Friday Finish: Pillow Challenge

I don't know about you, but I am SO glad it is Friday.  Today, I actually have a finish to share with you.  A quick gift was needed and I remembered how fun the holiday llama pillow was to make, so I decided to make another pillow cover using this same tutorial.

quilted pillow

I started with four leftover linen triangles (still have plans for the others) from the spiderweb mini quilt I'm still working on (almost done...just needs to be quilted) and added wide strips of the Riley Blake Challenge fabric around the three sides to make the blocks.  

pillow cover

The scraps of Riley Blake fabric were put through my AccuQuilt Go cutter using the triangle die.  I pieced those triangles for the outer border leaving a strip of linen on two sides.  Linen is also used for the inner border.

organic quilting lines

For Christmas, my mom gave me an Aurifil thread set and the spool of #5011 is a perfect match for the linen which is what I used to quilt organic lines using my walking foot.

quilted top

For the backing I used a print from IKEA which I love and bought by the bolt but forgot to photograph ;-)  The pillow cover measures 22" square and I stuffed it with a 24" pillow form to make it soft and squishy.

gift for a friend

This one finish counts towards my Riley Blake Challenge (a little past the deadline), Amy's Pillow Collective, Amanda's finish it up Friday and a gift for a friend!

I'd say that's sewing smart ;-)

Happy Friday and happy stitching!  Thanks for stopping by,

Quick Update

I am still working on Carla's bee block, but I finished Linda's house block.  Just need to fill in my siggy block and put it in the mail.

mod house block

 Debbie made a really cool mod house block which really caught my eye.  Do you ever see something and say to yourself, "I wish I had made that!"?  Happens to me all too often ;-)  Happily, there was a second mod house tutorial on Flickr.   I think the two will go nicely with the other blocks Linda has received.

Modern Sewciety podcast

A few weeks ago I posted about listening to quilt podcasts in the car.  Last week I discovered a relatively new one called Modern Sewciety just in time for a road trip to visit my sister.  I am only up to episode 8 (think the podcast is up to 13), but I am thoroughly enjoying Stephanie's style.  If you enjoy listening to podcasts, I recommend you check out hers.  She also has a series of Downton Abby chats, but since I have just now finished Season 1 I am not listening to those....yet.

family

My road trip was to attend a baby shower.  Regretfully I did not gift anything handmade, but my mom did. Here she is with her grandson (and father-to-be) holding the quilt she made for her great-grandson.  Yes, she's awesome that way!  Check out those prairie points.

giveaway gift

 I won this cute mini quilt from my Instagram friend KatieTKQ.  I just love it!  Thanks so much Katie.

Thanks for stopping by and happy stitching,

What's Up Wednesday: Quilty Stitching

While I was away I worked on two more Mid-Century Modern Bee blocks - Linda's house block and Carla's churn dash blocks - but couldn't complete them because in each case I was missing just one piece of fabric.  So much for my planning ahead, but at least I am almost finished with them both.  

mini spiderweb quilt

November was my month and spiderweb blocks from my bee mates are cheering up the design wall.   At a recent guild sew day, I took a bunch of background squares and scraps to make additional spiderweb blocks for my quilt.  Well, again so much for planning ahead.  I had cut all my background squares too small.  Doh!  Instead, I took those smaller squares and made a mini quilt.  It's basted and ready for quilting.

triangle scraps

Seems a shame to waste these triangle shapes cut from the web blocks.  I have a plan in mind for these scraps.

working in the airport

The night before we flew home, I made my husband take me to Michael's so I could buy supplies for LMS's  Quilty Stitches Sampler (cross stitch along).  I sat in the airport coloring my block and prepping my fabric.  My daughter got a chuckle at my excitement of pulling out the colored pencils and coloring!  Good thing my folder design was rulers - used that for measuring the starting point.

a little progress

My mom introduced me to cross stitching a long time ago, and I love it!  I have many framed cross stitch projects hidden away in a closet somewhere.  I was so happy to see this stitch along, and a sampler of quilt blocks is just genius!  I haven't made any Swoon quilt blocks, but I am loving the cross stitch version.  I don't have to worry about matching seams and cutting off points!

Thanks for stopping by,

What's Up Wednesday: NOT skiing

It's winter break for my daughter's school, and we are back in Montana for the week.  My injured hand has been the perfect excuse to get out of skiing and spend time sewing.  There are other families here from school so my husband has friends to ski with and everyone is happy!

ready to sew

I keep a little machine here in what I call my sewing closet.  It's not my favorite, but I love being able to sew when I am here, and it is fine for block making.

gathering supplies

This month I was invited to join the Wish circle group of do.Good Stitches {a charity bee}, and I am super excited to participate!  February's blocks are quilty cross blocks made with masculine fabrics in orange, olive green, royal blue and navy.

do good stitches

A few days ago I received an email reminding me of the approaching deadline for the ALL SHIRTS. no shoes. swap.  Oops....forgot I had signed up for that!  I brought supplies enough to make ten shirts but stopped after making one.  Think my Juki is better equipped for sewing over the bulky seams when joining the two halves together.  I don't think one shirt is worth swapping though.

shirt block

For Christmas I received this lovely quilt rack and it is finally put together.  Thanks Mom!  I love having a place for my quilts.  They have been getting used quite a bit this week.  

Christmas gift

Thanks for stopping by,

Trippin'

Recently I took a road trip home to check on the parental units.  No one was available to ride along, so I downloaded some new-to-me quilty podcasts to keep me company.  I am usually the passenger in the car reading a book, stitching binding on a quilt or napping under a quilt which is what I prefer.  However, listening to interesting quilting conversations made all the difference in the world.  The trip seemed so much shorter and bearable.  

Trip Around the World block

Do any of you have a favorite quilt-themed podcast?  Even on a normal day, I am in the car quite a bit so I am could use some suggestions.  On my road trip I listened to American Patchwork and Quilting with Pat Sloan and The Quilt Cast with Amy Ellis and April Rosenthal.  I loved them both!  One had great interviews and the other was like listening to friends chatting about quilting.  I was inspired by them all.

Our Orlando MQG selected the scrappy trip around the world block for February's block lotto.  I fell in love with this block when the #scrappytripalong was all the rage on Instagram but resisted because of other projects in the works.  I was glad for a reason to give this block a try, pulled out some precut 2.5" strips and went to sewing.

unstitching

I didn't win the block lotto so I think more scrappy trip around the world blocks are in my future.  I NEED a quilt for my bed made with these blocks!

Thanks for stopping by and happy stitching,