Friday, April 22, 2016

a pretty pile of pillows

Welcome to finish it up Friday!

This week I worked on un-selfish sewing, which seems to leave a lot of room for self-doubt. :) My goal is to make about 11-14 throw pillow covers for gifts. Nice and easy, right? Ha!
As of last evening, this is what the first 5 throw pillows looked like. There has been a lot of power sewing going on over here this morning! (And a little bit late last night, too.)
I'm very happy to have the first 5 complete! Each pillow has an envelope backing (tutorial here)
and is stuffed with pillow forms that I have made (tutorial here).
First up is a contact print pillow that uses a mini charm pack of Road 15 fabric (by Sweetwater for Moda) plus Kona snow. This is one of my favorite ways to use mini charm packs! I love the simplicity of this design and how it allows the fabric to shine.

The rest of the pillows are all from scraps! I used trimmings from my In the Middle Quilt, which uses the Tri-Recs ruler. (If you want to make half-rectangles, the ruler may be helpful to you!)
I was planning to make a quilt out of the leftovers, but I love that I was able to use the blocks to make pillow covers instead. Each of the half-rectangle blocks finish at 2" x 4".
This is scrap project #133
 #134
 #135 (look at all that purple! And I'm happy to say that I even like this one!)
and this is #136. This might be my favorite, but I'm pleased with each and every one! I hope that they are happy in their new homes.
I do love a stack of happy pillows!!!! And I'm not an over-achiever at all, right? :)

Now it's your turn! Please link up your finishes for the week. Thanks for joining me for finish it up Friday!

41 comments:

Kat said...

I completely understand what you mean about the self doubt! Your pillows looks fantastic! Good luck finishing the others.

Carie @ Space for the Butterflies said...

They are all beautiful but it's the rainbow triangles that win my heart! I love the tri recs tool, I just finished a quilt top that used both bits of it to make a fishing net effect. Your new blog template is looking fabulous too 😀

Bernie Kringel said...

Wow! Do you have tons of birthday celebrations coming up? Whomever is the lucky recipient of these will love them. Gorgeous, bright and cheerful.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful, beautiful pillows. Love the colours and how each one has a character of their own. Do you have the recipient in mind when you're choosing the colours?

Julie said...

I can't believe you finished them so quickly! I was loving these as I followed them on IG but finished are so amazing! I adore your Contact Print pattern too and have used it several times.

Brooke said...

wow, wow, wow!!!

great inspiration!!!

Crystal_235 said...

I love love love the pillows.

Frances Meredith said...

It would be great if every laundry day was so pretty!

Joanie's Trendy Quilts said...

All the pillows are yummy! Beautiful springy colors!

Leanne Parsons said...

All 5 pillows are gorgeous, and I love that so many of them are made with scraps! There's something wonderful about using scraps to make something so pretty :)

Debbie said...

Oh these are just lovely! I REALLY need to make some for my house!!

Mihaela said...

I just love these cheerful pillows!

Christine Slaughter said...

Those pillows are so bright and cheery! I've had making pillows on my to-do list to brighten up my couch, and your tutorials for the pillow form and the envelope backing are timely!

em's scrapbag said...

I would love to make some lovely pillows like yours. I have a naughty doggy that eats them when I do. So I'll just have to admire yours.

Julia Graber said...

Oh, the pillows are lovely, pretty, and colorful. Great job! And thanks for hosting "Finish it Up Friday."

Stitchified said...

What a beautiful pile of happiness, love it!

Unknown said...

Perfectly pieced pillows - awesome!!

tisha @ quiltytherapy said...

Lovely pillows and a wonderful gift. I gave pillows a couple of years ago and they are very well loved to this day.

Customieze said...

The pillows are very nice. I love it! One is more beautiful than the other!
best regards

Laura said...

As usual, I just love what you've made.

Amy B. said...

I love the shots of purple; so vibrant!

Live a Colorful Life said...

Such pretty pictures. The pillows are beautiful.

Salmagundi said...

Love the back of the pillows as much of the fronts -- great project.

Lucy | Charm About You said...

They are so pretty!! I find it easier to make more of one thing at a time, you get in a nice swing that way. I'm sure the recipients will be thrilled :)

Di~ said...

I LOVE them, Love them all! good job girl.

josiekitten said...

I love your cushions. I have just discovered your blog after a friend recommended your 'Sunday Morning Quilts' to me as a good book for a new quilter. I am going to try to sew a cushion this weekend! Thank you for all the links to the tutorials.

Suzanne said...

It's as if you read my mind...
I have decided it's time to make decorative pillows to match our bedroom quilt and I was wondering if you quilted the pieced tops of your pillows. Indeed, you have answered my question five times over! I'm a lucky girl. Thanks for taking the words right out of my mouth.

Anonymous said...

these are all so gorgeous and fresh, with the white and such vibrant colours!

Chopin - A Passionate Quilter said...

Love your pillows! So bright and airy!

Needled Mom said...

Those are beautiful!

pingraham said...

These pillows are such fun! I love the idea of making pillows as gifts. It is smaller than a quilt, but still a special gift from the heart. Lovely and useful too. You inspire us in so many ways!

Granny Maud's Girl said...

I have been making cushion covers too, but not as prolifically. What an output!!

Joy said...

Omygosh, these are SO PRETTY! I love them. What a great idea. Now you've inspired me to make a pillow out of a small piece I am working on. Yours are beautiful!

KaHolly said...

Very inspiring! I love their fresh, clean look! No finishes for me this week, as I've been traveling and settling in, but what fun to see everyone else's!

Amy DeCesare said...

Fantastic post! I love each one!

Stephanie said...

Love the bright + white triangle combination!

Unknown said...

I love every single one! One question I have about the 'purple' one is why some of the triangle/rectangles are placed differently. ( Making a "whole mountain" instead of a " half mountain" of the color). I wondered if it was intentional or not.

Pat said...

What great pillows!

josiekitten said...

I made a Contact Print cushion this weekend and I love it! Thank you so much for such excellent tutorials! There are photos on my blog if you are interested to see how it turned out. It's my first quilting project but it won't be my last!

Carolyn said...

Those are insanely adorable! Well done!

FlourishingPalms said...

These are more than pretty, Amanda Jean! You've outdone yourself, once again. And most of all, you've confirmed for me that scrappy is the most beautiful. Thanks for sharing your beautiful pieces with us!