The right size pillow form

 Yesterday I decided to make a pillow that was featured on ModaBakeshop.  I used fabric I had on hand... I even had some linen and the fusible fleece, right down to the buttons and rick rack.  I think it turned out pretty nice, but I ran into a problem when I tried to find the correct size pillow form.  I thought it would be a normal size, but I was mistaken.  Most pillow forms that I found were square sizes or rectangles nowhere near what I needed.  My husband was with me and he suggested that I buy stuffing and create a pillow the correct size.  I remembered that I had bought a couple pillows at IKEA when I was there a few months ago.  They have all the air squeezed out so they store pretty small.  I needed a pillow form that was 12" by 20" and this IKEA pillow was 20" by 26".  I sewed a double seam down the middle and cut between the lines of stitching, then I pushed the seam inside itself to make it like a French seam.  When it was done I had a perfect 12" by 20" pillow form.  Stash isn't just fabric, it is also stuff to go with the fabric.

This is a closer picture of the end of the pillow and the back.  It is a really pretty pillow.  One that would be pretty on your bed or on your sofa as an accent.  I also made a quilted binder cover, again from fabric I had on hand.  I really would have saved soooo much time picking out the fabric if I had bought a jelly roll or honey bun from Moda, but these were practice pieces.

 

I tried the new technique I learned from an episode on TheQuiltShow where Ricky Tims demonstrated a Binding Miter Tool.  The binding goes on pretty slick using this technique.  Of course I had watched it a few weeks ago, not thinking I would need it right away, then when I wanted to add a binding, I couldn't remember which episode, so I had to request assistance from the Forum on TheQuiltShow.  They came to my rescue and I found it on the Series #3 DVD, espisode #310.  It is a little ruler/tool and you can find it at Animas Quilts.

Last week I thought I would do something different because I only took one picture at the restaurant that we ate at, and I thought it was pretty unique to that restaurant.  Having people guess turned out not to be a good idea.  The restaurant last week was Red Robin.  I am quite sure that I saw a carousel horse at the one I went to up in Ohio.  The Red Robin is no longer in Columbus, Ohio so I can't go back there to check.  This week we didn't go to a new place, but it is one of the ones we enjoy going back to because we have a favorite pick on the menu.

  

Chilis is close and the food is good.  It even has quilt inspiration built right into the tabletop.  I am not sure that I will tackle a quilt with these blocks anytime soon, but they would sure make a neat quilt. 

I'm really enjoying my new Juki F600.  The machine sews beautifully and I can control the speed down to one stitch at a time.  I have put it through quite a spurt of production in its first week at my house, and it is scoring high on my list of expectations.

Have a nice weekend.

Another great Friday and a Giveaway

As many already know, Fridays are special around here.  There are exceptions, but as a rule we make Fridays special by going to lunch somewhere special, or doing something fun, and quite often both.  Today we didn't have anything special planned but we went someplace different for lunch.

I want to start something new here.  I have not done a giveaway before, but I will send a quilt pattern for the Yellow Brick Road to the first person who can identify which national chain restaurant this picture was taken at today.

We had a very nice lunch and it is a restaurant that we will do again.  I had been to one of these restaurants before, but my husband had not.

If you want to try for the right answer, send me a comment.

I have been working on a kitty wall hanging.  I think I have decided that maybe I will look for some nice simple kitty blocks that I can use to create an additional border(s) on this quilt to make it at least large enough to use as a lap quilt.  Right now I could just add the backing and start quilting, but I think I will put a hold on that, at least until I determine if I can find something for an additional border.

I mentioned yesterday that I bought a new Juki F600.  I thought I'd include a picture here.  It is still very new, and it takes time to figure out all that a new machine will do, but I think I am really going to be very happy with this one.

When we got home this afternoon, I wanted to resolve the issue I have with the chair I use when I am sitting at my sewing machine.  I previously had my two sewing machines that I use the most set up in my sewing room, and I moved the one I use more to the left side because the comfortable office chair has a high back and it would bump the ironing board every time I got up.  I have an older office chair that I gave to my husband that I really liked alot, but the seat cushion was worn and threadbare.  He took it out to use at his shop desk and bought a new one for me.  The new one is quite comfortable, but it has a high back.  When I set up my new Juki F600, I did not want to displace the other Juki 98Q, so that would mean I could not use the comfortable new chair.  The old chair that got moved out to the shop was very comfortable, and had a low back that missed the ironing board, but it was really ugly.  We looked at chairs today, but most have high backs.  I decided I would revamp the old chair and give the new comfortable chair to my husband.

My first step in this reconstruction was to secure the foam that was exposed in the cushion.  I didn't want the fibers from the old seat cover rolling back under the new cover, so I tucked a piece of fabric under the old cover and tack stitched around all the edges.  I then took a piece of upholstery fabric I had and fashioned the seat cover using a double layer of fabric and I made piping to go around the edge, and a drawstring to tighten the bottom edge and to secure it at the back.

 

I think it turned out pretty nice, and now I have my old familiar, comfortable chair back... with a new look.  Have a great weekend.

It's a basket... or a bowl

Last quilt show I went to I saw a sample of the technique to create a bowl from strips of fabric wrapped around rope.  These baskets/bowls are based on the technique described in the book "It's a Wrap".  There was also a demonstration on The Quilt Show a couple weeks ago.  Earlier this evening I sat down with a bunch of strips from my stash and the rope that I bought last week and I made this bowl.  It was fun, and quite easy.  I thought I might have an issue getting the sides to turn up, but it started turning fine when I wanted it to.  I finished piecing the log cabin blocks I was making for a kitty quilt that used 1 1/4" strips, so I had alot of fabric strips already cut and waiting for a new project.  This one was strictly a practice item, but I think it turned out pretty neat.

It's pretty versatile, I bent the edge over and the basket now had a lip, then I turned just one edge over and depending what I was going to put in it, that could look cool.

I made the decision about 10 days ago to sell my Singer XL-1000 on eBay to help offset the cost of the new sewing machine I wanted to buy.  The auction ended last Saturday and I did get it sold.  Not for what I would have liked, but as much as I thought I needed to considering it is almost 10 years old.  

The new machine that I bought is a Juki F600.  First I have to tell you that I have a Juki 98Q that I absolutely love for my piecing, but it is strictly a straight stitch.  I wanted more stitches that were more focused on quilting, so I decided it was time to let go of my XL-1000 that was meant to be an embroidery machine and I hadn't used the embroidery feature for several years, since I purchased my commercial embroidery machine.

Now back to the F600, it arrived on Tuesday.  I have done alot of practice stitches already, just to see some of the 225 built-in stitches, and I completed the piecing of the log cabin blocks for my kitty quilt.  This evening I stitched the bowl.  This is an awesome machine.  One of the more important features that my new machine had to have is a knee lift for the presser foot.  I know people who have this feature and do not use it.  I want to tell you I really don't like sitting at a machine that does not have this feature.  My husband sat and watched me for a short time yesterday and he noticed how much I used the knee lifter and how beneficial it was to what I was doing. He said, now I know why that was so important for you.

Not sure what is on the agenda for tomorrow.  It is Friday and our date day, so with no plan in place, we will have another adventure... maybe.