After being completely Creeper pillowed out, I received a special request for a Minecraft Steve pillow. Here’s how he looked in process:
Here’s how he looked all done and ready for delivery:
I used the same technique as the creeper pillows: ironing 2 1/2″ squares onto fusible interfacing, sewing 1/4″ seams vertically and horizontally, then adding a 3″ border to make the front. All fabrics used are Kona solids.
I am done with squares for a while!
Here’s some pleated totes I made for my son’s school auction coming up on March 15th.
I used a great Pleated Tote tutorial by Ellen Luckett Baker of The Long Thread. The directions were easy to follow and the results are terrific. There’s lots of room to customize the inside. I added pockets to hold a cellphone and other small objects. I used decorator weight for the outside of the bags and quilting cotton for the insides. Fusible fleece gives the bags some body so they’re not too floppy.
The fabric here is from Jo-Ann’s. This was very inexpensive decorator weight fabric, but it sewed up beautifully. The lining is one of my go to fabrics — Kona Medium Grey.
This purse is a great size, measuring about 14″ x 13″. So not too small, not too big.
I also tried hidden magnetic snaps for the first time and love them! I purchased them at Tantalizing Stitches and find them so much nicer than inserting a pronged snap and they just seem a little more professional looking.
Here’s another Pleated Tote made with fabric from Ikea. The inside lining is made from Bike Path Chartreuse from Lucky Penny by Alison Glass for Andover.
Here’s an up close view of my new merchandise tag. I’d really like to design a true logo for Chinchilla Whiskers, but I just haven’t had the time. So, a picture of the little critters will have to suffice for now.
Minecraft is still with us! Since every boy of a certain age at my son’s school seems to be obsessed with Minecraft, I decided to make a Creeper pillow for our annual auction on March 15th. Hope it brings in a few bids!
The finished pillow measures 22″ x 22″ with 2″ squares. It’s not as ambitious (meaning fewer and bigger squares) as the Minecraft sword pillow I made my son for Christmas, but I am pleased with the results!
I used a variety of Kona solids for the squares and then added a border to define the creeper a little more. It is backed with Fences Smoke from Summersville Spring designed by Lucie Summers for Moda available at Sew, Mama, Sew!
Here’s a pillow I made my son for Christmas. I always like to make him at least one handmade present each year. Like most 8-year old boys, he’s obsessed with Minecraft. I don’t get the allure, but it did inspire this creation. Pixelated worlds just lend themselves to patchwork and quilting!
The pillow top is made from 1 1/2″ squares ironed onto lightweight fusible interfacing. Then seams are sewn vertically and then horizontally leaving you will 1″ squares. This is a great technique for making a messy job look neat. I used mostly Kona cottons for the actual sword with a few prints thrown in the background just to break up the blue.
It was a big hit on Christmas morning!
I made these pillows as a gift for Teacher Appreciation Week at Southwest Charter School. Asher’s classroom has a wooden bench that the kids like to lay on during read-aloud. These helped to make things a little more cozy.
I used a charm pack of Kate Spain‘s Central Park and some Kona solids. I used an echo quilting design. They were a big hit with the kids and Asher’s teacher.
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| Close-up of echo quilting |
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| The blue pillow |
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| Here are the two pillows for Asher’s class. |
Trying some machine quilting on my own after a class with Elizabeth Hartman a while back. Here I pieced together some of the many 1 1/2″ squares I’ve cut from scraps and used some spearmint green Kona cotton between the patchwork strips.
I made four of these rectangles. They are an odd size. Then quilted them using my favorite design so far — what I call the “mod square”. Not sure what I’m going to do with them. Maybe a pillow or a table runner? I’ve moved on to some other things, but will revisit these soon.
Chinchilla Whiskers 