It’s a Party! Pillow



When I finished this pillow I was giddy with excitement.

I actually had an idea that I’ve never seen before, executed it, and it turned out as cute as I pictured!

I can’t remember the last time that happened.


I made a bunch of miniature bunting flags, turned them right side out, and arranged them on my current favorite Kona solid:  ash.


White rick rack finishes it all off.  I love the way the colors look against the gray, and I can’t stop looking at how all the little flags hang on the pillow.  So cute.


The inspiration for this pillow came from this project .  With three little girls sharing the room, I’m trying to make some pillows that reflect each girl’s age, tastes, and how I feel about them.  This pillow is for my three year old.  She’s just a precious little thing, and at such a perfect age, she makes me want to celebrate every day.  I am so happy to be her mom,  so she gets a party pillow.


I was thinking what a cute pillow this would be for a nursery.  You could embroider the baby’s name and birth statistics in the top right corner of the pillow.  It would be a really cute gift.

As usual, I made this pillow with a zipper for easy washing and easy changing.


Like I said, I’m giddy about how cute it is.  And it looks great next to the other pillow I made, also.


Two down, lots more ideas to come.  We’ll see how much time I can find to experiment.  Meanwhile, we’ve got a happy three year old!

Jennifer Pillow submitted here .

Candy Swirl Pillow

I’ve been promising myself time to sew for weeks, but have deferred it over and over again for housework.  After a frustrating experience last night I went to my sewing table not caring a whole lot about what the house looked like.

And this is what I made.


I’m calling it the candy swirl pillow because it reminds me a little of a huge lollipop, all wrapped up with bright colors.


This was a great scrap project.  I used lots of little strips of fabric from my scrap bin.  They’re sewn in a spiral on a natural linen pillow top.  The swirl finishes at just over 1/4 inch wide.


For the backing I used a piece of my favorite print from Pillow & Maxfield’s Whimsy collection.  I fell in love with this collection when I was making this baby quilt and later with this one.
I think it works well with the whimsical spiral on the front and with the general color scheme as well.


As usual, I inserted a zipper in the bottom seam because I hate to store pillows.  A few years ago I invested in some high quality down pillow forms so I simply unzip and change them whenever I want.


I love the texture in this pillow; the linen top with cotton back.  When I sewed the thin strip on to make the swirl I sewed only down one edge, so there’s a little lip there that also adds dimension.


The only problem is where to put it!  It looks great in every place I’ve tried.  I’m super-pleased with the outcome.  It really wasn’t difficult to make, although the ironing and pinning to some time.  If you’d like a tutorial, shout it out and I’ll post one.


Do you see the cute little gray number in back?  I made that, too.  It’s up next .

Hopeful Homemaker

1901 House

Last month when I attended my Aunt Laurie’s funeral in Idaho we stopped for a few minutes at the home of her mother-in-law Leora Brown in Malad, Idaho.  Built in 1901, she and her husband married in 1941.  They raised their family in this house.  She has now buried her husband and two of her sons, one of whom is my uncle, who passed away less than four months before Aunt Laurie.

I couldn’t help but marvel at the irony of walking through the house Uncle Dennis grew up  in… after he is gone.   Leora graciously allowed me to take a few pictures…


The only bathroom in the house, and it had the most amazing wallpaper up in it.  I would never choose it, but still I loved it, and I was amazed at how long it’s been there.

A look at the whole bathroom:


Ten foot ceilings throughout the entire main floor of the house.  Gorgeous.  And  fun detail on the openings between rooms.  More vintage wallpaper.


Awesome transoms above every door.  The glass has been painted on all of them, and on a few there was wallpaper.  I loved that a couple of them will still open.


Original doors still in place, with their original hardware and detail.  Wow.  They’ve been there for more than 100 years.


Upstairs there were sloped rooms, more vintage wallpaper, an armoire filled with quilts Leora has made over the years.  This vintage wallpaper stopped me in my tracks.  Can I have some?  Please?


The house sits on the family farm in Malad, the cemetery just across the ravine.


I really wouldn’t mind watching some sunrises from this spot.  Wouldn’t mind it at all.  It was breathtaking to pause and look up, marveling at the grandeur of the sky.


And then we drove home.   It was a great little stop on our way out of Malad.  Many thanks to all the Browns for sharing this treasure with me.

HH

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