Hi. Remember me?

No excuses.  Life sometimes gets in the way of blogging.  That being said, here's my latest creation.

I like it.  A lot. 

It's a little, fox pillow.

A girl fox, as my Youngest would insist you notice. 

Because, clearly girls are better than boys. 

I machine appliqued it, using black thread to help it stand out from the bold turquoise back.

Threw on some fabric from my favorite new design house, Cotton And Steel (they're some pretty cool chicks over there).  And called it good.

Hope you like it, too.  My daughters are both fighting over who gets it.  Luckily their mama is a genius and is planning on making #2 tonight.

Thanks for reading!

Heather

Deers are Very Versatile

My house is being over-run by deers.  And yes, I know deer is the plural, but I like calling them deers.  More fun.

Pretty pillow.

On my Deer Quilt I used multiple strips of fabric for the deer head.  I love the look.

But, sometimes simple is preferred.  I can get this pillow sewn up in an hour, lickity split, using just one fabric for the deer.  Perfect to give as a gift.

I love deer for two reasons...at least.  I am sure I love them for more, but here's two reasons why I love them.

1.  My sister and I have a game called the Dead Deer Game...Don't judge.  I am from the foothills in deer country and if you don't hit a deer in the twilight, sometime in your life, you can't call yourself a Utahn.  So the game is this:  You watch for any sign of a dead deer on the side of the road or in the brush.  You call it by hollering: "Dead Deer!!!"  And you keep track of how many dead deer you see in a season.  Dead deer season goes from about November to March.

The kicker is, if you call, oh, let's say a piece of carpet, then you have to deduct two dead deer points from your tally.  You've got to keep an eagle eye.  It's tricky because you'd be surprised how many bushes look like dead deer.   How many discarded chairs look like dead deer.  How many mounds of just dirt look like dead deer.  And if, say, you accidentally call a dead coyote thinking it's a dead deer....minus two points. And, you can only call a deer once.  So, you have to keep careful track of which dead deer you have called and make sure to inform your sister that she CANNOT call the dead deer on the off ramp to Mom's house because, well, you already did. 

Oh yes, one more thing....stray dogs count as a dead deer.  But it has to be an actual stray dog and not a dog simply walking a few steps in front of its owner.  Again, if you call a stray dog and isn't a stray....minus two...well I think you get the idea.

2.  I grew up in deer country.   It is not unusual for a gazillion deer to be where you are.  I can remember one frosty, moon-lit night I was driving home at an unmentionably late hour and there was a herd of at least a couple hundred deer on the road and in the fields I was driving through.  It was so magical, I stopped and simply enjoyed the beauty of nature...until some jack-A honked at me to move.  

My children will have memories of being at Grandma's house, somebody shouting DEER, running to the windows and watching several deer, including fawns, wander through the yard on their way to greener pastures.  Oh and of having to watch where you step because of the pellets they leave behind.  Thanks, deer.

3.  I figured out a third reason why I like deer...sort of.  In the town I grew up in, they actually made it legal to hunt deer inside the city limits with bow and arrow.  Oh yeah!!  I can just envision the hunters now, tracking bucks between the picket fences and swing sets all decked out in their camo.  Good times.

Thanks for reading!

Heather

Easter Pilllows

I have been teasing about my Deer Quilt.  It's coming.  Soon.  This week.  I promise.  I did give a small glimpse when I was cursing out the internet for existing.

But first, it's almost Easter, so the only thing to do....make pillows.  Easter pillows.

I spent all weekend basically, mitering corners.  If you look at the borders around each Easter critter...that's a mitered corner.  They're more involved than your standard border.  They look classier, but they're a pain in the tuckus.  I love them.  But I hate them.  But I love them.  I have a complicated relationship with my sewing.

Mitered corners.  So pretty, so mean.

I'm particularly happy with how they turned out because while they are pure Easter, baby chick cute, they've got a little edge to them.

And when I say my baby lamb pillow is edgy, just nod your head and go with it. 

I also think how freaking awesome these would be as a baby blanket.  Minus the choke-hazard tail.

My favorite part, speaking of choke hazards....has to be their tails.  Ugggh.  Cuteness overload!  Fabric rosettes, it cannot be helped.  I am getting my Etsy store up and running, so if anybody is interested, shoot me a line.  I'll let you know when things are ready to go....aka when the husband gets it figured out for me.

Happy tails to you
Until we meet again.

Happy tails to you
Keep Smiling until then...

Thanks for reading!

Heather

X's & O's Pillow Cover for Valentine's Day

I almost entitled this post XXX's and OOO's....then I quickly realized, that might bring me the type of traffic I'm not interested in...so I quickly omitted a few letters.  Wise choice...wouldn't you agree.

These are my Valentine's Pillow Covers.  I am pretty pleased with how they turned out.  In retrospect, I wouldn't have put the solid yellow fabric in.  It just sticks out a bit.  But in my mind I was thinking it was gold...like jewelry...and I felt like it would work for a V-Day pillow...now that it's all said and done, I should have gone with another cool tone.  But, this is not a pattern testing facility.  I sew in real time and don't have the time or resources to test things out much before I just jump in...both feet...into the deep end.  Sometimes it works, sometimes...I just go with it until I can make something else.  The patterned fabric is from Pat Bravo's Rock N Romance collections...and I think it worked perfectly.  Lovely, soft and romantic!

My X's.  I pondered quite a bit on how to make X pillows...there are several methods and then it dawned on me to make it in the method of a string quilt!  I am so happy with it.  Big smiles over here.  My Ghastlies Halloween Quilt and my husband's Man Quilt are both made with this method...so I clearly like it.  And you can do so many diverse things with this paper piecing technique.   I am actually thinking up a wall-hanging for My Oldest using these X's....we'll see what happens.  Good things, I'm sure.

My Os.  Ohhh.  I also love this pattern.  This is an old fashioned pattern called Shoo Fly and I think it was a blast to make.  I am going to put up tutorials for both of these patterns that I've made next week.  So, stay tuned.  The fun thing about this one, is it's really just a modified 9-patch...which means it works up really fast!  And sometimes, that's just what you want, some fun, fast sewing.

Of course for the back, I used my Pocket Pillow Tutorial which works up like a charm every time.  Listen, I am not going to go to the effort and pain of putting a zipper in my pillow cases when this works so well.

See..Peek-a-boo!  Me, as a hand model.  Thank you, thank you very much.  You can contact my agent for any further gigs.

These both were fun to make and even though I'm not 100% satisfied with some fabric choices, overall I am happy with them both.

Thanks for reading!

Heather

Sometimes it just works out....perfectly!

In an effort to make some Thanksgiving pillows for my house this season...I had to dig deep.  I didn't know what I wanted, except that I wanted to use buttons somewhere on it.  I had a sort of vague idea that the pile of blue buttons I had could be the sky.  That's the beginning...

I made a quick sketch...and from that sketch it all came together.  I decided to go with iron on transfer for ease of sewing.  Quick and painless.  I also knew that I wanted to use burlap and some faux leather...aka pleather....okay...now we've actually got something...put it all together...

1. Cut burlap into rough shape of hay bale.

2.  Cut all your shapes using iron on transfer.  With the pleather, I found that I could use the iron on transfer at the beginning, so on the back of the fabric.  But, hear me now.  Do not try and iron the pleather onto your fabric...you risk messing the heck out of your iron.  And it won't stick.  I may have tried.  But, the reason I tell you to do it on the back of your pleather, is so you can cut out the shape perfect!



 3.  See, just pin it down.  Then iron around the pleather.

 4.  Arrange your tail feathers as you like.  Do this on your ironing board so you don't have to juggle this over to the ironing board and then have to reassemble them.

5.  Iron everything down...making sure to be cautious of the pleather then stitch around everything with your sewing machine.

6.  Aaaaahhhh!!!  Stitch on button eyes.  If you're like me, you will stab them with pins to know approximately where you would like them placed.  Disturbing, I know.

7.  Sew on a 1.25" teal border.  Around that stitch a large white border...to fit the size of your pillow of course.  I have 20 x 20 inch pillows...so my finished front was 22 x 22 inches.

8.  I gave mine some much needed wheat stalks on either side to balance out the button heavy top.  And did little cross stitch embroidered stalks.  Back stitched the turkey legs on with orange.

9.  Sew on buttons til your heart's content.  This, captain obvious, is the back of my piece.  I wanted to show you that I individually sewed on each button.  I did this for a reason...I find that sometimes when you stretch thread from one spot to another, it tugs and pulls the fabric and then you have a crease or a divot...or other unpleasantries.  So, stitch on a button, tie it off and snip your thread.  Begin again.

10.  The back.  I used my Pocket Pillow tutorial and it worked very well thank you very much.  Cute backside fabric, huh?

Make two.  Or as many as you want.  So cute.  I have to say that I am extremely pleased with how this turned out.  Sometimes you think something in your brain...and you work on it...and what was in your mind definitely wasn't what turned out in real life.  This case though...it really turned out so cute.  I am in love.  My vision brought to reality.

Thanks for reading!  Oh, and check out my homey Danni over at Silo Hill Farm, she's helping out with a contest over at the Crafty Cornucopia.  This week it's all about...buttons.  That's right.  I think next week is all about burlap.  Clearly I can enter twice...maybe..I will have to read the rules again.  Maybe I'll just have Danni tell me if I can enter one project twice....stay tuned.   Hope you like my button Thanksgiving pillow.  I am thrilled with it.

Thanks for reading!! 

3 Goals for this month are:

1.  Finish Christmas wall hanging.  Won't get to Thanksgiving one this year...and that's okay.

2.  Enjoy more time with my family.  Tis the Season after all

3.  Finish binding on Swoon quilt

Heather

Sharing the Goodness at these fine sites:

 aka the reason I made this pillow in the first place!!

DIY Showoff Project Parade

Just Something I Whipped Up

Make It Yourself Monday

It's So Very Cheri...party time!

Motivated Monday

Handmade Tuesdays at Lady Bug Blessings

Tutorial Tuesday at Home Studios

Sugar Bee Crafts: Take a look Tuesday

Man Up Link Up

Elizabeth & Co. Be Inspired

TracyJay Quilts



My blog leads to sheer awesomeness...I think

Can you breed mythical creatures and beaded penis cover...ahem...well then.  These are two recent searches that led a couple of individuals to my blog.  I guess I should re-evaluate what I'm writing here...I know which post the first search query went to...But...where did the 2nd one lead?  But then...I'm thinking maybe there's a market for...scratch that...cancel thought process.  Bad, bad, bad idea. 

Alright then, after that awesome lead up...I am going to do one more post on pillow covers.  This is a quick version for those who are in the know and just want an easy tutorial to get them through the basics.  This is a looser version of my previous tutorial.   My other version is for this tight pillow cover

Start with a pillow.  Mine happens to be 14" x 14".

Choose your fabric.  I happen to like mixing up the front and the back fabrics...but that's just me.  If you want one fabric for the whole shebang.  Go for it. 

Cut front panel the size of your pillow.  So I will cute my front panel 15 x 15 to make up for seam allowances and to make it a little roomy.  Many people like to make their pillow covers very snug to give a very puffy appearance.  If you like that, cut smaller.  Others like a looser fit.  Cut bigger in that case.  Experiment with what you like.  But for me, in the immortal words of Clairee from Steel Magnolias "Looks like two pigs fighting in a blanket"  Like the looser look.

Snug

Loose

As you can see the pillow to the left was cut  to exact measurements.  The pillow to the right was cut 1" bigger.  Both cute.  Just different styles.

Now you need to cut the back panels.  This is the part that forms the pocket.  So, you need to do a little math here.  You need your panels to be the same width that you cut your front, so in my case 15 inches.  It's the length that you've got to figure out. So, divide the length of your front panel in half.  15 / 2= 7.5"   Okay.  So then you add 3" to each of those lengths.  so 7.5 + 3=10.5"  This means you cut 2 back panels at 15 x 10.5.  Remember to customize these measurements to whatever size pillow cover you are making.  Just divide by half and add 3 inches.

Sew time!

****Remember front sides together****  This is the part I always forget because I am admiring the cute fabric I have chosen and want to look at it.  Look later.  Front sides together***

Sew 1/4" seam allowance along both width ends.

Hem both width ends.  Fold under once 1/4" and iron across the entire width, then fold over again so you have a double folded hem so there are no raw edges showing.  Iron.

Right sides still together.  Fold the back panels into place.  If you have a preference which back panel shows on top...make sure to fold it down first.   Pin along the length sides.  Make sure to have the fabric pulled taut so you don't have any puckers.   Sew a 1/4" seam allowance down both sides.

You're done!  Just unfold the pillow so it's right side out.  Pull at the corners with a pin so they're not mushed in.  Shove your pillow in.  Fluff and go!

Thanks for reading!

Heather

For Pleat's Sake...the Throw-Pillow Cover Tutorial

Now that we've gotten the need to pleat out of our systems.  Let's turn those pleats into a pillow case.  This pillow case is one of the easiest around.  The reason is because of the back.  It's called a pocket pillow cover.

Peekaboo.  See, pretty slick, huh?  This is pretty much the only pillow cover I make....because it's easy.  No problemas.

So, when you are calculating fabric for the backside of the pillow cover...you need to keep in mind that there is a deliberate overlap going on.  So you need to think to yourself...Okay, this pillow is 14 x 14...so if I was going to split it in half horizontally (as there are two sides) that would be two 7 x14 pieces of fabric.  But, we have to figure for the over lap.  I cut two 9 x 14 pieces...but I wish I would have used two 10 x 14 pieces just for a little extra coverage.  As you can see it's fine, but 3 inches per side of over lap is really perfect.

Okay.  Now let's get assembling.  Keep in mind that you can use the construction method for any pillow cover have made.  It doesn't have to be a pleated pillow cover...but if you want the pleats, use this pleat tutorial.

Cut your back fabric.  The same width as the pillow front, but remember to split the length in half..then add 3" to each piece.

Using a 1/4" seam allowance, sew both back pieces on.  Remember to place your pieces Front Sides Together!!!!  Big time important.  Otherwise that seam ripper up there is going to be your best friend.

If you want to embellish your pleats with some stitching, now's the time.  I would recommend it as I found pleats like to stretch out like an accordion...and make it nearly impossible to stuff the pillow in and have it look nice.

This is what I did...I measured the front equally in 3 portions and stitched 3 rows 1/4" apart.  This held down the pleats and allowed me to place the pillow in at the end.

 Now you have to hem the two raw edges on the ends of both pieces of back fabric. Put your handy hemmer at 1/4" and go across the edge ironing the fabric down as you go. Then...start over again.  Fold over the folded edge and iron again.  This will give you a neat and fully encased hem where no raw edges show! Stitch hem down.


Now it's time to stitch the sides together...YAY!! Okay, so you need to think in your head, before you do anything which flap you want to be the top flap. Carefully fold over your bottom flap first!  Make sure your fabric is lying flat and is lined up along the edge. Then fold the top flap over. Again being careful.  Now pin both sides!

Make sure when you are folding your flaps...tehe...I like the way that sounds...That you have the insides of the fabric out...so front sides together.  Because, when you stitch the sides closed and have flipped it the right-side out, you want the raw edge to be where you don't seem 'em.

See, now that the sides are sewn, the pillow case is inside out.  You need to flip it and poke the corners out.  I usually use a needle and just gently tug the corners out.

Now's the time for embellishing it if you want.  Do whatever makes you happy.  I wanted to make a couple of raw edge flowers.  Super easy.

Cut 3 different sizes of circle. Line them up one on top of the other.  Then fold the entire group in half

Then fold the group in half again!  So you'll have it folded into fourths.  Take your needle and thread and just stitch around the bottom.  All over.  Several times.

This is going to secure the ridges and make it look more petal-y.  Affix a button and then stitch onto your pillow cover.  Make a bunch of these.

And there you have it.  A perfectly pleated and embellished Pocket Throw Pillow Cover.

Have fun bedecking your house with the cutest little throw pillows around.

Thanks for reading!

Heather