Pillow Covers

 My son requested replacement covers for his sofa pillows. The sofa is sturdy microfiber faux suede in grey, but the pillows that came with it are awful. One is an ugly brown plaid and the other is a loosely woven tan that frayed so much at the seams that it's falling apart. 

I showed him a selection of fabrics from my stash, and he picked out the ones he liked and didn't like. Now his new pillow covers are finished, giftwrapped, sent, and delivered. Here's how they turned out: 

The center striped fabric is his first choice but I only had a scant quarter yard of it, so I had to add to it to bring the center square up to 10". The gold goes with the accent color in a quilt that lives on his sofa. 

There was enough of his preferred fabric to also create star points, so this version is the reverse colorway of the first one. The backs of both are the black print, also one of his preferred fabrics, and the light swirly background print is also one of his choices. 

He'll use the inserts from the original pillows inside these covers. They're big, 22" square which is pretty large for sofa pillows, but I had him measure carefully and he sent me a photo of the pillow with a ruler next to it to confirm the size. 

He knows he's getting new pillow covers but he doesn't know what they look like (he doesn't read my blog). I hope he likes them!

What he doesn't know is that I also made him new potholders, using the leftover fabrics from the pillows. One has the grey stripe on the front and the other has a different fabric. Both have the black print on the back and gold binding. His original potholders from when he moved into his condo three years ago are probably pretty decrepit by now, so I thought he might need new ones. I forgot to take photos of them before sending them out. 

Link ups: Alycia Quilts, Confessions of a Fabric Addict

November Stash Report and Goals Update

A busy month, because I was at retreat for a few days and I was involved with the Christmas Quilts for Hospice project, in addition to working on - and finishing - two deadline projects of my own. Retreat projects included piecing the top for a baby quilt and piecing two sofa pillow tops, and partially quilting the pillows. Since then I've finished them all and sent them off to their new homes. I helped quilt and/or bind several Christmas Quilts for Hospice.

Baby Quilt for Great-Nephew Carter

Pillow top , 1 of 2

While at retreat I found the perfect backing for my Road Trip project which is still in work, so nine yards came home with me. My stash report is down so much for the year that this acquisition doesn't matter. 

November Stash Report

IN this month: 9 yards (Backing for Road Trip, 9 yards)

OUT this month: 10 yards (FQs for retreat, 3/4 yard.  Hexie baby quilt top, back, and binding, 6-3/4 yards. Pillows 2-1/2 yards)

IN YTD: 80.5 yards
OUT YTD: 117.25 yards

YTD Net Change: 36.75 yards OUT

The fabric for the Hospice quilts was all donations to PCQ so none of it counts in my stash usage. But together we made 73 quilts, so a lot of generous people donated a lot of Christmas fabric. 

Presentation of some of the Christmas Quilts for Hospice at PCQ meeting

Goals Update: 

November Recap

1. Have fun at retreat Nov 2-5.  YES!

2. Make baby quilt for niece's baby. Done, labeled and sent. 

3. Make pillows for Eric. Done and sent.

4. Finish assembling top of Kaffe Gradient project. Slight progress but not done. 

5. Continue working on layout for Road Trip. Slight progress, two more blocks made. 

6. If needed, bind more Christmas for Hospice quilts. Done.

7. Quilt something on PCQ's long arm. Done, blue daisy charity quilt.

December Goals

1. Finish the Kaffe Gradient top.

2. Work on Road Trip.

3. Prep backing for Batik Stacked Slabs.

4. Draft Edna's pattern for PCQ per her request. 

5. Work on an Adopt-a Quilt charity quilt. 

6. Work on a UFO or kitted project. 

My list is pretty light for December and I know I'll have some quiet time to sew at Christmas, so I'll probably add something else to work on, but I don't know yet what that will be. 

Baby Quilt for Carter

The baby quilt for my newest great-nephew Carter is finished and has been sent off for the new family to enjoy. 

My niece mentioned that the baby's room is decorated in teal and white. I hope she likes this - she's a decorator involved with real estate so she has an eye for style. This quilt doesn't scream Baby so Carter can grow with it, drag it around as a toddler, use it for a kindergarten nap blanket, etc.

The quilting is simple SID through the seams and continuing across all the hexies. It's not too dense so the quilt has a nice soft drape. 

The fabrics were all from my stash. The yellow & aqua print was gifted by a friend for another purpose; it didn't work for that, but it works really well here. Perfect for the backing and binding, too. 

A fast and fun finish, and now it's Carter's. 

Linking up with Alycia Quilts, Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Wendy's Quilts and More

What I Worked on at Retreat

When I showed the design walls from retreat, I didn't include what I worked on, so let's look at that now. 

First priority, the baby quilt for my niece. I got all the hexies laid out and the rows sewn together for a finished top. (Since I've been home I finished the quilt, which will get its own finish post.)

Second priority, large pillow covers for my son, per his request. I had sent him a selection of fabrics and he chose the ones he liked. Unfortunately I had only a scant quarter yard of the one he liked best, the grey stripe in the lower right. So I had to get creative with it and use his other choices as well, the top two. 

A quilt I made in neutrals in 2015 lives on his grey sofa, and in addition to all the neutral fabrics, there is a print with a touch of marigold in it and marigold piping in the binding. 

So I chose a similar color (didn't have any more of the original fabric) for an accent color. I needed a little something to enlarge the center square of his preferred print up to 10" for the center of a star. 

I kitted everything up prior to retreat, and took the leftover fabric with me as well. I pieced both pillow tops, shown here with the  already quilted backs. 

The more I looked at the one with the light center, the less I liked it. So I carefully took the center out and replaced it with the dark print. Much better. 

These are very large pillows; the tops are oversized for quilting, and when finished they'll be 24". I got one of the tops quilted at retreat, but not the other. Walking foot quilting echoes the star, and it took awhile to quilt one pillow top. When the second is done, I'll add zippers, square them up and trim them, and finish sewing them together. They need to be finished and mailed out prior to Christmas. 

Linking up with Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts

Christmas Quilts for Hospice

 Wow! PC Quilters really came through! 

We originally thought we had enough fabric for 40 kits. Then 50. The donations kept coming, and many of the participants made multiple quilts on their own. One lady made 10! We ended up with 73, which we displayed at our November meeting. 

A few more quilts are still being finished up. The final deadline is Nov. 30, and we have an appointment to take them to the hospice offices in early December. 

The nurses know who the patients are who don't have family nearby, don't have visitors, and don't get holiday gifts. Those are the intended recipients. PC Quilters really stepped up to brighten the holidays for them!

Link up: Alycia Quilts,  

Design Walls at Retreat

The retreat I went on recently is at a beautiful ranch run by Sheila and Bill in southeastern Arizona. We are so fortunate to enjoy a great sewing space with lots of design walls. Ten of us went, and all of us made great progress on projects or accomplished finished flimsies. So, in no particular order, here are photos of what we were working on.

Paula's paper pieced elephant

Helen's inherited UFO #1

Helen's inherited UFO #2

Judy's "What Happens at Retreat" wall hanging

Linda's blocks, part of a much more complicated piece

Janet's One Block Wonder

Debbie's Tilda project blocks

Nancy's queen size star top

Amy's finished top. Her method of keeping the colors organized 

was genius: she wove 1/2" strips of them and glued them to paper 

in the placement she wanted. Brilliant! 

I finished the top for the baby quilt for my niece; see previous post. I also worked on pillows for my son's sofa for Christmas, at his request. More in a later post. 

The setting for the ranch is just delightful, and the weather was conducive to sitting outside on the patio for happy hour. Here's the view to the west as the sun was going down behind the cottonwood tree and the mountain. 

And the view to the east from the patio. Note the red building - that's the private quilt shop for retreaters. And yes, we shopped! No tipping, so we generously support Sheila's store. 

Sheila and Bill serve delicious meals in a lovely setting. Here's the great room with part of the dining table, as we're anticipating dinner: 

And a happy group of retreaters! 

Another successful retreat - a good time was had by all!

Linking up with Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts

Baby Quilt Flimsy

 My #1 priority at retreat was to get the baby quilt for my niece pieced. Mission accomplished. 

Since I've been home, I got it layered and pin basted, and I've started quilting in the ditch. The quilting lines will all intersect in the centers of the hexies when I get done. No baby news yet, so fingers crossed I can get this finished very soon after baby comes. 

I haven't had a chance yet to edit and post retreat pics; hopefully I'll get that done soon. 

Linking up with Alycia Quilts and Confessions of a Fabric Addict