It started with the Tidal Lace fabric which I bought last winter to make pillowcases. I wanted the panel to be the vertical edge of each pillowcase. The first surprise was that this fabric is an aqua to coral ombré, and coral is not really in my wheelhouse. Still I love loved the fabric, so I bought it. The second surprise was that 2 yards would not make pillowcases the way I had envisioned.
They say to keep your brain young and vibrant, you must use it much like keeping your body in shape, exercise. Well I did a marathon. My brain thanks me.
First I googled pillowcase images. Millions of hits. Hit "Custom" (who knew you could do that?) and voilà! I saw really interesting pillowcases, the first few of which had either a monogramme, or an image of some kind, centred on the case, not on the band! Lightbulb. What if I centred the panel area on the main part of the pillowcase?
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It took a bit of courage to make these cuts! |
I trimmed 2 1/4" off the selvage side of the panel, and left 6" on the opposite side.
From here I just needed to cut 6.5" strip off the remaining fishnet part of the fabric and sew it to the other side of the sea creatures panel.
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Success! I now had a 26.5 X 41" panel |
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Laid down a Kona Snow strip for the band. Yep! I'm liking it...kinda... |
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Traced one of the starfish from the panel, put a piece of batting under the fabric, loaded Isacord, and went to town. |
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Eeeep! |
Sunday afternoon:
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Guest room. The more I see this in there, the more I think we should have painted the master this colour and not the pale green and grey we did... |
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See the horizontal lacy edge? :-) |
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To some oncoming walkers, two pibbles and a rottie can cause a reaction like the parting of the Red Sea... |
Somehow I got the waves fabric going as the main fabric, not the Tidal Lace. By the time that dawned on me (what happened to your marathon-running brain? you wonder...me too) I was committed to this cushion cover. No problem. This one is going in the guest room and those Tidal Lace pillowcases are going on MY bed in the master bedroom, so I will create TWO cushion covers to cover the boring chocolate brown cushions on our bed, and I should have enough to make two, right? Went to the panel, thought a bit more, and cut out two 8.5" squares as the starting point for the two new cushion covers for my bed. Realized, um yeah, guess I now am making three cushion covers...
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Thinking maybe offset with log cabin strips surrounding them...or hourglass blocks beside these with strips above and below...hmm |
So the 4-patches and 4.5" squares were okay, but only measured 12" and I needed 18" for my cover. I did not take pictures for this building process, and I should have. I decided to do a white lattice between the units. It brought me to 14". No problem; I created a 2.5" by varying widths striped final border: 18.5". Yes. No. Houston, we had a problem. It was like my stomach feels, not bubbles of excitement, but the feeling I get on twirling rides like merry-go-rounds, blechh, when I looked at the 4.5", 4-patches, and 2.5" borders all smooshed together. The quilt said, nooo. So I added a narrow 1/2" white border. A bit better. It now said it needed a frame of sorts, darker. Enter the teal. Yessss. Now the problem is that it measures 20.5". I like my cushions stuffed, firm, not floppy, kind of like a pair of jeans. They must fit, not sag, especially on the rear end, right? I did not know how to solve this dilemma, other than trimming off an inch of the 2.5" border, and that did not look right, nor did I want to lose any. When faced with a problem, quilt: (notice one L separates the word "quit" from "quilt"?!!) Ditch-stitched and then put on the free-motion foot:
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Following the waves; too much fun! |
Kept quilting.
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Time to make the call. To trim or not to trim. Laid it down, stepped back, and this happened. But of course! |
Bella said, "It's lovely! Can I have it? Purrr-ease? You forgot to bring my cat cushion you do know." Well, she is right, I forgot her little pouffe, but no way was I giving this baby to her, although I guess I should make her a little princess-type cushion... Bottom line, I couldn't trim it. Lightbulb. We have some more brown cushions that came with our couch that are brown and red and ivory. Not a fan anymore, want lighter brighter colours here. Would this cushion cover fit those??
Oh yes.
Just.
Perfect.
Like I was making them (hey, what do I mean, 'them'; I was making ONE cushion cover for the taupe ugly cushion in the guest room! ONE! I signed up for ONE on the Q1 list! Now I'm making...let's see...freaking FIVE?!! or is it six? SIX!!!! I guess, if you count one for Bella)...sigh, anyhow, it fit like I was making them for the two couch cushions all along.
The back.
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The waves are lined up pretty awesome, no?! And yep the back is pieced too. Didn't have a wide enough leftover of the waves fabric for a good 5-6" overlap, so I used leftovers from the backing of Parisville Weave. |
Sidenote #2: I do my backs much like Amanda Jean of Crazy Mom Quilts does, with the exception of not using a double-layer for each side of the back. Must try that. This works just fine, and I have cushion covers that are 15 years old or more that have stood up very well.
Covering the boring brown and red cushion:
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Do not point out the earth-tones striped bottom cushion, nor the similar reddish-brown lanai cushions for these chairs. Don't. |
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I know which chair I like best! |
I haven't washed it yet, and I won't be until I need to. It is a tight fit and I know this will shrink a little.
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This starfish is quite a bit smaller than those on the pillowcases, so I didn't do as much detail. I love it. I loved doing all the FMQ on here. Am I falling in love with mini-sized quilts? |
Quilt Stats:
Pattern: original design
Size: 20.5" square
Fabric: scraps
Batting: Pellon Nature's Touch 100% cotton
Quilted: on my Bernina
Threads: pieced with Gütermann, quilted with Isacord 100% polyester #4230 in 40 wt, and Essential from Connecting Threads (really love this thread, new to me, no affiliation) 100% cotton 50 wt in white.
Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts, Confessions of a Fabric Addict and TGIFF, and Quilting is More Fun Than Housework on Sunday for Oh Scrap!
AND with She Can Quilt for the Q1 FAL party!
'What are you going to make for the second brown and red cushion cover?' you are wondering, I know. I already have one started. Similar, but not too matchy-matchy. Serendipity: there just happens to be one in Camille Roskelley's book Simplify, that I got out of the library again yesterday!
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Always wanted to do a Plus Quilt. May as well do a mini! |
You are on a roll!! Good job. Love what you've done with everything.
ReplyDeleteYou did wonderful things with that fabric! I really especially love the FMQed starfish, they are fantastic on the band of the pillow cases and again on the pillow. :)
ReplyDeleteYour new colors definitely seem more Florida-like to me, and I am sure they do make a big difference! I love your new cushion cover! Thanks for the link to the pillow case pattern, too! I have those on my list to try this year.
ReplyDeleteWow...the fabric kept multiplying for all those projects. It's amazing what you can do when you have to be creative to get the most out of what you have. Great job!!
ReplyDeleteGracious! It's no wonder you're menopausal...you have too many things going on! Of course, I'm kidding, a lot. I am precisely the same way...0 to 60 much too soon, overflowing with ideas spilling out on all sides. I love, love the pillowcases. The idea to center the design was brilliant. My favorite though are the covers. I really like quilted pillow covers and yours are beautiful!
ReplyDeleteHoly heck, I get palpitations just thinking about all that. I think your pillow cases are lovely and I love your pillow cover too.
ReplyDeleteLove your new pillow cover. Great home for all those leftover scraps!
ReplyDeleteWhat great finishes, Love how you got two pillow cases out of the fabric and still bad a few inches left over, great job! The colors are very calming for a bed room.
ReplyDeleteWowers!!!! I love your cushion covers. I have been thinking of doing more minis, once things settle down over here. I think they appeal to us as quilters because of the instant gratification of having a finished project.
ReplyDeleteMan alive! You are a stitchin woman!! I love you're fmq starfish and embellishment fury. Would love to have a walk with you and the team, but we'd need snowshoes today here. Keep at it, Sandra. It's all beautiful!
ReplyDeleteYou Go Girl!! Love what your have been doing and your colors (your starfish are great too!) Beautiful!
ReplyDeleteDebbie
Loved your humour in this post Sandra! You wondered where your marathon running brain went? In running terms it's called hitting the wall, or more commonly referred to as the "bonk". It just means all your reserves have been used up and your body is telling you to sit and have a glass of wine instead of making it run 10k more. Brain bonk is serious, you need at least two glasses of wine to build your reserves back up.
ReplyDeleteI'm a big fan of swapping out cushion covers to refresh the living room. I love this one. It's fun to see your creative process. Cutting into your fabric and sewing it back together in the 'right' order for your pillowcases was a very quilty thing to do, with lovely results.
ReplyDeleteThat fabric and these pillows are so you. I love the quilting and your resourcefullness.
ReplyDeleteMaybe the way the fabric multiplied is along the lines of the Biblical story of the multiplying of the fishes - LOL - you know they're both ocean themed...
ReplyDeleteLOVE the pillows and cushion covers.
Oh Bella <3
I was unfamiliar with Tidal Lace, so I looked it up. Wow, an entire line, and it's all beautiful. I really like what you did with yours.
ReplyDeleteI love all your pillows. The quilting on the band added a lot. I still have a bunch of pillows on my bucket list.
ReplyDeleteLooks like you are enjoying your scraps! Well done for getting so much out of them! Thanks for linking up to #scraptastictuesday
ReplyDeleteThese are really gorgeous! Fabulous finishes. Thank you for participating in the 2016 FAL, on behalf of the global FAL hosts :o)
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