  If you've never tried one check out this fabulous tutorial at Amy's Creative Side's  or Amy Gibson of Stitchery Dickory Dock's Dresdens Decoded Tutorial.
Fabrics: from the Ghastlies collections by Alexander Henry, Spellbound by Cotton + Steel
Batting: Quilter's Dream Orient
Thread: Aurifil 12wt Lana Wool/Acrylic in Faerie Pink (8464), 50wt Victorian Rose (2445)