FAMILY Pillow – Free Pattern

Need a gift for the upcoming holidays or other special occasion?  You can make this quilted pillow to share your love of family with those around you!

family_1 sjd

I wanted this pillow to look modern and sophisticated.  I think the Navy on White Damask by Riley Blake Designs helped me to achieve this look.

Kona White and Kona Navy for the letters and background helped to bring all three fabrics together for an outstanding FAMILY…ha!  Pun intended!

While testing and double testing the pattern, I made 5 pillows!  One of the pillows I made used Garden Girl Damask Pink by Zoe Pearn of Riley Blake Designs.  This pillow got some extra pizzazz with black pom pom trim.  How cute is this?!

family_5 sjd

If you decide you like the pom pom trim (or some other decorative trim), be sure to purchase 3 1/2 yards.  This will give you a bit of extra trim to match where the pom poms start and stop or to match other trim designs.  Since I had never used pom pom trim before, I found a great tutorial for adding pom poms to a pillow.  You can link to the tutorial here.

family_3 sjd

I will be adding this FAMILY pillow pattern to our favorite pattern website, FAVE Quilts.  In addition to finding inspirational FREE quilt patterns, FAVE Quilts posts tips and tutorials on the latest quilting techniques.  Sandy and I subscribe to their free e-newsletter, Piecing It Together.  This newsletter keeps us up to date on the latest quilting trends!  You can subscribe to Piecing It Together by clicking here.

family_1 sjd

This pattern provides you with all the information you need to make your own, unique FAMILY pillow with an envelope back.  It’s a great weekend project!

To get started on your pillow, download the pattern by clicking the link below:

Family Pillow 10 01 17

Be sure to share pics of your FAMILY with us!

 

 

 

 

Gracie’s Runway Debut

In my February 15, 2017 post I showed you the start of my art quilt.  I used a Laura Heine floral collage pattern called Potpourri…the cutest giraffe ever!

I renamed Potpourri “Gracie” because she just seems so, well…graceful!  Here is my finished masterpiece…Gracie’s runway debut!

IMG_0687

Below is a close up of her face.  You can see she has a fairly tight meandering stitch to keep all the flowers in place.  I am totally in love with the background print.  It’s from the Desert Bloom collection by Amanda Herring for Riley Blake Designs.  The fabric features text and sketches about gardening.  It’s the perfect background for a floral collage quilt!

IMG_0691

Gracie’s tail was fun to make.  It was a floral print but when cut into smaller pieces, it looks like a collection of feathers.  It makes a nice “swishy” tail for a giraffe, don’t you think?

IMG_0702

Below is a view of Gracie’s legs and feet.  I kept adding flowers here and there and finally had to tell myself to stop BUT can there really ever be too many flowers??!!  The grass is made from several different batik fabrics I had on hand.  I like how they add dimension to those lovely feet.

IMG_0699

This was a fun quilting project.  It gave me a chance to learn a new technique and to go big and bold with color, pattern and texture.  I highly recommend giving one of Laura’s patterns a try!