Thursday, June 20, 2019

Pillow Covers

I showed the pillow covers in the previous post but thought 
I would talk a little about them and show some close up photos too.

I was struggling with what exactly to make.  
I happened to find some amazing trim that was in the clearance section of JAF and thought it would be fun to use that on a gray background.  
I happened to have some sparkly linen that was the perfect background for this!


I did stitching in-between each row of trim and just stitched the trim down.  
Pretty basic.

The next one I found this amazing sheer, rosette fabric.  
I knew as soon as I saw it that it would make a great pillow cover, again without a lot of work.  
I did put it on a lining of plain gray fabric prior to making the pillow cover.  
I used fabric for the back that said "Made with love". 
 I really like how it turned out.


I bought half a yard of the rosette fabric and it was actually enough to get 2 pillow covers out of.  
I have not made the second one yet, but plan to do that and keep it for myself!


This gives you an idea of the size.  If I remember this one was 20".


The other one (that she is holding upside down) is 24"


Then I new that I had to make some that were a little more complex.  
I was thinking that they wanted me to stick with their gray and white theme but she kept showing me pillow covers with lots of teal so I determined that I would add some teal to the next one.  
I love the circle of geese pattern and since I have been honing my FPP skills, 
this pattern now goes MUCH more quickly.

 I didn't think to take process photos so this is the closest I come to those.  
I wanted the geese to be in a gradient and I think it is pretty well a gradient look.


It needed something additional to make it over the top.  
I decided to get some pearl cotton and hand quilt around the geese and then around the whole thing.  
I am not a fast hand quilter.  
This little pillow took me over 3 hours!  
That was using these chunky stitches too.


I have to say that I love the look of it though.  
This is the sandwiched top when I was finished quilting it, before I pressed it.


Here is the whole pillow cover all finished and ready to be stuffed.  This finished at 18".


I had been working on an embroidery for some time off and on.  
I was not sure what I would actually do with it once done except knew it would go to my daughter, the fisheries biologist.  
I scrambled to get it finished and make it into a pillow cover. 
 This is the finished embroidery prior to doing anything else with it.  
I LOVE this so much!!


Next up was to find some fabric to border the embroidery with.  
I had this cool raindrop fabric in my stash and it was perfect.  
This is actually the back of the cover too (in this photo)


I struggled to decide how to quilt the top but settled on circles.  
It's like when a drop falls into water it makes rings.  
I decided I would use that theme for the pillow cover too.  
I then added some hand quilting around the embroidery to help it stand out.  
I used a variegated floss for this.  


This is a photo of the finished  pillow cover front.


It was my favorite of all 4 of the pillows.  This also finished at 18".


Side by side finished covers.


I think she loved this.  Look at her friend, Amy's face in this photo.  I love that girl too.


They seemed pretty pleased with these.


Now I flew down to NC so how to get the pillow forms there?  
I was not certain I could buy the sizes I wanted while there so I went on the JAF website and ordered the sizes I needed and had them sent to her house with my name on the box.  
I told her not to open the box.  
When I arrived I put the covers on the pillows.

I had bought some blue fish fabric and wanted to make one more cover, but feared I was out of time.  As it turned out, I packed more quickly than I thought I would and had a bit of time. 
 I decided to whip up the last cover (the night before I was flying out), 
sadly it would not have a pillow form.

I used a light gray stripe for front and back then the fish fabric for the bow.  
I have to send a form there this week so they can fill the cover with a pillow.


All and all I am super happy with how all of these came out.  
I might do a few things differently in the future of pillow cover making but I really like all of these.

~XOP~


7 comments:

Linda said...

I love the rosette pillows, but oh my gosh, the flying geese and fish embroidery pillows just blew me away. Did you use a pattern on the flying geese circle?

Lesley Gilbert said...

I loved all your cushion covers; the fishy one was my favourite; well done on all your hard work :)

KaHolly said...

Oh. My. Goodness! What a wonderful post to read first thing in the morning! Each pillow delighted me, but as I scrolled down, I got more and more excited! You, my dear, have done yourself proud. What delightful gifts!

Susan said...

Every one is a treasure, but I so love the stitchery. What a wonderful way to fulfill the request. That bow pillow is going to look fabulous with a stuffing.

Jennifer Fulton Inquiring Quilter said...

Wow, each pillow is more beautiful than the last. What a perfect gift for your daughter! Thanks for sharing on Wednesday Wait Loss.

For the love of geese said...

Lovely. I love the geese but the bow is pretty cool too.

Adamjee Enterprises Textile Mills said...

(Side by side finished covers) that one is so cute
pillow casing

Post a Comment

Your comments make my day so much more special. Please, I invite you to share what you think. ~Happy Stitching~