double take

I just wanted to show you my second finished Summersville quilted pillow. I felt like I needed a matching set although they are not actually totally matching. The center squares are the same, but the rest is random. The second one is also quilted just a little different from the first. I quilted triangles inside the triangles on the second one instead of doing circles. I like the circles better, though...

I also quilted the back of the pillows. My stitches looked great until I pulled them out of the dryer. The stitches look really bizarre. It's like the tension on my machine is off on every other stitch so they look coupled together. Anyone know why that is? I'm wondering if it's from the fabric shrinking. Or because I was using up my polyester thread (gasp!) on a project I knew would never leave my living room. Hmmmm.... I've never had that happen to me before. I guess I'd better figure it out before I make another quilt!

Pinspiration

It's no secret. I like Pinterest. I more than like Pinterest. I look through Pinterest when I should be doing other things. Like cleaning up after myself, cooking dinner for my family.... you get the picture. There are just so many goodies on there! So many beautiful things to distract me... and it's always there... Maybe I should have labeled this post "Pintervention."

On to the point of this post. I thought I'd share a Pinterest find that is inspiring me this week:


{Image from here}


What's not to love about this painted pillow? Chevrons, fresh colors, oh my! I've done a little fabric painting in the past. It really was quite simple. I'm imagining something like this for my living room, perhaps with some added quilting detail.... hmmmm 

Finished Pillow!

Cathedral Windows Pillow {tutorial from here}

 Here is my finished pillow! I'm really loving how it turned out! And I must say, it really looks good in my living room! I chose a white border and the back is navy.

Once I finished the pillow,  I realized that I didn't have an 18-inch pillow form anywhere in my house, so I got creative (thrifty) and made one. Did you know an old pillow case makes a great pillow form? Who doesn't have old pillow cases laying around? I trimmed a white stardard pillow case down to 18 1/4 inches, leaving two of the original seams intact. Then I sewed up the other two sides,minus a gap to fill it. I filled it with some fiberfill that I had laying around, and finished it off. It literally took me five minutes and it was essentially free!

I like this pillow so much, that I now have a problem- I think I need a new quilt for my sofa... and maybe another pillow.... I could redo the dog bed, too.... The other side of my sofa is just looking so lonely without a colorful pillow. And my poor old quilt doesn't match the new pillow. Oh, no. I'm feeling a room re-do coming on... That's the problem with small projects- They inspire larger ones!

Cathedral Windows

Cathedral Window Pillow Top {Tutorial from here}

This is a little project that I whipped together yesterday afternoon. It's just the front of the pillow, but the rest should come together fairly quickly. I have to admit that I was a little intimidated to start this project, but the tutorial I used was well written and super easy to follow.

I am fairly happy with how this turned out. The points aren't as neat as I'd hoped and I'm just going to assume this comes with practice.... does that mean I'll make another one? It's quite likely!

Now, I need a little help. I can't decide what fabric to use to make my border for this pillow. Should I use the same as the background fabric or one of the other fabrics? I have laid it out several different ways and I just can't decide! I'd love some input from you!

Handmade Christmas

I took on the challenge of making a couple of Christmas gifts this year. I made two 18 inch pillow shams and a knitted scarf for my mom. Although knitting isn't new to me, I hadn't touched knitting needles or yarn for years. I honestly don't know what got into me when I decided to make it. I was a little nervous about how it would turn out, but my mom LOVED the scarf!

18-inch pillow shams

Knitted Scarf