Just because a pattern uses a single print in a block doesn't mean you have to limit yourself to one. My stash is mostly made up of leftovers, with not a lot of yardage, so working from my stash usually involves a scrappier look.
This week I made a block from my Wreathed pattern to use as a Christmas pillow cover. As expected, I didn't have a big enough piece of any suitable green to make a block, but I had pretty green and gold metallic prints scraps. The Christmas scrap bin spit out some assorted reds and cream/gold prints too.
Well, I probably had enough of that green with the snowflakes, but I really liked the other greens too. Why choose? Use them all!
Choosing reds for the corners added a little bit of pop. A friend once told me every quilt needs a "party girl" fabric to liven it up. I think the red fits the bill here.
I chose the border width to make the cover fit my couch throw pillows so I wouldn't need to buy a new pillow form, or find space to store the pillow out of season. I don't have a lot of storage space so finding shelf space for a flat empty pillow cover is much easier.
I considered making the borders in the same fabric as the block background to make the wreath float on the background, then decided more light fabric on a pillow cover was just inviting dirt to show up really well. Green is clearly a better choice!
The red squares in the corners in the border were added because the scraps of the green I used in the border were not long enough to reach all the way across. I initially added a different green in the corners, but those two green didn't play well together. They looked fine together in the block, separated by a little bit of the background, but side by side and touching, they clashed a little. Red works better, and echoes the red corners from the center block.
It's sparkly! |
I love the gold metallic in the background and in the prints. As a rule, I'm not partial to metallic accents, but that rule goes out the window when it comes to Christmas. I love some Christmas sparkle!
Two years ago, I wrote a tutorial on how make a zippered pillow cover. I wrote it because I couldn't find the tutorial I used when I first made one of these. After figuring it out again on my own I wrote the tutorial so I could refer back to it when needed. Since I hadn't made another pillow cover since I wrote the tutorial, I needed a refresher so I pulled up the instructions on my blog and followed them step by step.
Here comes the embarassing part. That tutorial has been up for two years. I've referred people to it. Unfortunately it contained a doozy of a mistake! Wrong side up is not the the same as wrong side down. It just isn't, though I seem to have a brain block about it and write the wrong one fairly frequently. This was one of those times. If you followed the tutorial as written, you'd end up with the zipper on the inside of the pillow and the wrong side of the back of the pillow on the outside.
Fear not, I clued in before I did anything irreversible. I layered and sewed tings in the proper order and orientation, and promptly corrected the tutorial. It's safe for you to follow the instructions as written now!
P |
When the binding clips match the quilt... |
Here's the new pillow, front and back, with the zipper hiding under the cream strip on the back.
We're a little slow to decorate for Christmas in this house, but I think this project has tipped me into the right mood. We bought poinsettias last weekend. When I finished the pillow, I was encouraged to switch out the fall quilts for my red and white and Christmas ones. Maybe this weekend I'll get out the wreath for the stair railing and the garland for the mantle. Next weekend can be the tree and tree lights so we can enjoy trimming the tree after my daughter comes home. Less than two weeks to Laura hugs!
Have you made anything new for the Holidays this year? I used to make an ornament for the tree every year, but the tree is getting a bit full, so I think I'll count this pillow as this year's addition. :)
Happy quiting,
Joanne