I must be on this pillow kick (see 02/21/19 post From “Orphan Blocks” to Pillows) as I’ve made another little pillow.

Saturday, before “Snowmageddon” descended upon Central Oregon, I went over my friend Marie’s house for a Sew Day.

I did not want to arrive empty handed so I whipped up the evening before a little pillow, from a dog faces panel (Dogs of Many Breeds by Elizabeth Studio) I had in my stash, of her beloved Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.

Pup Pillow Making

After cutting from the panel the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel block, I worked to find fabrics in my stash to pair with it:

I decided to go with a gold shot cotton inner border and a gold small print floral outer border.

I used the “quilt-as-you-go” technique to assemble the pillow, piecing the pillow directly to a piece of batting.

After trimming excess fabric to even up the borders, I had a completed pillow top:

I give the pillow enough weigh in the back as the front was quilted with batting, I used a double layer of coordinated backing fabric.

After pinning the two right sides together, I stitched around the edge of the pillow, leave a couple inches opening for turning right sides out and for stuffing.

I like to stuff the corners first when stuffing a pillow to make sure they get enough stuffing. I used which I like because it is made from recycled materials:

Once the pillow was stuffed to my liking, I pinned the section I left open and whip stitched it closed with coordinating thread.

I figured out a couple years ago that pinning the open section of a pillow (or other stuffed item) before you whip stitch it close gives you a better chance of an even closure.

Pup Pillow Reveal and a Very Cute Model

Here is the completed pillow:

But here is something EVEN CUTER, my friend’s Cavalier King Charles Spaniel doing a photoshoot with the pillow!

Of course she was thinking: “I am way cuter than that dog in the pillow!”; or “Lady, hurry and get this photoshoot done, I want a biscuit!”

Postscript

In case you were wondering what I worked on during the Sew Day at my friend’s house – I worked on my ongoing English Paper Piecing project and actually made a little progress:

You can check out posts about this ongoing project in my series of posts Adventures in Paper Piecing – (scroll through to see older posts after you click on the link).

Oh and if you would like to see my friend Marie’s lovely quilt studio that I got to hang out in on Saturday, you can check it out on her June 2018 post in her blog Fierce Beyond 50 – A (Craft) Room of One’s Own: Craft Room Ideas, Inspiration, and Eye Candy.

This post also includes a photo of her writing desk where she writes her amazing Women’s Fiction novels! (Marie is New York Times Bestseller Author, Marie Bostwick).

Studio, tierneycreates

From “Orphan Blocks” to Pillows

February 21, 2019February 21, 2019 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

If you make quilts, then you’ve probably dealt with “orphan blocks” – the extra blocks you either made accidentally while making your quilt or intentionally to give you options when you laid out your quilt and made final decisions on what blocks you want to use in the quilt.

For years I’ve had these two “orphan blocks” from a Connecting Threads Minnesota Stars Kit I made at least 8 years ago.

Here is what the quilt looks like (it is currently serving as a tablecloth on my table in the sunroom):

And here are the two “orphan blocks” that did not fit into the quilt (I think I accidentally made too many):

You may notice in the images above it looks like the blocks were hand-stitched. Well they were – I attempted to do something with the blocks years ago and added batting, backing and hand-stitched them.

And then they went to the place where all unfinished projects go – to the back of the closet.

Last night I decided rather than move them as unfinished blocks to my next residence, why not just FINISH them and make them into coordinating pillows?

So I did:

And now they are on the chairs in the sunroom with the tablecloth quilt that they are connected:

Ah, it feels so good to finish an old project!

tierneycreates

In Use!

August 10, 2015November 29, 2015 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

In my February post, 2015 Goals, I shared a photo of the Little Love Note pillows I made for the tierneycreates Etsy shop. I packaged these pillows in sets of 3 with an organza ribbon and a little handmade heart card attached for gifting.

Unfortunately I posted the pillows to my shop too close to Valentine’s Day (3 days before!) for customers to purchase them as Valentine’s Day gifts.

I did however offer them for sale to some friends and neighbors if they were in need of a last minute Valentine’s Day gifts. I sold a 4 – 5 sets of pillows this way, and figured they went as gifts to other people.

However, I recently discovered, a neighbor friend of mine happened to keep a set for herself. While I was over her house the other day I got to see, 6 months later, great examples of how they could be used as home decor.

Instead of displaying all 3 pillows together, she broke them up and put them in different areas of her home: guest room, guest bathroom, and hallway nook.

It is so fun to see something you made being enjoyed in someone’s home!