The REAL Deal

Can you ever have too many pillows?

Last weekend while "treasure hunting"

with my sister,

I found the three large pillows above.

Five dollars each.

They're not pristine, but they're in quite good condition.

They've already been through the washing machine,

and as you can see, they came through fine.

Along with them were two small cushions,

done in the same fabric used on the

backside and piping of the large pillows.

Four dollars each.

How could I resist when the colors

are so perfect for my front porch?

Not to mention,

it's the same fabric I'm using in the

kitchen's window treatments!

I think it gives a nice sense continuity.

These past few weeks  must be my

period of pillow nirvana

because recently at Ikea,

I picked up these two large blue pillows,

also for five dollars each.

And that my dears, is the real deal!

Making a Celtic Braid (Knitted) Pillow

I’ve just finished this Celtic Braid Pillow and thought I’d share the steps to make one.

My beginning inspiration is this book.

Inside are twenty classic Celtic designs. Only half a pattern is shown in the book. Once the design choice was made, I made four copies of one page of the pattern.

Then, these four pages are rotated, overlapped and taped together making one full pattern.

A lightweight cotton blend fabric is cut to a dimension a bit larger than the pattern.

The fabric is then placed on top of the pattern for tracing.

The pattern is then pencil traced onto the fabric.

Now it’s time to knit I-Cord, lots and lots of I-Cord.

Next comes the appliqué of the cord to the fabric on top of the sketched design.

I like to do this is small segments and pin as I go.

One stitch at a time, it’s coming!

My cord is now complete. The interesting thing about Celtic braid, is there is no ending or beginning, and the braid crosses “over and under “ itself consistently.

Next the finished top is placed on a thin batting and another square of more fabric. Then an outline is hand quilted all around the braid.

Here’s the backside once all the quilting is done.

Now I’m ready to make the pillow. I cut two pieces of the same fabric for an overlapped back. Because my fabric is fairly fine weight, I am folding each in half, with the fold toward the center, so there’s no need for an edge hem.

Here’s the second half pinned in place.

I’ve now machine stitched all the way around my pillow.

Now it’s time to bring out the object of the love/hate of my life…my serger. Because I only use my serger for certain, specific jobs, I don’t use it everyday. So, if it decides to misbehave, I’m somewhat at a loss. Let me just say this about sergers…when they’re good…they’re very, very good. When they’re bad…they’re horrid!!!

Today, my serger is good. It does a nice overlock stitch and cuts away excess fabric at the same time.

The pillow top inside edge is now clean and neat. Here’s the pillow top turned right side out. Not finished yet!

Time to knit more….

I-Cord!

This I-Cord is hand stitch around the outside edge of the pillow top.

This must be done around both the front and back side.

Whew! Now I’m ready to insert my pillow form. First I’ll fold back the top half on the back side.

Slide the form into half of the pillow top.

Then, carefully, turn the remaining back, right side out. And, voila! The Knitted, Celtic Braid, with quilting is finished!

*****

This week I’m linking to: Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

All Things Inspired at All Things Heart and Home

Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday…Crafts

Transformation Thursday at Shabby Chic Cottage

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage

Show & Tell at My Romantic Home

Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch

Quilted Christmas Pillows

I adore quilts.

In my "next" life,

I might even become a quilter.

However, knitting is my passion in this life.

Therefore, I don't make quilts.

I have made a couple in the past, so I know what

a major project one is.

Thus, I've contented myself with making quilted

pillows instead of full sized quilts.

I've limited my quilted pillows to Christmas ones.

Several years ago I decided

I would make one new design each year,

then in a few years time,

I would have a lovely collection

to bring out at holiday time.

This is the first one I did.

I always quilted the year the pillow was made

somewhere on it,
so I can tell you without a doubt, this one is from

1991.

Here is 1993's pillow.

Unfortunately, I did not continue the tradition to present,

but, I did do it enough years to accrue a nice collection of

Christmas pillows.

This Celtic braid pillow is from 1994.
That was the first year I was part owner in a yarn shop
with four other dear friends.


Each of them got one of these pillows that year.
(That was almost like making a full quilt!)


This is one of my favorites.
You can see the year, 1995,
quilted in the center.


Several years passed with no new pillows, but
last year I got inspired again....

...and made a couple of "Yo Yo" pillows.
Sadly, no quilting here.


I've recently been intrigued with the
Celtic design again and wondered how
I could combine it with knitting.


The result is knitted I-cord (the knitters out there
will know what I talking about), appliqued onto
the pillow top in a traditional Celtic braid pattern.
I then hand quilted around the braid pattern.
The result is a nice merging of my
passion for knitting
with my
infatuation with quilting!

This week I am linking with
Boring to Better at Savvy Southern Style
All Things Merry & Brite at All Things Heart and Home
Fabric Fun Thursday at Cheap Chic Home

End of Summer Garden Look & a Sweet Gift

Recently my friend Marianne was cleaning out her attic and came across some outdoor cushions she was no longer using. She emailed and asked me if I wanted them. When she told me the colors, which are bright pink, lime green, blue and white, I thought at best I could probably recover them and reuse the pillow forms. Those aren't really colors I use here at home. She also had a quantity of the fabric she was willing to pass along. Fabric I can ALWAYS use!When I brought them home it occurred to me they might work in the backyard. Can you believe it? They're prefect!!! Particularly with all the pinks we have in our garden.

Thank you Marianne!!!

This is one of two coordinating stripes on the roll of fabric Marianne gave me.

One good turn deserves another, so I made one of the stripes into a small tote for a gift to Marianne. She tells me she loves the fabric and is trilled to still have a bit of it, reworked into what she will use as a small knitting bag.

I had some solid blue in my stash which worked as the outside for a couple of bags with the stripes as lining. You can find them at my Etsy Shop.

One last, loving look at the end of summer yard...

and a final stroll.

I'll be away for a few days with some Labor Day plans and when I get back it will be time to kick into full gear for fall!