Bramble Pillow

Scrappy Quilted Pillow | Whims And Fancies

 

 

My husband uses a small pillow on his chair for lumbar support.  The previous pillow was bought during my pre-sewing days and it definitely had seen better days.  Just like the cobbler’s children go barefoot, my husband continued to use the lumpy, torn pillow for months.  My ego also wouldn’t let me purchase a new pillow because I had dug my heels in about making the pillow myself.  So I made a commitment to make it before the holidays and started thinking about design ideas.

 

 

Bare Winter Trees Sunset East | Whims And Fancies

 

 

The window of my atelier faces the eastern sky, which, during sunset, takes on a lovely purple and pink hue called the Belt of Venus.  I love the inky black bare tree branches against that colour during winter months. 

 

 

Bare Winter Tree Sunset West | Whims And Fancies

 

 

Shortly after finishing work, I stopped at one of our west-facing windows to admire the sunset colours peering through the bare tree branches there too. 

 

 

Scrappy Quilted Pillow | Whims And Fancies

 

 

Then my eyes wandered over to the bookcases right beside the window.  The bare trees and the bookshelves gave me an idea for the pillow design.  I pulled out a few black and white tree-themed fabrics and a few scraps of textured solids.  I picked a textured grey for the background to keep a monochromatic look with splashes of colour from the solids.

 

 

Scrappy Quilted Pillow | Whims And Fancies

 

 

After cutting a few strips of the tree fabrics,  I made a few multicoloured, randomly-stitched stripes with the solid fabrics making them look like book spines.  I stitched them together with a few thin strips of grey background fabric in between and added a darker grey at the base.  It made the impression of a little bookshelf for the pillow front. 

I picked a shade of purple thread for the purple sky and varied the line spacing a little to add a little bit of interest.   If you are wondering, the spacing between the lines are 1/2″, 1/2″, 1/4″ and so on.

 

My dear husband never complains.  When I grumble about not getting enough done, he becomes my voice of reason and reminds me that there are only 24 hours in a day.  It felt great to make this for him.  I had to convince him to use it because he felt it should have been framed as wall art.  I am flattered!!

Happy sewing,
-Soma

 

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Aran Star Pillow

Star Quilt Pattern | Whims And Fancies

 

Purchase Aran Star Pattern

 

I am more than a little smitten by the intricate cable designs of Aran knitting.  Needless to say, I had to design an Aran Star as part of my knitting star quilt pattern set.  This was the first block I made with that background fabric and all was well.  Then I made the Fair Isle star block with the same background fabric, but scaled it to 94% by mistake.  By that time I was completely out of that fabric since I only had a fat quarter to begin with.

 

 Star Quilt Pattern | Whims And Fancies

 

Purchase Aran Star Pattern

 

I couldn’t use just the one block, the Fair Isle Star, with a different background on the mini.  So I remade both of the blocks with a completely different background and made pillows with the discarded blocks.  Quilting was a little tricky on this block.  I had to play with the lines quite a bit before I was happy with the design.

 

 

Quilted Pillows | Whims And Fancies

 

 

Orphan blocks make great pillow cases and they are easy to store too.  If I get tired of this set, I can always make new ones and change them out for a new look.  I set all the pillows on the corner of the day bed in my husband’s office, leaned against a body pillow.  I will make a more decorative cover for the big pillow, but this is already one step closer to making the home office a little more pleasant.  I like to spend time there as well, since my favourite bookshelf is in that room.  This way I have also made myself a very comfortable corner in that room to settle down with a book.  I have a quilt in the making for that bed, I will share the designs for it very soon.

 

 

Star Quilt Patterns | Whims And Fancies

 

Behind Blue Eyes

 

Purchase Star Patterns In My Shop

 

The alternate stars  with the blue background actually worked a lot better on the mini.

 

 

Cat On Quilt | Whims And Fancies

 

 

I had to share this photo of Mr. Montague one more time.  His quilt is also on the same bed where the pillows are and he still loves to sleep on it.  So it all worked out really well in the end!

 

-Soma

 

 

 

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