Thursday, June 13, 2013

I Was Just Thinking About...

...how much I liked the PTS10 pillow swap pillow that I made for Kettleboiler (otherwise known as Moira of Nottingham, England).  It looks like this:

 
 
After getting the pillow and some goodies into the mail, my brain was still hovering over the idea of making one for myself.  So I did.
 
My favorite colors right now are purple, citrine, black and gray.  I thought you might like to see some of the steps of getting this quilt as you go top made. 
 
I decided on a 16" pillow for myself.  I cut the backing and the batting about 18.5" and chose my focus fabric.  This Echino owl just cried out to be IT.  This photo is after a few rounds of fabric had been added:





 
 
I was trying to preserve the rectangular frame of the owl resulting in longer strips of fabric on the longer side of the owl that created some visual design issues for me.

 
Here she is after all the fabric has been applied and quilted but before I squared her up and cut her down.


 
 
Lastly, here she is ready to be bound.  I've decided on a purple binding for this gal.  I learned alot from making this second pillow top.  Made fewer technical mistakes but have learned more about the design issues that come along with this technique.  For example, if I were to do this again, I would move the owl farther to the right and down a little, so that I could have more room for wonkiness and shorter strips.  Maybe I would plan the layout a little more rather than being surprised with the end result.  Maybe I wouldn't run out of black fabric leaving me with a section that has no black at all and no black binding...hmmmm, doesn't sound much like me.  I suppose that's an aspirational thought that has little chance of being actualized!
 
Other news in my little quilt world:  our guild challenge quilts are hanging at the San Mateo County Fair quilt show right now!  A few of us are going over tomorrow afternoon to check out the show, see the challenge quilts and also look at all the other quilts, mostly traditional, but some art quilts and some modern.  I'll take some photos for the next blog!
 
What's happening in your quilt world?
 
Aaaaanyway, that's it from the Robertson household.  

8 comments:

  1. Your new pillow top looks terrific! I think the owl placement is good...once there's an actual pillow form in it, the owl will be sitting up high, as an owl should be!

    Enjoy the fair! See you on Saturday!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks Kelly. Yes, Saturday at the guild meeting!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Both color combinations and finishes are just perfect if you ask me! Beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thank you both for your comments. I do fret over the details - so you both have made me feel much better!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love my pillow, Kathleen. It makes me very happy. I will be making some of these myself, Love your colour combos

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks Moira. So glad that you love it. I just had to make another!


    ReplyDelete
  7. Love the pillow you made for yourself . I thought the owl perched up high was designed that way, LOL. Looking forward to pictures of the quilts at the fair. It was fun to see some of them in person at the retreat.

    ReplyDelete

Followers

About Me

My photo
I'm a grandmother, a lawyer, a quilter, a cook and the human companion of Boo, the labradoodle. I am also a collector/hoarder and ultimate consumer of fabric. Can't resist touching and/or buying it! I also love sharing every day with my doodle. Please look at my work and let me know what you think. I plan to share my thoughts and experiences with you and hope you will do the same. Boo sends his tail wagging greetings to all. If you meet him, you will know exactly what I mean!