House Warming Pillow

 I have been in the middle of some bigger projects lately (and haven't been posting), but had to stop everything to finish (er, start AND finish) a pillow case that I wanted to make for a friend. Her last minute visit from Canada kicked me into high gear.

I sewed a bunch of strips together, made an envelope closure, and ironed on (and later stitched to secure) a little label on the back corner. Oh, and I also put a line of yellow embroidered stitches across the front (not sure if you can make those out in the top photo!).

Anyway, my friend was really happy and surprised by the gift! She told her daughter she'd have "a little reminder of Mary Jo" right there in her new house with her. Can't wait to visit! :)

Embroidery on a Pillow

I've been meaning to make a new pillow cover and finally got around to it a few weeks ago.

And get this, I went all out and did some embroidery around one of the flowers. Can you see it? I traced the orange outer petals, the dark-orange inner part, and the white part as well. I think it gives the pillow a little more interest. And it's fun to touch. 

 And it gives the room a little more color.

Contrasting patterns on couch and pillow, but I'm ok with it. :)

Linking up here: Our Creative Spaces

Silhouette Pillows

 Guess what? I am too sentimental to throw some things away. I hung on to the picture I printed and cut out for my last silhouette project. And I decided to use it again for a silhouette on a pillow!

All I did was use Steam-a-Seam2 and iron some black fabric onto it. I then taped my picture to the stiffened, white, steam-a-seam side. Traced. Then cut out a new silhouette. Then I ironed the silhouette onto some of this fabric, which is actually more turquoise than blue in person. I had a smaller profile pic of my daughter and so I made a smaller pillow for her.

I wish I knew exactly where I was going to keep these pillows. Right now they're hanging out in this child's rocking chair in the play area. They tend to get tossed around a few times a day. 

But that's ok!

Linking up here today:

Sugar Bee Crafts

Mommy By Day...Crafter By Night
Funky Polka Dot Giraffe

The Fifty States ~ Two Pillows

When I decide what to make, I'm definitely inspired by my kids. It's fun surprising them with something that they know was made especially for them.

Lately, my son has been into the fifty states. And this book, by Laurie Keller, is what started it all.

Now we have a floor puzzle and, no joke, my son can identify all the states and put them together! And he's 3! I'm shocked because even I have trouble with certain regions of the country (I won't embarrass myself and tell you any more than that.). 

Anyway, my son has wanted to carry around his favorite states from the puzzle--Kentucky and Oregon--and take them places (like to the store or playground, etc.). But I don't want him to lose the pieces and therefore, ruin the puzzle. So I decided to make pillow-toys of Kentucky and Oregon that he can take with him wherever he wants.

Here's my inspiration for Oregon.

And my rendering:

Here's what I used for Kentucky:

And the final product:

Here are the little guys hanging out before being introduced for the first time to my son.

And here's my son opening Kentucky.

You might be wondering why Kentucky and Oregon are his favorite states? Because his favorite colors are red and green (really)! No, he's never been to either place...but he really wants to now. :)

I'm linking up with Tea Rose Home today!

~ A Tooth Fairy Pillow ~

My little boy has to have a damaged front tooth extracted, so I needed to get to work on a Tooth Fairy Pillow. This is what I came up with. 

Mr. Happy Tooth.

 I am just getting into embroidery and I had fun with it here. I think it makes the tooth look a little vintage-y.

On the back, I put a little pocket for my son's tooth. I asked him to pick the fabric and he wanted dots (from my Gypsy quilt). And then, when I asked him what shape he wanted the pocket to be, he said "a circle." Great, a challenge!

At the last minute, I went back and embroidered the year ('11) on the back of Mr. Tooth's "foot."

 I was very happy with my son's reaction. He loved Mr. Tooth and slept with it last night. Awww.

I'm linking up here with the other creative folks at Our Creative Spaces today.

Spring Pillow

I finally finished this pillow this afternoon! Just in time to link up with Stitched in Color's Blogger's Pillow Party. Woot!

I so love the colors in this pillow! The robin's-egg blue is my absolute favorite and I went with the color-theme that reminded me of springtime--the blue eggs, the new green leaves popping up on trees, the yellow sunshine, the white dogwood blossoms, the red heat... Mmm. I do love spring!

The heart embroidery template came from the book Sew Charming. This pillow had several firsts for me including the hand-painted heart (my version of silk screening).

This was also my first attempt at embroidery and I have to say I really enjoyed it. I found working with a hoop very relaxing and the results came much quicker than I'd expected.

I attached batting to the back of the front (oh, that sounded funny) of this pillow and then hand-quilted the top. Another first.

This is my third time doing the envelope closure and the good news is it has gotten easier with each try. ;)

 And it was also my first time doing a hand-made label. 

 Overall, I enjoyed the process of making this pillow. It took a while, with many different steps, but I had a lot of fun dreaming it up and piecing everything together to create something pretty.

I'm also linking up at Fabric Tuesday, another fabulous blog with lots of inspiring work. 

By the way, have you entered my giveaway yet?

My Creative Space...A Rocket Pillow

Sometimes you just want to go off-pattern. That's how I felt when I tackled this project.

My son is REALLY into the planets and outer space these days and when I saw the "Rocket to Dreamland" pattern in the book, One Yard Wonders: 101 Sewing Fabric Projects, I knew it was something I wanted for him. 

But...it had to be a little different.

 I wanted mine to have a front pocket so that my kids could put toys in it (to blast off, of course) and I wanted to use some chalkboard fabric on the back (just because). 

 I think my rocket is also fatter than the one in the book and more 2D. (The pattern in the book is really cool, don't get me wrong. It was just a day that I didn't feel like following directions. Free-wheeling is so much more fun sometimes!)

And so there we have it! My very own rocket pillow! (Er, my son's very own rocket pillow, which my daughter hijacks while he's at preschool!)
I'm linking up here today!

Picture Frame Pillow

I'm excited about my newest pillow!

I was inspired to try my hand at ticker tape quilting after reading about Rachel's Bottled Rainbows at Stitched in Color. 

This link above shows an amazing block that I loved when I first saw, but gained an even greater admiration for, after working on my pillow.

Since I'm new to quilting and not quite ready to do a quilt with this method, I thought I'd start small with a pillow!

I used only the scraps that I had tucked away in my fabric scrap stash and each piece holds a certain memory for me. I see past projects on this pillow and a few that are a part of some works-in-progress.

I tried to present a parade of blues down to oranges and reds. And I used red as the border to highlight the end of the little color parade.

I did a deep envelop closure with a red binding to tie in with the front frame.

Right now, this pillow is sitting on an armchair in my living room. I'm not sure if I'll give it away or keep it. But this evening, my son has already cried, "Let's play 'dance with the pillow!'" Um, ok.

I used Kona cotton for the gray background and red border. It was my first time finishing a project with Kona fabric, and I have to say, I love the results! Everybody was right!!

Oh, and I had fun taking my pillow outside for part of this photo shoot!

I'm entering my pillow in the Blogger's Pillow Party! There are so many beautiful and inspiring pillows entered this month.

Fingers crossed for this newbie! :)

I'm linking up at amylouwho also!

Taggie Pillow

When I first started sewing about two years ago, I didn't have a sewing machine. But I really wanted to....make some things. 

For my son.

And since he was little, I thought taggies might be fun. And because I thought a blanket might be a little too ordinary, I made a pillow.

I got some great fish fabric at this discount fabric store in Cambridge. And then hunted around my house for some ribbons. I had some stuffing for some reason, so I was all set there. And at some point, I bought these labels and ironed one on. Because I was so proud.

What I like most about this pillow is that it's really plump! I didn't intend this, but this little pillow has become the perfect lower-back support pillow in the house. And...I think my son played with it a bit. :)


I'm linking up with Tea Rose Home's linky party!

Patchwork Pillow with Ruffled Back

I've been pretty inspired by all the fabulous pillows out there in the craftosphere lately, and decided I needed to try something different. My goal was a patchwork pillow for my daughter. This is what I came up with for the front.

And then I decided to get some soft chenille-type fabric for the back. Thinking I wanted to jazz things up a tad more, I decided to try my hand at adding a little ruffled ribbon to the spot where the envelope part of the pillowcase opens. I think it looks good! And very sweet for my little girl! I also have to mention that, as I was working on this pillow, my daughter found the top half of this pillow back (with the ruffle already attached) and carried it around for a day in this really adorable, loving way, holding up to her face and such. I was so glad she liked it!

On the front, I made two labels, including this one:

It's a verse from Matthew that I had hanging in my room as a teenager and it helped me get through a lot of teenagery things (like the dream to be a Division I volleyball player. And if I were 6" taller, I really could've done it! Ha!). Anyway, I like this line a lot, and in light of all my daughter's newly discovered food allergies, I thought it was appropriate to place on her pillow. 
I'm also entering this pillow in the Words to Live By Great Sew Mama Sew Pillow Contest for February!

Sweater Pillow

I had this really pretty cable-knit sweater that just didn't fit me right. I had only worn it a couple times, so it was in great shape.  I didn't want to give it away, but what could I do with it? I just wanted it to go to good use...somehow. So I decided to make it into a pillow! 

 I used the bottom half of the sweater and then sewed the line that I cut. I put the pillow inside and then sewed on these three wooden buttons from my stash (I think they came from some old clothes that may have belonged to my grandmother many years ago). The pillow now lives on my couch with another pillow I made about a year ago and I think it fits well into our color scheme. I love looking at it because I remember how warm and cozy the sweater felt when I had it on (and I forget about the part about it not looking so good on me because it looks so good on my couch!).

Voila! Easy and quick!

Kids' Pillow Monster!

I love this fuzzy guy! On a whim, I made this pillow creature for my son last winter in about a half hour. I grabbed some leftover fleece and had just enough for long legs, short arms and some ears.

I sewed on some felt for the eyes, then buttons on top. I used embroidery floss for the mouth and again some white felt for the tooth. I love the tooth; it's my favorite part.

This guy has been around for a little while now, so he's not as fluffy as he was when I first made him, but it only means that he's been well-loved, which, of course, was the goal. :-)

Railroad Crossing Pillows

My son LOVES trains and railroad crossings and so when I saw a railroad crossing pillow in the Land of Nod catalog (a place where I've found great inspiration for projects), I decided to give it a try (sans pattern). I also attempted piping for the first time, which I've been wanting to do for a while.

The red pillow below is my first RR pillow. I used red fleece, yellow felt, and black cotton fabric. The back has this awesome train print, but, for some reason, I didn't take a picture of that. Anyway, I think it turned out pretty well even though the piping looks pretty rough up close (I covered white piping with black fabric -- for the next time, I just went out and bought black piping! Much easier).

I decided to try another pillow, and this time I let my son pick the fabrics from our stash. He selected yellow cotton for one side, pink fleece for the other side, and a fushia-colored fleece for the sides. The R's are again made from felt.

Here's the front and back. For some reason, the cotton (yellow) side looks really lumpy. But the fleece (pink) side is truer to the circular shape I intended.

I finished it up after my son went to sleep and then stuck it in his bed overnight. When he awoke in the morning, you could hear him saying, "My railroad crossing pillow! You worked on it!" with such glee that I knew every stitch was worth it. And it didn't matter if it has lumps. :-)