Button, Button (Macro Monday)

I'm calling this Quilter's Candy.  : D

Thanks for stopping by today.

See more close ups over at Lisa's Chaos.

and have great week!

Inch by Inch

Inch by inch...it's a cinch! Yard by yard...it's very hard!

 My motto for this summer.  Most of you know I've had to really limit my sewing lately and it's been a struggle for me.  I'm not one to slow down like this.  I've always got to be doing something with my hands.  But while my wrists  heal, slow and easy it will have to be.

My major accomplishment so far this month is this Mug Rug

for the Mug Rug Swap Adventure 2.

(that was due June 30th)

I started with a 3D kite patterned from this quilt I made late last year.

I used mini ric rac for the kite string,

then found these bow buttons for the kite ties.

Of course, the background is the blue sky...

...that needed a little sun and cloud.

And there you have it!

It is on its way to Wendi, a very patient and understanding lady.

I hope she likes it.

And I'm back to inching along....

And Sew on and Sew Forth...

I spent all day saturday and a good amount of sunday sewing.  And it felt sew good!  First up...cuz I'm so excited...I sewed all the buttons to my Cathedral Window pillow. 

I had to go back to purchase the rest of the buttons I needed and do you know that there were exactly enough packages of the style I needed?  It was definitely "meant to be"!

Remember, the one in the center is a little different style and slightly larger than the rest, however looking at it now, it really doesn't look that much bigger.  Here's the complete layout.

I just love this pattern and technique and am still amazed that someone could come up with the idea.  I'm just happy to have a pattern to follow!  I still have a little ways to go to complete the pillow.  I'd started sewing the piping but decided I need some thread better matched to my fabric (can you see the stitching?).  I just laid it along the edge to get the general effect. (That's not exactly where it's going.)

Anyway, it's coming along!

Also finished my blocks for the two swaps I'm in and here are the sneak peeks.

Let's Bee Together

For: Melinda who sent the fabric and left the block up to me.

 Block Swap Adventure

For: Sue, who likes Batiks, Greens and Blues (hard to see the green in the dark batik but in real life it pops out due to the green in the second fabric).

And, I finally got back to my Flutterby quilt (with the 3D butterflies) and finished 6 more blocks.  Decided I needed to order more of that Dream On fabric to finish it the way I want.

Oh darn...had to stop and shop!

Sew... there you have it!  Enjoy your week.

Done...but not finished.

My Cathedral Windows pillow is coming along. 

I have all 12 windows sewn now

I will admit I struggled a bit at first to get my machine and fingers to coordinate to make the curved seams.  In fact, I started to wonder if I shouldn't just hand stitch instead.

But, my frustrating work week made me determine to "conquer" this new challenge and I set out to show my machine a thing or two!  And that I did.  As you can see in the picture above, I am now experimenting with button type and placement.

I spent a little time at the store yesterday searching for the "perfect" buttons.  The tutorial says they're optional.  And at first, I wasn't sure I wanted them.  But I think with this fabric, the buttons complement the semi-formal look.  I really love the center button (see below).

It has the same paisley swirl as some of the window prints. But I thought it was a tiny bit large and heavy for the whole pillow so I decided on some smaller, lighter, lacy looking buttons for the rest of the spots. 

Now I just have to go back to the store and hope there are enough to finish this off.

So there you have it, the windows are done, but I still have a ways to go before the pillow is finished.

Next, I'm going to learn to make my own piping.  Yet, another challenge.  But no rush.  One step at a time.

 P.S.  A special thanks once again to Melissa at Lilac Lane for her tutorial and inspiration!

Sidetracked: Hope's Pillow

So, three years ago I made a quilt for my friend Charlotte (who also goes by Hope).  It was only the second quilt I'd ever made and I was really proud of it.  (Here it is, Hope's Haven, in my Quiltfolio)  Sometime after giving it to her, we visited a quilt shop in Monterey (love it there....the ocean....and a fabric store....need I say more?)  Anyway, being the good sport she is, she let me drag her to a class on String Quilts...and I immediately went home and practiced the block with scraps from her quilt. (Btw, I'm sharing this post over on Fabric Tuesdays - scroll up and click the button to view.)

Of course, when I told her what I'd done, she started hinting about the possibility of getting a pillow to go along wither her quilt.  Thus, the idea was born.  And, although it's been almost 3 years, I am quite proud I followed through and finally made her Hope's Haven Pillow. 

It was fun arranging the 4 blocks but a little stressful as well.  See, I have a hard time with "random" patterns...they always look off balance...but I finally got something I could live with.  Since this was my first pillow, I read a lot of blogs looking for tips, tricks and different styles of pillows.  Borrowing from many of them,  this is how it turned out.  

Chose the border, backing and binding fabrics....oh and some cute buttons...

Decided to go with overlapped backing so the pillow form could be removed

 and (my own idea here) fasten the opening with those cute buttons.

Got to experiment with the automatic buttonholer feature on my machine....wow, so easy!



And.....here's the finished product....front...

 Using the third button on the front center was an afterthought really

But I love buttons....and liked how that turned out.  Here's the back.

And there you have it, Hope's Haven coordinating pillow.  Happy Birthday, Char!