Pea pods I made for Christmas gifts. Made with 14″ zippers I had on hand so I cut the squares at 9″ instead of 10″. I had so much fun, I ordered a bin how of 22″ zippers and extra zipper pulls.
Pea Pods
Category: Gifts
Lavender Eye Pillow Tutorial
I’ve always wanted to make a lavender eye pillow. When I was in Paris I even brought home some French dried lavender. I searched the web for just the right tutorial and didn’t find exactly what I wanted, so I decided to create my own version. I give credit at the bottom of this post to those tutorials already posted on the Internet where I got my ideas for finished size, amounts of filling to use, and the separate cover.
What you will need:
- 4.5” x 18.5” Muslin or any fabric you want for the inner pillow. It will be hidden inside the cover.
- 5” x 22” Fabric for outer cover. I used a 100% cotton Asian print from Hoffman. You could also use a silk.
- 1 Cup Whole Flax Seed
- 1/2 Cup Dried Lavender
To make the pillow:
1. Cut your muslin fabric 4.5” by 18.5”. You will fold it in half lengthwise.
2. Press the narrow ends of the muslin under 1/4”.
3. Sew the side seams together on the muslin leaving the end open.
4. Turn the pillow right side out.
5. Measure out 1 cup of flax seed and 1/2 cup lavender.
6. Mix the flax seed and dried lavender together so they are well distributed. I used a flexible plastic container so I could squeeze the top like a spout when pouring into the opening of the pillow.
7. Pour the flax seed and lavender mix into the the open pouch.
8. Pin the open end together.
9. Stitch with a fairly small stitch to keep the filling from leaking. I used a 2.0 stitch to do this.
Your inner pillow is complete.
To make the cover:
1. Cut your cover fabric 5” x 22” or half the WOF is close enough. Perfect use for a FQ.
2. Press the narrow ends of the cover under 1/4” and top stitch.
3. Fold one end under approximately 1” and press.
4. Lay out the the outer fabric with right side up and center the pillow lengthwise.
5. Fold over the end with the folded edge to the middle first.
6. Then fold the end with the 1/4” hem on top.
7. Pin where these two edges meet. This is the back of the cover.
8. Remove the pillow from the cover and pin the back to the front so the folded edges are approximately in the middle.
9. Sew each side of the cover, backstitching at both ends.
10. Optionally, finish your seam allowance with a zigzag stitch or pinking shears.
11. Turn the cover right side out and poke out the corners so they are square.
12. Insert the pillow as you would any throw pillow into a cover with this type of opening.
Your pillow is finished!
I gave several of these as gifts this year for Christmas. I included a card that gave the contents of the filling and care instructions for the outer cover. They were a big hit.
My inspiration for making my own version of the pillow came surfing the Internet and more specifically from the following tutorials:
Feel free to use this tutorial to make your own eye pillow or gifts for others. But please do not publish these instructions as your own.
Copyright 2012 StitchingCircle.com
Easy Street Part 4
I was finished with East Street Part 4 by Friday evening.
I struggled with making the Flying Geese using Bonnie’s method. In the past these have not come out even for me. I realized the problem lies in accurate cutting and making sure the tops of the background line up perfectly with the top of the goose. When all these stars align, the flying geese unit turns our perfectly.
A lesson in slowing down and patience for me. If I want accurate piecing that is. 🙂
I cut my 3.5” squares from 3 different greens. The rest of the greens from my stash that match this colorway are in 2” and 2.5” strips, so my choices were limited. Hopefully, I’ll get to use some of these others as well. But I promised myself this quilt would be completely from stash.
On Saturday, I finished off my Christmas gifts. I made these two zippered bags for my housecleaning team.
I added some hand lotion, hand sanitizer, kleenex, and a Gift Certificate to each. I really like the second bag with the zipper offset from the top. Not having to add the zipper where the bag turns the corner makes such a difference. It lies perfectly flat this way. I used the tutorial found here. But modified it a bit to make only one bag.
I’m now ready for Christmas, so when Clue 5 comes out on Friday, I can spend the day sewing.
Linking back to Bonnie’s Part 4 post and Connie’s Tuesday Linky Party.
Easy Street Part 2 & 3
Last night I finished my Part 2 and Part 3 for the Easy Street mystery.
I used my “Alternate Method” for making the units in Step 3 and I had them finished in a flash. I’m very excited to be keeping up with this mystery.
I’ve still got Orca Bay, Roll Roll Cotton Boll, and Carolina Christmas in my UFO pile. And, Double Delight is waiting to be quilted.
I’m not letting this happen with this quilt.
Yesterday, I finally got busy on making some Christmas gifts.
I made this really cute little baby doll sleeping bag for my grand-niece for Christmas.
I used Connie Reskin’s pattern and it was so easy to put together. I got the 8” baby doll at Target.
In addition, I made three Lavender Eye Pillows for my nieces. I think I’ll write up a tutorial about how easy it is to make those.
Linking up to Bonnie’s Part 3 Linky Party and Connie’s Tuesday Linky Party.
Design Wall and What I have been working on…
On my Design Wall, a new start. Bonnie’s Oklahoma Backroads.
9 block made and lots of pieces and parts ready to sew.
What else have I been working on? It may be the end of June but 2012 hasn’t been a total blank quilting-wise.
These blocks came from kits I ordered years ago from Lazy Mazy when it was still around. Not sure what I will turn them into but I want the blocks finished. I have 8 of the blue and 12 of the green. They are 6″ blocks.
Finishes:
I finished this 1930’s quilt.
I also finished this little quilt from one of Bonnie’s pattern, Aunties Anvil, over at Patchwork Posse.
I used up a lot of waste HST on this one.
I also made a cute little preemie incubator quilt but don’t have a pic of that one yet.
I promise not to be a blog stranger from now on.
Another finish for me…
This is my first attempt at the Square Dance or Twister pattern. I made my own template so I could use some pre-cut 6″ charms from a swap a few years ago and not have any waste between the secondary cuts. As you can see, I used the left over squares in the border.
This one is goes to new baby boy, Roy Peter, born on Thanksgiving. He weighed in at 10 pounds 3 ounces. Wow!
I really like making this pattern and it is such a great use for those odd 6″ squares that I can’t figure anything else to do with.
2009 Finishes!
It’s time I caught up with my blogging. Now that 2009 is rapidly coming to a close, I need to take stock of what I accomplished this year!
The most important completions for me recently are the two Quilts for Kids quilts that I finished and sent off before Christmas. The blue one was made from the quilt kit that Quilts for Kids sent to me. The Roman Stripes pink quilt is one I whipped up from scraps and sent along with the blue one.
These were so much fun to make and a great way to improve my machine quilting skills. I have so much fabric that I want to make a few more of these from my own stash to send in early 2009. I think I’ll set myself a goal to complete two Quilts for Kids quilts per quarter in 2010.
In addition, this year I completed two baby quilts for my two co-workers. You can read more about those quilts here and here.
I also made a set of 4 quilted place mats for my good friend, Kathleen. She chose the fabric from my florals and I backed and bound them in a green blender so they are reversible.
And, I completed 30 quilted pot holders for my Zonta Holiday Party gift bags.
Oh, and I almost forgot the wall hanging that I made for my mother’s birthday in January. You can read about it here.
I think that’s all that I actually started and finished this year. Tomorrow I will list all of the quilts that I’ve started this year but remain WIPs. When you see that list, you’ll know why I haven’t had time to finish anything else. 🙂
