Madhuri Star Pillow for Lynn

Hello again, all!

I wanted to talk about what I made for Lynn for our swap.  Yesterday, I wrote about what she made for me.  Today I'll show you what I made for her (click on any of the photos in this post to see them larger):

Lynn told me she wanted a new pillow for her sewing room.  I snapped a photo of her sewing room when I was there last summer:

It's not the greatest photo, becuase I was using my cell phone.  But you can see her gorgeous teal/turquoise tubs.  There's a rocking chair in the corner that you cannot see.  That's where the pillow would sit.  I knew I wanted to make something that would pop and fit in with her tubs.

I used some of my Madhuri fabric that Amanda Herring (The Quilted Fish) had given to me, and I paired it with some turqoise and white Kona.  I made the diamonds with Amanda's new diamond ruler.  (This ruler is pretty fun!)  I hand pieced the star using an English Paper Piecing technique (I made the paper pieces myself, using the diamond ruler), then made the pillow top, and finally hand appliquéd the star onto the pillow.

After that, I layered the top onto some batting and hand stitched some big-stitch quilting stitches around the star.  I used different colors of perle cotton--colors that echoed the colors in the fabric--moving from light to dark.

 

I started with closer-together lines, and made them spread out as they radiated outward as they went away from the star. (Here's a secret....after all that hand stitching, I decided maybe I should include some quilting on the star, just for good measure.  I machine stitched, in "invisible thread," in the ditch all the way around and across all the inner seams on the star.  I absolutely hated it.  I then spent three hours upicking all those stitches.  I'm glad I did.  It was totally worth it.)

I didn't want the quilting to get too "busy," so that's why I started spreading them out more as the perle cotton colors got darker.

I sewed some red pom pom fringe around the edges.  That was interesting to do!  I hadn't done that on anything this large or "real" before.  (I'd only sewn a little on some small doll pillows.)  Not easy stuff to attach! (For me, anyway!)

I purposely let this one star tip run off the edge of the pillow and cut it off.  Papa Pea said he did not like that....that it made it look like I had made a mistake.

For the back of the pillow I made a zipper opening, with a flap to cover it.  Usually I do an invisible zipper at the bottom of the pillow, but I wanted to try something new this time.  I used Amy's (of Amy Made That!) tutorial for making this zipper closure.  I have to tell you, this was pretty slick and easy, with a really nice, classy, finished result.  I highly recommend this tutorial!  Aside from the great covered zipper, Amy recommends interfacing the pillow parts.  I like that.  It gives the pillow fabrics more body and weight.  I think it gives a really professional looking finish.  I hope you agree!

Anyway, I had a ton of fun making this.  I think Lynn liked it, which makes me happy.  Papa Pea said it was a shame I had to send it away to someone.  He liked it a lot.  :-)

I'm thinking about writing a tutorial for how I made the star--and perhaps the entire pillow.  If that's something you'd be interested in, let me know.  I may try to do it.  It might be spring (maybe Market time) before I can do it, but let me kow what you think.  Maybe that will motivate me to actually do it.  LOL.

Thanks for reading!  I hope you have a great day!

Until next time,

 

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Exchange with Lynn

What is English Paper Piecing?

The Big Stitch

Comments

[caroll drudy]

Love your pillow. Love how you did all that handwork too. A tutorial for this pillow would be great. Lynn sure has a neat and orderly sewing room. This pillow will look perfect in there.

[Jana]

Yes! Tutorial!!

[Amy]

High compliment from your husband! It's a great pillow and will suit that space really nicely. And I agree, pom poms are tricky to stitch into a seam!

[Lynn]

I've been admiring the hidden zipper. I'm going to check out that tutorial. It does give a more professional finish than the super easy fold-over flap method I usually use for pillows.

[Ivy]

I love the perle cotton hand quilting and the tassles! Would love to know how you attached the tassles! You did a great job--it's a perfect pillow :)

[Amy Decesare]

Tutorial? Yes, please! I would LOVE to see how you do this, start to finish. Awesome job from A to Z...and by Z I mean "zipper"...thanks so much for the shoutout!!!

[Thimbleanna]

It's PERFECT Stephanie -- I'd say YOU nailed it! I think it's funny too, that both of you used the big hand stitches in your gifts to each other!

[Terri]

Love the pillow! I love the way you placed the star off-kilter. And I love the hand stitching in different colored threads. What a wonderful gift.

[Maggie Szafranski]

Love this pillow! The big stitch quilting was perfect!

[kathy olkowski]

I absolutely LOVE this pillow and yes, yes, yes....please make a tutorial of it! I would make one, or five! LOVE the big stitch!

[jenclair]

Beautiful pillow, so bright and happy!

[liveacolorfullife]

This is BEAUTIFUL! Yes, please make a tutorial!!

[Cathy]

Knock, knock....Anyone there!!!
I love the pillow. Better late saying it than not saying anything...lol
Hugs

[Linda]

Great job on this pillow! Really great job. It does look like a lot of fun to make. So...I see you have not been posting - just like me. LOL Just wanted you do know that I've been thinking about you.

[Larissa]

Just beautiful, Mama P!