"Sunrise" quilted pillow, 15"X15"

"Sunrise" - front - 15"x15"

"Sunrise" - back- 15"x15"

Another pillow done. A local gallery is interested in selling my pillows. I have about four months to make about a dozen of them, and so I am focusing more on how to get them done easier. Slowly, I am getting it. I still continue to enjoy the process of sewing and what a perfect thing to do when it is dark and cold outside.

Our cool kitty MyKi has an area of concern on his back. I need to take him to the vet and hope the finding is not malignant... I am worried...

"By the Sea" quilted pillow

Blue is what this pillow is about. I have been dreaming about a cabin by the blue sea, with warm sandy beach, something like Costa Rica was many years ago. I have been dreaming of walking on the beach and getting my feet wet as I listen to the waves... it almost is as if I could be there, but not quite. Sewing this pillow got me into the mood of that tropical warmth though. It did not hurt to have the house warm.

"By the Sea" front panel, 15"x15" quilted pillow

"By the Sea" back panel, 15"x15" quilted pillow

"Tropical night" quilted pillow

Happy New Year to all of you!!!

"Tropical night" front panel, 15"x15"

It is a beautiful day today. Cool, sunny and delightful. We just finished a great walk through the woods. it is so incredibly green in places. This is certainly not reflected in this piece. I loved the indigo colored fabric. It reminds me of midnight darkness illuminated by a full moon....

"Tropical night" back panel

Design board is filling up with possibilities!

The holidays and short dark days are not very productive for me. The other day, I found an afternoon to piece together small bits of strips and played with making medallions. I like doing this.

Now I have some material to play with. The two dark blue pieces in the first picture are close to completion and I will send the picture of this pillow case soon.

"Hawaiian Hut" - quilted pillow 15x15

"Hawaiian Hut" front panel, 15x15

I am continuing to focus on sewing. The studio in the garden is getting colder and colder. The light is getting dimmer as winter approaches. How wonderful to have a sewing room in the house that is toasty warm.

I had fun doing this one. The triangular shapes are from a rescue of scraps I found in the garbage can of the fabric store that I go to once a month to be with a circle of women. What an exciting find! I am grateful to the woman that deposited the triangular shapes there.

As you possibly can see, the triangles stimulated my imagination to create huts, windows and pillars.

"Hawaiian Hut" back panel, 15x15

The back panel has only a window framed by vegetation. Hawaii is a wonderful spot on Earth. I used a zipper for closure visible on the bottom. The pillow panels are quilted and sewn together. The binding is excess fabric from the front panel folded over and this time hand stitched to the back. I discovered loving to hand stitch, so relaxing.

Garden

"Garden" ,15x15inches pillow case

It is  Thanksgiving day today, quiet and the garden outside is full of exquisite muted colors. But this pillow design reminds me of the summer colors I find in my garden.

I enjoyed the pinks and purple shades both in the flowers that bloomed, and in the batiks that I have  collected.

The back panel of "Garden"

I am finding that focusing on the unseen aspects of the pillow captivate me as well. I think I spent more time with this panel. I did insert zipper as a closure toward the bottom. I am still struggling with the closure aspect of construction and think that I will explore "invisible zipper ". I was advised to not use velcro. The flap construction I used on the previous pillow hid the zipper with a flap, but when I put the pillow form into it, it spread out and so that did not work as a solution. One possibility would be to use buttons, but I am not crazy about that option. I have been watching You-tube for zipper placement tutorials and will continue to do so to achieve a more satisfactory result.

"Portal", 15x15 pillow case

I tried a new construction on this pillow. Because the front and back panels are thick, I decided to sew them together with right sides up, and use the extra fabric from the front panel to fold over to the back to create a mitered border. I like the idea of having a small flange, making the pillow size 15x15 inches

This is the back side. The photo looks bleached out. I do have trouble with taking photos still. On this one, I used zipper for a closure. It is hidden by a flap of fabric at the bottom. I am thinking to use velcro strip on the next one. The head of the zipper was getting in the way because of its bulk...