Halloween Pillow

One more day until the candy bonanza! My son already went trick or treating at two events this weekend, so we already have a good start. His plan for Wednesday is to stay out until he fills an entire grocery bag with candy.

In between all the Halloween stuff, I made this Halloween pillow from some scraps leftover from another project (to be posted in a few weeks). I used the scraps to make the patchwork squares, and then made them into a simple nine-patch block by using an orange fat quarter.

I was originally going to put pom-pom trim around the pillow, but I figured this was a good opportunity to teach myself how to a the ruffler foot. As you can see from the picture, ruffler foots are kind of scary (thus, perfect for Halloween) and intimidating. I didn’t even know how to attach it! Thanks to the internet, I was able to find a few videos that explained the process and I was on my way. Once the foot is attached, it really is quite easy to use. Soon I had 3 yards of ruffled material in no time flat.

I was going to stuff it with Fiberfill but then decided to splurge and get a pillow form instead. Using it makes a huge difference in the shape and finished look of the pillow. The back has an envelope opening so you can slip the pillow form in and out in case you need to wash it.

I see a pillow-making tutorial in the future….

Keep it Thimble!

My Mom’s Hidden Bluework Talent

Although my mom doesn’t sew, she’s always up for going to the quilt shop with me to look at fabric. She enjoys seeing the patterns, colors, and imagining all the fantastic projects I can make with them. She tends to favor batiks and more modern looking styles, while I definitely prefer the reproduction and vintage fabrics. So between us, we cover the gamut of tastes.

Bluework_one — Bluework Hand Embroidered Top

In June we went to her local quilt shop (which is called Granny’s – great name!) and she saw bluework panel based on vintage designs. To my surprise, she bought in and said she was going to embroider each of the blocks. When she was done, she would give to me and I could turn it into a quilt. I joked that she had to do one square a week so it would be done by October. We didn’t discuss a time frame for when I would have to get the quilt part done :).

I received a package in the mail a few weeks ago, and it contained all her embroidered squares! As you can see, she did a beautiful job, and some of the designs are quite intricate. Now that I know she has this hidden talent, I plan to ask her to finish up some of my embroidery projects!

As far as the quilt goes, I am going to cut the blue border from the blocks and use something else for the setting. For the corner stones, I plan to do some blue and white four-patch blocks, and may do a blue and white sashing as well. Mom has really set the bar high on this one – but on quality and on how quickly it can be done.

Keep it Thimble!

Fall Projects

I still owe you a report on my trip to Alaska and the quilt shops, and you will get that before the end of the year. However, I have been busy working on some fall projects and should have lots to show and tell in the next month or so.

FallCoveredBox — Fall Fabric Covered Box

Here’s a cute fabric covered box that I made from a class I took at Liberty Rose. Sharon thought of this idea and taught it as a class. This is one of my favorite projects because it only takes a 2 or so hours to complete from start to finish. When done, it looks like something store-bought!

I found this Sara Lee Bakery Display at the local antique store. It’s the perfect place to store all my works in progress. As you can see, I have quite a few projects going on right now. Most of these are 75% complete and will be done in the next few weeks. Stay tuned!

Keep it thimble!