New Pillows for Spring

We are seeing signs of spring and me likey!

It's been time for new pillows for our living room for a while. I ordered a bunch of fabric that I liked, but really wasn't sure how it was all going to come together. And I have to say i'm liking the results! Our couches are dark leather brown, so we really needed something light and colorful!

Here is the result...
So...Two fantastic blogs are both hosting pillow contests this month. Stitched in Color and Sew Mama Sew (both must reads)!



For Stitched in Color's Blogger's Pillow Party, i'm entering the linen pillow with the vine applique. And for the SMS pillow contest, i'm entering both in the 'Pieced Pillow' category.


I started with the blue pillow with the strip of yellow fabric, and wanted to coordinate the other pillow with that.


I used mostly coordinating Heather Bailey fabrics from her Nicey Jane collection. Love the cutesy modern feel of these fabrics!

And because I think linen is the cat's pajamas, had to use it. Couple books that I've been reading lately (Applique Your Way and Sew Liberated) helped with the inspiration of the applique and the chain stitch embroidery of the vine. I used fusable web in where I sewed the leaves in placed, but wanted to keep the edges natural and loose from the pillow, to add more texture.

I made both pillows as slip covers, so I can easily switch them off when fall and winter roll around. And so I can wash them easily, since I know Louie sneaks up on the couch when we aren't home!

Oh Lou.

Baby's M's New Pillow! - Bloggers Pillow Party Entry #1

I was super psyched that my girlfriend asked me to make the nursery accents for her little girl that is to arrive in just a few short weeks! Her vision for the nursery is exactly what I would have done, so making the pieces to fit in the room was cake!

She picked out coordinating fabrics from It's a Hoot by Momo for Moda. And...did an awesome job picking it out on her own! We all know how overwhelming fabric stores can be, I can't imagine how it would be for someone who doesn't sew!

So here is the final piece for the room, an accent pillow for the rocking chair! Please excuse the terrible pics, I'm only through chapter one of Nikon D90 for Dummies (One of my New Year's Resolutions)!I decided to make it a slip cover to put over a pillow form, so it could be easily washed. The insides are surged, so it just lays flat. No hand sewing or awkward topstiched edges. I'm thinking I'm liking this technique!
And the fun part was adding the details. The appliqued owl was an afterthought, because I actually missed part of the polka dot strip after I sewed it on. So the owl is a band-aid! I had a couple other coordinating fabrics to throw in the flower, to give it layers.
A few weeks ago I saw on Noodlehead's blog that Rachel over at Stitched in Color was doing a pillow contest. She's calling it Bloggers Pillow Party (cute name huh?). So - I thought this was good timing since I wanted to make a pillow for my friends nursery. And my 'Post xmas, I'm over the cold weather' project is new pillows for our livingroom, so this is the perfect motivation!

If you haven't checked out Noodlehead and Stitched in Color, do so! They are super talented mamas!

This is a fun way to check out others blogs. There are a ton of cute pillow entries already!