Air Force Pillow {May ALYOF Goal Complete}

It's rather simple, but I love how this turned out. I hope my friends enjoy it (once I finally get around to mailing it to them! Their two year anniversary is coming up, so I hope to send it before then!)

I quilted the top to a piece of muslin... black thread and just traced around two of the circles and once around the outer square. I had the backing fabric on hand. For future projects I need to remember to err on the side of too much overlap for this type of enclosure... I barely had enough overlap for this pillow! 

Goal Post: Here

Number 72 in the Linky Party

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WIP (works in progress) List

• 1 pillow cover using the Air Force Panel (current post - finished!)
• 1 Manhattan top for E (I cut out the pieces before JT arrived)

UFO (unfinished objects) List...

• Twin size quilt top needing a border then quilting and binding
• A quilt top from my grandma needing quilting and binding
• 1 lap quilt needing quilting then binding 
• 6 baby quilt tops needing quilting and binding
• A pile of Christmas half-square triangles that need to be trimmed and then organized into a table runner/table topper/pillow/etc 

WIP: An Air Force Pillow {May ALYOF Goal}

I know, I know... I just had a baby a few weeks ago... why in the world am I making a sewing goal for this month??? 

Well, this one shouldn't take me too long, and it will be good to have a goal to try to get me to do something just for me this month!

I received this panel from a good blogger friend's giveaway last year sometime. It's time to finally make it into the pillow that I always planned on... it's for another good friend whose husband is in the Air Force. I don't plan on doing anything too fancy. There are actually two panels, but I'll just use one and then send the other along so she can make something with that one :)

Wish me luck!


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WIP (works in progress) List

• 1 pillow cover using the Air Force Panel (current post)
• 1 Manhattan top for E (I cut out the pieces before JT arrived)

UFO (unfinished objects) List...

• Twin size quilt top needing a border then quilting and binding
• A quilt top from my grandma needing quilting and binding
• 1 lap quilt needing quilting then binding 
• 6 baby quilt tops needing quilting and binding
• A pile of Christmas half-square triangles that need to be trimmed and then organized into a table runner/table topper/pillow/etc 

A Pillow for E {April ALYOF Finish}

Thank goodness I worked on this pillow during the first week of April! With the addition of our newest little one, the rest of the month definitely wasn't conducive to sewing :)

E always likes new additions to her bed, and this one didn't disappoint. I quilted it with some swirls and added an easy backing. 

Done and done!

Goal Post 
Number 11 in the Linky Party

WIP: A Pillow for E {April ALYOF Goal}

Sorry for the poor lighting! I put together this block from scraps from the birthday dress that I made for E (her birthday is this month!) The colors match her bedroom really well, so I just had to use the scraps to make a scrappy pillow! 

My goal is to add an outer border, do a little quilting and then sew an envelope backing before throwing it on E's already full bed. Should be fun!

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Current WIP List...

• 1 pillow top needing a border then quilting and then needing a back (current post)

Current UFO List...

• Twin size quilt top needing a border then quilting and binding
• A quilt top from my grandma needing quilting and binding
• 1 lap quilt needing quilting then binding 
• 6 baby quilt tops needing quilting and binding 

Something Wicked This Way Crosses {Blog Hop}

Wendy from Why Knot Quilt?  and Mdm Samm from Sew We Quilt have continued a wicked tradition with hosting a wickedly fun blog hop for the fourth year in a row. I and the rest of today's wicked sewists plan on showing you lots of wonderfully wicked projects! 

Enjoy your Black Cat Crossing Blog Hoppers on the Eve of All-Hallows-Eve!

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Thursday, October 30

On the Banks of Frog Creek (You Are Here!)

How Art You?

Cucki Stitching Cove

Dancing Moon Farmstead

Life in the Scrapatch 

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Now, here are my two wicked projects... I was not able to purchase the very fun Black Cat Crossing fabrics, but I was able to dig through my stash and finally use some of the Halloween fabrics that I've bought over the years.

I have this family treasure in my kitchen that enjoys being dressed up for the holidays. I already have Christmas and Valentine's Day runners for it, so I was happy to have a wicked-good reason to sew up a Halloween one for it!

I googled "cat sillouettes" and searched and searched until I found this one that fit the runner perfectly. I then measured, cut and sewed and then sewed, measured and cut until the runner fit the antique kitchen cabinet. I quilted it with crazy lines to enhance the feeling of Halloween being a holiday of crazy surprises! 

 I had just enough of this fun fabric for the backing.

With all that cutting and measuring I did for the runner, I had some extras strips and scraps to use up. I figured a quick pillow was just the thing!

 The quilting was my favorite part of this!

My walking foot has been giving me some wicked tension issues, so all I could use was my regular foot. Straight lines can still make a great spider's web! Even E had fun following the lines :)

More stash fabrics for the pillow backing.

Thanks for stopping by! Now, go say "boo!" to those other bloggers listed at the top of this post... I hope you all have a HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

PS: Finishing these projects in time for the blog hop was also my ALYOF Goal finish for October. I was number #19 on the goal setting link party. Here is a link to my goal post.

October Goal. Done

I posted my October goal here... this is a part of Melissa and Shanna's A Lovely Year of Finishes.

 I wanted to create something to highlight a piece of Hardanger embroidery that Dan's grandma made... and a pillow is what I decided on! The finished product will probably end up in Evelyn's future bedroom :)

 I used some fat-eighths that I found at a rummage sale back in Montana to create a log cabin block with the embroidery in the middle. I pieced the block onto a piece of scrap fleece, so it was quilted as I added each 2-1/2" strip. The back is just a simple envelope closure, and the binding was attached to the front and hand-stitched to the back.

It's beautiful embroidery, but I knew that I would never take the time to learn such intricate handwork in order to finish this piece. It was best to put it to good use as it is, so it can still be loved while on display. There is a sad kind of beauty in unfinished work, and now it is brightened up with some pinks and blues.

Now I need to decide on a November goal!

Linking up to my favorite parties... the buttons are on the side bar - go check a few out!

October Goal

Yikes. It is already the second week in month and I'm just outlining my October goal. Wish me luck!

My plan is to make a pillow using a piece of Hardanger embroidery that was made by Dan's grandmother. She never finished the piece, so I brainstormed about how I could make something to showcase it. An idea for a pillow was born :)

While digging through my totes of fabric, I came across these reproduction fat-eights that I found at a rummage sale. I think they will compliment the handwork nicely. A friend gifted me the vintage handkerchief fabric, which I think will be a nice touch to the back of the pillow. I'll probably just do an envelope backing. 

I look forward to cutting and ironing and sewing again! I just hope little Evelyn gives me some good naptimes to finish this in 3 weeks! Of course, I should be making baby gifts for friends/family or at least working on my current to-do list before adding something new like this pillow, but this seems like more fun!

A Lovely Year of Finishes :) 

October Style!