Christmas Sewing

The pillow covers for my mother in law are done!  I really love them.  My goal was to make them modern but still have a  warm homey vibe to them.  I found a bunch of inspiration on flickr and went from there.
I pushed my quilting by attempting patterns in the book "Free Motion Quilting with Angela Walters."  This book is so beautiful to look at and definitely inspiring.  I was really proud of my wood grain quilting.  It was fun to try and gave a lovely result.  The attempt at concentric circles didn't leave me too happy at first, but after the cases were washed it looks a whole lot better.
Less than half a layer cake was used to make these.  I bought it from Pink Castle Fabrics via an instagram sale. I have enough left to make some more Christmas gifts.

 

Dresden blades

First time trying this wood grain technique.  I started with some marking lines to get the hang of it.  I also went in an up and down motion instead of side by side.  It felt easier to me that way.




A reindeer in the making.  (November 2013 Here is an update on how I did it.) 
When I made it last year I was looking for the perfect deer head silhouette.
This is the link to the one I used
http://www.itsoverflowing.com/2012/10/no-sew-pillow-antler/

What I did was trace the shape on my computer screen,  outlined it in a black sharpie, and then enlarged it by copying and printing it at a larger size. Hope that helps :)


It was not intentional to have him look like he had shades on but I think it makes him cooler.




Fabrics Used:
layer cake of Joy by Kate Spain for Moda
Aviary Woodgrain by Joel Dewberry
Kona Snow
Michael Miller Clown Stripe in Red
Backing - Christmas collection fron Joanne's

Sand Dollar Pillow

I made myself a summer sewing project check list the other day.  It had 9 items on it, and this week I was able to cross one off as completed. 

I finished a new pillow I have named the Sand Dollar pillow because of the way the quilting came out.  As soon as I saw Jessica at Sew Crafty Jess's gorgeous Summer Scoops Scallops quilt I really wanted to make something with those shapes.  I used my Accuquilt Go Baby! for the majority of the cutting. 

I think I didn't love it at first because I had stared at it too long, but now it has grown on me and I'm pretty pleased with it.  I really want to get better at color selection.  I want to throw every pretty fabric I own in there and it gets unbalanced.  Here I see too much green.  I love red, I should have thrown in some red.

Basted

The quilting from the back.  I intended to use Elizabeth's Dogwood method shown here.  Instead I decided to go diagonally and my arches were more like waves.  I did this with my walking foot.

I added some piping using some Peacock Lane and a zipper foot.

 I used the "how to make a pillow" fabric for the back.

  Text prints are so hot right now (in a Paris Hilton voice).

I also added an invisible zipper shown here (pun intended).

And here it is one more time for good measure.  It finished at a size of 19 x 18 inches.

Next on deck is a the Honey Girl dress for my sisters birthday, if I can get it done in time.  I made one last year and it came out nice.  The shirring is a bit tedious but the end result is worth it.  I love cutting everything with a pinking rotary blade, its so fun!

I also downloaded the super popular Wiksten Tova pattern.  I cant wait to get crackin' on that either.  It's on the list so, in time.  Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Melissa