Pillows to solve the world's problems

Ooh, I am in love with this pillow! And not just because I amazed myself by figuring out the blocks correctly. (My brain strains on spacial reasoning.) The combo of orange and blue, with the dark grey and white is just so wonderfully bold. And I love the dense diamond cross-hatch quilting in light blue. And really I just can't be happier than when I'm sewing with Alison Glass fabric.

For the back, I pulled from my stash this grey fabric that's so wonderfully soft to the touch. Then for fun, I added this neat Kokka deer print with a sateen feel I bought when I was in Spain for a pretty penny.

This is where I got clever. I didn't want to waste fabric making a band when half of it would be hidden inside the pillow. Instead, I sewed a strip to the back of the grey, then pulled it around front and carefully ironed the seam. I folded over about 1/4" on the top of the band and ironed it flat, and then top stitched at the bottom and top. And voila! A nice detail without wasting fabric.

It gives the pillow back a nice sturdy feel too and I'm sure I'll do this again.

Catching up

Somehow I got a block behind on the #modernHSTsampler, and then another block pattern came out. Eep. Time to get cutting!

Here is Block #10 - Faceted Stripe. It came together quickly, thanks to using the eight-at-a-time method of making HST. Next time, though, I will cut the starting squares a bit bigger than the size given. When I trim my HST, I like a little extra fabric to work with so I can trim all four sides, not just the ears. These turned out to be just the size needed, and a bit smaller in some cases.

And here's Block #11 - Starshine. I really like this one, especially with that really dark blue.

Both use the same background fabric - a light grey quilter's linen - even though it looks different in the picture. The clouds cleared for a bit for the second photo, and I think the dark fabric changed the contrast.

Where are my sunglasses?

I may be softening on my long-held anti-yellow stance. Never in a million years would I have guessed I'd make something with this colour combo. Sure I like pink, but that yellow is crazy. "Uterine cramping" as one IG friend puts it. Yet, I love this.

Don't the three Alison Glass collections go crazy good together? I made a matching one, but a bit different and definitely more subdued.

These will become pillows because I seem to be on a pillow-making jag at the moment. Doesn't it always seem to happen that makers get stuck on something? I wonder what is next for me. Hmm.

If you like this block, I'll soon be sharing my tips and tricks on how to make them. Spoiler alert: they're super easy!

Welcome home

A handmade pillow seemed like the perfect house-warming gift for a friend and her family who recently moved into their first home. What an exciting and scary time!

I decided to revisit this traditional block that I used long ago for a mini quilt. Only this time I made it on a much bigger scale for a 20" pillow. (I just made it again, only on a much, much, much smaller scale for a mini mini challenge. Stay tuned!)

I pulled out my treasured Carolyn Friedlander fabric because I wanted a more neutral colour palette. I really love this muted combo of blue and green with a hint of orange. Taking a cue from the fabric, I quilted it with blue and orange thread. Good thing too, since I barely had enough blue to finish!

And here it is finished, complete with a "made by Johanna" label.

Here comes the sun

A while back I was chatting with an Instagram friend and we decided to do a private mini quilt swap. The good thing about that is you really have a good idea about who you're making for and what they'll like. The downside is that without the strict deadlines of an organized swap is that we took a bit longer to finally get them sent.

But I sure needed the time! I decided to make a hand-pieced mini after seeing variations on this pattern and Spring Carnival by Katy Jones popping up on Instagram. I figured it was the perfect project to take with me on my epic journey to Australia and New Zealand. The flights alone would give me plenty of stitching time, not to mention the month away.

I couldn't be happier with how it turned out! I love everything about it from the rainbow to the low-volume background to the quilting. I don't normally name my quilts, but this one screamed "Here Comes the Sun."

I love this detail and the lovely messages in the text print:

As an extra, I made a pillow inspired by one of her posts. Pressed for time, I enlisted my mom and her fancy embroidery machine to add the letters. It turned out great.

I found the perfect backing fabric in my stash, a long-hoarded Japanese print.

Then I used the pillow for wrapping, finished with a bow.

My friend Sarah really liked her mini and pillow. She posted a lovely slideshow, complete with the Beatles song, on IG. Now I am anxiously awaiting my package to arrive!

Tula Pink pink!

After making a few quilt as you go pillows, I wanted to try another. I figured it was the perfect time to do that with my pillow auction to help the wildfire victims in Fort McMurray.

The others I made were very time and fabric intensive. I had an idea of a different way to do it that would hopefully save fabric, time and my sanity. Mostly this way of doing it was faster. I did complicate the matter by adding the diagonal corners, but I think the interest they add it is worth the extra time and wasted fabric. So much disappears under the next strip! Look at those teeny corners of yellow in the bottom corners! Those were decent sized pieces of fabric to start.

I used all Tula Pink, focusing on the pink prints with a bit of yellow and blue added. I love this one. It's too bad the moth print with blue and yellow mostly disappears around the pillow edges. With each pillow, I learn something new. Maybe a dozen or so from now, I'll get it just right!

Helping out

Canada may be a big country, but it seems very small when one place is hit by a tragedy. The devastation caused by the wildfires in Fort McMurray, Alberta was very difficult to see. The entire city was evacuated and many people lost everything. I think it's hard to not put yourself in that situation because really it could happen anywhere. Imagine not being able to return to your home and not knowing if it is still standing, if any of your belongings escaped the raging fire. My heart ached for the people who had to evacuate without their pets. So very, very terrible.

I already donate monthly to the Canadian Red Cross, but I wanted to do more to help out their relief efforts in Fort McMurray. Then it hit me - a pillow auction! I'd made a few pillows and auction them on Instagram with all the money raised going to the Red Cross. I got started right away making the tops.

One design was inspired by another wonderful campaign now underway to make quilts for the wildfire victims - #quiltsforfortmac. The Ottawa quilt guild is asking people make maple leaf blocks in blue, red, yellow or green. I made one of each. You can find out more, including a quick and easy tutorial for the block, on Slostudio's blog.

My pillow auction - #pillowauctionforfortmac on Instagram - kicked off on Sunday and so far the response has been overwhelming!

I tried to make a variety of pillows to appeal to different people. I used some of my favourite fabrics by favourite designers. A few prints sure were tough to cut into, but knowing it is for a good cause made it easier.

This Tic Tac Toe pillow is a jumbo version of a block from my quilting bee, with Tula's chipmunk at centre stage. It's a bit tough to see, but the background fabric is a very soft green Quilter's Linen. Both look great quilted with green thread.

This pillow features one of my all-time favourite Anna Maria Horner floral prints. What wonderful colours! I actually had these fabrics sitting on my cutting table to make myself a pillow. I added the AMH Loominous for a contrasting border, then quilted it in a light blue.

I cut into my treasured Tula raccoons for this pillow, made with her Acacia line. I had so much fun with the unplanned quilting pattern. I just start quilting lines and see where it takes me. Is there such a thing as improv straight-line quilting?!

It's tough to see the quilting on this pillow, even though it's in a bold pink-purple thread. This one is my favourite! I love Alison Glass fabric and that newsprint is just perfect. I wish I had a bolt!

And here are the backs. Just a simple envelope closure as usual. But I pulled out great prints, including the very popular and OOP Castle Peeps I found recently.

The auction goes until next Sunday, May 22. It feels really great that people appreciate my pillows and that together we can help Fort McMurray residents more than we could alone.