I had someone skim my debit card at Christmas time so I had to order a new one and forgot it was attached to my account at Shabby Fabrics for their pillow of the month kit club. It was almost the end of the month before I remembered, then I was out of town and back before I finally caught back up to them. Fortunately they are very easy to work with, and shipped me out the February kit soon after that.
These kits are great but I probably am just repeating myself from December. The pieces are all laser cut so they are very exact, and they already have the fusible backing on them. That means all I have to do is lay the pieces out, then remove the backing in small sections to iron in place. Zig zag or blanket stitch, etc. around the edges and theoretically the top could be done. I’m using these as a good excuse to use my long arm so I quilted the last 2 before sewing it to the back.
I had a question yesterday what the batting scissors are used for, and it’s at the end of quilting to cut the batting around the edges. These scissors are made differently from shears and are perfectly designed to cut through the batting very easily, plus they have long blades which helps it go fast. Not a “must have” but after trying them today they sure are great to have.
I did all free motion quilting on it which is feathers, teardrops and echoing based on an example I saw in a book I have “Doodle Quilting” by Cheryl Malkowski. I have to say – feathers are a lot easier than what I’ve heard. Maybe being left-handed helps? I don’t know. I’ve practiced a lot with blank paper to get the muscle memory but I found quilting them was a cinch. I decided to make the case a little larger because I didn’t want it to look stuffed in there. Now it has a little too much extra fabric in the corners so hopefully I’ll find a happy medium next month.
Such a beautiful pillow. I’ve wished to know how to use my machine more but until now I still get frustrated when I want to use characters. I don’t know how to sew them on the fabric.
For me, the thing I’ve found that helps the most is Heat ‘n Press. I iron one side to the back of the fabric for about 3-5 seconds, and then cut out the design. Then I lay it on the background fabric, peel off the backing and then iron into place. From there I typically use either a blanket or satin stitch to hold in place.
I shall try that technique & thank u. 😀
So pretty! I really like the idea of premade kits!! But, for now, I have so much fabric, I’ll be quilting till I’m 105, to use it all! lol
Same here but that seems to only slow me down and not stop me entirely – haha!
lol
Wow, that is super lovely!
Thank you! These pillows are great and a cinch to make in no time at all. Plus they’re a nice way to add some “pop” to the entryway.
This puts me in the mood for sugar cookies and valentines!
Hey that’s a great idea! Our 7th grade son confessed tonight there might be “someone” he wanted to give a valentine’s card to next week. Yikes!!!
Lol! That’s so great:)! Life only gets better from here:)
You and that long arm are becoming besties! I have promised myself I will try feathers this year.😀
I promise you if you look into what’s called the bump back method for feathers by Karen McTavish, you’ll see they are super easy.
Looks really good to me!
Thank you!
A super home decor piece!
Thank you!
What a lovely pillow. And I’ll tell you that when I make pillows like this I like to round the corners with a small saucer so I don’t end up having “dog ears” on the corners.
That is an excellent idea! I am definitely going to do that – and now I’m wondering why I didn’t think of that!