Pillow Case

The contracts from the school where I will be teaching beginners patchwork have arrived. It made me think about how to organize the class and what to teach. The class will start with a 2 hr workshop and actually I had planned to just make it kind of a show, showing a technique using jelly rolls and the students would be able to start the project but possibly not finish it. My friend who likes to be one of the students, suggested to maybe think of a little project, that is quick and can be finished within the time. She said that the students would be more excited and more likely to enroll for the following class if they had a finished project to take home and be proud of. I totally had to agree. So in my mind it was all about patchwork again.

So I came up with a design for a pillowcase using 7 jelly roll strips. I tested the timing and think that it could actually be finished within 2 hrs. All depending on how intense the quilting of the piece will be. I really wanted to make a project of jelly roll strips, for it saves us the cutting time and I will be able to provide a set of jelly rolls that the students can work with.

I used the technique I used for my very first quilt, but used 7 strips instead of just 4.

The calculation was a bit tough, because I was using the measurement of an IKEA pillow, that anyone will be able to afford. The size is 20"x20". It took me a while to figure out how I could calculate the number of strips I would need for the project.

I quilted an all over print on the design with clear thread. After that, I just took an equal size square and sewed it all around the quilted sandwich. Then turned it around, stuffed in the pillow and closed the hole by machine. That was really quick and easy. I really can't wait to show my students this awesome technique!

Here the pictures!

Happy crafting!

UFO vs The Host

Simply having a wonderful Christmas time!

I have been enjoying our family Christmas vacation the last two weeks. My hubby was home and I got the chance to go out see friends and see some movies in a theatre and we have been celebrating with family and friends....

This also means there was no sewing at all!

There still was a bit of quilting in my life: I got Maggie Malone's 5500 patchwork blocks for Christmas!! So my head is full of new ideas!

And also the secret off my winter star block has to be revealed: it was a special Christmas gift to my host mom in California who actually was the reason I started quilting. She had encouraged me to try sewing! So thanks a lot Cheryl! Love ya!

The sewed block included a long letter on how thankful I am for her encouragement and an offer, if she wanted to make a sampler quilt with me. The plan is that through the year 2013 each of us sews a block twice and keep one and send one to the other. So at the end of the year (depending on our discipline ;-)) we would both have a quilt that was made by both of us!! I think it is a great project of love!!! By that we will also be forced to keep in touch more frequently. I think writing old fashioned letters makes us spend more time thinking about what we write and be more emotional about it than by email or posting on Facebook ect...
How do you like the idea?
We talked on Skype on Christmas Day and I am pretty sure, Cheryl liked it!

What's left now is an UnFinished(pr)Object of Stars and I'm having a hard time getting back to it, since Christmas is over and the quilt will have no use until next season..
My hubby's out tonight and I had a rough choice: UFO or "the host". I decided to relax a few more days until the routine comes back next Monday.

Tomorrow is the last day of our vacation and also the 10th anniversary of my moms death. I will be thinking of her tonight and although it was her sewing machine that got me into quilting, I decided on staying on the couch cause we also shared a strong love for books! Wonder if she would have liked the twilight books. She loved Harry Potter and read the first 3 books when she already suffered from cancer. This might sound sentimental, but when book 4 came out my thoughts when reading it were with my mom and if she would like it. I'm sure where she is now, she knows all the endings of the fictions of good and bad.. My love goes out into the universe tonight! I love you!

Still, happy crafting to you!