May the Pillow Fight Begin!

It's always a joyous day when the husband announces he will be using the computer in the studio to attend a conference call from 8 to noon. And then MAYBE he will go into work. Let the record show that it is almost 1:30 and he is still on said conference call. This is especially delightful when just yesterday we had Family Day of Unbridled Togetherness, ie Snow Day Number 3, and I had been looking forward to a day of finishing the quilting on my Scrap Squad project. Of course I could fire up the quilting machine and let 'er rip, thus abruptly ending the conference call and possibly my marriage, but I am nicer than that.

Usually.

So I've decided to use my DAGMT time today to work on pattern writing and finally share my second finish of the year.

This thing is a Tactile Extravaganza

 If you've been stalking my Facebook page in the last few weeks, you've likely seen this photo or snippets of the project in progress. But what good are photos without a little bullet list backstory?

• Found a 14" pillow form during my studio cleanup. 
• Wanted to try rope piping on a pillow.
• Continued my love affair with these cool 3D petals I've been making with the Leaves Galore TM templates.
• Moda layer cakes from Sample Spree combined with yummy fabric from Lemon Tree Fabrics and BOOM! I love it.

As does Eva, who found it on the couch upon coming home from school and proclaimed it her own. Someday she will sell it for a dollar in a yard sale, but for now it has a special place in her heart.

As you may be able to tell from this closer, in progress photo, I like to quilt the background piece before I add the petals and applique them. I also like to think I invented this method of applique, but that's just my ego talking. I don't know who discovered it first, but I do know that quilt-then-applique really keeps the piece a lot flatter than the other way around, as you don't have a bunch of little areas of unquilted quilt sandwich under each applique piece. Maybe you'll try it out. Maybe you won't. But there it is, hanging out in your brain and planning to nag at you until you break down and try.

You're welcome.

For the middle, I used some blue dyed-ish Modas from a second layer cake cut apart, sewn together end to end, and ruched to within an inch of its life.

This reminds me so much of a snake made from yo yos that my sister had as a toy as a kid.

The snake becomes a sweet little ball of joy. If only that happened in nature rather than any snake becoming my most terrifying reptilian nightmare.

I have no idea what possessed me to buy these layer cakes other than the colors, because 10" squares are not really my thing. However I have to say they were the perfect amount for this project. Five squares anyway. Five down, 72 to go.

I read a few tutorials on covering a rope with fabric for piping. Weirdly, none of the tutorials mentioned what you should do when your local hardware store only has the yellow plastic-y rope that is all scratchy and you don't feel like driving 20 minutes to Home Depot.

Fun fact: The yellow scratchy stuff works, but is a little stiff.

The pillow is put together envelope style, which eliminates the need for buttons or snaps or anything that would cause more work for me. I edged the back pieces with the same fun fabric as the piping.

Not my best FMQ, but it's going for a dollar someday, so who cares.

Sandwiched and sewed it all together, threw the pillow form inside. And then it was done. Woo hoo!

In case you forgot what it looked like.

A little tweaking and a little writing, and the pattern should be available on Craftsy for download soon. Someone just needs to kick me in the butt about getting it written.

Since I wasn't allowed to make noise in my own studio today without forcing Mr QH to run out of the room to hear the oh-so-important business going on in DC, I decided to start choosing which of the blocks were my favorites from the ones I've received so far in the swap. These fit my vision the closest, and I love that I can see a field of violets when they are scattered around the floor.

MLK had a dream. I have a vision.

Finally, I hope everyone participating in DAGMT is having a slammin' good time knocking out UFOs and amazing yourselves with what all you are accomplishing in 20 minutes a day. I am SO enjoying seeing all the photos on Flickr and Instagram #dagmt, Make sure to check them out and be inspired.

The conference call appears to be over. Cue the angel choir singing "Allelujah!" Maybe I can get a few minutes of quilting in before the short people return home.