Tag Archives: pillow

A Look Back.

11.Jan.16

2015 was hard. Emotionally, physically, monetarily, and creatively. It wasn’t without it’s small successes though, and making these mosaics reminded me that I actually made a lot of things! (Although, to be honest, I photographed and blogged a lot of things that had been made prior to 2015, but pictures make them real and I can hardly remember dates otherwise :)

I made some of my most favorite quilts ever (and painted some cool murals), some I haven’t even told you about yet! I’m proud to say that every quilt I made this year, aside from 2 yards of neutrals, was made using only my stash. And somehow, my stash feels no smaller! ;)

I made a lot of clothes, some more successful than others.

I had my first, small solo show, I was part of a group show with my studio mates, and I sewed a lot of pillows!

Perhaps most excitingly, I renovated the basement of my studio and brought this beauty home! (It’s hard to take a good photo of her, I apologize.)

Commissions and gifts!

26.Oct.15

The holidays are quickly approaching! They will surely be here before we know it.

Are you interested in a custom quilt? Or maybe some throw pillows? Perhaps a set of placemats and napkins. It’s time to place those orders! (The pillow above, on the right is for sale for $40, more photos upon request.)

I wanted to show you some non-quilt commissions that I’ve never posted about!

I made this set of dinner napkins for some friends that got married. I used the V&Co Zig Zag Ombre in navy for one side and white for the other. A set of 18″ dinner napkins run about $40 for 4 or $75 for 8.

I made this set of 8 placemats and dinner napkins for my dad last Christmas, commissioned by his girlfriend. He is a retired geologist and worked for the state water board nearly my whole life, so water and stone and earthy colors remind me of him.

For the placemats, I gathered some blue scrap strips and some of the Joel Dewberry print I used on the napkins, cut stacks of three into wavy lines, switched the colors in the stack around, and sewed them together. I used four different kinds of neutral linen from my stash, and backed them in this grey dandelion print. I quilted wavy lines only in the pieced section, labeled, and topstitched them.

For the napkins, I used the same four different linens on one side and a Joel Dewberry print with a strip of an Amy Butler stripe for the other side. They were pillowcase stitched, labeled, and top stitched.

A set of 8 like this would run you $125, or a set of four for $75.

This pillow was commissioned by a friend for his son, made from a t-shirt.

The kid always liked to look at it, to point out everything going on and a pillow seemed the perfect way for it to live on. I cut the design out of the shirt and used it as the center of a log cabin block, using coordinating prints from my stash.

I quilted it very simply, outlining some of the center designs in black and square spiraling the block at random widths in white. I backed it in a Cotton + Steel print…

With a lapped yellow zipper.

This pillow is 20″ square with a down feather insert. One similar runs $60 and up.

These are just a few examples. If you’re interested in something like anything above, email me!

kait [at] kaitcetera [dot] com

A hint of a quilt to come.

21.Jan.14

A friend of mine commissioned a quilt from me and wanted a sneak peek in time for Christmas, so I whipped up this pillow.I used the Arkansas Traveler quilt block as shown on Freshly Pieced, though I changed it a little to eliminate the additional seams in the background. I used the few yellows I have in my stash, Free Spirit solid cosmic blue (the quilt will use assorted greys), and a couple fabrics from my stash for the back with a label and exposed zipper.

A little more catch up.

19.Jan.14

I did a lot of sewing leading up to the holidays that I haven’t shown yet.

Krankies Craft Fair was the weekend of December 13th and it was better for ::kaitcetera:: than I could have imagined! I sold 4 quilts (the three on the left and one not pictured)!Two of the quilts included some custom embroidery work that I just recently completed and was really happy with. It makes the gift so much more personal and sweet.

On the Far Far Away plus quilt, I embroidered the recipients name over the quilting, which I had never done, and it turned out great. The label on the back was embroidered first and then sewn on. I made some iPad and Kindle cases for the fair that were fun and did well. I also made a few more crayon and colored pencil rolls which people love!

I most enjoyed making some quick patchwork Christmas pillows. I started cutting 2½” squares of red and green to make stockings for me and the pups but decided on pillows instead. I quilted them with a heavy 12 weight Aurifil thread and I loved it. It really makes the simple stitching pop.

Pillows for far away friends.

22.Nov.13

Two pairs of friends moved away in the last couple months and I wanted to make gifts for the both of them. Jess and Ryan left North Carolina for Portland, Oregon (a place I’d love to join them one day!) so I made them a pillow from 50 Fabulous Paper Pieced Stars, a combination of North Carolina star and an Oregon star in blues and greens from my stash.

I outline quilted parts of it in light grey thread

and backed it in a cute umbrella print I got from a friend with an exposed zipper. It fits an 18″ pillow form.

Sam and Amanda, whom I also made this quilt for, left us for Grand Rapids, Michigan so I made them a star from, as you probably guessed, part North Carolina and Michigan.The print on the border of the front, from Pat Bravo’s Indie line or Art Gallery Fabrics, is one I used in Amanda’s quilt so I pulled colors from there and mimicked the design in the quilting, too.

It’s backed in a Joel Dewberry print, has an exposed zipper, and fits a 16″ pillow form.

These are both in their new homes and I hope they will be loved very much!

I love making these stars so much. I think it might be time to make myself a pillow with them! Or maybe a small quilt of all the places I’ve lived.

Gifts for friends.

29.Apr.13

My friends Austin and Erin, the people who graciously let me live with them last year after a break up, recently bought a house so I made them this mini quilt.

I pieced the tiny houses from scraps, raw edge appliqued a key in one block, quilted it in a boxy meander with their name in one corner, backed it in a vintage sheet with my label, and bound it in white with a couple scraps.

Congratulations on the new home, dear friends!

My long time friend Tara got married recently so I made her a little wall hanging.

Her bridesmaids dresses were yellow so I pulled a few yellows and greys, drew up the plan, and put this together in a day.

I have been inspired by Megan at Canoe Ridge Creations lately, her simple patchwork, her straight line quilting, her mini quilts. This is the first time I’ve quilted something this heavily and I love it. I can’t imagine quilting a large quilt like this but it was great for this little lady.

I backed it in a yellow floral I’ve had for a long time and bound it in more yellow with a tiny bit of heath in black. I’m really happy with it and hope they are too.

Congratulations Tara and Jeremy!

I made this pillow a while ago but never blogged about it. It is now my friend Lindsay‘s and I made it to thank her for her kindness and friendship.

I used Anna Maria Horner’s feather bed quilt block and her Field Study fabric scraps, surrounded them with FreeSpirit light jade, added an exposed zipper, bound it, and left it behind as a little surprise.

Thanks for being awesome, Lindsay!

Some quilts.

27.Mar.13

I spent a lovely and snowy weekend in Roanoke with Lindsay and Ursula working on a few quilts.

I took two with me and finished up a third one while I was there. I left behind a feather pillow (made from Anna Maria Horner’s block pattern found here) as a gift to Lindsay for all her help and willingness to let me use Ursula. And of course, for her friendship.

Some things!

22.Feb.13

This last week has been one of the most productive in a while. I’ve been pleasantly busy making some gifts.

My friend Sarah asked me almost a year ago to make her a Kindle case and it finally happened. She told me she loves the tiny clothes fabric by Aneela Hooey so I pulled some coordinating scraps and used this pattern with a couple minor adjustments.

This pillow is for my best friend Catherine. She accompanied me to the Little General last year and bought some fabric that she left with me. I used the Virginia star from Carol Doak’s 50 Fabulous Paper-Pieced Stars because Virginia is where we met and became friends (though I now live in NC and she in KY).

I started with the Anna Maria Horner velveteen and pulled coordinating fabrics. The velveteen was definitely a little harder to work with but it made for a really cozy pillow. I fussy cut a few sections but you can’t really tell.

It has an envelope closure and measures 18″ square.

I made another pillow as a sneak peek of a quilt for a baby shower. I didn’t have the quilt done in time but I wanted to send them something useful instead of just a picture so I made this small pillow.It’s based on the Baby Roller Rink pattern from Modern Patchwork by Elizabeth Hartman using blue and green scraps. The pillow made it to California just in time (I photographed it at the post office!) and was loved. I’m hopeful they’ll love the quilt too, which I’m sending off on Monday.

It has an envelope closure and measures a very snug 12″ x 14″.

Let’s pretend it’s still March…

02.Apr.12

and I totally finished and posted about these on time.

For our (Cait and I) Last Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts challenge, I had picked pillow covers. As it turned out, I didn’t like a lot about the way they were put together so I ventured away from the instructions a little bit. As they are written in the book would be a good project for beginners but I wanted a little more work to do :)

None of my fabric was calling to me until I realized that a remnant I bought at Karen Gray‘s last week was a home dec fabric that I probably wouldn’t use otherwise (it’s Anna Maria Horner’s Turn of Events in azure), so I pulled some coordinating solids and the scraps from The Undertoad, and went for it.

I pressed all the seams out and top sewed them outside the lines in navy blue thread. I chose to use an invisible zipper closure instead of sewing it right around the pillow. My zippers aren’t perfect but they’re good enough. They are backed in the scraps from the Undertoad’s backing.

I think these pillows will live on the studio couch for awhile.

View the past projects here and be sure to look at Caitlin’s great interpretation of the pattern! Next month: Summer Breeze Picnic Quilt.

To lay on and to hold on.

27.Jan.12

I am in love with this new pillow.

I made this block in Jess’s wonderful Improv Piecing class at Sewing Summit back in October and as soon as it was finished, I knew it had to become a pillow. So what if it only took me three months? :)I surrounded it in Alexander Henry’s Heath in black, quilted it in a pale grey thread by following some of the natural lines in the block and sewing on on both sides of them, and bound it in white, and closed it with an envelope back.

I’ve also made a few bags and pouches recently for various things.Using Jeni’s wonderful and oh-so-popular lined drawstring bag tutorial, I made a bag for my herringbone cowl out of one of my favorite Aneely Hooey Little Apples prints, a red dot from my stash, and a DS Quilts print for the ties (I really should buy a bolt of that stuff!),

one for that portable speaker system I got a couple weeks ago (the first one, on the far left, was a little too small but the second one fit just right, both out of Jay McCarroll Habitat prints and coordinating solids),

and a triangle pouch for my binding clips from this tutorial, also out of a Habitat print. Thanks Jeni for such a great project!