Monday 28 March 2011

Pillow Party

Blogger's Pillow Party
I am hoping I am just in time for March Pillow Party over at Stitched in Color!  I finished this over the weekend for my nephew's 6th birthday next weekend.  I started with the print in the middle, 'Tasty Retreat' by Michael Miller.  I wanted to show his love of the outdoors; camping, exploring, messing around.  A log cabin style seemed to fit in with this nicely!
Possession is important when you are 6 years old, hence the property stamp- Versacraft ink again.  The other prints relect his interests- Lush dots for paint, a bit of Kumiko Fujita for the essential foods in life- biscuits, milk and cereal, and the other prints are for the outdoor life- wood, water, frogspawn- was my train of thought.


For the straight line quilting I used this rod thing that came with my walking foot to see how it worked.  I have not tried it before.  Great results, very straight lines but you can only quilt one way, maybe I have missed something here, I like to stitch in alternate directions for straight line quilting. 
  I also used the stitch in the ditch foot for my label following a tip I saw on one at Melissa's post as part of March of the Tools participants- it sews right to the edge of the label with ease.I loved this technique!  So easy and so useful.  I will be using this for top stitching on clothes and for stitching pockets down.
More tools, I found a great new chalk pen, the Signet marker, with loads of different colour refils at a quilt show on Friday.  The vendor got it out of the packet and showed me how good it was, less than £10, I was impressed! I used this for the first quilting line and to put in a lapped zip.  I used the sewing machine maintenance brush to remove it, worked a treat.  You can buy it in the UK with the same seller, Pauline's Patchwork, they have an excellent pen and marker selection!
I have been looking for something like this for ages, a good purchase with all the colour options and refillable too so no waste.  Nice and pointy too, the chalk sharpens with a pencil sharpener for a precise line.

I am sure Ted doesn't read my blog so I haven't spoilt his surprise!  He does love cuddly stuff so it should be well received, and a portable box of watercolour paints too so he can paint on the go.
Have a great start to the week x
sib blog

19 comments:

  1. Wow that cushion is great Kerry!! Love the colours! I've ordered some of that ink over the weekend - thanks for the tip off!

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  2. What a GORGEOUS pillow! I love the colors, love, the fabrics, love how you put his name on the front! Lucky boy.

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  3. love those colors! this pillow is perfect!

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  4. so cool! and the stamping makes it that much more special. the colors are great!

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  5. Adorable pillow Kerry! Your nephew will love it!

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  6. I love your fabric choices. Darling pillow!

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  7. Thank you all, esp Liz and Randi- couldn't find your emails x

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  8. Gorgeous cushion! I've just found your blog via Lily's Quilts, and am really enjoying looking around. :-D Weirdly our blogs have similar names, and we both have a list of UK fabric shops.. I swear I've never been here before, lol! But will add you to my Google reader right now...

    That chalk pen looks fantastic - thanks for the tip.

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  9. Lucky boy that Ted!! You've made my weekend cushion efforts look v. poor!

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  10. I love the way you combine orange and aqua. There is something so fresh and original about. Your nephew will love this for sure!

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  11. I love the pillow that you've made - beautiful and lots of fabrics that i've never seen before too. I love the central one with the icecream and camp fire on.

    I also love your printing - I followed the link to where you bought the ink, but where did you find your letter stamps? I love the lettering.

    I also followed your link to the stitch in the ditch foot! How wonderful.

    Oh & the chalk pen - I've had one of those for a few years, but my one didn't come with a pencil sharpener as part of the kit - how fantastic - I had no idea that I could sharpen the chalks. Lawks, Kerry, what an incredibly informative post - you have illuminated several areas that I didn't even know were in the dark before arriving here! x

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  12. Oops, sorry, it appears to be a rather long sort of comment - I didn't intend to write a blog post in your comments section. x

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  13. Ahh...so that is what that straight rod thing is that came with my walking foot. I have 2 but never knew what it was for! I love the pillow (and the stamp that is so clever)!

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  14. I bet Ted will LOVE it. And, you're right about the importance of "possession". HAHA. I have a 6 year old too. Thanks for entering!

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  15. I've been wondering what on earth the rod that came with my walking foot was for too, so thanks for clearing that up. Now, if i can just remember where i put it, i'll be able to put it to good use.

    The cushion's gorgeous. I've never tried quilting, but having followed your blog for a few weeks, am very tempted to give it a whirl.

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  16. Wonderful cushion, Kerry! Just perfect! And I love the personalized touch with stamping!

    Happy, sunny and crafty week!

    Yours,
    Mia

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  17. Lucky Ted, that cushion is lovely! :) x

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  18. It is funny that sewing machine companies put the rod in with your machine feet and don't give info on how to use it! I checked all my machine leaflets and nothing, yet it is a useful piece of kit!

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  19. I can use the rod to quilt the other way on my Pfaff, though it isn't as effective, since you are flipping it up-side-down and you only have the tip to guide by instead of the length of the arm - if that makes sense.

    For straight-line quilting quilts that are small, I usually find it is faster to just cut the thread and start over again from the same side each time, vs. re-setting the little arm to the right width.

    I love that tool though! My old machine didn't have on, and I would tape a toothpick to the machine to use as a guide. It worked ok... :)

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