Friday, October 30, 2015

Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? Pillow Talk

Hi, all!

It's Friday, I'm back in the US, and I've actually had time to make something!  It's time for us to get our whoop whoop on - I hope you're ready too!

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A while back, my daughter brought me a piece of needlework 
in a hoop that she had made for Emmy, and asked me to make it into a pillow for her room.

I had been ruminating on what to do with it for several weeks,
and while I was in China, I came up with a great idea.

And so, when I got home, none of the projects that I should have been working on appealed - but this one was calling my name...


You may remember this quilt that I made for Emmy earlier this year using Etched fabrics from Hawthorne Threads...


When I saw the color of the stitching on my daughter's piece, I realized that it was the same as the blue green in the Etched line, so I dragged out my scraps from the quilt.  I had more than enough of several of the blue green prints to cut the necessary squares, and added in a few of the coral squares just to break up the design.

You may remember this blog post where I discussed making blocks using fusible web and a grid to put the pieces together quickly.


I decided that would be the most efficient way to make this pillow top, so I grabbed my lightweight fusible webbing, laid it on my gridded cutting board, and started laying out pieces.  Note - you need a piece larger than your finished pillow top - something I forgot the first time I cut it out! And on another note, in my experience, this technique gives you perfectly matched seams every time - so much easier than traditional piecing!


You can read more about the process of sewing the patchwork on the earlier blogpost (referenced above) but when I finished sewing all the seams, I put a piece of backing material (muslin) on the top, drew a circle in the center the size of the opening I needed, and sewed around it.  Cut out the center, turned the muslin to the back, and pressed it well.  


I made a quilt sandwich of more muslin and batting, and centered the needlework under the circle.  Basting spray holds all the layers together.  On my Singer, I used a blanket stitch to secure the edge of the circle through all the layers.  



Then I switched over to the Juki and did some cross-hatch straight line quilting.  


I really like all the texture the cross-hatch quilting gives it, and I think Emmy will love it, don't you?  This joint venture with my daughter, up-cycling a wall hanging into a different purpose, has been a lot of fun!


So - - - can I get a whoop whoop?

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And now it's your turn!  

What's making you whoop it up?


What's got you dancing the happy dance this week?

Share - we want to dance right along with you -
And it's always more fun to dance with friends!

The party will stay open until Sunday midnight.

Hope to see you there!

Hugs!

Sarah



21 comments:

  1. That's a great pillow. I love that it's going to match the quilt xxx

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  2. Adorable pillow. I am sure she is going to love it.

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  3. You get a BIG whoop whoop! It's adorable!

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  4. looks like you had a great trip to China and glad to see you back - you have been busy right away I see

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  5. That pillow is so incredibly cute!!!

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  6. What an awesome idea! It turned out soo beautiful. Your daughter is one lucky girl to have such a creative mom! derussell22 at gmail.com

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  7. Wow, what a great method of making the pillow and incorporating the embroidered piece! Also, it never occurred to me that I could used my cutting board to show through some taped-down fusible web for a guide to lay down squares for my landscape backgrounds--no grid drawing, yay! Can't wait to try it. Your pillow turned out gorgeous and is perfect with the quilt for sure.

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  8. Wow, what a great method of making the pillow and incorporating the embroidered piece! Also, it never occurred to me that I could used my cutting board to show through some taped-down fusible web for a guide to lay down squares for my landscape backgrounds--no grid drawing, yay! Can't wait to try it. Your pillow turned out gorgeous and is perfect with the quilt for sure.

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  9. I like the soft touches of peach in the piecing. What a sweet pillow to coordinate with the quilt. :)

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  10. Oh, hey! That turned out really great, Sarah. Nice coordination for the quilt. :D

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  11. The pillow is great. Thanks for showing us how you made it.

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  12. This is beautiful! Love those colours and fabrics.

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  13. I just love what you did with the hoop embroidery, and that it's a joint mother/daughter project for Emmy. Such pretty colours. A special project indeed.

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  14. What a beauty! Love it. Welcome back for China!

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  15. I always forget about that fusible method. It really is simple. Nice pillow. I've been cleaning and servicing machines, not stitching.

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  16. I would be absolutely comatose after such a trip, and unable to make such a lovely pillow! Welcome home!

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  17. That was a great idea and I like the way it turned out.

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  18. Love the pillow, Sarah! Perfect way to showcase the stitchery and use those beautiful scraps!

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  19. Whoop whoop! Well done Sarah! I'm sure she loves it. =) I've done this type of fusible piecing making the Mondo bag. It was very efficient. Did you use a pillow form to fill the pillow of just polyfil?

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