Pillows for Charlotte

As you may remember, my sister is addicted to cross-stitch and she keeps sending adorable pieces my way for my kids.  She arrived home for a summer break visit last night - so I knew I needed to do something with her creations because I always never procrastinate.

 

I think making pillows with cross-stitch is nice because my children enjoy the tactile experience of the pillow.  Hanging it up (framed) in their room, where they only go to sleep, is not as fun. 

 

So here is the owl piece, framed with a big floral print from the Joel Dewberry Heirloom collection from my stash.  I actually did free motion quilting to outline the flowers and leaves but you can't see it in the picture.  The whole time that I was quilting the front, I was like, "Why I am I doing this for a one year-old?"-- but it was at least good practice.

 

Now, I am told that a Disney Princess obsession is inevitable for most little girls.  We aren't there yet but I think she will appreciate this pillow for a long time.  I used another stash favorite - Remix by Ann Kelle. 

I have to admit that it took me a little while to figure out how to frame each rectangle to end up with a 16.5" square for the 16" pillow form.  I hate quilt math - but luckily it's not as hard as college algebra (which I nearly didn't pass!). 

Here's Charlotte with her pillows.  Not the clearest picture but it's cute!

Besides the pillow, I have been working on a project that involves crazy nine-patches.  These bocks are fun and quick.  This is a "test" set I made- and it was good that I made myself practice because I messed up the order of the blocks while I was sewing - so not all of the 9 fabrics are featured in each block.  I am not sure what to do with these samples but I think it was worth it to try out the technique before I cut into the bigger project.  Do you ever do a "trial run" when you sew?

Thanks for reading!