Tag Archives: pillow

Initial Pillow No. 4

This month’s pillow is for my second granddaughter.

I used Cindy Needham’s Ultimate circle stencil to create a guide to free motion quilt.

Hannah Pillow

I didn’t want to use the larger circles, but I did start marking one by mistake. Oops.

Hannah Pillow

After marking the lines from the stencil that I needed, it is simply a matter of ‘connecting the dots’, in my case, for petals.

Hannah Pillow

Then it got complicated.  I had drawn s0 many lines that I really needed to concentrate on which ones that I was going to quilt on.

Hannah Pillow

I thought it easiest for me to outline stitch the lines that I needed, and fill them in later.

Hannah Pillow Hannah Pillow

I hadn’t decided how I wanted to fill the petals, so I quilted the centers and the background first.

Hannah Pillow

Now we are getting somewhere!  Love the texture!

Hannah Pillow

I used Wonderfil Invisifil 100 wt. to outline stitch the letter and the ladybug.  Aurifil variegated 40 wt. was used to free motion quilt the flowers, and Aurifil 50 wt. was used for the background stitching, as well as appliqueing the letter.

Hannah Pillow

The finished pillow:

Hannah Pillow

Just a simple covered zipper backing:

Hannah Pillow

I didn’t think that I would make it this month, but here it is the last day of the month, and I can still link up to QuiltShopGal’s May free motion quilting pillow challenge.  Yay!  I chose Option #1.

Be sure to check out Cindy Needham’s website and blog.  She is a fabulous quilter and teacher!

Hannah Pillow Joy Pillow

Initial Pillow No. 1

Initial Pillow No. 2

Initial Pillow No. 3

Initial Pillow

I have decided to make one pillow a month.  One pillow for each of my grandchildren.

I think a pillow with their initial on it would be a fun and personal Christmas gift.

Totally doable for me.  So, yes, for the first time ever, I’m starting my Christmas list early.

Here you see the initial already machine appliqued onto a white background layered with batting and muslin.  I drew a squiggly machine quilting guideline with a blue washout marker.

Nathaniel Pillow

Next time, I think I should space that guideline further apart, but it worked out.

Nathaniel Pillow

The squiggly line was quilted first, then the rest of the filler quilting was done.

Nathaniel Pillow

Oops.  I missed a small section.  I hope the quilt police don’t find it!

Nathaniel Pillow

I made an 18″ pillow and filled it with an 18″ pillow form.  I think a bigger form might look better.

Nathaniel Pillow

I like the railroad tracks filler.  It is fun and wonky.  No rules.  Thanks Leah Day!

Nathaniel Pillow

The back of the pillow has a concealed zipper.

Nathaniel Pillow

I am linking up with quiltshopgal.

The railroad tracks free motion quilting is from Option #1 from the February Pillow Challenge.

Nathaniel Pillow

Word of the Year – Joy

My daughter signed me up for Ali Edwards’ One Little Word class (She did ask if I would like to try it first.).  My daughter is a creative, prolific scrapbooker, and I love what she does.  She has played with paper ever since she was a tiny tot.  I, however, am not a scrapbooker.  But she assures me that I don’t have to be to enjoy this class.

In fact, she bought a journal for me instead of a binder.  I haven’t written a word in it, yet, but I love it! 

Joy Journal 2015

I will write in it soon.

As you can see from the cover of the journal, I have chosen the word ‘Joy’ for my word this year.  I’ve had some tough times the past few years and I’ve lost my ‘muchness’.

I understand that joy is an attitude; a choice.  But it is much more than that, and I shall be exploring it this year.  I hope to be a better person by the end of this year.

I splurged and bought a reminder to wear everyday.

Joy Bracelet

I love this cuff bracelet!  It is hand made, well made, and I supported the maker in my small way. 

I had decided that I wanted a pillow, and then I saw the  2015 Free Motion Quilting Challenge.  For January, there are three options to choose from.  I’ve chosen a variation of Option #3.

I altered a design found in my Electric Quilt program and traced it onto my fabric with a blue water soluble marker:

Joy Pillow

Joy Pillow

I drew quilting ideas onto my paper pattern (it got a lot messier later):

Joy Pillow

Using water soluble thread, I sewed two layers of batting underneath the letters and the surrounding heart shape.  After sewing, I cut away the excess batting.

Joy Pillow

Joy Pillow

I chose a 12 weight orange Aurifil thread to outline the letters and heart shapes.

Joy Pillow

The filler was sewn with a 50 weight cream Aurifil thread.

Joy Pillow

All of the stitching is done with free motion.

Joy Pillow

I need a larger pillow form to fill out the pillow cover better.  It is on my shopping list.

Joy Pillow

My happy place, the sewing studio, is lime green and white.  Orange poppies and lime green (functioning as the zipper cover) make me smile.  This pillow will fit right in!

Joy Pillow