Completed X Pillow

In this post, I showed pictures of the X pillow that I was working on.  It is a paper pieced quilting project which I love.  The post linked above shows the 16 blocks sewn into 4 larger blocks to make the 4 X's on the pillow.

 

Then, I sewed on a cream border because I wanted the pillow to eventually fit a 24x24 pillow form.

I don't think I did it exactly right because I got too much puckering.  I've since been reading about how to attach borders and sashing so I think I can do better next time.

 

After adding the cream, the block still wasn't big enough so I added a bright green border.  I did this one better and I don't think there was any puckering with it.

 

I then added piping that I made using the same fabric as I had planned to use for the backing.  It is one of the Summer House prints by Moda which is the main fabric line I used in this pillow.

 

Here's the back:

I also used a chevron cotton duck print that I had in gray to make a companion pillow.  I didn't add a piping to it and you can really tell the difference.  The piping really makes the pillow look "finished".  I may take the gray chevron pillow apart and add piping.

By the way, this is what the sofa looked like before these pillows. 

This is my newly remodeled living room that we finished last fall.  My husband and son had to help me finish painting it and the dining room because I just couldn't physically do it.  Then I got the new sofa, rug and coffee table.  Isn't this table HUGE?  It didn't look so big in the store.  When they delivered it, I called my husband and told him we would have to take it back because it was too big but he was all, "wait till I get home.  It's probably not as big as you think".  So, he and my son LOVED it.  I couldn't believe it.  They hate the sofa but love the table. 

Anyhoo, those 2 pillows that came with the sofa are pretty but the problem with them is that they are feather pillows.  Which means they collapse when you use them as pillows. (I HATE feather pillows)  Also, the feathers just come out - right out of the fabric.  There is no zipper or closure so that I could remove the feathers and insert a pillow form.  So my only choice was just to get rid of them.

One WIP done and a million more to go.  What have you finished lately?

 

Works in Progress

Today I thought I'd share some of my works in progress (WIP's). 

I'm trying to keep a list of everything that I'm working on so that I can stay organized and actually work on each project in the hopes of one day finishing it.  Isn't that sad?  Hey, don't judge me.  You know that you have WIP's too :)

So, here goes:

1.  Lucky Star BOM - so far, I've printed the pattern and decided which fabric to use.  This is the original fabric that I was going to use and I was going to make the 12 inch blocks:

 But I've since changed my mind about the fabric.  I'm going to use a charm pack that I have - Eat Your Fruits and Veggies by Moda - and make the smaller 6 inch squares.  But that's as far as I've gotten on that project.

2.  Saturday Sampler BOM - no progress.

3.  Quilted Wall Hanging for my son - I have this book of really cool paper pieced blocks.  They've basically taken quilt patterns that have been around forever and skewed them just a little.  This block is called Toppling Log Cabin.  It's the only block I've finished so far.  Isn't it cool?

 

                                    
 
4.  X Pillow - I originally found this paper pieced pillow on Pinterest. 

It was pinned by Fashioned by Meg and I thought it was wonderful.  So bright and I love the piecing.  I tried to find where the pattern came from but all I have is this - "X Marks the Spot by Kim Noblin - BlockCentral.com" - which was on the top of the downloadable pattern.  You can download the pattern from the blog post on Fashioned by Meg above.

I decided to use a charm pack I had been saving called Summer House by Moda.  I LOVE the colors in this pack.  But I wanted to punch up the colors a bit, so I added yellows and oranges from my fabric stack. 

 There are 4 paper pieced squared per block.  First you complete each small square and then you sew them together in the order you want to make your X.  Getting the seams to line up is a bit of a challenge and you can tell mine aren't perfect. 

Here is where I'm at right now.  I have all the X blocks completed and I'm ready to sew the white strips between each block.

 

 

Ignore my lint.  I didn't realize there was so much until I took the pics.  This is going to make a 24x24 inch pillow, by the way.  I'm still trying to decide on the backing fabric. 

5.  Table skirts for the tables in my sewing room.  - No progress except that the fabric is setting on my cutting table.

6.  I have one more project that I've started but I'm going to save it for a later blog post.  It's really good too. :)

Okay, that's it for today.  See you next time - same bat time, same bat channel.