A Little Pillow Talk... Fun Mail

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You may already know that one of my favorite swaps is the Pillow Talk Swap.  The swappers in it are crazy talented.  I am always a little intimidated when it's my turn to create.  The other side of that coin is that I've received the most A-MA-ZING pillows in this swap.  This one is no different.  This beauty came to me from the very talented Stephanie a/k/a SeaSteph from Tennessee.  It is lying flat because I don't have an extra pillow form - a fact that will have to be rectified very soon.

I love the star with the fussy cut flower in the center.  And the way she used the colors for the flower for the points.  So cool.

I love the borders within borders look.  Fun!

And the back is so pretty.  I never mess with the back very much, so this is a real treat.

I really love the pretty handmade card too (and I love how the colors coordinate!)  Being a "retired" Stampin' Up! demonstrator, I can appreciate a lovely handmade card when I see one!

Thanks, Stephanie, for a wonderful swap!

Pillow Talk

I just finished another round of the Pillow Talk Swap.  My package - along with the 8 others that needed to be mailed yesterday - is winging its way to my partner.  It has a long ways to go, so I hope it gets there safely, and doesn't take toooooo long.

Pillow Talk is very rewarding, but also really intimidating.  There are some a-maz-ing swappers who participate in this swap, and the things they create are just over the top - gorgeous pillows that I never would have even thought of and techniques I wouldn't dream of trying, although I do like to stretch myself a bit.

I dithered and dallied and changed my mind a million times in trying to decide what to make my partner.  She is a very talented quilter and has made me things before, but this is the first time I have sent something to her.  I kinda thought I wanted to do something with circles and finally settled on the drunkards path block.  Above is a preliminary layout.  After seeing the photo, I realized that I should track the orange all the way to the corner, so I exchanged out a couple of blocks.

In constructing the drunkards path blocks I've made before, I've always pinned the centers and stretched the curves to fit.  But this time I ran across a post on a bee block I was admiring that linked to a blog with a totally cool method of sewing curves.  If you're working on curves, take a minute (that's how long the video is) and check out this method.  It took a couple of tries to get the "rhythm" but it was fantastic.  I thought it would take hours to get these blocks made, but it took less than 30 minutes to make all 25 blocks, plus some extras.  That's a minute a block!  It.  Is.  Awesome.

Here is the pillow top put together.  Yup, I dug out my seam ripper and changed out the block in the upper left corner.  It looks totally out of place, huh?  Funny how you don't see it until you see it in a picture.  That's one of the things I'm trying to do now that I have a phone that takes decent pictures - take a photo of my creation before I reach the point of no return to see if it really works.  This practice has saved me a couple of blunders.

Here was another occasion to bring out my seam ripper.  I totally didn't see that this fabric was right side IN until I was sewing the rows together.  Glad I saw it before I got the whole thing together. 

I read a blog the other day where a non-English speaker couldn't remember what the seam ripper was called - she called it an "unseaming tool".  I think that sounds a lot more elegant that "seam ripper".  I may call it that from now on!

Here it is layered on the batting and backing, ready for quilting.  You can see here where I changed out that orange block in the corner.  This time it is in the upper right. 

I start getting really excited about this point in the construction, when I know that it's right and I know that its starting to look the way I want it to.  I really love the way the curves flow in this design.

I stitched in the ditch around the curves and along the seam, then hand quilted in the color of the blocks about 1/4 inch from the curves.  I really like hand quilting (I never thought I would say that!)  It adds so much to the design.

I was going to do my usual binding but my friend suggested piping.  I really love the elegant finish it gives to my little pillow.  I think I will try to use this technique more.  If you haven't tried piping, give it a whirl.  All you need is a zipper foot - unless you're doing a LOT of it, don't let anyone convince  you that you need a bunch of fancy tools.  Cut your fabric strip wide enough to cover the piping comfortably and have enough fabric to hang on to - you can trim it later if you need to.  I've found that it's much easier to trim it than to fight with it while you're trying to sew close to the piping.  If your needle is adjustable, move it as close to the piping edge as you can without sewing through the piping.  This piping adventure worked so well I don't know why I don't do more of it.

So there it is - my PTS pillow finished in an evening.  That fact alone had me pleased as punch.

This is one pillow I could have cheerfully kept for myself.  I may have to make another.

TGIF

If you've read my blog a time or two, you've probably come to the conclusion that I am a swap addict.  It's true.  I admit it.  I really need to get this addiction under control.  But it'll have to wait until I get the 4 (or is it 5???) swaps done for the middle of November.

The little cottage above is for the Fab Little Pincushion (FLiPS for short) swap.  I found the pattern here.  It was loads of fun to make.  Next time I may try some different details, but this was a hoot.  I had to cover up the welcome sign, as it might give too many clues to my partner.

Next is the Trim the Tree swap, and this one is finished and ready to mail to my 4 partners.  I can't find the tutorial I used, but if anyone knows where it is, I will gladly add the link to give credit where credit is due.  These acrylic ornaments happen to be on sale at Michael's right now, so they are pretty inexpensive.  I found that cutting your scrapbook paper on the narrower side gives a more interesting ornament.  Of course, it took me a few tries to figure that out.

Then I made this little tote for my partner in the Modern She Made Swap.  I really like these text prints together.  The Paris map fabric is so fun.  The pattern is here.  This is a really simple to sew tote, and the outer pockets are formed when you attach the straps.  Seriously, this bag took about 45 minutes to sew.

These cute texty prints were not my original plan, but somehow I didn't get home with the fabric I bought to make this little goodie.  I opened the bag from the fabric store on Saturday afternoon after the store had closed, tore the whole sewing room apart, and finally concluded that I left it at the store.  I called first thing on Monday morning and described my fabric, they said they had it, I went rushing in after work - only to find that the fabric they had set aside was not the fabric I had chosen originally.  The owner was there however, and kindly cut some more fabric for me.  So nice, as these were 1-yard cuts, so pretty expensive.

I also decided to make my partner a pillow cover, so I got out my EZ Dresden ruler again, along with the Dear Stella prints BD#1 picked up for me at Sewing Summit (isn't she so sweet to share with her dear mother?) and added a couple of other prints to give it some variety.  I bought some navy solid for the background, but really wish I had a navy polka dot.  Sadly, my LQS didn't have navy dot, and I don't have time to go hunting.  I'm planning to hand quilt it, so I think it will be OK.

Then I decided to embroider the Dresden center to give it a little interest.  Really need to get rid of the pencil marks, but I'll get around to that.

Here's the print that inspired the embroidery.

And I still have my winter mug rug to send back to Mary, who made me the Texas snowman.  Mary will get a Florida snowman, just as soon as I get a chance to sit down and make it.  I have such a fun idea!

Photo by Kelly of SewKellySews

 Finally, I have to make my pillow for the Pillow Talk Swap.  This is my pillow from last round and I really had a blast making it.  Kelly (and her girls) seemed to like it too.  I still haven't settled on an idea for this time.  There are so many rolling around in my head.  But this one has to get started this weekend.

Then I have one more swap before the end of November, as the folks in the Sew Fun Bee create some Christmas goodness for their partners, but the due date is pretty flexible.  I think I have an idea for this one too, it's just a matter of doing it.

So, November seems to be a truly swappy month here at prsd4tim2, but I've got it well in hand (I hope).  At least a few of the projects are finished.  And Monday is a holiday, so I hope to have a seriously creative weekend.